Ramping Up

This is the face I made when I realized that I didn't know how to mat and frame artwork anymore. :^x

Greetings Everyone!

I have three art things coming up that I ought to tell you about, yes? That sort of seems like the point of this whole thing.

Arts Alive! Eureka
May 3rd, 2014 5:30 - 9:00 (I'll be there from 5:30 to 8:00pm at least)
Giant Squid Printmaker's Collective at
Studio 424
424 3rd Street, Eureka, California
2 - 3 pieces hanging from the Universal Pictorial Language project, and the chance to submit glyphs to the language as I sit at my beloved table

Redwood Art Association
56th Spring Exhibition
April 23 – May 16, 2014
Opening Reception: May 3rd, 2014 6:00 - 9:00pm at
RAA Gallery
603 F Street
Eureka, CA 95501
Alphabet Aerobics is up, looking snazz. Previously seen at Pro Arts in San Francisco and in my studio thereafter.

North Coast Open Studios
May 31st - June 1st and June 7th - June 8th
Hours: TBD
Giant Squid Printmaker's Collective at
The Ink Annex
47B W. 3rd Street, Eureka, California 95501
Most definitely selling UPL cards and prints, as well as tabling up a storm!

UPL Humboldt Part 1

My first test run with the general public to draw three words as ideograms - "love," "take," and "universe." These shots took place outside of the Ink People Gallery on 2nd Street in Eureka, Ca as a part of the Arts Alive! art walk. The results were delightfully random, but some interesting issues came up.

1. Herd Behavior. Many people did not like having other drawings directly in front of them, saying they were distracting and influenced what they drew. Two participants asked that I give an "anonymous" option, either on a post-it note or on a form via the web. Creating a worksheet with an explanation, that participants can fill out alone, might resolve this.

2. Drawing Angst. I have had artists do this experiment before, and they had mentioned that randomly chosen individuals would be turned off by being put on the spot to draw. "I can't draw" was heard quite often from passersby, along with "Will it take long?" I need to find a way to best emphasize that these are simple and straightforward to be better understood. What term should use instead of "draw?"

3. Reproducability. Simply saying "try to make it simple" didn't seem to cut it. I really needed to emphasize that these drawings had to be reproducable for others. I tried using the phrase "it's actually better if you can't draw, because that means it's more likely that others can draw it!" But I suspect that resulted in only more complicated images.

4. Ideogram vs. Pictogram. I keep getting these terms mixed up, which I believe added to confusion. The UPL is mainly an experiment in ideograms. As Jim Grossmann from the Conlang Facebook Group Explained: "Strictly speaking, you can't draw a pictogram (picture-depiction) of the universe, because the whole is unpicturable, if only because spacetime has more than three dimensions. You could draw an ideogram (symbol-for-idea) of the universe."

The next step for this first set is to translate these ideograms into my own hand, and then run group debates over which to chose for each word. Then, that image will be uploaded onto my website and temporarily "confirmed" as a UPL symbol, along with notes on its debate process. Stay turned for more on this page and others.

Getting Quicker

Firstly, I am pleased to announce that at the last minute, I decided to participate in Arts Alive! Eureka. If you plan to arrive early, then come and find me on 2nd Street and try your hand at some hieroglyphics.

Saturday, October 5, 5:00pm – 7:30pm Romano Gabriel Sculpture Garden. 315 2nd Street, Eureka, CA

I am also participating in First Fridays in Oakland during November and December. I'll update as more info comes in, but all I know for certain is that I will be on Telegraph around 25th Street. 

Our buddy Nick Call was grand enough to find a home for one of my abandonments:

I found this one about a week ago as a few of us hiked in the rain. The girls loved it and so we brought it home. When I read the note on the back it made perfect sense knowing you two;) I'll be keeping my eyes open for more!

Finally, two abandonments this week. I saw the second one get carried away by a woman and placed into her van, which is both exciting and vaguely creepy of me. 

 #17, "Have-Their." Coastal trail on point just south of Wedding Rock, Patrick's Point State Park.

#3, "Me." Klopp Lake, Arcata Marsh.