So, I’ve been working at the gallery a little more than expected. More moolah is nice, but I have piles of projects waiting in the wings (including this here blog) which desperately need attending to. I find it’s difficult to refuse when they need me to fill in extra shifts, and after agreeing to be there five days last week I’m left feeling a wee bit resentful (and my feet hurt like hell!). My time is flexible, but not infinitely so. But i still feel unjustified saying NO, because in my mind studio-time still kinda feels like selfish-time.

I need to get over that.

Things seem to be developing fairly quickly this summer. Already i’m in one juried show at the ellO gallery in June, as well as a small works sale for the neighborhood arts association. Throw in the possibility of doing Somerville ArtBeat in July and a show with Ryan in the next month or so, plus whatever else I pick up in the meantime, and I’m getting kind of booked up. And this is only for my drawings- nevermind the beads, mosaics, and other crap I’ve been making.

Speaking of other crap: we have been making faux sea glass. After experimenting with some smashed up wine bottles in the rock tumbler (with great success), we hit up the our fave indoor flea market and bought some vintage depression and molded glass for uber cheap. The old dame who rang us up kept cooing about the pretty colors and patterns we picked, but neither Matt not I had the heart to tell her we were gonna bring it all home and smash it to bits. It was infinitely satisfying. After a day or two in the tumbler with some fine grit, we ended up with some gorgeous pieces. Some will be incorporated into jewelry, some into mosaics, and the rest is going up for sale on Ebay or Etsy. Apparently there’s quite a market for the stuff : )

The Nile Lounge- Boston’s only hookah bar (not hooker, you dirty rascals)- is hosting a fundraiser and art auction tomorrow night to benefit Kick for Nick, a charity which donates sports equipment and soccer balls to kids in Iraq. You know, so they don’t have to play with rocks and land mines, which seems to be about the only game going over there nowadays, and also hopefully bring a little joy to an otherwise entirely shitty situation.  A bunch of local artists and craftspeople (including myself) are showing and/or donating artwork to fill up the walls, and hopefully tomorrow’s event will raise a bunch of money so these kids can have some new stuff to play with. It certainly won’t fix the situation in Iraq, but at least it will maybe make a couple kids really happy. The fact that i can make something with my own two hands which can directly brighten someone else’s day? that absofuckinglutely rocks in my book.

And as it was recently pointed out to me: it’s certainly a lot more helpful than just sitting around and bitching and moaning about the situation. Stupid, stupid war.

So here’s the new piece, which I confess was really difficult to let go of. By the time I got it mounted and framed, it looked so absolutely dee-lish that I couldn’t bear to part with it. But i settled for a high-res scan and the hopes it would later serve me well in my digital portfolio.

It’s called “Ishtar’s Gift.”

A few years ago I took a class about ancient Babylonian mythology and
sculpture, and ever since then i’ve been in love with that ancient
style and the stories behind the artifacts. Before the war i was offered an opportunity through my art history course to join an expedition to a dig site in the Iraqi desert, but i chickened out for fear of spiders. Considering the political climate at the time, it was probably a good idea to stay home even without spiders. So instead I’ve worked on a couple
illustration projects retelling some of the rites and mythologies
around their gods and goddesses, and spent a some time in the Met staring at winged bulls and temple lions. Overall it’s had a huge influence
on the way i make art, to the point where I have had that star-symbol
you see there tattooed on my shoulder.

This particular piece is a tribute to the Goddess Ishtar, the ancient Babylonian
Queen of Heaven. She always struck me as an atypical kind of deity;
she’s feisty yet vulnerable, she behaves foolishly and gets into trouble,
and is very mortal in many ways. I relate a lot to her. She’s kind of like a Holly Golightly type, i suppose. I always thought it was interesting
that the same people who worshiped this outspoken and sassy female figure
thousands of years ago would eventually evolve into a civilization that is known
for tyrannizing its women. There are literally temples dedicated to the goddess buried in the desert sand, directly beneath cities and villages where her modern daughters are brutalized on a daily basis. This contrast inspired me to portray Ishtar
as she is pouring blessings into the bowl of the modern Iraqi woman.

It also seemed really fitting for the venue it’s now found, and the cause it’s eventually going to help.

what do you guys think so far? I still have a few graphic elements to tweak, but this is how it’s gonna look from here on in.

Oh, and just for kicks, here’s a work-in-progress.

(I’m going out to see Kaki King in concert tonite, so I’ll have to take a lil break from this web designing madness, hee)

while i get this thing up and running : )

I’m probably a little behind on this meme, but i had to keep it someplace. Oh, don piano. All the live long day!
Tears, tears streaming down my face for fifteen minutes I was laughing so hard.

Oh, and I discovered there’s a t-shirt on threadless, too.

nataliedee.com

I’m not trying to be a hermit, guys. I think I’m just getting back into the swing of things. And dude? My feet are killing me from standing around the gallery all day, but it’s okay because i like it. I’m even getting the hang of things to the point where I’m able to be a little sassy, which keeps things from being boring. Anyhoo. More art soon, i promise.

In other news, my good friend and I are maybe possibly almost probably going to be hanging a show in this posh salon sometime in the next month, as soon as we can figure out with the owner what he’d like to have on his walls. So that’s pretty much like me being an artist fo’reals and stuff. Weird.

Oh, and I’ve been asked to do an interview for Art Bead Scene within the next week or so, which is featuring my Artisan Paper Beads and this crazy necklace i made. It’s kind of cool since “art beads” are usually lampworked glass or maybe ceramic, so it’s awesome that I’ve gotten my paper beads to that level. I mean, I think they’re art, but other people usually just think of paper beads as being those crappy quick ones you make out of magazines, which mine certainly are NOT.

So. Excitingness! 

My first day at the gallery went FABULOUS. I met a couple of my new coworkers, who all:

a.) live in the same laid-back artsy Boston neighborhood as I do; or,
b.) went to the same art college as I did.

Potential new pals! Plus I spent the day surrounded by gorgeous blown glass, handmade furniture, beautiful pottery, books, and jewelry, jewelry, jewelry. My new boss is a huge gemology buff (like me), so we had a good time playing “name that stone”. i think I impressed her with my mad knowledge.

Since it was a lot to take in all at once, she let me leave early. years ago I used to work in the building where this gallery is located, so I snooped around a bit to see what was new.  This place is full of super high-end boutiques like Dior, Luis Vuitton, FCUK, Jimmy Choo, and Gucci… most of which i don’t really give a rat’s ass about, but it’s funny to look at. Oh, and Tiffany’s is there. One of these days I’ma gonna sneak into Tiffany’s with a bagel so I can claim I had breakfast there. Nyaaha.

Anyways, I poked around the the Gap, and found this dress in a deep cobalt blue. On sale! It’s quite lovely:

Afterwards, on a lark, I jumped back on the subway, and instead of heading in the direction of home I took the O-line out to Malden. As you may recall, I lived out there about a year ago. So i hit up some of my old haunts, including this awesome discount store called Sparks (dollar socks, yo), and then took myself out for a late lunch at my favorite pub. If you know anything about Malden center, you’d know it’s kind of a dime-store dive, and not even in a hip/ ironic way, and you probably wouldn’t expect to find one of the best irish pubs in the boston area to be right there on the main drag. Nor would you expect the food to be so freaking amazing, but it sure as hell is. They serve your standard-issue pub fare, shepherd’s pie and all that, but also some really unique dishes  & interesting twists on tradition to round out the menu. The food is incredible. You can tell they have a chef on staff, and not just a cook. So yeah, Malden is weird, but i like it anyways. And, yum!

Plus, they were playing Eurythmics on the stereo, which i always take as a good omen.

Back on the orange line, a couple of interesting people got on and sat near me. They all seemed to be foreign; a young  Rastafarian-type guy, a blonde in a red coat with an Italian accent, and a quiet, smiling Hispanic girl. An interesting conversation was struck up, and drew all four of us in (mind you, this would never happen among Boston natives. We NEVER make unnecessary eye contact on the subway, never mind engage in spontaneous conversation). So i got to find out about living in “the highlands” of (what I assume was) Jamaica, as well as life in the Italian lady’s homeland in Tuscany. Apparently she is in Boston doing research at MIT. She was bemoaning the awful climate here, and asked me why I made Boston my permanent home since it’s so dreary, haha. I suppose it is mainly because my family has been here since forever, and that most New Englanders take it as a matter of pride that they’re so hardy. I also assured her that it would be quite lovely once spring showed up.

I must have been feeling unusually friendly that day : )

I got home, and Matty was waiting for me; to celebrate my first day at my new gig he took me out to supper at the Dogwood Cafe. So I wore my new blue dress and some heels and some plum lipstick and felt very fancy-schmantzy.

So life is pretty good.

And today i got my hair did! My stylist, Sophie, gave me a super chic super artsy haircut, it’s fab.

Afterwards, feeling quite hip, I decided to take my new ‘do out shopping. I hit up the Aids Action thrift store in downtown JP, and scored myself some pretty sweet deals:

• A green miniskirt
• A chic white button down shirt
• Pinstripe pants
• A racecar red belt
• Green ballet flats
• A vintage black & white beaded necklace

GLAMOROUS. heh.

But after all this talk of fashion, let me not forget the art part of this story, the completed owl drawing. I especially like the skulls!

Now you can buy Matty’s handpainted clocks online ; )

hey kids, sorry for being out of commission for a couple days. I actually got some concerned emails from people asking where all the art went to, hahaha. Lesson learned! I shall not neglect you ever again.

Suffice to say, i couldn’t get to my computer for a few days. Girl issues, similar to the episode last August. Frigging ouchy! And we’re not talking regular ol PMS or cramps, either. Without getting into the nitty gritty, let’s just say it was a serious pain in the vajayjay and i couldn’t really move too much. ugh.

So no more caffeine or refined sugar for a few days, at least until I can detox a bit. Drinking lots of water.

But Matty, my dear sweet Matty, he doted on me while I lay invalid in bed over the weekend. He’d come into the room and look at me with his seaglass green eyes all full of concern, and ask me what he could do. He brought me water and tylenol and tunafish sandwiches and terrible novels and sliced apples with peanut butter, and then would pet my head and call me sweetie. I love that man, and I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s so good.

So I noticed some things sold on the ol’ Etsy over the past few days, and since I suspect some of you out there had a part in that, I just want to apologize if I haven’t been able to get to the post office straight off to ship your stuffs. I’ll do it tomorrow, I promise! once I’m right as rain.

But enough with the whining, more art! i found this new mosaic technique and i’m in love with the concept.

This is just one little part of a HUGE mosaic mural in SF. Ellen Blakeley, a mosaic artist, makes brilliant mixed media collages and arranges pieces of shattered and fractured clear glass over them, then fills in the gaps with colored grout. The effect is like a traditional mosaic, but there’s more continuity underneath, plus lots of little hidden secrets. i’m amazed. i might have to go to the discount hardware store this weekend and find something i can smash up. heehee!

Another fun thing i discovered was a website called Ponoko, where you can upload your 2-D designs and they will laser cut and etch them from sheets of wood or acrylic. Like this:

You can make all kinds of objects: parts for jewelry, furniture, toys, lamps, wall hangings, etc etc etc. The possibilities are endless. You can even open your own showroom ! it seems very intriguing, and matt and I are going to look into having them make us some stuff.

In other non-artsy news, I hobbled outside this morning to see what was going on in the world, since I noticed a few of the local birds had changed their tune; and spotted these:

Our yard is full of them. It’s spring, ding-a-ling!

Later today (read: when the tylenol kicks in and i get out of my pj’s) I am photographing some of the clocks Matt has been making, in preparation for opening his own etsy shop. It’s going to be called “Clockzilla”, bahaha. it shall be awesome!!!

This one is my favorite so far; it’s going to have hardware glued on where the numbers would be.

Aaand that’s about it. Tomorrow is my first day at the gallery!

First, the obligatory art:

I call them “Little Magpie Mosaics”, since they’re less than 4 inches on a side, but that’s four inches of fabulous. Probably good for hanging in a nook or something like that. Super cute, eh? Want one? Then check out the ol’ Ets, yo.

I’m trying to decide whether to sell the ocean mosaic. You all seemed very excited about it, haha. I don’t know if i could bear to part with it, but maybe I’ll just stick it in the shop for a couple hundred bucks and see if someone is silly enough to bite, hahaha.

I’m such an art whore ; )

hey! But some good news. I went for my jobby job interview at the gallery today, and they hired me on the spot. I was immensely flattered. Funny thing was, I wasn’t nervous about it beforehand or anything like that. I just went in and chatted up the owner, and we had a lovely conversation about art and jewelry design. So I start next week, and I met a bunch of my new coworkers already. I have a good feeling about this- aside from getting to hang out with beautiful objects and pretend I’m all super chic for three days a week (but not so much that i miss my jeans and my feet hurt all the time), it feels like I might really learn something useful there. I remember the first gallery they had in my grandmother’s town- it was one of my favorite places to visit when I was a kid. And now I’m working for them! A few of the salespeople even have their work on display in the gallery, which would be FAN-TASTIC for me. So I’m thinking this is some kinda kismet.

And then when I got home? I found out some of my jewelry and art papers had been sold. And my showcase feature isn’t even until tomorrow, so i’m hoping this bodes well! That totally made my day, because if i can keep all this up, I just might have time to make more art, teach a class, earn a little gallery experience, and pick up a couple new tricks. Oh, and pay my bills. that, too.