If you like cover songs, I just found this great new-to-me podcast called Coverville that features really great covers. I’m not talking “coverband” style covers, but real actual awesome artists doing covers. You can download them from their site or off of itunes. I started off by downloading the Pixies, Radiohead and REM episodes and they are great. I’m going back to download more now.
edit: If you check out their website you can see the songs that are included in each episode and the artists, not a bad line-up if I do say so myself!
I just saw this link to Sia’s music video for Breathe Me. It was the first time I’ve ever seen it. The video is great, especially if you have any sort of Polaroid love. I’ve loved this song ever since the final episode of Six Feet Under (the best ending to a tv show EVER). And here is a link to that ending on youtube. Wow, that still makes me cry, what a way to start off the day.
By the By, I highly recommend Sia’s music as well as Zero 7, for which she sings as well.
Look at this! Isn’t this amazing?
I received my package from Rosa. A functional piece of artwork, for her Found Art Tuesday project, found it’s way to me after a raffle of sorts. How exciting to get to see her work up close and in hand. The texture and detail is amazing. The piece she made was inserted into a coffee mug and she also altered a gift card as well. Now I must make my way over to a starbucks to get a chai latte, mmmmmm! Thank you so much Rosa!
I’ve FINALLY done it! Finally participated in Found Art Tuesday (only 2 days late, but I painted the artwork on Tuesday if that counts). The theme for this week was Travel. Immediately I thought of flight, and knew I would want to incorporate that into my piece as well as my method of releasing my piece to be found (far, far away). I created a collage first and then painted on one of my miniature canvases in the same style as my Artomat paintings.
I’m pretty squeamish with the idea of abandoning artwork of mine locally, so I liked the idea of letting my pieces fly far away from me, attached to balloons. I hope people don’t get to cranky at me for doing this, as I’m aware it is not very eco-friendly. My innitial idea was to use one balloon. Matt said we might need a couple, and I thought “great! that will take it even further away”. But when we went to go buy them it became evident quickly that even 6 might not be enough. I originally had my piece of artwork in a ziplock baggie, in a handmade envelope made of a map, then in another ziplock, placed in yet another bigger, attention grabbing, handmade, red envelope then securely sealed in packing tape. Six balloons would not lift the small parcel so I started removing layers of packing tape, still nothing. I had to eventually cut off the outer red envelope and left it as a ziplock bag with the map envelope visible from the outside. I was afraid that the wind would blow it directly into a tree or power lines so we drove 5 minutes out to the countryside.
I know that the chances of it being found…ever are pretty slim, but I have high hopes.
This week I listened to an interview podcast with Keri Smith where she used the phrase “excitement of the unexpected” when describing her Art. I thought “EUREKA!” those are the exact words to describe my passion for artwork within the last several years. Vending art through revamped cigarette machines (artomat) is pretty random and unexpected. The person never knows what will come out after they pull that knob. Then, I just love to imagine the reactions of those who have received my mailart, how unexpected to get a mixed media piece traveling openly across the globe! This same concept of ‘excitement of the unexpected’ is what attracts me to projects like Found Art Tuesday. In the Keri Smith interview she revealed (to me) that she has a second book coming out this year titled “The Guerilla Art Kit” and I am so unbelievably anxious for this ont to come out.
My new favorite phrase “the Excitement of the Unexpected”. The Excitement of the Unexpected is what makes life so much fun. The Excitement of the Unexpected in Guerilla Art is people showing their uniqueness and individuality. The Excitement of the Unexpected throws you off guard and shakes up your day from being the same-ol’, same-ol’.
Hopefully someone soon will be excited by unexpectedly finding a small package and balloons come their way.
Yesterday netflix brought me Danielson: A Family Movie (or Make a Joyful Noise Here). I think the movie was recommended to me from netflix based on my high ratings of Fearless Freaks, I am Trying To Break Your Heart and the Devil and Daniel Johnston. I had no idea what this movie was about other than the brief description that it was based on Danielson Famile a Christian band struggling to make it in mainstream music. I popped it in on my lunch break and immediately knew this was going to be a great movie. They are much more than just a Christian band and it is important to say that they have a sound that many might not be able to stomach. Their concerts are almost more like performance art and their sound is very indi. Daniel Smith the leader of the whole group went to art school and works as a visual artist and musician. Things that I really love about this movie:
The family is all entirely normal and happy. Not all artists have to be tortured and hate their families like society may want you to believe.
Near the end of the movie Daniel starts discussing his interest in incorporating his visual arts back into his current work. He is appealed by the idea of door-to-door salesmen and came up with this project of being a door-to-door salesman who carries around handmade items and artwork to sell to you in your home. He believes that Art should be something for everyone and not so precious that everyday people can’t enjoy it. This concept totally harkens back to the idea behind Artomat.
I also like the idea that it is okay to work in many mediums. When you go to Art school that is just very taboo. You are told you should be a this major, or that major and if you can’t commit to one medium that you are skunked. I just love hearing examples of successful artists who bridge those gaps.
One of Daniels handmade items is “The Good Eye Blinders”. A pair of blinders made of hearts to keep yours eyes focused on what you need to be focusing on. I need those pretty bad, as I have often said I wish I had art blinders to help keep me focused on what I am working on at the time.
Sufjan Stevens plays/ed with the family before he got huge. According to the movie he says he is a foster sibling.
I’m not going to say this movie is for everyone, but if you also liked the movies that I mentioned in the first paragraph, then you will probably enjoy Danielson: A family Movie.
Today I thought of a good idea. Wouldn’t it be cool to throw outdoor movie parties? I was reminded of it from a post on boingboing but I’ve read before of people setting up guerilla type movie theatres. They show them on the sides of houses, garages or project them onto a hanging a sheet from a clothesline. Well my parents have a big back yard and maybe I could set something up something there. Kind of like the rerun film festival or movies in the park, but just open to friends and family. People could bring blankets, lawn chairs and snacks.
Only problem, I’d have to get a projector and it looks like they can be very expensive. I saw one from walmart.com, which was $250, but it only projected 60 inches wide. Maybe I could rent one from a rent-a-center-like place.
So, I got thinking about this idea and looking forward to warmer times. I got into such a spring/summer train of thought that when I went outside, I was shocked to find snow on the ground. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow, but it is spring now and that stupid ground hog lied!
I hope everyone had a great easter.
If you aren’t familiar with Jennifer Murphy you have got to check out her stuffed animals. I’m usually not really into stuffed animals but hers are pretty great. Apparently she was just recently on Martha Stewart and made her little pompom bunny and is offering the tutorial online. I was so excited to make one so I brought supplies over to my parents’ house to make one on easter. It wasn’t as easy as I imagined. Like my sister said when she was making hers “you know, you can buy pompoms now.” Here is the bunny I made. Kind of alice in wonderland-like. Definitely more queen of hearts or valentines day like, rather than easter.
I just rented and watched a really great movie. Being a total movie snob, it doesn’t happen very often. I never heard of this movie before and I don’t even remember how it got to be on my netflix but it was great. It’s called Trust The Man and it has Billy Cudrup (sigh) Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore and David Duchovney. There were several parts where I was just laughing out loud.
Maybe it is because it has David Duchovney in it, I don’t know, but it reminds me of the movie “Playing By Heart”. Another movie I probably never would have thought I would have liked, ya know, “another relationship film”. Both of these movies are the type of movie where the characters don’t talk like people in real life do, they all say the witty, clever things that most of us don’t think to say until 20 minutes later. Also, they do things that most of us are too afraid to do. Which reminds me, at the beginning of the movie Jerry Maguire where he prints that mission statement titled “Things we think and do not say” and I just love that idea. Let’s all try and say the things we are too afraid of saying, okay? Well, the nice things not the hurtful things. I could probably benefit from saying less of the mean things myself, I know. Back to the movie, some might say “oh, this is rediculous and so unrealistic” but I think that is why I liked it, the characters are all saying the perfect thing at the right time, they are like us, if we were always “on”. Not to say that they don’t have flaws, the characters make their mistakes as people in real life do too.
So there are two movies for you to see if you haven’t yet. Trust the man and Playing By Heart.
I need to get to bed as I am supposed to be at work at 2 this morning.
Ugh! In the last few week or so this blog has been inundated with massive amounts of spam. I mean, hundreds of spam comments daily. It is such a pain because it is so filthy and yet I have to go through it all and delete it one by one.
Here is a really funny documentary styled youtube video based on the rivalry between knitters and crocheters. I do both, by the way, but I prefer knitting. Honestly though, since I got my spinning wheel I don’t really knit that much anymore. Anyway, I found this video via a new blog that I have just discovered also worth mentioning here, Being Natasha.
