...blerg...

it's finally happened. i've been called out on never updating any of my anythings.

this sad sad blog hasn't been touched in over two years. two years! so much has happened in two years. so much! and what's sadder than this sad sad blog is my sadder than sad, bluer than blue portfolio site.

on the one hand, there is this culture where people are posting stuff all the time. every day. multiple times a day. all the time, every day, multiple times a day on several different platforms. and it's great. ok, maybe 10% is great. 2% is phenomenal. and the rest is just noise.

i feel like i fell into the noise.

and not necessarily the noise of putting everything out there all the time, but the trying to attempt being several places at once on the internet and in my own life. and as a person who more resembles an outgoing hermit when i get overwhelmed i shut down. i just stop.

it's that and i've been crazy busy. crazy busy then crazy lazy.

that being said...

i am here now.
i may stay here, at this current blog, but tumblr somehow feels better on the brain. if someone could explain why to me, that would be super. i was going to post more today, but my scanner shit the bed. so...until that gets resolved...

also, i'm a part of this.
i can't wait to see it. julia, matt and jenny did an amazing job on 'the exquisite book'. i can't wait to get my hands on this one.


and really, none of this really matters. what matters right now is what is unfolding in japan. i reeled from that for a few days. some good places to put your money:

there is this.
and this.
and this!

and if you are the type that is all 'i don't need something for my donation' or 'i have far too much stuff as it is' there's the good 'ol red cross.

...coffee sippin, animation swillin...

i love this. i love love love this.

...there once was a lady from nantucket...

which is where you can find me and leonard these days. well, at least for one more week when my artist residency ends. i'm shaking quakers out of the rafters around here, getting ready to start a new body of work...that and drawing for the fun of it, which is crazy.

until then...if you are in/around/about los angeles this weekend, there is this. i have a piece in it, and there are many many other amazing pieces that are apart of this gargantuan show.

...i'm getting kinder country all over my keyboard...

right now i am sitting in craftland waiting for artists and watching paint dry.

i got a text from deb last night who, while painting away in craftland, said that michael corrente poked his head in and said how excited he was that we would be opening up as a year-round store.

my response? 'hrm'

i was at home, collapsed on the couch...collapsed from working on the store that day and from my full serving of humidity, and i read her text and i thought 'hrmmm.' but in actuality it was more like a 'humpf!'

i thought about it moments later...wondered why i held some sort of subterranean grudge against a film maker that, on a day to day basis, i feel ambivalent about. and it occurred to me...well, it occurred to me this afternoon, not that i have been thinking about it for so hard or so long. no, it occurred to me today that, subterraneanly, i blame michael corrente for keeping me apart from my birthday twin, justine bateman.

see, a long time ago i worked at a gift store...a gift store where i first met deb dormody, which has little or nothing to do with this specific story, it's just information. i'm giving it out for free today. anyhow, the aforementioned store was selected by michael corrente himself, aka a location scout acting by proxy for mr. corrente, as a location for a scene in the movie.

i can't remember the ramifications of the situation, if we stayed open, if regularly scheduled workers had to show up, but i remember the lights being off in the store and i remember being bummed beforehand about the hassle of having to work around a film crew. that is until i was told that justine bateman was in the movie and that she was scheduled to be there that very day.

see, a long time ago, much longer before this time, my mind was blown that other people had the same birthday as you. it's a simple concept if you give it two seconds to think about the bajillion people in the world, but i didn't think about practical things. so, i'm super young, i'm grasping at the idea that not only regular joes have my birthday but famous people do too. famous people! which is when i discovered that justine bateman...along with copernicus, carson mccullers, smokey robinson, brancusi, steven nichols (patch from days of our lives! what!), seal, and benecio del toro...had the same birthday as me.

mallory. mallory and me. me and mallory.

i would sit and wonder how much we might be alike. we would get the same jokes and agree on really subtle things. she would just 'get' me. oh eight year old me.

so fourteen or fifteen years later this opportunity gets dangled in front of my face...to meet my birthday twin. while i am a relatively sane adult, the second grader in me sprang forth and tried to figure out what i'd say, how i'd try to play it cool and matter of fact that we have this one awesome thing in common...tying us together through the universe...through time even. it was going to go so smoothly.

(side note: in spite of being a relatively sane adult, there wasn't a part of me that didn't think that justine bateman wouldn't be impressed. it never crossed my mind.)

the big day came. there were trailers outside. large cables coming in and out of the store...as if we had it hooked up to life support. we, the workers who volunteered to be there that day, had to be quiet. i was maybe two hours into quietly hanging around in the dark, eagerly but nonchalantly looking around for my twin, when it was broken to me that justine wasn't coming in to the shoot. i can't even remember why. i think i stopped hearing for a few seconds.

while it probably has nothing to do with michael corrente there is no way i could put it on justine bateman. twins just don't do that to other twins...unless she's the evil birthday twin. hmmmm...

...pvd to nyc...

a thing to know about me is that i love clouds. it's a serious problem...even more so now that i live on the east coast where clouds do not reach the epic, constant and ever-changing menagerie of the clouds in the pacific northwest. flying back into providence in september, looking out the window of the plane i sourly thought to myself...'look at them. they look like mashed potatoes squatting on plexiglas. harumph.'

this past friday i traveled down to brooklyn for my brother's going away party. it was the shortest, longest trip i have taken in awhile. you know...the kind where in less than 36 hours you descend upon a city, cram a late night and a full day of activity down your socialization hole, and swoop back out with a dazed and slimy feeling. it was a great time.

the east coast, weather-wise, has been bombarded with weeks-on-end, flat grey skies and rain. it's making a lot of people around here cranky. not so much me, i like grey weather, but i keep my mouth shut.

anyhow, on the bus ride down i got to experience this panorama of weather that formed and broke up as i traveled south. the biggest bonus: mammatus clouds (second photo from the bottom). i have a barometric crush on them, but have never seen them in person. they occur when the worst of a thunderstorm has passed. i quietly freaked out on the bus.

...playlist...

songs stuck in my head today in order of appearance:

1. 'bret you've got it going on'...flight of the conchords; more specifically the line "that's the conclusion that i've come to, but that doesn't mean that i wanna bum you." over and over again. if you don't know what i mean...here.

2. 'maybe'...from annie; more specifically from "betcha he reads, betcha she sews" to " don't really care as long as they're mine." over and over in my head on a bike, how grossly twee is that? here.

3. 'nikita'...by elton john...which is unexplainable. but later on turned into 'la lupita' as that is where me and folks had dinner tonight. here.


currently and all day i have been transferring files from an old laptop to a new laptop...which is a long and non-elegant process.

WHOA...UPDATE:
i have never watched the 'nikita' video before...what is elton john bowling in?

...sneak peeks of future tuesdays...

all i am going to say, is that come next tuesday you're gonna want to be here, 7 ish, eastern standard time.

...i tried to learn the drums, i tried to learn guitar, but it was my brother who tried to teach me, so i didn't get very far...

friends of mine and friends of friends of mine are organizing girls rock ri...a rock camp for girls and women in the state of rhode island. hrm...imagine that i wrote a more stunning an non repetitive/overly self explanator second half of the first sentence.

anyhow, girls rock ri (grr) is being created as part of an already existing and growing network of similar camps across the country. in a nutshell, over usually a week-long period girls and women are instructed by women how to play an instrument, the members of the camp break into bands and at the end of their time at camp they perform a gig. it's an amazing experience where chicks get to come together, focus on being awesome as chicks, get some learn on, meet some new faces in a a women-run, supportive environment.

are you excited? i'm excited. i'm excited about two things:

one: deb, shea and i have been tossing around the idea of a three drummered band. none of us has any for sure drumming experience...but judging by our air-drum styles it promises to be a very eclectic experience.

two: new artwork (peek above and below) for the grr fundraiser this saturday at machines with magnets in pawtucket. so, if you are in new england/rhode island/pawtucket (aka the bucket) this weekend and you're hankering for some art and music, machines with magnets will be the place to be.




random bits i'm excited about, in no particular order:
bike rides, especially in groups
providence pretending to be seattle
leonard
well made brunches

...hiding in plain sight...

presenting, my studio...cleaner than before.

i'm checking in to let you in on one thing and one thing only...limited editon prints of selected images are available over at art star. check them out. here.

other than that, i'm hiding from the sun. i'm a champion of cloudy, overcast, drizzly, snowy, and all around cozy on the inside days.

...bizzaro jen...

who are you other me?

to be sure, we live very different lives. for instance...you know how to put on make up.
do you ever google yourself, find me and find yourself equally as shocked?

...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!

...grny...

sooooooo...i am going to have a few pieces in the upcoming group show at grny. it's called 'crocodile tears', it opens up on july 19th and gaggles of exponentially talented artists are also involved. if you are in the area you should go and check it out.

another thing you should check out...all the art work for the upcoming fundraiser for handmade nation documentary. the silent auction is also on the 19th...so if you are stuck on the west coast and are all 'damn', i wanna go to the grny show', cheer up! there's plenty of artists and artwork to ogle at on your side of the country.

also, this sunday there will be a feature on me over at seven impossible things before breakfast.

...hot hot hot...

three prints of mine are now available over at art star. i'm just sayin'.

...all the sound is trapped in my head...

so...i can't hear for crap.

well, truth be told, hearing has never been a gold medal event for me...but these days in particular, the last three weeks, have been something. and that something is a whole lot of nothing. it's like i have a huge wad of wet cotton balls jammed up in my head. i do fine with an individual talking directly and clearly to me. headphones are particularly useful. but for the most part i am getting a lot of charlie brown adult feedback.

'whuh whuh whuaaa. whu whaa wnhuuu.'

most likely, and hopefully, it is just allergies. i have run of the mill seasonal allergies. this year seems like a particularly harrowing year, and it seems as if my allergies have been attacking in stages.

in march i had terrible sinus problems. april was watery, goopy eyes. may is dedicated to my ears. none of the symptoms have mixed...which i guess i should be thankful for. that this is all not setting upon me at once. i was just thinking the other day....while not hearing anything...that it hadn't been too long ago that i wanted to tear my eyeballs out and isn't a relief that i am not continually putting hot compresses on my eyes.

progress. i suppose.

the thing is is that losing the majority of my hearing has been particularly frustrating. part of it is that i have been allergy-sick for so long now that i just want to be done. i want it to be over but this pollen abyss known as the northwest keeps smacking me down. the other part of it is that besides all the small sounds that i am missing...the sound of the keyboard, leonard's constant noise making face, cooking sounds, just the general atmospheric sound of being in a place and not a vacuum...i am stuck with the dulled sounds inside my head. i listen to my heart all day...which may sound poetic or some sort of nonsense like that, but it's really unnerving after awhile. not 'the tell tale heart' unnerving...just always present, in an ultrasound sort of way. and then there's the chewing...god the chewing! abominable. and my voice...my stunted, blobby voice trapped in my head b/c i can't really hear it come out of my mouth.

ear problems cause me anxiety...more so than eye problems. they make me revisit my childhood with my chronic ear infections, hospital visits and surgeries. it was a routine...loss of hearing, doctor's visit, ear specialist visit, tubes in the eardrums, spending hours in the hopspital afterwards sick on anesthesia, fittings for earplugs, and day after day after day of eardrops. i hated it. i did everything to avoid starting up the doctor cycle. when the deafness set in i took up lip reading. but as crafty as i was my mom was craftier. there must have come a time when she saw me staring intently at her as she spoke. she would turn around, away from me, and would ask me a question. when i wouldn't reply...bam! a call to dr. houser.

so, i am crossing my fingers that it doesn't come to that...the ye olde days of tubes and drops.

i've been to a doctor. it took some doing on my part...some will to bend away from the anxiety. she prescribed nasonex. i balked at first...not because i would be snorting steroids but because of the ad campaign for nasonex. you know the ones i am talking about...a third rate cgi, antonio banderas-sounding bee flies around suffering third rate cgi, allergy afflicted people while silkily talking about the wonders of nasonex. anyhow, i am on nasonex. and zyrtec, and am using my neti pot and seeing my acupuncturist every other day. i've called out the guards on this one.