This morning I took a break from packing up my work space to celebrate a moment of materials joy—discovering that my @beampaints collection fits perfectly inside a brie cheese box I had saved in my box of boxes (a studio staple for me!). If you haven’t admired Beam paints or used them yourself, you’re missing out on the most special, lovingly-made paints out there. Beam is an Indigenous woman-owned business making watercolors, gouaches, and inks by hand with natural ingredients on Manitoulin Island, Canada. They also have great IG video tutorials. I’ve given these as gifts and have so many plans for these colors once I’m settled in my new space and can sink into my art practice again. Thank you, Beam, for all you do!
Still here, just been staying behind the scenes. I’m moving house next month and my glamorous mischievous roommate is keeping me on my toes by attempting to chew all the corners off my cardboard boxes 🐰 I am trying to stay balanced with baths and 1:1 video calls with beloveds and (slowly) creating whatever work will come. My new 🙏🌞🌈🪴🌸 accessible and long-term 🌸🪴🌈🌞🙏 place will just be one neighborhood over, and I hope that when it’s safe we can gather there for sourdough biscuits and bourbon and hot tea and calling our reps and regrouping after protest actions and celebrating after poetry readings. Once I am stable and safe and have more capacity again, I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge in the realm of housing justice, and directing some of my energy to that work. We all deserve safe, accessible, affordable, peaceful shelter and it is too difficult for too many of us for an overwhelming heap of reasons. // In the meantime, let me know if you’re in the Twin Cities and want some furniture (name your price, including $0); I’ve got short bookshelves, two work tables, 4 matching dining chairs, a glass-fronted cabinet, vintage steamer trunk, and some odds and ends. DM me or stay tuned for Instagram story sales this weekend and next week.
Winter Solstice hearth with @alysiamazzella beeswax tapers, potted philodendron, an orange, some special stones, my childhood turtle lamp, and a handmade lace placemat by my one of my maternal ancestors. There are photos of my beloved maternal grandparents, Jean and Paul, and my Nana’s cousin Dorothy, who died of MS before I was born but who I feel like I got to know through my Nana and through some of her possessions that are now in my care. On my altar is a tiny black and white photo of Dorothy as a child, and a framed Christmas letter she wrote to Santa in December 1916, practicing her cursive. “Dear Santa Claus,” she wrote, “I am trying hard to be a good girl so you will being me lots of things. I want a little brown and white muff, also some oranges and bananas. I shall be satisfied with these.” She signed the letter “Your little friend—“. Just something soft to keep her hands warm, a bit of bright food, and the feeling of satisfaction. I wish these things for you too in the days ahead.
STITCH GALAXIES // A needle’s eye view of my winter Solstice jacket, for which I’m now accepting sliding-scale expressions of interest on my website until this Saturday, 12/26/20. If you are interested in the jacket, all the info you need is in my recent posts and at thebodyconnected.com/offerings, or feel free to DM me with questions. I’d love this piece to go to someone who loves it. // If you know me, you may know that I love photographing textiles nearly as much as I love making them, maybe because my poet’s heart reimagines all those tiny stitches into coded script that holds many stories. The silent 1-minute video is a macro scan of the jacket’s details: natural fiber threads in deep blue, cream, and aqua-green-pinks, embroidered on grey velvet patches, which are chain-stitched by hand on a slate blue cotton jacket. The designs are abstract and evoke rays of light, the winter darkness, the Northern lights, and the overall feeling of the winter Solstice. // #WinterSolstice #TextileArtist #GeologicTime #TextileTimekeeping #QueerArtist #DisabledArtist #ArtistsWithEDS
AVAILABLE: A wearable meditation on the longest night // Learn more about this garment and how it could be yours at the link in my bio—thebodyconnected.com/offerings. This piece is now available at a sliding scale range of $60-$260, but I’m trying something new: rather than first-come first-served or choosing the highest bidder, I want you to share something with me about the longest night of the year, and what it means to you. This can be a personal story, a poem, a fiction, a song, an artwork, dance, audio recording, etc. I know it’s unconventional but I’m excited about it. Read more at the link and submit your expression of interest via the Google Form on my website before noon this Saturday, December 26, 2020. I’ll choose the recipient sometime before midnight on Sunday 12/27. Yep, I’m a Scorpio Sun/Virgo Moon/Capricorn Rising and as one artist friend said, “It’s like a grant application for a jacket!” (but hopefully a *lot* less stressful). Have fun and put your heart into it in whatever way feels good. // See last couple posts from yesterday for more backstory on this jacket and my relationship with the Solstice. Everything you need to know should be on the website & form, but feel free to DM me with questions if you have them before Saturday. And happy Solstice, y’all. // Images are photos and closeups of a deep blue zip-up jacket with a collar and hand-embroidered gray velvet patches on the shoulders, elbows, and edges of pockets. The embroidery is in a mix of deep blues, warm white, and blue-green-purples like the Northern Lights. There is a row of rose quartz and tourmalinated quartz beads sewn underneath the collar that can only be seen when the collar is flipped up. #WinterSolstice #HandmadeTextiles #MultidisciplinaryPoet #FromMyQueerHands #ArtistsWithEDS #DisabledArtists #TextileArt #AWearableMeditationOnTheLongestNight
SOLSTICE OFFERING // This has been a hard year, no question. What the next will bring is still unknown, which is always true, but personally and collectively there are major changes afoot. To soothe my nerves in the three days leading up to this long night, I spent many hours adorning this Solstice-blue jacket that was a hand-me-over from a former love. I am offering it sliding scale this week with the intention to share it with a loving home. More details coming Tuesday (measurements, sliding scale info, and how I will select its new companion)—but please feel welcome to comment or DM before then to express interest. // I’ve been ready to let this garment go for a while but it felt right to send it off with solstice magic embedded in the cloth, in the form of gray velvet elbow patches, crescent-shaped pocket patches, moon-sliver-shaped shoulder patches, and a row of rose quartz and black tourmalinated quartz beads under the collar. All of the patches were designed, sewn, and hand embroidered by me using a variety of natural fiber threads, with abstract imagery of the interwoven conversation between dark and bright that I feel so present with this time of year. Deep blue alpaca yarn, hand-dyed light wool, and variegated Northern Lights-y thread adorn the light gray cotton velvet and complement the deep slate blur of the collared zip-up jacket. Photos 2-9 are of the jacket on a hanger against a wooden fence, details of the patches and beading, and pictures of me wearing it. Tagged a size Medium originally from Gap, with chest darts, black polyester lining and a sturdy cotton exterior. // First image is a selfie of me tonight on the Solstice, wearing a floral blazer over a black velvet vest and black t-shirt, black lipstick and gold eye makeup, with a brass and silver talisman necklace. Last photo is of the gray and gold winter sky just before sunset. // Solstice is my winter holiday of choice. Tonight I painted my face and put on a palette of darks and warm brights, lit candles with my pod and we ate and cracked open geodes and sang and honored the night. I wish you warmth, reflection, something bright, something dark, connection, ease, and generative solitude.
“The Rust Collection” (2017), District Lit // Poems, dictionary erasure, & gouache drawings
“On Material,” (2016), Black Warrior Review // Craft essay with text & images
“Autobodiography” (2016), Connotation Press // Lyric essay with dictionary erasures
“O Sister” (2017), Voices of Hope Choir & University of Minnesota Women’s Chorus // Poem written for choral arrangement