Extreme Craft

Reel Quilting

I've seen just about every type of art quilt there is to see.  Most of them are nice, but I rarely get the feeling that the quilter is truly immersed in their subject matter.  It doesn't seem to me that many demons are exorcised through subject matter in quilting (except maybe chocolate or shoe addiction).  Sun Smith-Foret is a different breed of quilter.  The 68-year old psychotherapists experienced a celluloid conversion late in life (through a chance encounter with Reservoir Dogs, of all things).

Her massive collection of movie-inspired quilts are currently on display at the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City.  The quilts, ranging from small pieces to wall-sized installations are brimming with film geek arcana.  Each quilt represents Smith-Foret's interpretation of the tone and color of the film, and can range from intense and fractured to bright and lyrical.  Today's Kansas City Star has a great article about the exhibition, as well as a slide show of the quilts.  I don't think all of Smith-Foret's quilts are masterpieces by any means, but there is an obsessive genuineness that draws me to them.

LINK thanks, Mo!

The View from My Porch

I've been promising everybody that I know that I'd post some pictures of where we're living in Eureka.  Here are two pictures taken from my front porch--the first showing Eureka's famous Carson Mansion (we call it the Burns Mansion) and the second showing the tiny peek of Humboldt bay that we can see from our house.  The cute Victorian house we're living in certainly beats the 70's-a-delic white carpeted beast we lived in down in Orange County.  Viva Humboldt County!

Jedi Masterpiece

Darth Vader Stained Glass Window
Originally uploaded by axoplasm

Holy Shit! I just found this on Neatorama. Flickr user axoplasm posted this photo of a stained glass piece that a friend gave him. The window is based on a drawing he did on a Christmas card when he was six years old. If more kids got to design stained glass windows, churches might be a tad more interesting!

Pausch Spice

Most of you have probably watched, heard or read Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" by now. For whatever reason, I never took the hour and fifteen minutes that it required until today, when I was told about Pausch's death from pancreatic cancer at age 47.  I can honestly say that I've never seen a better lecture than this one.  It's taken me a long time to discover the keys to my own creativity and ways to help others find those keys.  Pausch was one of those rare people who intuitively knew how to help motivate people to go after their dreams, and the Last Lecture is an incredible testament to that.

SO.  If you haven't watched this lecture yet, set aside that hour when you were going to catch up on your Flavor of Love III marathon, and watch this. You'll be a better person for it.  I've had a twisted career path--from record store owner to designer to educator, and "The Last Lecture" makes me confident that I've chosen the right path.  Randy Pausch will definitely be missed...I'm just sorry that it took his passing for him to touch my life.

She's the Boss

People who frequent this website will know my obsession with vintage and collector plates.  Kakariki from the always awesome Radical Cross Stitch alerted me to this gem, which was put up on Etsy by seller Edelweissvintage.  Don't tell my wife I bought this, though...she's already the boss in our household, and I don't want it to go to her head...yet.

The other reason this plate is destined for Claire is that she once travelled the country in a pink van with our friend Kate, running for the "Co-Presidency" of the United States under the Domesticratic party ticket.  The Domesticrats were trying to restore world peace by baking their signature cookies for world leaders.  Sadly, their presidential bid wasn't successful, and we got the president we currently have.  Wouldn't you have rather spent the last four years enjoying delicious cookies in a peaceful world?

LINK via Radical Cross Stitch

Winning Picks!

If I wasn't in love with Northern California before, this certainly does it.  California is a hotbed of toothpick wielding talent.  If Steven Backman wasn't enough, the Bay area is big enough for TWO toothpick geniuses.  Scott Weaver has been quietly toiling, away from the media spotlight for the past 35 years.  He's been hard at work on his magnum opus, "Rolling Through the Bay", a kinetic sculptural "tour de force" of the San Francisco Bay.  The sculpture contains in the neighborhood of 100,000 toothpicks, and guides viewers through the city through the eyes of rolling balls.

The tour starts at Coit Tower, winds its way through the toothpick city.  Since there wasn't a proper World's Fair near him, Weaver chose to debut his sculpture at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.  The video above was produced by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, and gives viewers a pretty good idea of its magnificence.  In my personal opinion, laurel wreaths should be put on Scott Weaver's head, but I have a feeling he'll settle for the "Best of Show" ribbon.

LINK via Gizmodo

Big Bear

Phew!  Moving sucks.  After a bunch of driving a 24' truck towing my car through LA and San Francisco rush hour and the twisty, narrow stretches of Highway 101 in Northern California, I'm safe and sound in my new house in Eureka.  I'm a newly minted resident of Humboldt County!  My friends Clifton and Kate are just about to make their move from Starkville, Mississippi to Portland Oregon, and Clifton forwarded me the above Craigslist listing...just a taste of the random awesomeness that awaits them in the Rose City.  If I hadn't just moved all my shit across the entire state of California, I might be tempted to trade them some extra fondue sets or my Dumpy's Rusty Nuts LP collection.  Sigh. 

LINK

Moving Day

Humboldt County, here I come!

Liveblogging from the handmade nation

Howdy from poketo world headquarters, where I'm in furious competition for some awesome art. Go team!

Auction Heroes

Handmade Nation Silent Art Auction at Poketo, July 19, 2008
Originally uploaded by poketo

Holy Cow! My time in Southern California is dwindling like Angelina Jolie's baby weight gain. On Saturday, Claire and I pack up our lives into a U-Haul once again and head for Humboldt County, to start our new lives among the redwoods. Before we do that, though, we're taking time out of our hectic moving schedule to party our asses off at the Handmade Nation Silent Art Auction tomorrow, July 19th.

The auction will be at the Poketo Headquarters at 510 S Hewitt in Los Angeles, and there will be work from a ton of amazing artists, including many close personal friends of Extreme Craft. Loosen those purse strings and head to Poketo to support a worthy cause. There will be a brief screening of a new teaser from the film as well.

See you in LA!