Mid(ish)-April Update...

Ok, first, I'd like to ask, "what happened to my kitchen?"  I love the height of my kitchen counters for doing finish work (cleaning, waxing, polishing, etc).  And sadly, it's sort of become the boxing/shipping area as well.  I seem to recall using the stove nightly not too long ago  but, unfortunately, my new finishing/shipping area has made cooking an impossibility... (but note how well the stovetop along with some foamcore accommodates the newly made items... um, ya, but that's not what it's for!!!) 

So based on my very scientific research, I've discovered that many artists use a kitchen as their "studio".  Case in point, I visited my mom a few days ago to talk art (blah, blah, blah) and there she was, working on a painting... in her kitchen! I think I'm onto something...

Moving from kitchens to galleries (hopefully), I stopped in last Friday night at the opening of the North River Arts Society's 'Focus on Figures' exhibit where two of my paintings were on display. I didn't stay for the festivities (wine) so I could hit the studio unimpaired, but based on Siobhan's Facebook photos, it's probably a good thing...

And then Sunday, after 2 days of rain with unpredictable weather on the way, I left Plymouth at 6am for my first outdoor show of the season, Art in the Garden at the Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton. 

I have to say, for the record, there's nothing like having wet feet (socks, sneakers and pant bottoms) all day.  Yes, it's my new favorite thing indeed... and throw in 40 degree weather and some wind and rain, and we've got a party! Hey, even though we didn't have a nice sunny day, at least I was surrounded by friends Trish from Idazz, Helene from Urban Kitchen, Andrea from Thomas Park Gifts and Christine from Little Man.  And though we may not have looked as glamorous as usual with all those bulky layers and very flattering hats, we made the best of the day.  And don't worry gals, I'm not posting any of the pics...

P.S. thank you to Buffy Cave for organizing the show. 

Spring Fling & Craftopia!

Another busy weekend juggling studio time, artwork drop offs and two shows.  Last Thursday from 7 to 10pm, I set up shop next to my friend Dina, Ducci Designs (below) at the Neighborhood Club in Quincy for a fundraising event for Friends of Foster Care. 

In addition to Dina, I had the pleasure of running into 2 other artsy pals, Louisa from Weehah! (who was also serendipitously my neighbor at Craftopia a few days later) and Amy from AG Ambroult. 

Three days later onto Pawtucket, RI for Craftopia where more than 65 vendors took over a beautifully renovated, old factory building and transformed the space into a lively, crafty extravaganza!  After being cooped up in the studio for 2 long days, it was fantastic to get out, interact with shoppers and get inspiration from some of my favorite creative friends.  I dragged out the camera to capture a few snapshots of the day but I missed getting photos of Jeff from Mean and Wroughten, Hilary of Hilary (who was just featured on Glamour.com by the way...) and Helene from Urban Kitchen.  Also, though I had ever intention of saying hello to Joanna from Joy in My Studio and seeing her beautiful silk paintings up close, I missed the opportunity... hopefully our paths will cross again... anyway, here are a few pics from the fabulous Craftopia show:

Trish and her lovely jewels from iDazz

Louisa's colorful, beautiful greeting cards and invitations from Weehah!

JoAnne from JoJo Clothing and her fabulous designs

Karissa of Karissa Chase Ceramics with her irresistible goodies

and last but not least (and I confess, I cannot take credit for this photo), the unstoppable silversmiths, Kerry and Heather of Twigs and Heather who probably would never speak to me again if I posted the pic I took of them...

 

Thought I'd add a pic of my lil table (I absolutely LOVED this building!!!)

Ooh one last thing, exciting news for several local designer friends including Ducci Designs, Urban Kitchen and Genevieve Boston who will be featured in Local Collection in the South Market Building at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  I wish them lots of success in this new retail shop opening May 1st!

Show season has begun... and it's spring!

I've already gotten behind in keeping track of events (uh oh).  Hopefully this isn't an indicator of things to come.... so I'm armed with some coffee and before I head into the studio for a long day of making mermaid panels and such, I write and catch up.

Last weekend I started the season with an indoor show called SLAM (Saturday Local Artist Market) at The Burren, a pub in Davis Square, Somerville.  Friends Kerry and Heather from Twigs & Heather were there, as well as JoAnne from JoJo Designs.  A quick 4-hour event in a dimly lit, ambient space is definitely a good way to ease into the season.  I was tempted to grab a glass of wine given the setting and circumstances but I've made that mistake before.  And I learned... no vino at shows. 

Last night, my destination was the South End in Boston, and while parking, I ran into an old friend from my hometown who recently opened a gallery in the SoWa District (south of Washington Street).   Audra Rogers is the Director of Gallery Benoit at 450 Harrison Avenue , #63.  There are so many great things happening in that neighborhood including First Fridays,  a great opportunity to see a variety of art, visit artists and designers in their working studios and buy from them directly.

  

After checking out Audra's gallery, I ventured up two floors to studio #203 where I covered for Saya from Saya Studios who shares the space with Amy Casher (above left, me right), the talented lady behind Amy Casher Designs who makes gorgeous jewelry.  LOVE her style... and if you look really carefully, you can see my new earrings (I need to work on taking the "one arm" photos with my iphone... my sister has perfected the art but I have not).  I also had the pleasure of meeting Susan Krause, of Krause Art + Design, a watercolorist who had her  colorful handpainted silk scarves on display in the studio as well.  

Topping off the evening, two of my painter pals dropped by to say hello after visiting some other local galleries. Catalina Viejo Lopez de Roda, Percy Fortini-Wright and I posed in front of Saya's bags (and the picture isn't blurry...) and then it was time to call it a day.  ok, now where's the vino??  

Boston Gift Show 2010

I had a fantastic 4 days at the Boston Gift Show, met with some wonderful people and as a result, there are many exciting things ahead for Dasken Designs!! It was icing on the cake to see one of my candleholders on the show directory cover. Sweet!!

I was in the "handcrafted" aisle.  And I'm pretty sure that I handcraft my items but I'm not so sure that other people actually understand what that term means.  And I won't continue my rant on this topic,  I'll just say, "Buy Handmade, Support Local Artists".

Trade Show - Mock Set Up

Today's activities included creating a new window display from two old windows: frost the glass panes, hinge the windows together and lastly, paint the frames.  Fresh paint can really transform an item that's seen better days, and since I had the paint on hand and was already a mess, I threw a fresh coat of paint on a few other display items too.  Then onto some other tedious items like waxing and polishing some stained glass goods. Frankly, not my favorite thing in the world except that I know it's the last step and then the item is good to go after that.

The last few hours I spent finalizing my set up for next weekend's Boston Gift Show.  Though I'd like to think my "new" set up is radically different than what I've done in the past, it's not.  It looks exactly like my old set up, with a fresh coat of paint and new lighting :)

Anyway, I'm using an 8' table which will be front and center (applying the 2' rule - everything will be visible and accessible) and instead of arriving on site and playing it by ear like I normally do, I decided to scrap that plan and map it all out today... will make set up easier and I can use today's photos as a reference.

Aside from a huge empty space on the left side of the table that I didn't account for and haven't resolved yet (can you say enormous candy bowl??), the only snag I ran into was with the new clamp lights I purchased yesterday... thank you Target!  They're kind of heavy duty which is great but I don't think they were designed to clamp onto a thin piece of glass shelving.  So as with most design problems, I used something I already have just hanging around to "fix" the enormous gap... and voila, a small gift box does the trick! 

Ok kids, this is called PROCRASTINATION!

So it's a grucky (new word: gross + yucky) Sunday morning and I'm sipping my coffee with silk soy, and now I'm going to talk about my cats.  I already know I'm going to regret this momentary lapse in judgment and one of the cats is even giving me "the look" (the wtf are you doing look) but here goes.  And so I've quickly composed this list of 12 things I've learned from observing these feline creatures.  Below is a photo of Buca and Cosmo NOT helping me fold laundry:

1. Do what you want, when you want, without compromise.
2. Sleep is essential.  Do it often and everywhere.
3. Licking yourself is acceptable.
4. Leave some sort of trail (crumbs, litter, fur, puke, etc) so you can be located in an emergency.
5. Chase some tail even if it's your own.
6. Provide affection in small, unusually timed doses.  It's disarming AND mysterious.
7. When excited, rubbing up against furniture is perfectly fine.
8. Be stealthy, but try not to freak out when a car backfires or your neighbor is testing his new rifle because fragile pottery tends to break when you dart unexpectedly from your post.
9. It's ok to eat your own vomit... oh wait, I meant DON'T eat your own vomit and try to avoid eating hair. It makes you vomit.
10. On recycling... sometimes a bottle cap is better than a fancy store bought toy.
11. Observe others.  Seriously, stare at them until it's uncomfortably awkward.
12. Last but not least... if you want to get someone's attention, just unexpectedly LICK or SCRATCH them.  It works every time, especially if they're asleep.

Nothing particularly new, I know.  But I thought since our relationship is getting more involved, this would be a good way to let you know that I have cats.  And now, you may run...

Preparing for the Boston Gift Show

In one month (yikes!) I'll be exhibiting at the Boston Gift Show, my first official wholesale show, and over the past few months I've been figuring out my game plan so: A. my head doesn't explode, and B. the show goes smoothly... as well as the days and months following the show!  To my delight, an item of mine was selected for inclusion in the 15-page brochure and I've already received a few calls as a result. yay! 

I'm exhibiting in the handmade section (versus one of the other larger sections: Made in New England, Souvenirs, etc) and it'll be interesting to see what other exhibitors are defining as handmade product.  I'm noticing that "handmade" is a term that's thrown around a lot.  For the record, handmade is defined as something made by hand rather than by a machine, and in the context of Art/Craft, I believe the handmade label is even more specific and should be applied to an item only if an artist both designs and creates his/her items. In other words, the individual artist actually had his/her hand involved in the process from start to finish.  Those with assistants or helpers, yes, you fall into this category too as long as the artist is present and involved.  Where I have the problem is when a particular item is designed by an artist and then manufactured in bulk by someone else entirely, possibly in another country on the cheap. Handmade? Really?  That's just a big bag of BS.  (Oh, and I have nothing against the process I just mentioned... please just don't call it handmade by artist so and so.)

On a painterly note, I visited my friend and fellow artist Sean Flood in his awesome studio in Abington yesterday.  He's working on several large scale, what I'll call 'urban landscape' paintings and I gave him some pointers...just kidding!  Sean is super talented and needs no help from me! Anyway I hear that his building which is filling up quickly with a variety of talented artists will be having a group show in a few months.  Go Abington! I'll keep you posted with the dates.