...i'm there...

i've done it, i'm there, i've hit the wall...or i am starting to. i just realized as i started this post that the photo i put up in november, me with the headphones, is the same me as sits here today. headphones on, at my desk...four straight months (six really...i just didn't have the headphones in september or october) of sitting, thinking, staring, sketching, painting, listening to music all the time, getting irritated at music, getting new music, not listening to it because i'm not good at committing to new music, listening to audiobooks all the time, getting fussy about audio books, "watching" interweb tv all the time, becoming an interweb tv zombie, getting bored with all of my procrastination tricks. i'm starting to feel a little bleary-eyed.

and don't ask about my studio...because it is a hell hole.
actually, you don't even have to ask...i took a photo. see leonard on the floor...he's not sleeping, he's expressing shame.


but it's good. it's all good. it's character building. and come march...i'm taking some time off, doing a lot of good nothing, writing ridiculous posts and officially setting up my studio.

...don't call it a comeback...

i've been out of the loop. m.i.a. a no show. it's true. i'm busted.

the fact of the matter is is that i have been working my ass off, all the time, around the clock, a slave to my desk. it's hard to prove this as none of my proof will peep its head out of the ground...not for a while at least. all of this is more vague than 20 groundhogs at different points in the country trying to predict the length of winter.

what i can tell you about is my solo show coming up at the end of the month. it's titled "clementine" and it opens on february 28th at art star in philly. i will be there, in attendance, as will be several members of my family and friends. they're all good people. really.

things to look out for:
1. any screening of handmade nation
2. i will never forget you (a group show i am a part of in seattle)
3. more books from me

...daylong downtime...

i'm going to say it...nothing beats a good set of headphones.

i work late at night into the late-late night that some might call the early morning. and because i currently* cohabitate in a multi-leveled, multi-cohabitated building that gets chilly, especially at night, headphones are a necessary item. one reason is for the sake of others who don't want to listen to any of the various media i have going on cranked at 3 a.m. the second reason is that the sound of the space heater poses enough of a challenge for my already challenged sense of hearing.

until today i have only ever used earbuds. either they came with whatever i purchased or they were a quick and cheap replacement for whatever i had just broken. the problem is...everyone knows that after a handful of hours with earbuds the cartilage starts to ache. the bigger problem than that is that i work a lot more than just a handful of hours. i am also stubborn...so i will put up with a good deal of discomfort.

they're no buds of mine. or i should say...they were the buds whose bad behavior i tolerated simply because i would swear in the middle of the night to replace them w/ a decent set of headphones but then balk at the price of fancy pants headphones in the cold, harsh light of day.

but not today. i shut up and put up and i couldn't be happier, right now. in fact, i was so excited about my new headphones that i couldn't think of anything to listen to...i was too overwhelmed by all of the possibilities...of what should come streaming through my new best friends first. i wanted it all to be epic.

i did, infact, sit at my desk with headphones on, hooked into the computer, no music on, smiling. i was just happy with how they kept my ears warm. they're very comforting...unlike those ye olde jerks.

anyhow:

1. craftland teaser
2. our finest hour at my flickr account
3. family book review blog, reviewed: little pea, little hoot


(*unlike my year and a half in seattle in my working hermitude, 600 sq. ft. house to myself, not so many neighbors, much music and movies late into the night that some might call the early morning.)

...i should be painting the middle room...

but i have to say/remark/point out/give out high fives/ and be thankful that places like whimsy & spice exist and that the interweb and all its glory can make it all happen for me. what the hell am i talking about? handmade marshmallows, people. that is what i am talking about.

that and hazelnut chocolate whiskey sandwiches...because if there is anything to know about me it's that i like to put whiskey in just about everything i can. chili...sweet potato homefries...kale...but in a cookie sandwich...that had never occurred to me.

as a follow up to what my brother has been up to in the previous post...more shenanigans.

...our finest hour...

firstly:

"our finest hour" opens up this saturday at grsf. the show features 54 small portraits of small women in large finery. unfortunately, i won't be out for the opening reception...but if you can make it...make it between 6:30 to 10:00. Pieces will be up and available online sometime after opening night...i will give a heads up when it happens.

secondly:

i can't come out to the opening reception of my own show due to all of the creative mayhem going on around here. more books, more craftland, more specifically informative info when it becomes available.

in the meantime....

read deb's take on providence, ri.
take a look at the image i worked on for craftland.
take a gander at my brother's obit project.
look at old people.
read stuff by old people.

i hope to have some rambling posts up sometime soon...that's the thing about this blog lately...too much posting about events, not enough rambling.

...on the road again...

in two days my year+ working hermitage ends and i head back to providence rhode island.

i'll miss seattle, i love it here but i love providence too and all that comes with it. i am also looking to relieve myself of my hermitude. hermitude being the slow and almost imperceptible decline of social skills and a steady rise of my already healthy surliness.

in the meantime...while i am flying out and settling in...here are somethings from me to you:

1. opening in portland: roots to fruits...a group show at together gallery featuring me, apak, justin "scrappers" morrison, amy ruppel, rebecca artemisa uriah, julianna swaney, theo ellsworth, daria tessler and the together family.
   
2. opening in brooklyn: we=trouble...a collaborative show curated by the punks at tiny showcase at secret project robot gallery. i teamed up with my brother on a project to end all projects. opening reception is on september 6th, 2-10 pm featuring bands, art and mayhem.
3. september is the release of my latest children's book hansel and gretel. rewritten by cynthia rylant it's a project i was honored and excited to work on.
4. november 15th is an upcoming/impending with giant robot san francisco. more info will come down the pipeline sometime soon.
5. also, i have added some process images to my flickr account...some before and afters for hansel and gretel, a peek into the individual piece that i am turning in for we=trouble oh, and i guess i will post the images that are in roots to fruits. why not.

...trubs...

This here up above image is hard to read...so let me tell you what it says...it says that me and my brother plus a lot of other people are involved in a group show curated by Tiny Showcase. It opens up on September 6th at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn. What it also says, if you are good at reading between the lines, is that the Coraces are going to bring some serious whoop ass to the doorstep of Senor Thibodeau and Senorita Dormody. It's on!