So last night I got to go see this pretty lady:

Neko Case

and her misfit crew including Kelly Hogan and Jon Rauhouse.  It was a marvelous, colorful, complete show.  They blended a lot off of the new album, Middle Cyclone and Blacklisted, which felt wonderfully dark, and played some favorites from The Tigers Have Spoken and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.  There were a few songs I love that I didn’t hear, but that makes me want to go back and see more shows, which is how it goes.

She played at Crofoot in Pontiac, Michigan, which is an intimate venue with a great set-up and a fantastic sound-system.  We were on the floor in the middle and could see the band pretty well for the whole show.  The balcony is a nice place to be as you can sit at a table while overlooking the floor and stage, but we didn’t get there early enough for that.  We saw Neko play there once before with The New Pornographers.  Okkervil River opened for them on that occasion and that made it an even more awesome show.

But back to last night.  The set was brilliant.  It was simple, but there was a giant screen behind the band projected with images and videos synced to each song they played.  Presiding over the screen was a giant owl wearing a crown.  There were also these primitive-looking gnarly tree banners on either side of the screen.  Of course the lights really enhanced the show as in the song I Wish I Was the Moon where the lights simulated bright moonlight shining on everyone on the floor.  Let me see if I can find a good photo of the set online… hmmm… here’s one from flickr:

thanks Christeena!

This image is from a show in Toronto, but this is pretty much what it looked like last night, but the Crofoot  is much smaller than the venue pictured and we were really close to the band.

In other Neko news, she happens to be a fellow animal lover, so she and her record label ANTI- are donating five dollars to Best Friends Animal Society for every blog that posts the mp3 for the song People Got a Lot of Nerve from Middle Cyclone (which we heard last night, I might add).  So here goes, for the betterment of people and critters alike:

People Got a Lot of Nerve People Got a Lot of Nerve

Download: http://www.anti.com/media/download/708

Sunday we hosted a vegan brunch at our house.  Our friends Ryan and Val brought tons of good eats too.  Mark has already posted about it over at Irreverent Vegan.  Ryan and Val did a great write-up on it (from which I nabbed this photo) on their blog i’m just doing this thing.  Their about page is pretty funny, so check that out too!

brunching it up! for photos of food- visit those other two blogs pronto!

So, what with all of the vegan brunch hosting, Shadow Art Fair going, blogging, and uploading and categorizing hundreds of travel photos to flickr, the semi-annual rearranging of the water studio has suffered a bit.  But fear not!  It’s ready for action and with more work space and room to move around, I can’t wait to nestle in with my audiobooks, drawing pens and fancy papers.  Behold the glory that is organization!

So, that last post would have gotten out of hand if I had included everything I want to write and show, so I decided to break it into two posts.  And now for part 2!  This year’s poster and t-shirt were designed  by the amazing and talented Melissa Dettloff (aka Mad Dog) who just happens to be my friend and studiomate.  The shirts and posters were printed by the ubiquitous VG Kids.

She's clearly pleased her design was chosen.

Here’s a quick look around the fair:

the mervelous Amelia and her new lavender-scented skunk friend

A couple of booths I’d like to feature:

Sarah Bradstreet, working it at the Broad Street booth

the lovely Maria working the Swipple! booth

Swipple!

Their booth debuted a sleek new design this year for maximum art viewing (and therefore purchasing).

And then there was the food!  This vegan was pleased as punch about Jennifer Albaum’s Chips and Cheeeze which rocked to a sold-out audience.  Thankfully, you can find the recipe over at her blog Scumpdilly.

Jennifer serving ups Chips and Cheeeze! We had ours with lotso jalapenos...

Mark Maynard was also signing people up for his Cycle Powered Cinema project.  Mark (my man) has volunteered to help out.  MM was posting to his blog live during  the SAF, which is pretty funny.  There’s even a bathroom video interview with Ryan Groendyk, one of the meisters in charge of the Shadow Brew which sadly got all drunk up before we made it back for our second visit for the day.  I hear it was pretty amazing and…”weird” (hey, that’s Ryan’s own description).

As twilight fell, Manhole rocked some Chuck E. Cheese-style limbo action outside under a glorious sky.

I hope you had fun!  (I know I did)

So like a carnival sweeping through town, the Shadow Art Fair descends on Ypsilanti, Michigan twice yearly.  The summer SAF in July always has an especially festive air, as there are longer daylight hours (as opposed to the December SAF) in which to enjoy it and the opportunity to spill into the Corner Brewery‘s outdoor beer garden after supporting local and regional craftsters, artists, and creative peoples.  So, of course “supporting” means buying up a bunch of stuff, and if one is going to “go consumer”, the SAF is the place to do it.  I go a little bit nuts each time I go, buying gifts for others, but mostly for our home…and for me.  I deserve it, right?  So, this post is about the spoils I plundered this time around and is an opportunity to give a shout-out to those artists who caught my eye long enough to catch me digging into my wallet.  Props to Mark for picking out cool stuff with me and being patient with my spendy self.From left to right, the ceramic pieces of Christina DeAngleo are so lovely we bought four exquisite little shot glasses and one stein with a bug drawn onto it.  Never underestimate the importance of a large mug for holding lotsa steaming hot droughts come  the cold Michigan winter.  The earrings are handmade by the b-line, a jewelry designer who uses mostly polymer clay, but I snapped up these beaded little brassy bluebells.  The t-shirt is by Great Lakes Shirts.  Mark got one last year and this year, it was my turn.  Now I can pay tribute to the more watery parts of these northern mid-western states of ours.  The painting is by Jason Wright.  Mark and I have wanted one of his pieces for a long time now, and finally have brought one home.  Jason runs Swipple!, an online and often actual art exhibition space where he features artists from all over, but especially regional artists and sometimes outsider artists.  Jason also works closely with Michigan prisons.  He works to get the inmates’ artwork seen and has curated several successful exhibitions of prison art.

Whenever we bring home new stuff, the cats get into investigatory mode.  Ramona wanted to be sure that I feature a close-up of some of the stuffz:

Wobbly Bob doesn’t care about the stuff, he just likes the paper it’s wrapped in.  He favors hunkering down in a little nest of it.

After speaking to a bunch of people at our vegan brunch yesterday (more on that later), it was agreed that a highlight of the fair was the booth of Broad Street: “jewelry for the eco-fabulous.”  And man is it ever!  I bought an amazing chainmail neckercheif creation off the neck of some poor girl who was trying it on, but karmicly, another girl snatched a necklace out from under me a little later, so the universe is working as it should.  If you ever see Sarah Bradstreet selling her wares, be sure to snap up what you want early on, because it gets gone!  Here’s a photo of me modeling the first item I bought:

Two more sellers deserve some props.  Sally England of SED (Sally England Design) had a really eclectic booth with faux bois printed plush logs, felt Michael Jackson portraits and these amazing golden t-rexes, one of which had to come home and join the menagerie in the kitchen window box:

The other artist is is Lori Brown, who as Morninglori, makes up wonderful stories about imaginary beings and makes them come to life in her sculpted and plush creations.  We bought some as gifts, so I can only show the tippity tip of an ear so’s not to blow any surprises, but if you visit her etsy site, you’ll get the idea.

Now that we’ve indulged me by reveling in my post consumer bliss, next up: the people and place of the Shadow Art Fair.  I haven’t even mentioned the Chips and Cheeeze yet!

life:

and death…

In a way it makes me a little sad to throw flowers on the compost pile.  It seems somehow funereal.  But since they will eventually feed future flowers and vegetables, it is all part of the cycle.

My friend and art colleague Ryan, recently texted me the somewhat cryptic message:  “Check out the paintings of Jordan Kantor.”  Where had he come across these paintings?  Why was I supposed to see them?  An email cleared it up: Ryan has seen them at the exhibition Untitled (History Painting): Painting and Public Life in the 21st Century at the newly opened University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) in Ann Arbor.  I still need to get over there to see them.  In the meantime, we can take a look at why Ryan thought I should check them out:

Jordan Kantor Untitled (Challenger), 2007 Oil on canvas 70 x 60 inches

Jordan Kantor Untitled (Basel lens flare 6761), 2009 Oil on canvas 21 x 28 inches

Jordan Kantor Untitled (Basel lens flare 5727), 2009 Oil on canvas 21 x 28 inches

Jordan Kantor Installation view, 2009 Art Statements Art | 40 | Basel

Ryan and I discussed his text message to me.  He thinks something in my new work resonates with Kantor’s work.  What do you think?

Summer is giving Mark and I time to enjoy cooking together and though we both love it, he especially excels.  He just started a vegan blog as the Irreverent Vegan.  He composes the pithy recipes and I help out with the cooking, ideas, photography and…man, is it hard but someone has to do it…the eating!  We’re hosting a vegan brunch at our house this Sunday morning following the wonderful Ypsilanti-based Shadow Art Fair at the Corner Brewery.

I am fortunate that a typical meal at our house looks like this:

chick(pea) patties and smashed potatoes with mushroom gravy

The lettuce on the burgers and the green beans on the potatoes come from our garden.  Deck and lanterns compliments of our friend Blue at Blue Sky Carpentry.

Within hours I went from hanging out in wonderful, wacky Budapest in clubs like Szimpla Kert:

(…this is where Michael and I spent our last night in Budapest and had to say goodbye to some fantastic new friends, who we’re sure to meet again.  There’s a Halloween trip to NYC afoot!…)

…to my peaceful, breezy life in Michigan.  Here are some scenes from my domestic eden:

gladiolas from my welcome back party hosted by Mark

Juni asleep. Chandelier pillow compliments of Mary Elise Bolam.

laundry time

the beast! (aka Wobbly Bob)

the kitchen window box

And since too much peace in my life is unsettling, I decided that my home studio isn’t arranged quite right, so now I am grappling with this mess:

But thanks to my amazing fellow, there’s a fridge stocked full of my favorite things to fuel me.  I also made sun tea.  Thankfully right now, wherever I am, there is glorious summer!

I am packed and ready to go.  I can’t believe I got all of that stuff into two suitcases and three carry-ons.

save yourself

I have been busy wrapping things up here.  By some miracle I was able to make my video camera work long enough to put all of the footage from shoot #1 on my computer.  Now Nannette and I can continue to work on the video remotely.

Yesterday she and I made vegan chocolate cupcakes to bring to the sending off soiree hosted by David last night.

wee tiny cupcakes!

David’s lovely apartment building

the view from his terrace

the sky was lovely last night

I’ve really enjoyed my time here and hope to make it back at some point.  I’ll miss all of the wonderful people I’ve met here.  Szia!  Hello!