slightly wonky

Halloween is nearly upon us, and  I’m already exhausted by the whole thing.  My son keeps telling me ways that we could make our house look MORE SCARY, with fake tombstones, etc.  He doesn’t seem to realize that because of my poor housekeeping skills, the house already IS scary.  WAAAAY scary.  Case in point:  a contractor was over yesterday installing new storm windows.  When he came inside to do something, he asked, “Got several kids?”  My response was, “No.  One child, and one poor housekeeper.”  Sheesh.

My skills lie elsewhere.  I don’t yet have the map to that “elsewhere”, but I’ll let you know when I get there.

I spent gobs of time making my son’s costume this year.  He wants to be a dragon.  I balked.  Why can’t he be something EASIER?  So many kids are going as ninjas.  What a simple costume!  Just have them wear black clothes and wrap a black cloth around their head.  Simple!  Done!  Or, better yet, a black ski mask!  I kept trying to convince my son that a viking would be just as cool as a dragon, and infinitely easier to make.  But, no.  He’s spoiled by my craftiness, so he knows that a dragon costume is the better thing to push for.  So, here it is:

If I thought that I could make these quickly, it would be smart to make some for my Etsy store.  Perhaps I should start now, and I might have one or two made by next Halloween?  Perhaps I need to start drinking caffeine again?  No…that’s a bad idea, as mommy is already high-strung.  Doesn’t this look like a dead bat on the floor, or is that just me?  FYI…I may eat all of the Halloween candy before tomorrow…I am both filled with remorse…and chocolate.

But enough about my ridiculous domestic chaos…my printmaking teacher and friend, Christiane Corcelle, has a solo show titled, “A Better Cup of Tea” at Artspace in Maynard, Ma.  This show closes TOMORROW (Oct. 31) so you must go NOW to see it!  It’s a great show, and I was really happy to see what great things she has been making.  Here are some images from the show…

Christiane Corcelle, Choisissez Votre Chapeau!

and a detail:

Christiane Corcelle, Choisissez Votre Chapeau! (detail)

I love the image transfers of vintage illustrations on teabags.  The texture is so fascinating!  I think that it would be cool to make a garment/coat out of these layered teabags.

Christiane Corcelle, Going Green

This, believe it or not, these colored squares are teabag wrappers that Corcelle has printed on, then collaged.  I love the simplicity of the black ink on the colored wrappers.  This would also make a fantastic quilt.

Christiane Corcelle, Kaleidoscope

Christiane Corcelle, Kaleidoscope (detail)

Corcelle has collaged tea bag labels, including their strings.  I especially liked this one in the center of the image…I think because some of the labels were tea stained.  Don’t you love the effect of the hanging strings?  You can imagine that each board is a different person, with their own tea drinking preference/personality.

Christiane Corcelle, T-Duck

Okay, I LOVE this.  This may be my favorite piece in the show.  I love how simple, yet graphic the form is.  I love the shadow that is cast by it.  It makes me think of some kind of Duchamp readymade (although this is clearly not quite “ready made”.)  Brilliant!

Christiane Corcelle, Melt Series (detail)

Can you guess what those blue blobs are?  Yes, they are MELTED MILK BOTTLE CAPS.  Amazing, right?  I love how bold and irregular each one is.  She has a whole series of these.

Christiane Corcelle, Red Ticket (detail)

I’m sorry that I only have a detail photo of this piece.  The overall photo that I took is pretty blurry.  Again, Corcelle has hidden little found treasures in these used teabags.  I love that there is some organization to the arrangement of the items…and I love the unifying color scheme.

Great show.  Overall, I tended to prefer the pieces that kept the teabags lose and flexible in some way, like in Red Ticket and T-duck, as opposed to where the items were more rigidly collaged, as in Kaleidoscope.  Perhaps because the teabags seem to be almost a textile, I like when they maintain their soft/loose quality.

For those of you in the Boston area, some of my drawings are going to be included in a show, “Drawings Out of Lines and Marks” in the South End.  The reception is November 13 from 6-8pm.  I’m super excited, as the other artists are uber talented.

Now, to figure out what we should have for dinner tonight…does a mystery vegetable from the freezer sound appealing?  What about just having Cheez-its and some Halloween candy?

If you’re thinking of calling DSS, my name is “Cindy” and I live in Omaha.  Thank you for your concern.