I don’t normally show up places with presents for the famous but when I read that he’d be coming to Seattle for a reading of “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible,” I was compelled. I think I did it as a thank you for his work.
This is the only photo I have… I finished the piece about 30 seconds before we had to run out the door to the reading.
His essays and short stories are funny, but very real. I love the way he’s able to capture and describe tiny, awkward, painful, beautiful moments of human interaction… No matter the topic, you can find yourself in there if you’re paying attention.
As for his radio show, Wiretap, I would call it radio-crack, and I can’t get enough of it. Also insightful, one episode can include quiet, contemplative story, and often raucous, completely hilarious quasi-improv conversations.
Almost every single person who contributes regularly is now my hero in one way or another… including his parents. In addition to the clips on the official website, you might find some unofficial audio here.
One city, two great events and I’ll be at both. Please you come too, ok?
First up, we have the You Bazaar, featuring 30+ select craft vendors selling quality handmade wares and a series of rotating workshops throughout the day with some of your favorite plush designers, including me!
You Bazaar
November 2nd 2008, 10am to 5pm
San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park
Free admission!
This will be a fun family friendly event to kick off the Plush You SF Show:
Plush You! SF
Opening Reception: Friday, November 7
6pm – Midnight Double Punch Gallery
1821 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
The show runs through November so if you can’t make the opening, you can still check it out.
The 4th annual Plush You! show at Schmancy opens this Friday, Oct. 10th from 5 – 8 p.m. I’ll be there gawking at the genius of others, and I’ll have some pieces showing there myself.
Inspiration to combine my love of shiny garbage and broken toys with felting has had some interesting results. This guy is just a sneaky peek at what I’ve been working on.
That’s a discarded pinball lightbulb in his head, and a nut (sans bolt) on his tummy.
One of the challenges and biggest learning opportunities of these mixed-media pieces has been to secure all objects only with the needle and wool. I’m going to have to start calling myself a fundamentalist at this point with the crazy obsession with the “purity” of my work. I’m oddly dedicated to the exclusion of sewing, embroidery, glue, etc, which means keeping the foreign objects securely in the sculptures has been work… but well worth it.
velocity art and design‘s next lab is tomorrow night. kristen rask (of plushyou! and schmancy), hansi (of hansigurumi), and i will be on a panel to talk about plush, craft, business, etc. i need you there ’cause i’m scared. 6 – 8pm @ velocity.
also, i’m doing another basic needle felted bead class this saturday. the last one was unbelievably fun… we had such a good time that i’ve become buddies with some of the students, as if we had met at summer camp. once again, the class is being hosted by the wonderful folks at beadworld and there are only a few spots left. to register or get more info, give them a call!
i don’t care if you don’t live in the bay area, maker faire is worth the trip. here’s a link to the CRAFT schedule. don’t miss brookelynn morris giving a demo of her amazing felted fruit from craft:02.
brookelynn and i will be rocking the needle felting playground again this year, now with more seating! i’ll also be doing demos at the craft stage and maker shed for mini monsters and needle felting. paul and i will be driving down in a few days. sometimes we post photos of our drive… not sure if we will this time but here’s the bunch from last year. i also happen to know that a ton of other crafty hot shots are making the journey too.
one of my favorite seattle superstars, kristen rask, will be there to chat and talk about all things plushyou! (and, she’ll be signing my copy of her book ’cause i’m gonna ask her to!)
i’m also unbelievably excited to meet my long-time craft-crush stacey rebecca. (i’ve raved about her before because i loves her so!) she’ll be traveling all the way from arizona to play with the people and spread some of her puppet love.
another highlight for me is what seems like my bi-annual chance to marvel/gawk at and then hug the stylish and savynatalie zee drieu. (she’s also hilarious and often makes me snort laugh.)
here’s a video that natalie and craft put together, giving an overview of fun times to come. (when i saw this the first time and heard my name, i swear i looked around the room like, “wait, was that on everyone’s computer?”)
finally, there’s a blog post at craft with lots of event info. go there now and then come hang out with me at maker faire, ok?
