Soaps from Olive and Oud

I was delighted to receive these soaps from Olive & Oud yesterday - another reminder to buy handmade.. They are wonderfully scented and look beautiful! Laura Natusch, the shop owner and maker, is an ex-painter who decided to become a soap maker strolling through a farmer's market in Brattleboro, VT. She fell in love with scents, and has become an expert at mixing various essences to make these deliciously scented soaps. You can read about her fascinating process and interests here. I really enjoyed reading about her inspiration (which includes Vietnamese food - no wonder I had to buy  her soaps!)  and how she gets to a final product.

Laura has been following this blog for a while, and knowing my love for old fabrics, included the lovely piece of old kimono silk fabric you see in the background. I can't help feeling so very lucky to be surrounded / followed by generous, creative and talented people like her. Really.

Visit her store here to see the subtle scents she has concocted.

Joseph Albers "Peintures sur Papier" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris

Josef Albers en Amérique - du 8 février au 30... by centrepompidou

I so wish I could hop in a plane to see this show at the Pompidou in Paris.. "Joseph Albers, peintures sur papier" is on display through April 30, 2012, and includes a lot of the studies and sketches Albers did before making his oil paintings. I've always liked his work (as well as Anni's) but I think I like these even better because they're so much loser.

Found via the very inspiring Improvised Life blog.

Los Talleres - Day 13 (already??) - New Work in Progress

 

I found these natural fiber scrubbing pads the other day at the market and had to get a few.. love their soft white color, and they just seemed to be piles of threads rolled up together and flattened in shape.

They seem to call for some stitching and they've started to morph into a shape of their own:  

It does seem that I'm more and more drawn to work in 3D. The netting has been recurring too - I started collecting nets a couple of years back and now seem to want to make some type of my own, over things or between things.. I think of the weavings on the small branches as netting too.I think I"m going to try to experiment with different kind of stitches too.

Hard to believe I'm almost at half time here..


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Los Talleres - Day 8

I'm still enjoying my time here in Los Talleres, starting to really get used to the slow pace and the heat (it's in the 80's about every day..). Made a quick trip into San Miguel yesterday - which doesn't seem to be as indigenous as Oaxaca yet still very pretty: 

Otherwise, still swaddling and doing these mini weavings:

Still unsure where it's all going but working away...

Merlin Nyakam dancing to Bobby Mc Ferrin

Totally hypnotizing! Absolutely beautiful! Enjoy..

p.s.: Cameroun is now on my list of destinations to go to..

Los Talleres - Day 2

So here I am in Los Talleres, an artist retreat just outside of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. "Retreat" is the key word here, since this is what you see when you turn left and right:

I'm sorry if the photos appear a bit weird (stripes?), they seem to not want to download properly.

Anyhow, once I got past the first "shock" that I was indeed going to be staying in such a remote place for a month (the urban dweller that I am realized I NEVER experienced that :), I find it exciting to finally have the time to do artwork. The last few months have been so busy making leather bags that I am really looking forward to just make art without having to think "product" (by the way, new bags were posted on Etsy last week and I will post a few more by tomorrow, so check it out here).

This is Harriet, one of the two dogs to keep me company (along a with a lovely couple who manages the place, Raleigh and Evan).

And here's the studio:

I a bit wish that I would have an art project already started and felt a bit intimidated at first, thinking of all the time that's available to me and no specific idea.. However,  before I left, I dreamt that I was going to swaddle some trees or bushes in pink yarn  so I started swaddling some thorny dead branches:

Who knows where that will go but it's a start..