seriously, i cannot get enough of the shakeit application - everything looks better when shooken ;) i tried to resist the siren lure of the iphone, i did until my phone finally died this past summer & then i had to give up trusty ole verizon (which, in reality, i was going to switch to credo when that time came because they are an awesome company - drat apple for having an exclusive contract with crappy at&t) & make the switch.
but i am truly in love with my iphone, aka 'my precious' ;)
& the shakeit app? the deal. the only app i've paid for so far!
when art or film move me (which, quite honestly, is not hard to do - my sappy self is stirred easily) it makes my heart expand into that space & fill up :) this piece is one of those times:
i hardly ever get massages. i always tell myself to treat myself to them - i love having them, but in reality, i can never justify the money to pay someone. i wish i did. i wish i could. i've always said, if i had a never ending supply of $$ i would pay for weekly massages & someone to clean my place :)
i have never been one to dance in a communal setting - on my own, in my home, i can shake my bootie for sure. or at a concert, i love to get down - but never think i actually *can* if you know what i mean. i never have considered myself adept at co-ordination or movement like what is required in dance. *however* in the past 2 years i have started to take dance lessons (not like, formal dance or the box step - no, no) i have been taking these fusion classes of hip hop, brazilian, african, haitian & a tiny bit of modern -- and i L.O.V.E. it! i've always wanted to move my body like that & even though i'm still quite UN-adept, i love it. it makes me happy. so, like lykke li says, "dance dance dance -- i was a dancer all along" i like to think i was a dancer all along, & in my 30's actually discovered that :)
ps - lyrics to 'dance, dance, dance' so appropriate :)
Having troubles telling how I feel But I can dance, dance and dance Couldn't possibly tell you how I mean But I can dance, dance, dance So when I trip on my feet Look at the beat The words are, written in the sand When I'm shaking my hips Look for the swing The words are, written in the air Dance I was a dancer all along Dance, dance, dance Words can never make up for what you do Easy conversations, there's no such thing No I'm shy, shy, shy My hips they lie 'cause in reality I'm shy, shy, shy But when I trip on my feet Look at the ground The words are, written in the dust When I'm shaking my hips Look for the swing The words are written in the air Dance I was a dancer all along Dance, dance, dance Words can never make up for what you do Dance, dance, dance
i metthesethree diana, mati & shash (& a few other dearladyfriends) through blogging. i would not necessarily have met them & been included in this amazing bay area art community of women had it not been for our blogs. i count myself lucky to have made an effort to seek them out & force them to by my friend - hee hee!
i will miss them this summer while i am out traipsing the country!
pretty self explanatory; who doesn't like them? double sitings are even better & i feel like this past year i've seen at least 6 double rainbows. they make me take a deep breath & mentally check myself & tell little me, you are okay, everything is fine, all will be well :)
well, i fell in love with paris. i didn't really know if i would. i had plenty of friends tell me they thought parisians were stuck up, not nice, & generally did not enjoy themselves in france. quite the contrary for me. i went for the first time in 2007, and then last year for longer. i spoke the tiny bit of french i know both times (which really is small -- enough to order, read some, get the general gist of things & ask for directions) -- everyone spoke back to me in french which i took as a high compliment. & everyone was nice to us.
i love paris. the mister told me the last time we breezed through (we had a quick 8 hour stop over from berlin to london) that i smile differently when i hit the streets of paris :) i think that's lovely - to think a certain space moves me in a particular way that it's physically noticeable.
i could wax on for a long time as to why paris is special...but really, does there need to be any other reason other than to die for eclairs? (allll the food really) -- or, because their simple baguettes, for .90 euros are so incredibly yummy.... le sigh. i have my eye on 2011 to go again. hopefully, it will happen!
ps - i just watched paris the movie with juliette binoche & thought it was great. my other all time favorite is "2 days in paris" - with julie delpy. it is seriously hilarious. (oh, well, i have to mention french kiss too, love that meg & kevin)
i love my holga camera(s). my mister taught me to shoot them way back in 1997 - i took a class with him for a wandering walkabout with the holga. i gave her a vacation for a long time, but i pulled her back out recently & i've been shooting again with her. she's super fun, unpredictable, & you can get pretty fabulous lovely accidents that occur.
i'm bringing her this summer on our travels & i know she'll travel well with me & capture some good stuff for me!
dixie, dixie loo, dixie loo loo, dixie noodle, dixie cricket, dixie pixie -- she is my favorite doggie - not my first, i've had many, but she's the crazy shelter pup dog of my heart. she's our southern belle baby for sure since we don't have any human ones! right now i'm laid up in bed with a pulled shoulder muscle & normally she is my bedside companion during sick bed days - alas, she is roaming the country with my mister in the grey ghost vw bus until i catch up with them in early june. i'm on my own, & it is sad indeed to not have her with me!
she makes us laugh, drives us crazy, is exasperating, loving, is incredibly dependent on us (she has separation anxiety in the worst way), & we love her to death. our neighbors all love her too; she's the hallway monitor in our building.
she's 8-ish & she's the best & i wish she was laying in bed with me right now!
the renegade craft fair has a bit of a tradition with having marching bands play at their events. the first one i heard was at the SF fair & this band mucca pazza from chicago - they were amazing - with crazy cheer leaders & awesome outfits. this one in austin was the minor mishap marching band & they were pretty swell too. who doesn't want to get up, get down, shake your bootie & march along with a marching band in stripey socks & killer outfits?!
ps - i have video, & if i can figure out how to upload a long one to youtube or fb or flickr, i will :)
home again home again, la dee dah. so happy to be home. i love san francisco. LOVE it & when a city makes you grin like silly upon return, you know you are h.o.m.e. yes, i'm home alone, yes, i left my mister & sweet pup in austin, but i'm home. and that makes me so happy. this song by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros defines home as being with the one you love, and that is entirely true too. i am happy to be home in all regards :)
The heat of long southern days kicks my ass. but the cooled down still warm summer eves of skirts & tank tops are pretty amazing. i don't get to experience them much anymore but being here in Austin has been js fabulous to get that reward after a long hot exhausting day.
like honky tonk swing gypsy bass & fiddle playing, cowboy boot & skirt & fancy stocking wearing - low down sweet voiced southern twangy drawl kinda music that shows up to play a set at your craft/art fair that you are vending at.
for realz, i'm a gal that needs her beauty sleep - i've been on a renegade craft fair frenzy & I have not been getting near enough zzzz's. i'm also i'm in austin tx for this first show - limited internets & no segue btwn my Flickr & blog to post photos via my fancy precious iPhone - so my faves will be written for the next coupla days & sans visuals :(
aka "jen & tonics" around our house. hendrick's gin, extra, extra lime, 3/4 tonic (a good tonic with cane sugar, not corn syrup), 1/4 bubby water - sometimes a squeeze of meyer lemon too - drink up! you'll find me drinking these all year round. yes, i am a southern girl at heart in some ways. i canNOT wait to be drinking some g&t's with friends down in the southeast this summer :)
i could write a book about why. quite simply, he makes my world go around, even when i'm cranky, when i'm mad at him, when i don't like him -- i love him in the end the most. he's my favorite person.
i really didn't need another thing on my life plate, but i'm excited nonetheless that my mister & me have begun a home based art exhibition space, project sprout gallery. this is my friend shash & me on the opening day of our second show in the gallery. my mister built all the walls & we clear out our daily lives to make room to show work.
we were involved in a co-op art space, wonder gallery, back east in virginia for 4 years from 97-01 & it feels really good to be back in that art showing community again. it's sort of a selfish endeavor because i want to get back to making more art work & less product based work & move my business in a bit of different direction. on that end, both shows so far have been collaborative based between myself & another female artist from the bay area. i hope to continue with some more collabs & i have my eye on doing a west coast lady art show that i curate as well...exciting new endeavors definitely make my heart beat faster :)
perhaps sometime you'll join us for an opening? our next one is scheduled for the sunday of labor day weekend - my mister will be showing a huge collection he's been working on & 2 other artist friends will be showing photographs & there is chatter of a big band playing too?! it will be fun, no doubt - mark your calendars!
really simple. i love these. i love what they look like on the rolling california horizon. an instant fave when i moved out here in 2001. i remember the first time i saw them. i love the power & movement & silouhette.
i used to have this cut way back when, i loved it, i bleached it, dyed it, had that cut for at least 3-4 years. i moved out here & it was crazy expensive to keep it looking good so i grew it all out. i have since found someone who knows how to cut short hair (which is half the battle) - she did an awesome job. i'll be back east this summer & dying from heat stroke, so now i have one less thing to worry about! i love this cut, so free-ing. yay!
"all, everything that i understand, i understand only because i love. everything is, everything exists, only because i love. everything is united by it alone. love is god, and to die means that i, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source." -- leo tolstoy
& particularly poignant for me right now as i struggle with with far left, far right & no middle ground with some people in my life, i am trying to hold on to this thought & get myself there:
"out beyond ideas of wrongdoing & rightdoing there is a field. i'll meet you there." -- rumi
i love me some old school b&w photobooths (they are called photoautomats in europe). this past summer the mister & me spent two months wandering around europe & we had a mission to find these. london, paris, & berlin (oh swoooooon the ones in berlin!!) all delivered. we went a little nutty; we spent a lot of euros in those little beauties. we discovered ones that came out horizontally & ones that were square! more jems of photo strips are in my flickr stream :)
i love my job & feel insanely lucky sometimes to be able to do something that i really do love (& never thought i'd be doing). yes, sometimes they drive me to distraction, but ultimately, being able to share my excitement, love, & passion for the visual arts is super rewarding. i teach K-8, so i see them all from 5 years old, like this favorite kiddo of mine, to 14 years old -- & i've taught long enough now to see a full revolution of kids go through. i love that i am friends with several students who are now in high school and college. i love that when they leave me they will know about contemporary modern artists.
what really makes my heart beat faster? having the older ones talk to me about what they've seen, how it makes them feel, how they want to make their own & continue to make art & look at art when they move on to high school. how they have seen & recognized work & artists when they've been out & about or at museums - this is one of my penulitmate moments, when i know they get it, when i know they see that i'm trying to teach them & show them an exciting world around them -- that they can participate in it & be involved in. both as spectator & as do-er.
i could wax for a long time about this subject. suffice to say, i am a blessed person to be able to do what i do.
there are lots more photos on my flickr stream if you'd like to go take a peek at my latest huge art show i put on :)
the west coast beach & shore line. i cannot get enough of it. it is wild, gorgeous, breathtaking, full of treasures (heart rocks!) & it always, always does my soul good when we get out on the beautiful ocean scape to just let the eyes wander. i've been all the way north into canada & all the way south to baja into mexico. it is amazing all the way, i have a soft spot for northern california (obviously) but i am equally smitten with the oregon coast. if you have never been, it should be on your list of to do's soon! drive from the north to the south so you can be on the outside lane, & preferably, in a vw camper bus ;)
what makes the heart beat faster? becoming bewitched by more vintage goodness than one can feast the eyes on at a flea market. & dreaming about all the homes i might outfit with all the amazing finds!
am jumping in here loosey goosey like with some other blogger ladies & a may project of favorite things that make the heart beat faster.
first up, tea time. specifically, tea time in a beautiful handmade mug by a friend with a vintage saucer to go with it. all favorite things!
i drink tea each morning & i have a home tea drawer & work tea drawer that is stocked quite well. i love my morning ritual of watching the tea leaves unfold & smelling the tea unfold into the air in the a.m. good stuff. favorite stuff.
we'll see if i can keep up with 30 some odd may fave's :)
today we are 9. on a friday in april of 2001 we had decided a courthouse date was in order. we didn't tell anyone, we didn't call the parents. we secretly worked on blessing invitations for later in june with the thought that we would drop them in the mail later that day announcing our little rendezvous with the courthouse.
we thought we needed a witness so we had flown in our dear friend jb from colorado to be that for us. alas, we didn't need one, but we were happy to have him with us anyways, especially since we didn't let on what we were doing that morning... 'hey john, ya wanna go for a bike ride with us?' he very dutifully snapped some photos for us while we ate at the donut dinette to celebrate the morning ride. then we were off biking along the water over to the courthouse. the mister rode me on his handlebars & i was in my daisy flip flops & vintage dress & he was in his flops & shorts. it was a beautiful spring day!
we had this super duper old man -- mr. tonnelson - marry us. he'd been marrying navy couples FORever in norfolk, virginia. he carried his little typewriter with him into the room, laboriously typed our names on a little yellow sticky & stuck it over where "do you, *jenifer* (insert yellow sticky here) take..." & then we exchanged plastic crown shaped candy colored rings from the 25 cent bubble gum machine with each other. john, wanting to be the perfect wedding host, bought us our 'wedding cake' -- a honeybun from the vending machine down the hallway :)
afterwards we biked back around norfolk, shot some photos at some iconic places (in front of huge navy ships & statues) & had a pizza & drink at a local greek pizza joint, orapax, where the waitresses are never very nice to you & they blast crazy greek music out into the hood. we three ended up back at our apartment all napping in one bed together. nice honeymoon right? i got to sleep with two men ;)
we popped the invites for our blessing backyard party for later in june in the mail thinking everyone would find out on monday, but, the ultra efficient norfolk post delivered a lot of them on saturday. i had taken a line from a.a. milne's book, now we are six, and typed 'now that we are five'...with a little request for people to come celebrate with us on the invites. needless to say, we received lots of messages on our machine inquiring as to whether we had just gotten hitched or not.
thus, we had to go find the parentals the next morning & tell all so they didn't find out from someone else.
that summer was crazy: blessing ceremonies, broken ankles, quit jobs, graduate school, move across the country to SF... all stories for another day :)
happy anniversary mister, hope we get 9x9 more :) xxx.
reminder that our 2nd exhibition in the project sprout gallery "graft | structure" is opening this saturday, april 24th from 6-9 pm. we will also have a closing on sunday, may 9, from 2-5pm if you cannot make the opening. we are also open via appointment, so give us a shout in the between time if you are unable to make the opening or closing :)
myself, jenifer lake :) & kerstin svendsen will be showing botanical based pieces. mine are folklore about medicinal plants & dogpatch history & kerstin is showing sewn leaf pieces & watercolors. our necklace collaborations (shown below) will also be available at the show!
please come see us & spread the word, we would love to see you!
kerstin svendsen is our april lady - she has two gorgeous watercolor options for you. sprout studio & one artist collaborate each month to create lovely glass piece necklaces. scoop yours up here: april pretty
pass along the loveliness; i'm sure some special mama's out there might like one of these for mother's day :)
the mister skates; here's a rad little vid that a friend of his made. he runs a cool little skate co, the soliarty arts. it's a great little music riff too :) check it out!
i never tire of the coast; ever. it is so beautiful, no matter the weather. we camped a few nights in big sur & then a little further south this past week - it was fantastic weather & we got some "do nothing" time in. back to work tomorrow & the ever growing to do list!
...this is from last year's spring break & our cross country in 8 days trip -- we aren't going coast to coast this year, but we are heading out in our beloved ruby-nell 78 bus for some coastal camping. see you later loves! have a good week :)
march is the anniversary month & today is the last day to get your free shipping on @ my sprout studio etsy shop &, the last day to get 25% (hello! yes, 25%) off at my regular sprout studio site with the code "six" in the checkout discount box!
quick teaser; more details coming -- april 24th, my next collaborative show in our project sprout gallery with kerstin svendsen. 6-9 pm, 900 tennessee st. come on out!
have you heard about the 3/50 project? it's about sustaining the local economy & keeping all those rad, tiny, independent businesses going -- a worthy project indeed. check them out, think about your purchases & how they support whom - let's keep those indie peeps in business okay? :)
happy monday!
ps - it's also meat free monday!! go veg for at least a day - you'll feel better on so many different levels!
you, smiling person that you are, should go add your beaming, grinning, beautiful face to this project that yoko ono is doing. you probably know by now that i love yoko & once again, she has embarked on a beautiful gesture piece. share in the good feeling smile vibes & add to her flickr pool & film.
if you are still feeling the smile pull, you can go do this smile piece as well by y.o. --
SMILE PIECE by Yoko Ono
Send a smile to your friend so he/she can smile, too.
Think of a way to do it.
You could send a photo that says 'smile', or a picture, a story, or a piece of pie, but specify that it's a smile you're passing on.
Ask him/her to do the same: to pass on the 'smile' in his/her own way.
i love renegade. i really do. my friend christine & i decided this year that we would try to do almost all of the renegade craft fairs. they are consistently our best shows; our customers rock the fair for us & we really do have a good time! we decided to splitsy on our booths because we share really well :) we love each other, we can save money, and our mister's like each other too!
so far we are definitely in the austin renegade & the brooklyn renegade! we will be flying to both of these places & setting up shop (more like camp!) & hopefully having fantastically fabulous shows!
we are hoping to get into l.a. (she lives there) & sf (i obviously live here) & then, i'm hoping to do the holiday sf one with a local artist gal.
mark your calendars fine folks - i'm excited to do austin as it will be brand new people to see, and brooklyn, my ole fave (& my inaugural splash into the craft scene 5 years ago) i look forward to seeing all you peeps too!
cross your fingers for us for l.a. & for sf!
yay renegade!!
oh ps - i put the renegade handmade logo down there too because my sprout studio goodies are in their chicago shop - & if i could swing the chicago show i would. i love chicago people!
i L.O.V.E. this spontaneous public performance stuff. this one, is beautiful. yes, i am a *huge* fan of the sound of music, so it's even better. check it out!
i like this story that yoko ono shares about the lighter that john misplaced. we went to see her about 2 weeks ago as the headliner for the noise pop fest here. she played the fox theatre in oakland - seriously beautiful place i had not been to before. what i was most hoping for, was a tiny flashlight to perform her onochord with; and i got my wish. it's one of my favorite pieces of hers. each seat had a tiny flashlight to spread love with - "i love you" in flash light bursts - i ii iii - so perfect. she's amazing & a powerhouse of a performance artist. i just showed some of her work to my 8th grade students prior to the show & while they kind of laughed, they also respected it. it was rewarding to come back and tell them on the heels of sharing of her work with them, about seeing her in person and how beautiful it was to see the fox theatre lit up with onochord love flashes! one of my prouder moments was when i attended the 8th grade retreat last weekend (yes, completely and utterly sick) & one of my students came up to me with her flashlight for the night hike they were going on and flashed me the onochord - i, ii, iii - & it almost made me teary. sometimes, my job is simply awesome.
...seems to be all about dashed hopes & broken hearts :( i don't know if you, dear reader, have had the opportunity to go home searching. i think it's another world all together when looking with a miniscule budget in the bay area, and specifically, in san francisco proper. we've been looking for just under a year & fit ourselves into about 4 homes at this point, just to have something go not according to plan! & by "fit ourselves into" i mean, these would not be homes that we would necessarily choose in the least (read - crappy little homes), but being budget challenged as we are, we figure out how it would work -- as dreamers, schemers & idealists, we try to make that home fit us because we have what we think it takes to transform something into a little jewel of what we want.
so far, the bay area does not agree with us. it's positively disheartening to dream oneself into a home & then have it taken away because, a - they aren't taking bids anymore on that home, or, b - that home actually is off the market (even though it's listed as active), or, c - the home is not worth all the work you want to put into it, or, d - that home with TWO clawfoot tubs, (yes, two, sigh!!) would actually have to have a hazmat team come in to determine what's been going on in the basement while it's been vacant lo all these years.
this is to say, yesterday, we leapt our little hearts & minds into this home in bayview, with views of bernal heights & twin peaks from the front & a little smidgie view of the golden gate bridge (!!!) from the back. we let it wiggle it's way in & then, just when it had a hold on us, and i could see my future in it's doorway, we get the email telling us it's not a go at all, no more bids are being taken on this home. yes, i cried. yes, i have a head cold to beat all head colds right now which makes negative news worse & i can barely breathe with this cold as it is. yes, i should not have cried because then i *really* couldn't breathe.
so i post these photos of pretty sunsets and double rainbows to help remind myself that maybe there is still a little pot of gold in the bay area for us. maybe, even though i can't see it or feel it, there is still some teeny little home that would like us to move in & shine it up. for a teeny little bit of money for that matter. we will work hard for it. we will. we promise.
well, here's to hoping that we might just find one. maybe.
& if you happen to have a far distant rich uncle that likes to help out poor artists, or a fancy biddie auntie that has a home she'd like to give away in the bay area, you let me know okay?
