I live near a fairly affluent area with generations of rich teenagers and retirees. This means that Good Stuff appears in my local thrift stores. For the past few years, I’ve been collecting interesting fabric hats, with an eye to adapting them into gonzo wearable art pieces. The second* fiber art project of 2019 involves…
Read More First look: Dieselpunk ValkyrieI didn’t stop making book art sculptures in 2018. I just held off documenting them on this blog for a while, mostly for time constraints. Rocketship 1 -5 2.75×1.75×1.5” See more here: http://www.cranehanabooks.com/blog/2017/12/18/rocketship-fiber-art-books/ This edition of five accordion-fold books celebrates the (first?) Space Race, that of the 1950s and 1960s. Six pages, with title and colophon on…
Read More 2018 Book Arts & Text-Based ArtThis amazing show turns 50 years old this season. A cornerstone of Tempe civic pride since 1968, the Tempe Festival of the Arts has had all the usual ups, downs, and sideways distractions of big regional art fairs. If you’re in the Tempe AZ area this upcoming weekend (Nov 30-Dec 2, 2018), stop by Mill…
Read More Tempe Festival of the Arts: Fall 2018How many times have we heard ‘Money doesn’t buy happiness’? At best that’s a warning to value the non-financial things in life. At worst, it’s a ploy to convince poor people to be content with their lot. Money *can* buy opportunity, or the chance to maximize opportunity. It can buy time. Fox mouthpieces mocked Alexandra…
Read More Art On A Kitchen TableThis single strand necklace: Just became this multi-strand freeform necklace, with the addition of two more chains interwoven with the first. There might be some more orange beaded flowers, but it’s mostly finished. Maybe. This is what happens when I don’t get rid of art projects: they get rebooted. Happy Halloween!
Read More Orange Orchids (rebooted)On an amble through an Arizona art cooperative, I found an emerging artist’s gallery offering hand-embroidered clothing. ‘Cool!’ I thought, stepping close enough to see details. I am a sucker for embroidered clothes. ‘Awww, dammit,’ I thought next. The stitches were large and roughly spaced, an effect probably meant to be charming and rustic to…
Read More Economics and Hand-embroideryThis falls under ‘book arts and text-based art’, so I’m including it here. It’s one of the loveliest and most wistful art pieces I’ve seen recently. It also launches me into an art rant, so be forewarned. Irish fabric artist and writer Heather Richardson memorializes Kathleen Hutchinson, the aunt she never met, who died as a…
Read More A Dress For Kathleen: a stitched memorialA new pretty done in record time (for me): just a little over a month from concept, research, design, and sewing. This, while dealing with a health issue in my family and a new job. Just put the last beads on the tassels and edges today! This book measures 5″x5″x2″, with eight double-sided fabric pages…
Read More Book Art: Copper StarI’m making a hatband for a friend who just moved back to New Zealand this year. The hatband is going onto a very nice black felt cowboy hat said friend found in Goodwill. If I were demented enough to make more of these, I’d charge around $300 for the finished product. I am being paid…
Read More Alexander Hatband (in progress)Thanks to the wonders of random number generators, we have our winners for the book and jewelry giveaway, celebrating the debut month of my fantasy novel THE PURIST. The two formal runners-up are Green Dragon Artist and Stephanie D. You get a choice of THE PURIST in the ebook formats of Mobi or EPub. (If…
Read More Book and Jewelry Giveaway Winners!I’m vain enough to be really happy about this review of my book art. Especially when *someone else* gets why I make art in the first place. Especially when this comes from ASU, which has an incredible group of book artists. Here’s a bigger shot of ‘Twilight Arc’.
Read More Book Art Review!To celebrate some really good news, I’m keeping the book and jewelry giveaway open until midnight MST on Friday September 7. Scroll down these posts until you reach my PURIST giveaway post. Or go here. Add a comment to be eligible for entry. Two winners will get their format choice of a PURIST ebook, while…
Read More Book giveaway extended!Four tiny (about .75″ high) Arizona landscapes handpainted onto heavy canvas, then beaded. The beads are mostly #14 and #15 glass seed beads, with a few larger seed beads used for texture. The smaller beads are under 1 millimeter in size. The two panels at the top are mostly done, while I still have the…
Read More Scenes from a HatbandThank you to all the people who have purchased THE PURIST directly from NineStar Press, or from Kobo, Smashwords, and all the other non-Amazon platforms. Yeah, sure, you can buy it on Amazon, too. But if you do want to read this book, please consider buying directly. It helps my publisher and helps me! I…
Read More The Purist mini blurbWhen I finally settle on another online store, this reworked piece is probably going up for sale. ‘Enamel Flame Pendant’ is a 17.75″ tiger-eye and green aventurine necklace with an elaborately cast .925 sterling silver hook clasp, .925 Balinese sterling silver accent beads, and an original .925 sterling silver jointed pendant by yours truly, circa…
Read More Enamel Flame Pendant (reboot)It’s Thursday 2 August 2018, and that means we’re getting closer to The Purist being available for general purchase from www.ninestarpress.com and other vendors. To celebrate (and calm my nerves a bit), I’m setting up a giveaway on this blog. What is this book? Learn more here. Rules are simple: From today until 3 September…
Read More The Purist Launch Party and GiveawayAll five of these little beasts are done: pages sewn together, accordion folds sewn into place, covers attached, and flannel-lined storage bags completed. I discuss these books more here. Each ended up when closed 7.25×5.25″, about the size of a paperback book. They open to 7.25×50″. There are over sixty patriotic fabric appliques sewn into…
Read More ‘The Truth Remains’: finished!In addition to the lovely cover, we now have a blurb and pre-order links. The Purist
Read More Purist blurb!Here is the final cover for my 103K fantasy novel THE PURIST, due from NineStar Press on August 6, 2018.
Read More ‘The Purist’ coverIn a little less than a month, I will be able to aim you lovely people at buy links for THE PURIST, my upcoming fantasy novel from NineStar Press. I’ve seen the final cover version. It rocks. It rocks so damn hard, in fact, that it could comfortably fit into the catalog of any of…
Read More Purist countdown!