A reluctant fixie rider

I'm a big supporter of bicycle transit. Since selling my last car half a decade ago, I've done mainly bicycle commuting or simply walked. I'm more healthy, fit and generally less stressed for it.
I'm a fan of English roadsters, mountain bikes, cross and standard road bikes. My current machine is a great green and white single speed from Globe. Clean, simple and efficient, its a very well done bicycle.

With a flip-flop hub in the rear, riders can choose to go fixie if they like. Or as in my case at the moment, someone can steal your brakes while you're at work and choose for you. At least I had the option.

Only having played around with the interesting but ultimately impractical fixie fad, I'm finding for the most part, I'm not a fan for just getting around. I tackle a lot of hills in a given day, carry heavy packs and need to stop just as fast as I go.The translation of energy from human to road is great but I think I'll be replacing those brakes as soon as I lay hands on new ones. In the mean time I'll do my best to not be a danger to everyone else on the road and enjoy my all day spinning class.

Wabi Sabi

Working with little ones can be tricky. As artist in residence at a preschool and pre-k child development center means I'm not only responsible for doing kid friendly projects but making sure the little ones come away feeling good about it.

Very loosely translated, wabi sabi is a Japanese concept that embodies the appreciation of the flawed, imperfect and "real" over predictable and more obvious beauty.

Little hands can make useful and beautiful objects but the smooth beauty of a perfect piece of stoneware is likely years away if it will ever be part of their lives. Wabi sabi as a teaching tool helps them not only accept but revel in creations that might not match their imaginations.

Ceramic Venus

I know, I'm gettng a little obsessive with these but it was a worth while exploration and the recipient seemed pleased.

Shibori Scarves

 So, the scarves turned out well. A little less precise than I've accomplished in the past but I've typically had the proverbial "all the time in the world" and only done a couple of pieces at once. Most of shibori is in the prep work, something that can be done over time if you plan ahead but after a summer of it in Japan and a bit of it now and again I'm not sure I want to devote a ton of time to it, and that's pretty much what it takes.

I do love indigo and I'll likely find further reasons to do dye batches of one kind or another. Between the "developing" effect of the dye when it hits oxygen and the stunningly deep, organic blues, it's really hard to beat real indigo. Somewhat endangered, imagine that another heirloom technology, it's still fairly easy to obtain. Something, I think ought to be taught in schools, it'd make a fantastic chemistry project, art or home economics; not to mention History (note the capital H).

The next thing I'd really like to approach is woad, another ancient plant dye. I've found the materials but it looks to be a bit more complex than indigo and certainly more so than something like Rit dye that can simply be mixed in a bucket or washing machine without a lot of fuss.

This batch of scarves will be up in the Susan Howell gallery at 1987 Hyde St in Russian hill for another month or so and then I'll either find them homes in a little more personal way or put them up on Etsy, who knows?

If anyone is of a mind, let me know and I'll run an indigo workshop where we can explore the dye itself as well as basic shibori.

Venus redux

Got a nice little piece of alabaster today. I'll be carving another venus idol starting in the next couple days. This time i'll be doing more documentation and shooting miniatures images to accompany the statue.
My loose goal is to build a kickstarter project around it to fund this summer's Norway show.
Regardless i'm excited for another stone carving project.

Shibori

Just prepped the cloth for a small batch of heavy cotton scarves. I'll be doing an Indigo dye treatment with Japanese shibori methods I learned while living in Japan.
They will be shown and for sale at the Susan Howell gallery in San Frsncisco.
Look for a post with production shots and the finished scarves!

Literally Literary

I've started a couple of novels, not reading them but writing. I don't think I've actually scrapped one yet but I can say for the first time, I'm in range of completing one. Nearing 100 pages in, that's a respectable third of the way plus a bit more for a first novel according to a number of internet sources.

I decided to post a little about it, no spoilers, for a couple reasons. First is that even if I stop at "novella" length, not likely as the story isn't finished, 100 pages is still a lot. Second and more important reason is that I feel that putting it out in the open that I'm writing a novel and I'm a third of the way there will at least somewhat bind me to finish it.

So there, I've said it, as openly as it gets and I'll post on Facebook as well when I'm two thirds finished. Here's to going big or going home.