swallowfield :: jennifer judd-mcgee

11/11. dig it.

it's 11/11! we had a school holiday today, and while one kid was busy marching in a parade, the other one and i had a quickie solo date: cafe maple soy for me, and cocoa for him. and some tasty homemade toast was delivered shortly after this photo was taken (with my iphone! i have to say, i've been pretty pleased with the camera on it. it comes in handy when i don't want to lug the big camera around.)  i made a wish at 11:11. (did you know that every time my kids notice the clock, they say, 'mom! it's your favorite time again!')  there will be a total party extravaganza around here on 11/11/11, let me tell you.

this week i've been getting ready for the gifted hand show, where i'll be this friday and saturday, the 13th and 14th, in ellsworth, maine. (11/13, edited to add: i had to cancel, due to flu! i've never missed a show before; it was a hard decision.) this is the second year i've done the show, and i had a great time  last year. there is a lovely, high quality (+ friendly!) mix of artisans from all over maine. if you're in the neighborhood, i'd love to see you, so stop by and say hi! this is the first of several holiday shows i'll be doing around maine this year, though i've been almost hesitant to write about them here, because it means that busy crazy season has officially arrived. i'm not sure i'm quite prepared.

have you seen emily's amazing maine postcards? i adore them. especially the barnacles.

there's an all new glee tonight!

ps: i received my first ever blatently unkind comment here today, which i guess is pretty decent for a nearly three year old blog. but -- i won't have that here, so you've been deleted and blocked. (and did you know that i can see your IP address?) go be a jerk somewhere else, please.

i hope you're having a nice week.

linkarific

this has been a busy week for me, and i've been feeling kind of quiet to boot. yesterday there was a dusting of slushy snow on the ground in the morning. what?! i don't feel ready for that nonsense, not at all.

i wanted to share a bunch of assorted stuff  i'm liking right now:

it was a dark week for marriage equality here in maine. i was really disappointed + sad about the outcome of the vote. my friend liz made this handy map to show the cities and towns that did support equality.

brandi carlile's new cd, give up the ghost - i've been listening to this a ton lately. love it.

we love you so, a blog dedicated to many of the artists and influences behind the magic of where the wild things are.

maria has curated and installed a show called come darkness at chelli wilson here in portland. it looks amazing and i can't wait to see it. the opening is tonight for first friday art walk.

meg mateo ilasco has published craft inc business planner, a follow up to the great craft, inc. (i was interviewed for this book, along with a bunch of other arty folks you very likely know. )

let them sing it for you, one of the coolest things i've seen around the internet in a long time, via all songs considered. you can send someone a singing telegram love note, if the spirit moves you.

the kids and i are super excited to see fantastic mr. fox.

i now have a selection of prints in stock at rare device in san francisco. (and i am looking forward to a solo show there in september, 2010! thanks lisa and rena!) and speaking of shows, i wish i could see lisa and amy's show, gently by the horns, in person.

phew! that's a lot of links. hope you all have a great weekend.

inspiring me: f-i-e-l-d

two of my very favorite artists here in portland are friederike hamann and colin sullivan-stevens, the wonder duo behind field. check out their installation marking their third anniversary at their gallery space - i love it so much!

 

 

 

photos from field, with permission

happy friday!

good morning

this morning i woke up in an excellent, quiet mood. plus, the house is full of flowers from the farmers market and i can't stop taking pictures of them.

this song by the weather station might have something to do with my mood. my friend renee linked me to it yesterday, and i can't stop listening to it. after some research, i found the CD , too.

other things i'm liking right now:

the journal of plants. i received this lovely, lovely book for my birthday and i can't stop looking at it.

i can't wait to get a look at prayer requested by christian northeast, via book by its cover. wow.

appreciating a lifetime of service from senator ted kennedy. you will be missed! my friend sarah standiford from the maine womens lobby said it so nicely: "thanks Ted Kennedy for the civil rights act, pregnancy discrimination act, family and medical leave, unemployment insurance expansions, minimum wage, reproductive choice, SCHIP, and about 300 others...your legacy is shared by millions."

i hope you're having a nice day today.

i heart nahcotta

last night meg and i got a chance to head down to the enormous tiny art show 4 opening at nahcotta. the pics above are a few of my favorites from the show, but there is a lot to see!  it was a spectacular show - if you are anywhere near portsmouth this month, i highly recommend stopping in to see it. (and then you can head over to the teeny tiny art show at three graces gallery. so much good stuff!)
deb started a whole new + amazing website this week dedicated to the tiny art madness - you can see everyone's work there and purchase online if you don't live nearby.

it was great fun for me to meet in person some of the great artists last night - amy ruppel, mati mcdonough, leah giberson to name a few of my favorites - plus, to get to to see others i already knew, like stephanie dos reis, lillianna pereira, betsy thompson, etas alum + superstar lisa dejohn, and abby glassenberg (whose birds were over at three graces.)  it was a wonderful  night, topped off with dinner at the friendly toast. my kind of friday.  nice to meet + see you, everyone!

drawing + filming

this is a little peek at a few of my pieces for my upcoming show at nahcotta with matte stephens in october. i had a holy sh*t moment today when i realized the show is coming right up. (the opening will be on october 3rd.) i am loving spending time with my kids (lots and lots of time) but i think all three of us are ready for them to go back to school next week. i know i will instantly be putting the extra time to good use, and doing things like finishing the work for nahcotta + stuff.  ahem.

i got one of these crazy-excellent little things for my birthday last week (thanks, mom!) and it has been great fun learning how to use it. i have been pretty slackerish about documenting everyday moments (not to mention special events...) with the kids and i look forward to capturing some of that stuff before they get old enough to shun + mock me.   

happy tuesday!

crazy weather + pigmentary portraits

betsy and i headed off to the opening at artstream last night shortly after i posted here. i didn't mention it at the time, but there had been some pretty severe stormy weather going on during the afternoon - torrential rain, strong winds, thunder and lightening, and even some hail thrown in for good measure. it was giving me a little bit of weather ptsd after the renegade fiasco last month! but there was a break in the weather right when we were heading out last night so i didn't think too much of it. turns out we headed right into the thick of the storm, as evidenced by the super crazy sky that turned black in the matter of one minute and reminded me of the giant overhead dome in the truman show. had we not been in such a hurry, i think we both might have liked to pull over and draw the crazy clouds we saw, because the light coming through them was spooky and very interesting to look at. we saw a lot of downed trees and power lines, and kept laughing at all of the obstacles and delays we came upon because it seemed so riduculous. we were two slightly desperate mothers away from our kids for the evening, just trying to see some art + some friends and have a good time. why make it so hard? i mean, really.

((lisa c, lisa s, and susan from artstream))

we finally arrived at 6:55 - the opening was slated to end at 7. luckily for us no one was in a hurry and there was still a bit of wine left. the show was lovely - so much fun to see it up close and in person.

there have been plenty of pictures online but it was a treat to see the little details. i loved the way it was hung with each color pigment pairing side by side, and really enjoyed seeing lisa congdon's brush strokes + great use of color (i loved her use of an excellent silvery colored gouache in most all of the paintings) and lisa solomon's incredibly dainty and delicate stitching and the multilayered bits in each of her pieces.

it was so interesting to read more about the thought process that went into each piece, too.  we got a chance to meet the lovely and talented lisas, which was an absolute pleasure for me after knowing them for a few years in blogland. they were just as great as i imagined them to be.

we enjoyed a delicious dinner with the two of them and the artstream gang after the show at this place, which i'd never been to but would definitely go again. yum.
and to make it all even better, tonight there is another dinner with the ladies, here in town.  spending time together like this with other artist friends is so inspiring and  fun, and makes me love the internet for bringing kindred  spirits together in the excellent way that it can.   

ut-oh, i think i hear thunder and an emergency management radio warning. time to go + hide under a chair or something.

friday night

here are a few new pieces i've been working on.  i guess i am sort of liking navy blue these days.

i'm headed down to new hampshire tonight for the pigmentary portraits opening at artstream - and really looking forward to it.

i hope you have a great weekend.

quick drive-by

just a quickie update today:

i did a small shop update today with six original collages. you can take a peek here if you're interested.

lena corwin's new book was released today. i am super excited about it, from what i've gleaned here and there. 

i am actually going to attempt sewing a garment for myself, which will be a first. amy  at angry chicken made it look easier than i'd thought. (i've been reading her blog forever - in internet time anyway, ha - and it always makes me feel both happy and amused.  she's interesting, wicked talented and totally funny to boot.) i tend to forget to comment on things like this once they've become a routine part of my life, but her blog is a keeper.

that's all i've got. by the way - i was glad to know many of you feel the same way about the word fine. :)

girls weekend

last weekend i got the chance to head to brimfield with meg and betsy for 33 hours (who's counting?) of totally fun grownup girl time. we had some excellent thrifting adventures, happily poking around until we were tired and sunburned and ready to go back to the hotel + grab some dinner. i couldn't figure out why my back was aching so much by the end of the day...turns out i had accidently carried a bunch of rocks around in my shoulder bag all day - they'd been in there since the kids handed them to me on a recent beach trip. d'oh!

after a sound night's sleep (rare around here, since most nights one or both kids seem to wiggle their way in with me before morning) we headed back to brimfield on sunday morning for a few more hours...and we landed on a flurry of good finds all at once. meg makes a super-cute high-pitched humming sound when she finds something excellent, and we heard that sound several times on sunday.  brimfield is absolutely huge and overwhelming, but so much fun. i enjoyed carrying my newly lighter, rock-free bag as well. :)

all in all, a perfect time. ((and you can see meg and betsy's great finds here and here.))

from top to bottom, my finds:
::  a nice white round planter, filled with assorted vintage trims and a lifesaving patch (and you can see a bit of a celadon green homer laughlin bowl in the backround)
::  a west german vintage vase, which i LOVE, and two white divided dishes (we eat a lot of carrots and hummus around here, so they'll be perfect)
:: a rad set of vera pillowcases
:: assorted ephemera for art-making
:: four patterned and nicely sized glasses