What Makes Me Happy . . .

. . . this little guy.

Sammy made this little piggy at a paint your own pottery place and finally got to bring it home yesterday. It's so cute.

Just a little something to make you smile today.

Precious Art From Little Fingers

I'm still gushing over Sammy's birthday party. From this mess . . .

came these. . . .

and this. . . .

and these. . .

These kids are such artists. The mosaic art was purchased at a craft store and while it wasn't a difficult project it was a project that took commitment. I'd say the kids were pretty committed wouldn't you agree?

The other art that I had to show is displayed on our pantry doors where we keep all kid created masterpieces. The handmade birthday cards are whimsical, creative and obviously made with love.

Sammy really did have a happy birthday.

Green Scene

Sand Point-Magnuson Park at one time used to be a Naval Air Station. Here you see "Kite Hill", a large grassy man-made hill that was made from pieces of the old aircraft runway.

The Fin Project is part of the public art at Magnuson. The solid, onyx, fin structures protrude from underneath the ground in juxtaposition of the surrounding green area and is a bold reminder of the previous inhabitants of this park.

Scrapbooking Art

Scrapbooking is something I've never spent much time doing. I don't think I have the patience for it. Now, with so many online scrapbooking services, I find it difficult to switch back to the old school style, manual way of storing photos. However, after visiting my friend Yuri Nishiyama I must say that I'm tempted to learn the art of good old fashion scrapbooking.

Yuri has an arsenal of scrapbooking paper, albums and even a fire engine red diecutting machine. I was so impressed with the heft of this gadget and even more so at the ease by which it cut perfect shapes out of ordinary card stock.

And did I mention that her scrapbooking studio is filled with wonderful dies of all shapes and sizes? You see, Yuri is not only a hobbyist but while in Japan she wrote several books on the subject.

You may see more of Yuri's work on her website, http://www.crop-happy.com/. The website is written in Japanese but please visit just to see some of her work.

Guest Blogger and Artist

Excavations

By Tom Hobson

I've been carving books, magazines, catalogs and other publications for a little over a year now.

The basic process is to use a small, sharp knife to cut into the book, carefully working on one page at a time, hunting for images, words and shapes to carve.

I like old books in particular. I’m attracted to the wear and tear of having been read and handled by others before me. It’s like being part of a secret society. Old library books, like those I pick up at Seattle Library System book sales, are perfect. I’m especially attracted to books that cost a dollar or less. These “dollar books” are the ones headed for the landfill. Most deserve life, but have simply gotten too old. I feel like I’m rescuing them.

Although the results look like carvings, the process is more like an archeological dig. Cutting away one page at a time is, I imagine, similar to the way scientists sweep away fine layers of dust on buried bones or ancient ruins.

I begin each excavation with a theory of what I’ll find, but there are always surprises, especially as unexpected juxtapositions come to light.

It’s interesting to me to carve the words from a book (the muscle of the book, to carry the dino dig metaphor forward) leaving only the bones of its illustrations. Often the results are almost obscene in their raw nakedness. I’ve had people say that some works made them feel queasy.

And there is certainly a ghastliness to the act of gutting a book. As a book lover and teacher, it’s not lost on me that there is an element of desecration in the act of taking knives to them, exposing their innards for the world to see. That’s why I make sure to only choose books that I’m certain are on their way to the landfill. I try to think of them the way medical students think of their cadavers.

Alongside this element of horrible truth, however, is an equal measure of beauty, it seems to me.

Carving magazines is different because they have already almost been entirely consumed by the web. They already seem like artifacts; iconic pieces to be displayed on coffee tables.

Each magazine title is a self-contained world for hobbyist and fetishists. They’re communities of fashion, grooming, sports, decorating, literature, pets, real estate, and vacations. The Internet has already ingested those narrow communities for which there isn’t enough demand to sustain traditional publishing. What is left on the newsstands are magazines that host broad swaths of people, affiliated by either the overwhelming numbers of adherents (e.g., dog lovers, knitters) or the overarching principles they embody (e.g., it’s fun/important to look pretty, it’s fun/important to follow sports).

I’m working on the theory that the magazines we see at the drug store each hold some central truth about who we are as a people. That’s what I’m trying to unearth in my magazine art.