striped shirts

I know they say people with a few extra pounds should never wear horizontal stripes. And yet, I have an obsession with stripes. I cannot stop buying them. All kinds of stripes. Most recently, Le Gap put out some gorgeous striped boat neck long sleeved shirts. I bought the white with black stripe shirt. It fits beautifully, even on a gigantic fat person like myself. Scoff at the horizontal stripe rule. SCOFF! It was so lovely that I wore it out to dinner that night for Indian food. And Thor flung navartan korma at my beautiful white with black striped shirt.

Yes.

There is a turmeric stain on the front.

I bleached with a little itty bitty q-tip. It was ruined. After one wear. And then I started thinking about how cool it would look if I could silk screen something to cover the stain. I don't have silk screening equipment, but in 1997-1998, I worked as an artist's assistant. At that job, I mostly cut amberlith/rubylith, which is a frustrating, precise job, but is the first step of silk screening. Amberlith is masking film. You literally cut the image out of the film on top of plastic to make a negative image for silk screening. It is very easy to try to pull up the amberlith quickly and then rip your entire image. And then you cuss and kick something. I really don't know why I am explaining it, but I guess the point is, sometimes I think in amberlith. Like I look at images as negative/positive space and think of it on top of other images. Maybe this year I should buy some damn silk screening equipment.

ANYWAY, I have been thinking about this since I ruined the shirt. What image would look good over my white with black striped shirt? I first thought of my Obey Frida image, then my husband reminded me that I would have a Frida over each boob, or relatively close to each boob.

In the end, I found a vintage anatomical heart, and decided to change the color to blood red. I bought some printer, iron-on transfer paper, and created this:

And since I have a trigger finger, and already printed the Obey Frida image, I cut it in half and put it on this weird stripe shirt I have with brown and pink stripes. (i heart STRIPES, PEOPLE!)

I had so much fun with this iron-on transfer paper. It just makes me want to silk screen shit, though.

09.28.10

I've been working on the sketchbook project this weekend/week. I actually made a little thumbnail of the sketchbook s month or so ago, and thumbnailed the whole dang thing, so I am starting to sketch it in the real, rebound book. The first spread is pretty bland. It simply says, "I made your death about me."
The second page is a fake little mini notebook page, finishing the sentiment, "my mistakes, my karma, my deflated belly, my misplaced anger, my daughter who died, my goddamned grief." The last page contains the theme I chose which is, "I'm sorry I forgot you." I really had two ideas here, and am kind of wondering now that everything is sketched out if the first one isn't the better plan. Here is the one I didn't go with:

"When she told me she was sorry I lost my baby, I was confused, because you died, and I knew exactly where you were. Then I thought, perhaps I did lose you, and you were simply in the cushions of my couch.  I turned everything over expecting to see you kicking and smiling, but there were just some cheerios, fifteen cents and a button. Then I thought perhaps on the bus, when I went to that far away market that sells the really good soap I love to use. The soap that smells like rosemary and lemon verbena. Perhaps I would find you in the public transportation lost and found and I could tickle your belly and say, 'I'm sorry I forgot you, Love.' But then I remembered that you were still dead, and she didn't really want to acknowledge how terribly sad that is. Death is so final, but lost things get found."

The one I went with is kind of scattered. I wrote the poem a while ago, when I thought about the theme, then began thumbnailing it, and now, I am sketching it. Next step, paint. One spread, though, contains guerrilla art. A fake periodic table of elements with Lucy as the first element. Weight: six lbs. Thought I would share. "You are the first element in my life."

I am going to be alone all week. My husband is seeing Rush in the Atlanta with his brother while I tend to things around here. It is okay, but I am having a bourbon as I type, and the kids are both sleeping in the same room, and I somehow managed to do that. WTF? This is literally the first time in three years I have slept in my bed alone. I didn't mean to sleep train Thor, but to be frank, I was worried he would roll off the bed because suddenly, he is so friggin' mobile. And he seems to figure out a way to get where he is going, which is off the bed. Anyway, sleeping alone is a bit intimidating. And to be frank, I am a little scared. Wish me luck.

Monday. 01.25.10

Sumo Love. Digital Media. 01.25.10

I don't just love sumo wrestlers because they are fat and loved in Japan like me. I find the whole aesthetic of sumo wrestling beautiful and wonderful. I was boxing up my heART today, and found some old sumo stickers to close my homemade envelopes (thanks, Ines). I wrote out this little saying, and decided I wanted them to be a kind of valentine to the world. So, away I went messing with the picture, and playing. It is so fucking stupid. I know this. But it was a lot of fun to do.

Suck it up. Acrylic.01.25.10

Sorry for the crappy picture. I turned off the flash, but the overhead light made the right side overexposed. I haven't painted with acrylic in a long time, so I wanted to sort of get a feel of the paint. I just mixed up some color and painted a canvas. Not exactly art or anything, nothing real creative out of it. But it reminded me of this beautiful painting I saw a few years ago. It was very basic, cream-colored or something, and very small in the corner, it read, "don't cry." And I loved it. Of course, since my daughter died, that means so much more as an inconsolable crier. This is one of those things I used to say all the time. My mother used to joke that she was going to put it on my headstone when I died, "Suck up and deal." But now that I can't suck it up since my daughter died, I kind of thought it might be a bit, I don't, subversive. My daughter said, "Your name looks pretty, Mommy." Pointing to the 'suck it up'.

YAY, subversive guerilla art.

Saturday.01.23.10

Grief. Digital Media. 01.23.10

I found this website called Obamicon, which lets you create your own Obama Hope poster. I thought it would be interesting to do one about grief.

Wednesday. 12.23.09

Frida Kahlo has Posse. Digital Media. 12.24.09