awesome skies

seattle quick trip, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

beautiful quick tree visits

seattle quick trip, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

wintery weather scenescapes; oregon

seattle quick trip, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

urban craft uprising + a gazillion other shows!

noise pop show, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

so, thus my descent into holiday never never land of no return & busy nights & no sleep & headaches & what's your name, ensues....

i leave for the urban craft uprising show tomorrow up in seattle. it's all day saturday & sunday, please tell your northwest friends to come see me!

then i do a small benefit show the next weekend down in santa cruz on saturday, december 12th from 10-4 at the loudon nelson community center for the monarch school.

next up is my sprout studio open house, december 13th from 2-6pm, 900 tennessee st - please come SF folks. have some yummy goodies with me & lift a drink to the holidays & pick up some sprout studio treats for your friends (& you if you must!)

then i do the noise pop holiday show, shown above, at the verdi club here in SF from 5-10pm on thursday, december 17th.

lastly, holy moly, am i not done yet?! is the ever loved renegade craft fair here at fort mason. i am splitting with one of my best gal pals, mati rose. this show is december 19th & 20th from 11-7 each day! loads of rad artists, loads of potentially awesome gifties to scoop up!

please come to one of these great shows, support artists, support the local economies & shop handmade this season!!!

thanks a million & maybe i'll be able to pop in here for a hot second before the actual new year! (maybe!)

hope to see you soon.
xxx.

let me count the ways i love my local farmers market...

let me count the ways i love my local farmers market..., originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

...butternut squash, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, garlic, red & white onions, meyer lemons, yukon gold potatoes, shitake mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, fuji apples, bagels, raisin nut bread, crunchy rolls, sonoma county fresh pressed olive oil, portugese cheese, smoked cheddar cheese, dates, dill, basil, green beans, leeks, zuchinni, fennel, sugar pumpkins, red, yellow, green, & orange peppers, 3 kinds of grapes, eggs, & gorgeous succulent flowers... in other words, i love my farmers market A LOT of ways :)

here's hoping if you are in the states that you have a wonderful thanksgiving & a restful weekend.

i'm going camping in big sur - i've been so busy i need a break. and i'm also going to savor this break for when i need to remember it in the crazy december days ahead!

don't stuff yourself too much - or, just a little bit maybe :)

happy friday!

an awesome song, an awesome band. this video & piece remind me so much johnny & june, i love this song. i heard it again on KALX this morning. it makes me happy, and i hope it makes you happy!

listen up, "home"

happy friday, happy weekend!
xxx.

look to the left

& take a gander at the new little sidebar with a picture of my mister clean shaven and moustache free. he won't be for long. he is growing out some sort of wicked face hair art for sponsorships for students who need art supplies & such in the school systems. he needs supporters, & donators. won't you become one today? click on his cute face & go the donate page! yay for moustaches!

become (becoming way too crazy!)

become, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

-- i've been way too busy! made a bunch of small dictionary mailer collages to go to blankspace gallery...each year they have a holidayland sale & i've participated for the last few. lots of awesome goodies - go check them out.

also in the throes of planning & making work for our joint 2 lady show in january with katrina which is terribly exciting & kind of daunting.

& we've had parties & bals & celebrations to attend - not that i don't love them, but i still really want the snuggle up & drink tea weekend that is ever elusive at this point.

made a few changes to the blog - there is a fancy follow button over there on the left if you feel so inclined to add your name :)

& i'm counting down the days until thanksgiving. it really is a favorite holiday of mine & we are determined to rest during the break.

i'll come up for air at some point --- maybe in february? ;) have fantastic weeks!

beginning

beginning, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

early holiday treat - free shipping

just a quick pop in to let ya know i'm offering *free* shipping over at my etsy sprout studio shop now till the end of december - so have at it & enjoy & pass the word along!

paris photobooth

paris photobooth, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74 / jenifer lake.

...am missing paris. am feeling overwhelmed as this time of year always makes me feel. am overflowing with lists of to-do's. am wanting to snuggle and read books instead. am wanting a camp out in the bus soon. am wanting to eat soup & get a pedicure. am wanting to go on a long hike with dixie loo & the mister. am wanting to plan vacations to fun places instead.

...am not wanting to glue one million sprout studio bits & bobs together. am not wanting to prep for too many craft fairs. am not wanting to stamp, make, create, construct, & hope for sales.

...am wanting a very long weekend.

sigh...

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look"

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look", originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

this past weekend was open studios and a trial run for our home gallery to be realized. & so, without further ado, introducing "project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look" :) we are super excited to begin our fledgling attempts at showing work - lots of bay area ladies & mens, old friends' work, new friends' work, acquaintances & new peoples all together! yay for art in the house! we were part of a co-op gallery, wonder gallery, back east in virginia and it was such a great time for us, it's about time we got back into the gallery/showing/art world in this way.

katrina & i intermeshed our works for open studios as an opener to our first real show in january. our work looked really lovely together - lots of overlapping themes & media.

saturday night we had game night, so the gallery got to see some action too. we plan on having an opening january 23rd (save the date!) & a closing in february. katrina & i are busy hashing out timelines & chatting about themes, & our collaborative & non-collaborative pieces. this has been a good first process & jump into the mix for me again. i'm hoping to do a series of collaborative shows with bay area art ladies. i want to push myself in new ways and experiment more - so i'm going to utilize our new project sprout gallery as a means to open up a bit more & gain some new ground. i just hope all the ladies i have in mind are willing to play with me :)

& with this opening, i now have a bit of this new work up on my site -- sprout studio go have a peek yes?

hope you all have fine halloweenie weekends :)

xxx.

project sprout gallery in action

project sprout gallery in action, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look"

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look", originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look"

"project sprout gallery/i can't look i must look", originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

don't forget!

common/shroud - sneak peek, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

open studios saturday & sunday, 11-6 each day. 900 tennessee st @ 20th - come on by, we have lots of good stuff to look at!

open studios this weekend - please come! plus, GALLERY realization!

out to sea - sneak peek, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

the dogpatch neighborhood has open studios this weekend. saturday & sunday from 11-6, we are at 900 tennessee st. @ 20th. this is partly a realization of our gallery that we have wanted to launch for a while out of our space. the mister is building walls right now as i write (& drinking a little early afternoon adult beverage i think, but i digress...) we have wanted to have a gallery in our space & this was the perfect push for us. our first official show will be in january & it will be me plus a lovely dear friend of mine, katrina rodabaugh showing our work together.

i will have some new holga work (like what you see here) plus some new collages, some watercolors & of course some sprout studio goodies as well. the mister might put up some works to look at too. we are very excited!

won't you join us? drink some tea? have a treat, chat with us, visit & peruse some artworks? we'd love to have you by! do come!

xxx.

shows, shows, shows -- come out & see me!

urban craft uprising, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

first off, i'll be doing the union design festival, formally capsule, this sunday from 11-6 in hayes valley. i'm at booth #7 & i'm splitting with my friend leslie, of feisty elle. please come by & say hi to us!

on october 24th & 25th dogpatch neighborhood & our studio will be doing open studios weekend - come by! i will have work up, the mister might have some work up & hopefully some beginning collaborations will be up with my friend katrina & myself.

december is promising to be packed already. mark some calendars folks. the first weekend, i'll be up in seattle for the urban craft uprising show. 2 days, december 5th & 6th from 11-5 in the seattle center exhibition hall. seattle-ites, come see me! i've never done a show up northwest & i'm excited to be going.

then, hopefully, i'll be doing the SF renegade show with my sweet friend mati rose. i'll let you know for certain when we find out more details.

i'm also doing a small show down in santa cruz on december 12th, at a community center down there. & i think i'll be doing the noise pop show here in SF on december 17th -- again, more deets to come, but mark your calendars!

i'll also have more work than normal at both craftland in providence, rhode island (they started to carry my stuff year round) & then more will be going to blankspace (they carry my stuff year round now too) over in oakland for their winter holiday show called holidayland.

phew! sprout studio will be one hopping space again. i'm going to also have more artworks at these fairs; small collages, photo prints, & perhaps some watercolors. i'm wishing to change the focus a bit with sprout studio & move more in the direction of making work, not so much product. in lieu of that, we also have some gallery news of our own to announce soon!

please pop by and see me if you get the chance! happy weekend!

lately

i've been going back to one of my first crushes, poetry. i used to write - a lot. i even took writing & poetry workshops in college. then i wrote on my own for awhile. i never published anything, but i read some of my stuff at art openings. i feel lucky to know this poet, my friend katrina -- i just started reading some of her work & it's phenomenal. truly. i love poetry. when it's good, it just cuts through everything -- the core, the meat, the heart, you got it. it's all there, & it can be so very raw & real. i love it. it's like a good piece of visual art; if you can have a new experience with it each time you see it, it's a winner. i've also picked up a new collection by sharon olds from the library, again, good stuff. my all time fave is anne sexton. hands down, i was smitten with her from the very first time i read her, she's incredible. i'm sure being out of the loop has put me behind - any great contemporary poets out there i have missed? turn me on if so...

i also stopped by rare device (they carry my umbrella skateboard too) this past thursday - they have a fantastic show up right up now. if you are in the bay area, don't miss it. i have my eye on a few pieces if i can scrounge up some monies for a purchase i'm going too! diem chau's work is especially lovely. i also got to meet the lovely lisa solomon for the first time too. i feel like through bloggy world i've known her for a long time, so it was nice to put the two worlds together.

news soon about some upcoming holiday shows i'll be participating in. yikes, holiday already huh?!

fort funston

me & dixie loo noodle, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

we went to fort funston this sunday. it was beautiful & perfect. i love the beach. i have a dream that i will one day live either one whole year or just one season entirely on the beach. that nothing will be required of me but to walk on that beach, observe the tides, take note of the sea life...the detritus...& to just be. i would like that very much.