an aggregate of all things Johnson

Whew! I have been adding things to my calendar left and right and I am so excited about all of the upcoming events. I wanted to share some of the major things that I will be attending in the next couple of months, just in case you will be there. I would love to meet up!

Next week, I am going to Stitch Fest – an event hosted by Martha Stewart (well, her company) in honor of the release of her new book, Encyclopedia Of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. I am really pumped about the event because we are meeting at the MSLO building and each attendee gets a copy of the book included in the price of the ticket! We also get to mingle with Martha Stewart staff crafters, which sounds thrilling! ha! I am disproportionally star struck when it comes to anything Martha Stewart… I am lame.

Also coming up in a little over a week is Cocktails & Creatives: A New York screening of Handmade Nation hosted by The Maximalists. I am really looking forward to finally viewing Handmade Nation. It is a documentary all about the contemporary handmade movement and it has been making the rounds for over a year. I do not know how I have missed it for so long!

This is exciting: I am really happy to announce that Swap-bot is an official sponsor of the Spring Handmade Cavalcade craft fair happening at the end of April, here, in Brooklyn. That means we will have a table at the event where we will be handing out lots of Swap-bot swag and spreading the good word about the ‘bot! The Handmade Cavalcade events are hosted by The New New Etsy Team and they always showcase an amazing variety of local crafters. I can’t wait! Hope to see you there!

I will be attending BlogHer 2010 in August. I am actually not entirely sure how I feel about this conference – I am not all that into things that are explicitly and specifically for women – but I have always been intrigued. Since the conference is taking place in NYC this year, I thought it was the right time to try it out. I am sure I will learn a lot of helpful stuff and find out about more fun blogs than I could ever hope to keep up with! I am looking forward to the networking!

Last, but certainly not least, I will be attending CraftyCon in October and I think you should, too! CraftyCon is a conference for people who are working to make a career within some area of the craft world. It will be held in Chicago and I can’t wait to meet all of the crafty peeps who will be attending! (I am pretty enamored with this event because I have been helping the CraftyCon organizers with all of their web graphics – look at that sweet website! ooh la la!)

You may remember the article about Kata Golda’s Hand-Stitched Felt craft book that I wrote back in November for Craft Critique… well, Kata was back in New York City this week hosting a few more craft events. I hope she doesn’t think I am stalking her, because I attended two of her events in the span of three days! Travis was kind enough to accompany me to the NY Public Library Crafternoon on Saturday where we made the cute finger puppets seen below (Travis’ is the skinny one on the left). Then, last night I went to Etsy Craft Night where I made the little guys seen above.

I am not totally sure what I am going to do with four finger puppets, but they are so darn cute and fun to make! Plus, the felt that Kata provides for the workshops is just wonderful… I am glad I made it to both events. (Stay tuned for an upcoming article all about the NYPL Crafternoon event on Craft Critique!)

I had the best experience at Etsy Craft Night this week. The host was Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin, a really amazing clothing and craft company.

In the epic quest to start and run my own successful business (which currently consists of Swap-bot and some random design work) I seem to come across two types of people: 1 – egotistical meanies who act like they know everything even though they don’t, and 2 – humble, honest, helpful, sincere professionals who are true experts. Natalie Chanin is the epitome of the second type. She was so sweet, and cool, and funny while she taught us beginners how to reverse applique our t-shirts. She talked about her business, her sewing craft, her past as a stylist, and even some of her mistakes. I was riveted!

I first read about Alabama Chanin eight years ago in Elle magazine (when it was know as Project Alabama) and I fell in love with the awesome, detailed style of the relaxed, but exquisite clothing, and the style of the business. (I even tore out the article and filed in my inspiration folder – I still have it.) Natalie employs local craftspeople near her town of Florence, Alabama, to create all of the garments that she describes as “grown and sewn in the USA.” The one-of-a-kind couture clothing produced by Alabama Chanin is pricey (sold in places like Barneys New York), but I have no doubt it is more than worth it. Natalie strongly expressed how sustainability and quality are the main focus of her business – when talking about the longevity of her clothing she talked in terms of generations, not years. I am so inspired by her commitment to her mission and to excellence.

Below is my project from Craft Night. It is my first attempt at reverse applique… it is a tank top with a front panel… we’ll see how it turns out. I guess the important thing is that I had a great time at the Craft Night. I am so pleased to have met Natalie Chanin in person.

Now in it’s eighth year, the Eightfivethree Classic is open for signup.

2010 Eightfivethree Classic

Anyone is welcome to signup, but act fast cause the tournament starts soon.

I met my friend, Suzanne, at the Whitney Museum on Saturday to see the 2010 Biennial. The Biennial, for me, has been a somewhat mythic art event ever since I learned about it as an art student in undergrad. It was always touted as a crazy, contemporary, magical exhibition where artists’ careers were made – If you can get into the Biennial, you are golden. Collectors will be knocking down your door. That is the myth, anyway…

There was no way I was going to miss viewing this year’s show in person! I considered this first visit with Suzanne as a preliminary scouting mission. I wanted to browse the entire show (consisting of 55 artist – less than in the past) and get a general feel for my likes and dislikes without stressing over studying every single detail. My plan was to get an overall impression. I was excited to learn that for the first time ever there were more women than men represented in the Biennial. As I expected, there was a lot of video, installation, and performance pieces, but also plenty of paintings, photography, and textiles. There was only a handful of sculpture.

I may be old fashioned, but I liked the paintings the best. My very favorite (at least after this first viewing) were three pale oil paintings by Julia Fish of the floor, entitled “Thresholds.” (The two paintings above are hers, but not the exact ones in the show.) They are nearly abstract paintings, showing transitional spaces between two types of flooring. They reminded me of Agnes Martin – one of my favorite painters. I am drawn to washed out palettes. I think they calm me. I also loved the small, simple landscape paintings of Maureen Gallace which were displayed in the same room with Fish.

I was excited the see Ellen Gallagher in the show. Gallagher’s “DeLuxe” was one of my favorite contemporary pieces when I worked at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Oregon, but I must admit that I did not understand the collaborative installation she created with Edgar Cleijne for the biennial… Something about space inside a big plywood box with a hologram of JFK’s head in the middle… I may need to revisit that one.

I also enjoyed the full room of flower paintings by Charles Ray. I had kinda thought he was a sculptor – he has been in the biennial before with sculpture – but the full room of flowers was pleasing. There were more than a dozen of them and I think they may have been drawn with magic marker…

Other favorites included the beautiful, wall-size tapestry by Pae White and the watercolor/drawings by Storm Tharp. I think my favorites represent the most tame pieces in the show. There was plenty of much more controversial, heart-wrenching, and strange items… and maybe I will grow to love them in time. Each and every piece was definitely thought-provoking! I’ll let you know if my favorites change after a second, more in-depth viewing.