Doodling Tuesdays in a book again!

Seeing how I am taking this bookworks class, it should be no surprise that my doodles are being presented in book form.

Biltmore Built More!

Due to a serious case of cabin fever in the secluded mountains of Western North Carolina, I decided to make a day trip this weekend to the famous Vanderbilt monstrosity called the Biltmore Estate. Before reaching my destination though, I found the polka dot car making more noise than it should. As I wound down steep mountains in the fog and rain, I thankfully sputtered to a random roadside mechanic.

Before I knew it, I was back on the road and on my way to the largest private residence in the country with over 250 rooms full of fancy art stuff and decadence unheard of in the 1890s. Biltmore built more! Get it?

Seasonal Developments from NC!

Each day is a little different here on the mountain.
Here are some developments of a bookwork in progress. I'm using handwritten words from my own journals and notes in addition to letters from others to create this piece.

Doodling Tuesdays in an Artist Book

This doodle comes from sunny North Carolina once again!
Each page is a progressive drawing on canvas that addresses cycles. A theme of late:

Adjusting to the cycle...

I am adjusting to the many cycles and routines here at "Art camp." Here is a shot from the studio where I having been piecing together canvas swatches into something that might look like book.
Because my cloth pages need a nice edge, I have become aquainted with the amazing abilities of a serger (a special kind of sewing machine but only, well, more amazing...and definitely more expensive.) I have officially put
"Serger" on my Christmas wish list. (wink wink)


I went to town today to do laundry and did something I've always wanted to do:
get inside the spin cycle.

Week 2: More "books" and a Tuesday Doodle!

This tuesday doodle comes inside a book which is inside my hair which is sometimes wrapped around my wrist. The "book" has gessod pieces of canvas that I can take with me and make "art on the go."


I can't seem to get this book out of my head. And no, it is NOT a glorified scrunchie.
More work and stories to come from North Carolina soon!

Exploring the grounds/Doodling Tuesdays

Because it is Doodling Tuesdays, here is a minimalist doodle that will be bound into a book in some way in my bookmaking course.


I'm still catching up on sleep and settling in but I had enough energy to do a cartwheel in the meadow and take some pictures of a few spots around the grounds here at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

First 24 Hours at Penland

Greetings from beautiful North Carolina!
I finally made it in one piece to Penland School of Crafts and have processed more in the past 24 hours than I thought possible. I drove my polka-dot car ("Polkie")to Bloomington, Indiana (my first visit ever!) on Thursday and visited my old friend from high school, Louise. I got some coffee and a taste of undergraduate life for a brief nostalgic moment at Indiana University before hitting the road early Friday morning. Polkie held up all the way through to the last winding incline. Friday's drive wound through Kentucky, Tennessee, and finally to the middle of nowhere in Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Total hours alone in the car: 13.
I arrived before dark and met a few other work-study students who had arrived and were relaxing around a table on the porch of the dining hall. I sipped my tea and looked out at the mountains in front of me. It was then that it occured to me: I'm either in heaven or rehab.
I am utterly exhausted tonight, Saturday, after a full day of cleaning and preparing for classes to start this coming week. So far at "art camp" I've met lots of new people and am learning the ropes of washing industrial sized dishes in the middle of nowhere.
I am unpacking little by little but one of the first things I took out were my soul collage cards. They are arranged around my little nook to remind me..."I am the one who has come from somewhere and is going to new places..."
More to come soon!

Top Post of 2008: Resurrection Mary!

I feel it is fitting to post the last and final post from the top ten ranked posts of 2008 on the day that I depart Chicago and drive to North Carolina. For the past few days, I've been dividing my clothes into "fit to take to North Carolina" or "fit to give away." There were a few items that didn't fit into either category: the famous dress worn for the Resurrection Mary photoshoot and the feature for the month of October of my Famous Chicago Graves Calendar. There she remains in my closet.
Here is the copied post below. The "Unsolved Mysteries" youtube clip is no longer available due to copyright issues so I've scrounged up another equally fun clip from the vast archives of Rez Mary Madness!

As part of my calendar shots for 2009, I headed down with my friend, Mary, to Resurrection Cemetery on S. Archer Ave, a stretch of road that hosts Chicago's most famous ghost: Resurrection Mary. This is the one shot that does not feature an exclusive grave as there is controversy over which grave claims the true Mary. Instead, we have featured this wandering spirit along the road where many a hitchhiker has spotted her. Here's some hollywood-ized folklore about this ghost:NOTE: this is a new youtube link...you can spend endless time on youtube watching this stuff. This is a trailer clip from the movie Ray told us about.

According to legend, Resurrection Mary has been sighted at Chet's Melody Lounge, an old bar that boldly faces the cemetery from across the street. We went into the bar to freshen up from our drive down I-55. Mary walked in wearing her work clothes from the day, after a few minutes and a few sips of our drinks, Mary went to the restroom to get into costume. She returned to her bar stool wearing a long white wedding dress. Mike, (check out his myspace) he's pictured here in his Ozzie sunglasses with Mary: was jamming it out on the keyboard in the back corner of the bar. He commented on her "nice dress" in mid-song. We looked for the Bloody Mary that is supposed to sit at the end of the bar for the famous ghost and we also looked for "The Ballad of Resurrection Mary" on the jukebox. (My Chicago Haunts book by Ursela Bielski promised these details.) Apparently only the bartender on Sunday has a Bloody Mary out for the ghost and the jukebox went digital and doesn't have the song anymore. We got our fill of stories of ghost encounters from the locals in the bar. Gil, who bought two beers for us "two hippie chicks at the end of the bar," told us of how he passed out outside the bar after claiming there was no such thing as ghosts. His cigarette went flying out of his hand. Rez Mary was not happy! Ray, Chet's Melody Lounge webmaster, and an extra in the Resurrection Mary Movie made in 2004, recounted the time a beer "just flew off the bar-- I swear, ask the bartender." Ray says the movie's horrible but he's in the scene that they shoot at Chet's Melody Lounge. Here is our rendition of Resurrection Mary at Chet's with Ray seated in the background:

The real shots at the Cemetery gates will be fully revealed in the calendar but here's a sneak preview:

The legendary steel bars where Mary is believed to have pulled the bars apart and imprinted her tiny lady-ghost hands have long since been replaced. (The cemetery claims that a truck backed into the gate. But believers insist that it mysteriously wouldn't "take" to new coats of paint in that same spot.)

Tuesday Dawdle #9

My Tuesday Doodle has dawdled one too many times. Here is a genuine doodle brought to you on an actual Tuesday.

2nd Most Popular Blog Post of 2008: Virgin Mary Appears to Me at Work

I have copied below a blog post from last June that has become the second most visited post from 2008. Since the writing of this post, I left that job before renovating the statue but you better believe I took the Virgin Mary's thumb with me! Her holy thumb dangles freely with the aid of dental floss from my rear view mirror. Mary's thumb and I still cruise all over town together. Enjoy this post from yesteryear:

"This might be old news to Chicago folks but...the Virgin Mary has been sighted at the Kennedy expressway underpass at Fullerton Ave. An altar of candles and flowers surrounds this holy image made up of salt and oil on concrete. Last week, I finally pulled my car over to visit this Mary Apparition. It has gotten a fair amount of local publicity and has been on my commute for months. For a long while I thought it was just a memorial to a fatal accident, but it has been a Marian apparition all along! I parked my car and went in for a nice close-up of Big M. With all respect, I suspect a little magic marker touch-up was done to bring out her features...we all need a little touch-up with age I suppose...

So it was interesting that another Mary manifestation entered my life a week later... I encounter lots of unexpected events, requests, projects every time I go to work (where my title is the Craft Cottage coordinator) but today was extra special.

While walking out to the parking lot today, I saw the facilities manager and maintenance worker extracting something heavy and large from the back of a truck. Behold! The Virgin Mary was being dropped at my doorstep. I suddenly recalled an email from the day before asking if I wanted to restore a statue. Whether I liked it or not, there she was. I may not be the best Catholic on earth to be called on for Mary renovations, but the responsibility now rests with Jean, Craft Cottage Coordinator.

Before leaving, the maintenance worker rummaged around in the truck and procured the Virgin Mary's detached thumb...surely broken in transit.

I giggled in awe at the heavy stone/concrete thumb rolling around in my palm. After negotiating the proper location for Mary with the workers, I quickly ran into the main building to proclaim the arrival of Mary... with her thumb, of course, proudly raised in the air! To prove that the art lady was not a crazy prophet, I took a group out to visit her and prove her existence. All afternoon, the thumb safely stayed in the pocket of my apron like a little rabbit's foot.

My task now is to return Mary to her proper state. She has obviously had a botched nose job.

Her missing index finger also indicates her current disqualification for the military.

I'd like to think Mary is in no hurry to acquire a prosthetic trigger finger. One fellow employee has advised me to get some epoxy for her thumb and that I can build a new finger for her. I'm also currently investigating ways to strip it of its chipping coat of paint. Are there any stone sculpture renovators out there? I've already been told it is NOT okay to paint her in polka dots. I would never do something so tacky-ahem- but I'm open to hearing other ideas. How can I best restore Our Lady of Crafts???

Since Mary has arrived the last day of work at the Craft Cottage before I depart on my little road trip, I think it's only fair that Mary's thumb sits shotgun on my trip to Virginia next week. With Mary's thumb's blessings, the polka-dot car will surely hold up well enough in Appalachia and we won't need to "thumb" any rides."