A Million Substitutions

It's not procrastination, finding things to do instead of the thing on my to-do list. Today, I finally posted things to my etsy store that have been waiting for you. Like these cards that were sitting in storage all lonely. And these handmade nests Jud watched me make a few winters ago, a little nervously, like a tic, in my back yard as I insisted everything was okay.

It's good and weird to be in New Orleans, in the longest stretch of summer, with friends leaving for cooler parts daily. It's quiet and I sit inside and move things around, pack and repack, think about the details of yardsales and moving without thinking about the larger ideas of leaving the state where most of my friends live. It is exciting and exhausting, so I organize what I can while I still have control over something. When I have a studio I sometimes spend a few hours cleaning and ordering things before I work. Like getting your mind ready for the hard stuff.

Obviously I am not making a lot of new stuff right now but I want to share this countdown clock my friend Jeremy created. His friend made the cups. Twelve cups-one for each session of chemo he is about to endure. When each treatment is through, he will drink whiskey from the cup and smash it. He has a jar for collecting the smashed pieces. I am constantly encouraged by my friends' strength and creativity in dealing with obstacles and the way we make rituals to fit our needs, and share them with friends. The way we create and process and smash when we need to. You can read the whole story here. Or not. Jeremy also makes sea monster bags and was one of the awesomest to me when I was not so awesome. Good night, good friends.

The Simplest Solution

I've been trying to work on packaging for sending zines that is efficient, attractive and preferably reused in some way and this morning I remembered how I used to send mail. So here it is, an old print re-purposed.



The backyard garden is defying my expectations. Here, Yzah Yzah inspects the first pea blossom.




Friday I made a little salad of radishes, chard and spinach from the backyard to top falalfel sandwiches. It doesn't look like much but all these were grown in containers in the back yard. A little compost, a little love and some planters I found on the side of the road.

New and For Sale

I have finally updated my etsy account with items I made last spring for a print sale here.
Browse: www.gutwrench.etsy.com