making up for lost time today

It's been a while!

I'd say the big news this week is that I have finally finished this felt top! I decided against

the sideseam lace-up a while back, and thought maybe instead I'd do two rectangular

panels that would snap in and out at the sides. Then, I felted the shoulders together

Sunday night and gave it a try on... and here you have it! I fell in love with the way it rests

with no side closure. Something to layer over other things, I'm pretty proud of this one!

Also in the works:

1. Updating my website with sample-work photos, new sketches & experimentation

in accessories. And after a successful photo shoot session yesterday, with much

help from Frank Podesta (who snapped the photos) I've definitely gathered some great

material for the cause. A few of these will be up hopefully today some time.

Hudson Valley lace shetland yarn and tonal wool roving knit-ins

Bartlett tubular yarn/Hudson Valley shetland combination in the button-back

cardigan. I found these amazing stone barrel-type beads to serve as buttons!

Close up of that needle felted elbow patch

Red acrylic blended poncho worn with Icelandic loopi/shetland lace blended

motorcycle jacket

2. Etsy shop is also on the way! I know I've been saying this, but I have set up my account to

sell goods and my paypal as well... so its happening y'all!! That being said, I suppose this

here post also serves as a sneak peak preview sort of thing, since most of these items

will be for sale! I may hold off on the sweaters for a bit, they mean so much to me,

but I will eventually share them too!

A few nice shots of the barnacle scarf :)

Three different chokers

mixed materials

One choker, one triple strand necklace

Three necklaces

3. I sort of ruined my portfolio last week while being overzealous with a

Chartpak marker... so, I'm making a better one. Figured I'd try to do the layouts

digitally this time around... We'll see how that goes. I'm working on edits to

my new sketches now, so look forward to that post tomorrow!

beading complete!

Finally finished up beading the back piece of this little felted top

I've been working on! I really love the way it turned out, and the beading

adds just the right amount of weight to keep the front from slipping forward

when worn. I decided to finish it with two rectangle side pieces that will snap in.

Can't wait to finish this one!

close up-- orbital paths

Mixed materials -- mostly plastic and semi-precious stone

ombre sunset.

dreamy... acrylic mohair ombre sunset sweater, here.

intarsia inspiration this may

"The Gigerbread Reclamation"

Despite falling into a state of negect and disrepair over the past century,

Port-au-Prince's beautiful, ornate 'gingerbread' houses were unlikely survivors

of last year's earthquake. As the Haitian capital recovers, these once-grand houses

are setting a foundation for its cultural and economic restoration.

Words by Marisa Mazria Katz | Photos by Sasha Bezzubov

The Wall Street Journal Magazine May 2011

Also inspired by Egon Schiele's towncapes this week.

Summer Landscape | 1917 | oil on canvas

The most famous of Port-au-Prince's so-called gingerbreads, the Hotel Oloffson,

with its stunning ornate lattice work, will be a focal point of a planned cultural

heritage district in the Pacot neighborhood, which has the highest concentration of

these uniquely designed homes

Schiele | Suburb I | 1914 | canvas mounted on pressed wood

The renovations to this neglected 1910 gingerbread, built by Georges Baussan,

the architect of Haiti's presidential palace, were put on hold after the earthquake.

Schiele | House with Drying Laundry | 1917 | oil on canvas

The home of Vivian Gauthier, which survived the earthquake intact while

concrete structures crumbled around her; one of the few remaining family-inhabited

gingerbreads, in the Bois Verna neighborhood.

Beyond the heritage preservation, the gingerbread style encapsulates design

techniques that Olsen Jean Julien, former minister of culture and now project

manager for the Smithsonian Institution-back Haiti Cultural Recovery Project, sees

as a key to the country's reconstruction efforts. "The gingerbreads are a strong witness

of our history of the 20th century," Julien says. "Their architecture shows us that

people who built them had the memory of hurricanes and the first earthquake in 1770.

The respected seismic codes even before they had been written."

Schiele | Edge of Town (Krumau Town Cresent III) | 1918 | oil on canvas

Clockwise from top | A view of Gauthier's salon; a rundown gingerbread now part

of a secondary school, though its classrooms are no longer in use; vendors fill the roads

near the Iron Market, in Centre Ville, Port-au-Prince's commercial district.

Schiele | Krumau Landscape (Town and River) | 1915/16 | oil on canvas

"Schiele's townscapes are compositionally poised between a symbolic

treatment and the more formal contrast of the cubic, geometrical architecture

and the colorful, organic shapes of the natural surroundings."

evelyn roth and her recycling book.

just stumbled onto some of Evelyn Roth's work and i'm swooning. she an icon in so many senses. she was doing the recycling thing before it became as mainstream as we know it today... and she was incredibly innovative about it -- thought-provoking! read the article below for more info on Evelyn, and be sure to watch the videos as well! this is truly inspiring stuff here, and something tells me Amanda's going to go hunting for this book so i will save you the trouble, check it out here! (i'm considering buying it, myself!). also check out her website here.

web moving sculpture.

Evelyn, herself.

crawling web.

crawling web.

roller derby (recycled videotape).

crocheting video tape.

basket of goodies (recycled videotape).

TV trap - symbolizing the all consuming nature of TV (see her speak more about this in her videos!).

car cozy- keeps it warm in winter, cool in summer.

prairie north.

sea mollusc.

feather knit.

sea urchin in the landscape.

wearable art ~ 1980's

buckskin wedding - knit natural tanned buckskin & bone.

family sweater.

family sweater.

Environment for Living Recycled from 110 Sweaters (1974) by Eveyln Roth.

Belkin Satellite Gallery, Vancouver, August 2006

a walk through Evelyn's recycling book.