July 18, 2008
"The People We Love" project
I finished this piece about Molly today. Links to more images and detail below (posts on the Nesbit blog).
See planning and first stages here. See the rest of the final product images here.
Posted by libbystokes at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2008
Day 8
I mean really, sometimes having a small child around is like having a doll. And this is what I do with dolls:
Make cute little dresses!
Posted by libbystokes at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2008
Day 6
This morning I finished the spiderweb hooks. It was a beast to hang, but I finally figured out a way of drilling holes halfway into the wood from the back and then screwing in these metal hooks to line up over the holes....yeah, stupid and complicated...and you don't care (who cares what's on the back anyway?).
And see that green lovely above it? That's a work by Jamie. I like Jamie. I like her work. I love that I have her work and that it is finally up. Yay. Speaking of other people's work... I also hung a sweet little painting that Stacy gave me from her senior show. I love love love it. It's the white one with purple bits. And then there is the beautiful sculpture near the bottom. Rebecca made that. I bought it. I think it is so gorgeous. Thank you Becca.
Posted by libbystokes at 11:02 PM | Comments (2)
May 27, 2008
Day 5
It's nearly the end of day 5 and I am feeling good. Satisfied and fulfilled. It doesn't really matter what I am making, it just matters that I am making.
Today I continued working on this piece. I painted a layer of gloss gel medium for shine. Then I started painting the dots for the web design.
This is the completed web pattern. I couldn't get a good picture of the thing without a glare, so this is a super clumsy shot. Bah.
I will be adding two little metal coat hooks in the bottom left corner, then this thing is going by my door. Functional art, huzzah!
Posted by libbystokes at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)
May 23, 2008
10 day challenge
Really it's just the 30 day challenge abbreviated. Amy and I are challenging each other to create one thing each day for ten days. As she is the writer, her task is to write at least 150 words each day and then email them to me. I'm supposed to take a picture of what I make and email it to her. Unfortunately I ran out of batteries for my camera, so there's no picture today. But I did make things.
I rescued a wooden box from the cheese department today, but it was missing it's lid. Enter the second green frame Kate found for me (the first became a clock). I ripped out the old canvas board from the frame and cut it down to size, then slid it into the grooves in the box to make a lid. A simple fix, but it makes all the difference. With it's rope handle (and if you throw in my old-school mason jar Nalgene) it could almost be a vintage lunch box. Or just a box with a handle...your choice.
Of course after ripping out the canvas, I had an empty frame. I discovered that a hand-printed card I had fit perfectly into another wood frame I had been looking to fill. I mounted the two frames together, one inside the other, on my wall, next to the IKEA mirror I finally got around to finishing (so that makes three projects completed).
With three projects done in an afternoon, I can't imagine that the creativity will always flow so freely. Nonetheless, I will try. I suppose, as I learned while doing the "100 things" project, that the value of making a lot is sometimes in stumbling across the few precious accidents. Plus, mistakes only make successes that much more exciting.
On with the challenge then!
Posted by libbystokes at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2008
Made
I was getting pretty sick of the cheap and hideous IKEA clock I had in my room. It didn't match anything I had and I was ready to throw it away. But then Kate suggested that I just take the clock apart and make a new one. She had picked up two green frames on the sidewalk and so I used one of them to make a new clock! Huzzah!
Also, I drew this. I really haven't done any sort of life drawing in a long time, so this felt good.
Posted by libbystokes at 12:51 PM | Comments (1)
February 08, 2008
Robot Gore!
Woo, that's some lovely robot gore. Created by Bent Image Labs here in Portland.
Posted by libbystokes at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2007
Nesbit
My good friend Lauren had the great idea recently to start a blog in order to keep in touch with fellow friends and Biola grads etc. And so began Nesbit. It's been going for about a month now with promising results. Only time (and some of us actually moving away) will tell whether it continues.
Our main topic and discussion will be art (our art, other's art, old art, new art...), so although Prettypineapple is still my primary personal outlet, Nesbit will enjoy the fruits of my artistic discoveries and outbursts. Check it out if you wish...
Posted by libbystokes at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2007
SOFA and new work
The SOFA class ended today. it was sooo fantastic to be able to sit in on it. It was the perfect opportunity to make make make.
One of the girls in the class made this yellow cape and Kayo took a spin in it.
Here is Jamie working on her Bread Loaf Bag. She learned how to make a blanket stitch, yay.
And Sydney sewing her little pretties.
Mmm.
Here's some new work. Pipe cleaners sewn into pink fabric. Green flannel ruffle and black foam roll. Wormlike...
Other new work. Paper sewn pipecleaners and cardboard.
Closeup.
Totally random, but we had wanted to try making a Vodka infused watermelon, but didn't want to wait the few days it takes, so we just cut up a watermelon and added peach schnapps, tequila and lime. It was sooo delicious. Fun fun.
That's all for now.
Posted by libbystokes at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2007
O-Oreo
Today I randomly got the idea that it would be fun to try and make homemade oreos. It was! Here is my pictoral evidence of the experiment:
So I'm not going to tell you what's in the filling, because you don't want to know. At least it tastes REALLY good...
Here are the little marble-sized dough balls pre-squish.
And post-squish, accomplished by pressing them down with a cocoa coated cup.
All the little baked chocolate wafer cookies, happy.
Filling the cookies, give a little squeeze.
The happiest plate of tiny homemade oreos. They taste nearly exactly alike, only they are better because they aren't so dry but they are still crispy. If they didn't take so darn long, I would make them more often (ok, they are time consuming and terrible for you...whatever...) Fun.
Also as you can see by the sticker on my shirt, I visited MOCA with some friends today. It was fantastic. Thanks for miss Sydney for suggesting the trip. I bought the book from the "Poetics of the Handmade" exhibit.
Lovely lovely lovely and inspiring and beautiful show.
Posted by libbystokes at 12:20 AM | Comments (1)
June 03, 2007
Stained Glass Fun
I'm sitting in on the S.O.F.A. class at biola this summer. (That's Sculptural Objects and Functional Art). It's a quick three week class, but it's with Kayo, so it will be three weeks of goodness. Plus Jamie and Sydney and some others are in the class, so that's always good. Anyway, this first week we worked on stained glass. I haven't gone to solder it yet, but here's a picture of all the copper foiled pieces...
The design is based on a painting of Lauren's. She has been working on some vellum drawings and artist-tape pictures which she then interpreted into paintings. So I thought it would be neat to take the process one step further by interpreting it into a stained glass. Yay. Here's Jamie working on her awesome cassette tape stained glass...
Posted by libbystokes at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)
January 21, 2007
Libby Poppins
Recently I was compared to Mary Poppins. I can't remember which points were made in support of the argument and I guess overall I'm not necessarily against the idea. Maybe it's that she has that bag that can hold everything. Or that she always has a solution for the problem. I like coming up with clever ways to fix things and solve problems, so I suppose we could be similar that way. And I guess because when it rains I always pull out my huge black curve-handled umbrella. But I can't "fly" and birds are certainly not that friendly with me, and I don't know any chimney-sweeps (although I wish all of these things were true of me...). And goodness knows I would hope that when you hold my hand you would feel grand.
Anyway, call me Mary Poppins if you like, I have no problems with that (with one exception: just after the comparison was made, I saw this mock trailer someone created called Scary Mary-- the horror film that would result if Mary Poppins went bad. I would hope that I don't reflect any of these characteristics...).
I didn't realize it at first, but Nanny McPhee is a newish version of a Mary Poppins-type story. I have to admit I only saw it because Colin Firth is in it. But I was surprised to find that I really loved it! I had it's share of fairly well-acted adorable kids, a terrifically self-absorbed candidate for step-mom, a FANTASTIC set, and Emma Thompson (who I had forgotten all about since loving her character in Much Ado About Nothing). It is the set that has stuck with me the most since watching the film a couple times. Oh man. Those super-saturated and vibrantly colored walls, chipping paint, heavy woods, rich velvet upholstery, and earthy tiles. But the best part was the children's room. It was this loft/attic space with dormer windows. The beds were lined up on either side sort of like in Annie. There was a huge red-orange stained-glass piece behind the top landing for the stairs and old fashioned trinkets and toys lying everywhere. There were mobiles hanging from the rafters and ribbon wrapped around the wrought-iron footboards. Each bed was covered by a different antique quilt or blanket. I love old quilts. There was a log-cabin design, a geometric box design, and woolen blankets. My favorite one was a little granny square crocheted blanket. I loved the old funky colors and warm earth-tones. I couldn't get a enough of it so I went out and bought yarn to make my own.
This is a picture of the blanket in the movie.
And here's a look at how mine is going. I'm stoked about it. I am happiest when I am "making."
So Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. That pretty much says it all.
Posted by libbystokes at 05:39 PM | Comments (3)
January 01, 2007
The Rambling House
All are welcome.
Driving down to Los Angeles from Monterey I listened to a beautiful little snippet on NPR about "Rambling Houses." Here is a portion of the NPR article by Jacki Lyden:
"In recent years, in County Kerry, a tradition known as the 'rambling house' has been revived. In times past, a rambling house was regularly organized to provide residents of a province or even a small city a venue for entertainment: song, recitations, stories, and jokes."
I love the idea of the Rambling House so much. I decided that it would be a great model or reference for establishing a community meeting of friends, artists, writers and theologians. And not just as a model, I wouldn't think twice about
Here are some pictures from the County Kerry house from the article:
Posted by libbystokes at 07:28 PM | Comments (1)
November 15, 2006
Reason #38
For months my sister made argument after argument for why I should move to Portland. She dropped hints, she sent news, she told me her daydreams of us living and working in the same city. She even begged. I have to commend her, for she was successful. I do plan to move. One day.
The thing that is hardest for me to face when thinking about moving is not the fear of entering a new community and making new friends and finding work and housing. What scares me the most is leaving what I have already spent years investing in. I have friends and family, favorite haunts and restaurants. I have a church at which I am a member. There are valuable art resources here as well. My life is where I am now. And to think of leaving it feels like abandoning it or losing all the good in it.
Fortunately for Kate, she's got an advocate who has made at least one concern easier for me to deal with. Lynn Aldrich.
Lynn Aldrich is one of my favorite artists. I admire her ethics, her faith, her aesthetic and her materials. You can understand why I value her and her judgement. Well, yesterday an art show opened at Biola (featuring Lynn and a couple of my other favorites: Dan Callis and Tim Hawkinson) and Lynn was there to speak on the panel. When the discussion started focusing on Los Angeles, I started to feel sad at the idea of possibly leaving LA, with it being such an urban center for art. But within moments, my hope was restored when Lynn said that although LA and New York are the two top "happening" art cities, Portland is a quickly growing metropolis that offers many opportunities to young artists. That was enough for me. I have no more fears about leaving the LA art resource I have come to depend on.
So Reason #38: Why to move to Portland-- Lynn Aldrich said so.
Posted by libbystokes at 10:50 PM | Comments (1)
October 27, 2006
Giraffes? Giraffes!
A few days ago I made a beautiful discovery while scouring the discount books at Borders. At first I thought I had found a book I could tear apart and use for it's spare parts and images. But after actually looking into its pages, I realized I had found a gem of a coffee table book. The book is called Giraffes? Giraffes! and is a large hardcover about the size of the I Spy books.
At first glance it looks like one of those children's introduction to science books, but if you actually read the text (which you should, so go buy it now...), you will discover that it is all a big joke! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I knew I had to buy the book when I read this on the page titled "What Are Giraffes Made Of?": "The hooves of Giraffes are fashioned with a super-strong lightweight titanium alloy. That's what makes their hooves so fierce-looking yet soothing at the same time. You know what else is fierce-looking but also soothing? Soap."
And what makes it all that much better is that I only paid $2.99! Giraffes? Giraffes! is labeled "Volume I," and fortunately for us, there is a "Volume II" out as well. It's called Your Disgusting Head. Both books deserve a look, whether you buy them or not, they are a lot of fun.
Posted by libbystokes at 09:21 AM | Comments (2)
June 03, 2006
Stylin' a-fresh
I have been meaning to for a long time now, but today I finally finished updated the blog with new style! I liked the red sun thing, but it was just getting old and I needed something a little more fresh, something that represented where I am at now in my sense of color and design. I know the banner image isn't all that involved, but it's at least a start. Maybe having better style will encourage me to write more. Or not. We'll see :)
Posted by libbystokes at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
Astrobright- A Senior Art Exhibit
I finished installing for my senior show this last monday just an hour before the opening. There was a great turnout and I got a lot of positive feedback. I was even asked for my contact information from an interesed gallery owner! The whole experience has started me thinking a little more seriously about showing in galleries since that was something I had always dismissed; I was encouraged by both teachers and students that my work has gallery potential.
Following are some pictures of the whole process-- from planning, to construction, to final product. Enjoy!
Show statement: "Because of my less "traditional" upbringing in the arts, I have always found that the vocabulary of materials that comes most naturally to me tends not to include such terms as linseed oil and turpentine, but paper and yarn. My hands instinctively reach for the Aleene's craft glue and among my arsenal of tools is a crochet hook, fishing line, a hole punch, bailing wire and felt.
For this series, I let the materials guide the process. I played with fabric, explored ambiguous plastic shapes, and folded tiny origami, all the while waiting to see what would happen. It was a satisfyingly tactile and intuitive process that resulted in pieces that have (to my delight) been associated with sea life, fashion and candy.
Astrobright: color, play, and pleasure."
I started thinking about how to incorporate the stars with a root that I had made. In this sketch I have the stars spaced out, but I ended up creating solid strands of stars.
Here I was trying to picture what the root/umbrella combination would look like.
In the beginning I had wanted to create a large enough piece of "fabric" to cover a whole wall. It was quite time-consuming, so that didn't happen, but either way, here I was looking at what a fabric of yo-yos would be like.
When I started planning this piece, I was going to have it hanging against the wall, with the narrow section at the top and the larger end going down onto the floor. But the lights ended up making such great shadows that I had to rethink things.
This was my first experiment with the paper and yarn thing (along with some other things I had up on the walls for inspiration).
Another view of my studio wall. The crocheted curls were inspired by a christmas ornament that was in the family years ago. The ornament was only a couple of inches long, but I loved the form and decided it would be fun to see in all sorts of long lengths.
This was the finished bit of yo-yo fabric that ended up getting stretched over a skylight to create a lamp. This piece was probably the most time consuming. I spent sooo many hours sewing and sewing and sewing, all by hand. But it was a beautiful piece of creamy soft knit.
The green bag is full of dollar store cup holders, and there are a bunch of other "in process" materials going on in plastic bags. I was a bit of a bag lady for this whole thing: carrying materials back and forth from apartment to studio to car etc...
The entrance to the show. The title is spelled out with single crocheted yarn. Lots of fun.
Most people get a nice boquet of flowers to welcome their guests, but I thought wheat grass would be more appropriate for my stuff.
What resulted from the cup holders and curlies.
The lamp piece. This one got a lot of praise. I even had someone ask if it was for sale. I haven't any idea how much to sell it for-- but I'm honored by the inquiry nonetheless.
This piece was sort of last minute. It wasn't a favorite, but it worked out alright.
By far the most loved piece. There were so many references and ideas made with this. Like I mentioned before, the magnificant lighting was sort of a spur of the moment thing that really made it 1000 times better.
This was a lot of fun. It really filled the space in a fun way and people had an interesting time interacting with it in the space-- having to negotiate the arms of green stars. Though it took a long time, I really enjoyed the making of the origami stars.
I definately consider the show a success. I could only have imagined what it would end up looking like. I had a lot of ideas over the last two years, including building a tree house in the gallery, an installation of thousands of tiny lights, designed textiles with a retail aspect. The results, however, far exceeded any expectations I ever had. The sculpture professor at Biola said that my show was one of the top three shows he has ever seen at Biola. What an honor!
Posted by libbystokes at 01:39 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
Astrobright
Hey all, my show is coming up. Monday, May first. Opening reception is 7-10pm, then the show is open the rest of the week. Come if you can!
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2006
This and that
I noticed a trend in my latest blog titles-- hence, this and that.
Here's a couple of photos from my most recent downtown L.A. jaunt:
China Town parking structure
Heading home, just before getting onto the highway
There you have it: a little of this, a little of that.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2006
Night Thoughts and Work Space
This morning just before I woke up I had a very strange dream. It began with someone narrating a story while it was being animated before me, sort of how the final leg of the journey is animated in Emporor's New Groove with the map and little dotted lines. The person narrating was a girl and she had just returned from some competition successfully but one guy still was making his way back. But she was saying that before she returned, she turned in her prize (a spoon) for money and put it somewhere safe. Unfortunately the guy didn't do as she did, and as he was just about to get back (here I saw a cartoonish representation of a large rope-spanned gorge with a river running through the bottom) he had to make it across the gorge with his spoon. He decided to cross the gorge by using his feet instead of his hands to "monkey-bar" his way along the rope. Just before he got to the other side, he dropped the spoon and it fell down into the river. So he somehow went down to the river.
The next part of the dream was more real-life (it wasn't a cartoon being narrated anymore). I was down on the beach of the river with the guy who dropped his spoon and four other people who I knew from High School. We were all digging around frantically for his spoon in the sand but we couldn't find it. I kept finding these brilliantly shiny silver coins and coat-of-arms and mickey-head shaped medallions from Disneyland. I was so excited because they were so heavy and shiny and real, but I was also aware that they weren't worth anything to me because I was now marooned in this gorge forever. I gave up the search for the spoon and started exploring. I found what looked sort of like a giant cream puff or shell, but inside was a huge ball of cantaloupe flesh. I took it back to the others and cut it into six pieces, which we all ate. Someone remarked to me how strange the fruit was because it seemed dry and spongy when you first bit down, but then it was very juicy. Then the dream ended.
I'm sure you can imagine the look of confusion on my face this morning when I first opened my eyes.
In other news, here is a picture of a wall of my studio at school. The hanging yarn things are something I am working on, but I'm not sure where they are going. I have a couple other ideas going, but I haven't started anything large scale yet. I'm excited and totally freaked out. I had a crit with Aragna Ker last Thursday. He was very encouraging.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2005
Painting, Wycliffe, and pumpkin ice cream
My first big painting. It's 3' by 3'10". Although I really enjoyed it, I think the way I would rather use paint is to paint on things, rather than just paint things. I am certain that this is why I am more attracted to abstract painting than representational (at least for my own doing). Painting abstractly is more about putting the paint on the canvas than making the paint on the canvas look like something else.
Last night I met Ron and Cathy Binder, missionaries who worked in Panama and Columbia translating the bible for a tribe called the Wounaan. I got to watch a play that was created to document their experience working with these people and the challenges that come with trying to learn and translate a new language, living in a totally foreign culture, and feeling inadequate to do God's work. It was fascinating to hear their stories of adventure and learning. It reminded me a little of the book Peace Child.
Last night I also had a bowl of pumpkin ice cream. Oh...my...goodness. It was that good. Like pumpkin pie a la mode all-in-one. So good. Worth getting, even if you are Vegan.
Posted by libbystokes at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)
April 13, 2005
Crafts
On a lighter note...
I came across this website. It's kind of cheesy, but there is some really good stuff if you look hard enough. I like it because a lot of people use it as a sort of advertisment for their personal business. They will have a link to their website and sometimes really neat things. It makes me want to sell stuff.
I am also really surprised at how positive the comments are that people leave. Even when I see something that I think is really ugly or poorly made, there are still those people out there who like the thing. And sure enough, they see it, like it, and say nice things. I mean, maybe the site is selective about what comments get posted, but I was amazed nonetheless. (I knew it, I just knew crafty people were better somehow...)
I have found some other really cool sites.
(props to Lauren for some of these sites)
Ok.
-Libby
Posted by libbystokes at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2005
Exploding Dog
I like the drawings and illustrations by this web artist-- Sam Brown. They are funny, cute and clever. You can send in sayings or quotes and the artist will create a sort of comic strip frame using the quote. Sounds like a lot of fun. I would like to buy one of the books one day-- they are so colorful and fun, it would be cool just to have on the coffee table to give visitors a laugh.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2005
Arabella
This may be one of the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen.
-Libby
Posted by libbystokes at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)
January 14, 2005
Railroads
I went out the other day looking for some shots for a project I am doing for Digital Photography. Needless to say I didn't find much that I could use, but I found some other cool stuff at these old railroad cars. The graffiti on them was really fun and the pictures are quite colorful (and these have no photoshop adjustments yet).
Then later I was looking for some images of something else online and came across this website of some guys work. One of his collections was pictures from railroad cars as well. I thought it was cool.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 11:57 AM | Comments (1)
December 12, 2004
Sukie
Woh,
I just discovered this website. I love this kind of stuff. I love making books! Ahhh. I am so excited about it. Yay.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2004
Web Design link
I came across this web design company that has done some pretty cool sites. I really liked the feel, colors and style of the sites they do. Plus, most of the artists they design for have links to other sites that are good-- it just keeps on going and going.
A cool site I came across in exploring deeper was Vintage Vantage. They have some pretty funny stuff. Some is sort of iffy and wierd, but generally cool stuff. Not that I even wear vintage shirts, I guess they are just fun.
I still can't figure out how to get the tiling background on this page. It's really annoying-- I feel like i've tried everything. I gotta get the banner smaller-- i decided its just too huge. I think i'll go from 900x300 to 800x200. Or something. Yeah, that's all.
-Libby
Posted by libbystokes at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2004
Eat cows. No, i'm not a vegatarian
This is a piece I did my first year in 2-D design. I like it. It's fun. And no, I'm not a vegetarian. :)
Posted by libbystokes at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2004
Shockwave Portfolio
Check out my Shockwave portfolio site. I wasn't so into the assignment to create a site using Director, but it turned out pretty rad. The drawings of the little people on the site are my favorite-- I saw a random drawing on the table in class one day and I modifed the body and have been obsessed since. Sarah 9 liked the little people too so she draws them all the time too, only with a little round body instead of square. I like them. I should animate them. That would be fun.
-Lib
Posted by libbystokes at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)