Just like many of you being confused by the quiet person I seem to be and the loud doilies I create (at least you tell me you think they're loud), I met a very gentle woman soul whose blog is called howling screamer. We gently and thoughtfully discussed my doilies last weekend as I gallery sat for my doily exhibit. I smiled when I saw the name of her blog, Howling Screamer. She also describes herself as an Art Fondler. And she says she'll write about whatever else tickles her rotten little pickle. Ahhh, a kindred spirit.
In response to the show, she wrote this post.
Recently in Doily Critiques Category
I just learned from the guys at Women Be Trippin that I make household genitalia. They describe my doilies in the cadence of our beloved Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham.
You know, of all the thoughts I've had while making my ... my objects, I've never had either of these two. But that's exactly what I'm doing!
Thanks, guys! You made my day!
A good friend just referred to me as the Betsy Ross of genitalia. I thought that was too funny to keep to myself. Thanks, Will Davis!
With his permission, I posted his full name. I promise you I don't reveal any of my sources without their permission so feel free to contact me. I know how weird this world can be with this subject matter. Ooh, you said genitalia! nya nya. it's not worth some of those fights. but let's have the conversation somehow anyway, yeah?
Thank you, Alan Bamberger, for your coverage in artbusiness.com of When Doilies Go Bad. You summed up my feelings behind making these things very well, better than I normally do, and I'm glad you enjoyed them!
One young woman came up to me near the end of my opening reception and in a quiet gentle voice told me she enjoyed my work. I thanked her and shook her hand and asked her her name. She said, again quietly and simply, Emily, but I got the feeling that she didn't really want to tell me (so the name I'm using here is not the name she told me). I asked her what she enjoyed about it or why she enjoyed it and she gently referred to growing up with doilies and ... I think she rolled her eyes ever so slightly or shook her head a little. I read that to say that these gave her some relief.
As I related this story to a friend of mine, my friend responded, Emily is probably re-examining a lot of choices and possibilities as we speak.
Let us all.
7x7 calls my work "distinctive".
MissionMission enjoyed both the crochet show at SOAP and the embroidery show at Benders. They're also garnering some comments that go back and forth, as this art tends to do.
I really like this blog - very open, considerate, and community minded. I've never lived in San Francisco but LOVE visiting it pretty much anywhere. I've learned my way around the Mission because of the art galleries I've shown work at. There is So Much Good Stuff Here!!! I was just at a gathering last night after gallery sitting for my show at SOAP. The Million Fishes Artist Collective hosted the dorkbots group. The speakers were Very Interesting and the group was such an eclectic collection of curious scientists, engineers, artists, creative people!
I LOVE the Mission!
sf.funcheap.com calls it A Naughty and Inappropriate Art Show.
I'm not trying to cause grandmas heart palpitations over at examiner.com or sfist.com.
I'm more driven by fear of NOT talking about what seems real for me/us. Some are driven by fear of that very conversation. Oh well.
I did not grow up as an artist although some people would disagree with me. I was forced at some point to create these things to speak about issues that had been buried for too long with me. They just so happen to have a venue in the art world, for which I am terribly thankful.
I have thrilled at the chance to wake up and see the strength of message when combined with a particular medium. Wow, the things we can say!
Janine Kahn calls my red fuck heart doily Classic Mappin. In so many ways, she is so right but I hadn't seen it that way till now.
I do want to be strong as the person I am but I don't want to take your head off in the process. I wish that for all of us. A pretty pink crocheted piece that has some expletive on it sounds like a fine expression of that to me!
If I can tell someone about my fuck doily, I never have to have business cards on me because they will always remember and can always reach me through fuckdoily.com. I know many people try to be this memorable to those they meet. I wasn't shooting for this but it's a fine side effect.
check it out - SF Weekly's article!
As I read it, I thought wow, I wanna see that show. And then I thought, hey, I wanna make something for that show! And then I realized ... it's my show! Thanks, Traci Vogel, for a great article! Come to the reception! Bring your crochet! Who knows, maybe we'll do something collaborative that night!
