May Day 2007






(Workers hands found on Google Images)

May 1st

May Day!

Happy International Workers Day!!

The Origins of May Day here
and here and here

In 2007 still fighting for workers rights, basic rights here and here.

May 1st, 2007
Solidarity!
No work!
No buying anything (no groceries, no gas, no shopping!)!
Keep your money in your pocket!
Wear white if you have it!

This is what I wrote last year and I feel the same exact way a whole year later:

I'm showing support for all of the working people in this country. There are too many anti immigrant, anti hard working people laws that are trying to be passed in this country. This country was founded on immigrants. Unless you are one of the indigenous people, the Native Americans, then we are ALL immigrants.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/01/1337201

Anyone read what is at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty lately?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

I guess those are words that many seem to have forgotten lately.

Peace.

My Books Came Saturday:



I'm still not 100% sure yet if I am going to keep either of them though, at this point. See, this is why we need to keep our local bookstores in business. What happens is you have a mega giant bookstore move in, knock out the local competition and then tell you "No. We are not ordering books for customers anymore unless you have them shipped directly to your home." "HUH?"
I'm not 100% happy with either book. The art in both are cool. The Tord Boontje book is neat in presentation and has several cool pages but not enough for me to want to pay $47 for it, let alone $75 (full price). The Acrylic Revolution is also the same-neat with lots of techniques, but in all honesty, I've been playing with acrylics almost daily for 8 years now (and teaching the stuff on the weekends!) there's nothing "new" in here for me. (That's not meant to sound snobbish or whatever, but it is true. You guys know how many classes I have and how many things we've done with acrylics and acrylic mediums...)

I don't like posting "negative" reviews and while both books are cool for someone, they're not enough to warrant space on my bookshelf or money that I could spend on other books...

UPDATE: If anyone is interested in the Tord Boontje book, I'll sell it for what I paid for it and I will pay for the shipping...(The Acrylic book, however, is already spoken for)...Trades might be doable too...talk to me ;)

Update 5/10/07: I sent the Tord Boontje book back today...

This one, however, is quite the keeper:

I just need to find out why it's missing the stickers that are supposed to be inside (LOL I sound like a 8 year old).

*****

Remembering those who fought in the Spanish Civil War...Remembering the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Harry Belafonte on the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Shinro Ohtake's work:



One of my favorite finds from Friday's fun trek (how many f's can I use in a sentence) into fabulously fun little Tokyo with friends Judy and Ruth was the fantastic work of artist Shinro Ohtake. (Ask Judy and Ruth how I seriously contemplated spending $50 on Idea Liquid #3 *solely* for Ohtake's work.)

I haven't had the time *yet* to explore everything on his website but you should definitely check out the article here on his "collage books" (as he calls them).

*****

Just a huge shout out to: Anna-Marie, Angelica, Cathy, Jean, Krista and Laura who trekked out to A Little Bizaar in Lake Elsinore to take my classes today!! Thanks ladies, I hope it was worth your while. The work you did was freakin' amazing!!!! HEY to Tammie-it was good seeing you albeit only for five minutes! Love you and your hubby's new tats!!

***

Countdown to Las Vegas begins...My sister, her hubby and my Mom arrive late *late* Wednesday night and we leave Thursday!! There is still space in all five classes! If you know of anyone who may be interested, please pass the info along~thanks!

This is *the* book that I am most excited about for 2007:




I have raved, raved, raved about Barron Storey's work before. I will buy *anything* that has his work in it (yes, I do have the Marat/Sade Journal and it's one of my favorite books).

Huge thanks to Carl Wyckaert for publishing this one and obviously to Barron Storey for his years of inspiration.

More on the publication of Life After Black here.
Vanguard Productions here (they've published lots of Storey's work).

Some finds from my visit with my friends Judy & Ruth into Little Tokyo today:

The above goodies (needless to say) are for Tristan. He was totally psyched about them. He put the Spidey cap right on.

The above goodies are mine....all mine *mwahhhaaaahhhaa* (evil laugh): A new keychain (the seal pup), stickers, washi paper, yuzen paper, stickers, tape


3 books and a magazine from our trek to Kinokuniya. They have a LOT of stuff "wrapped up" and you have to bring it up to the counter and ask them to open it. I did have them open 3 books for me and I only bought one of them...but I love them!!! Also if you are looking for pens up the wazoo-wow. They also have gorgeous washi papers...I think we spent almost 3 hours in the bookstore alone. The only thing I didn't take pictures of was all of the candy that I bought (gummy candy in grape, apple and strawberry. YUM. I love the stuff).



I had a blast with Judy & Ruth-most excellent company!! I can't wait to do it again! (Gelato in Little Tokyo was *excellent*-just the perfect thing to end our amazing shopping trip). I'm looking forward to my next trek back there with my friends Diane, Jadine and Roseann sometime soon :)

I also want to head on over to Chinatown for Joss papers and the like...

This Sunday I"m teaching at A Little Bizaar in Lake Elsinore. There is room in BOTH classes-heads up! Catch the classes while you can. These two collage classes have been EXTREMELY popular and I won't be teaching them out that way again anytime soon!!!

*****

Heads up for those of you in No CA, I am working out details to teach at my friend, Sonora's studio in June! Details coming soon.

Two pages from tonight:



I wanted them simple, sweet and to the point. Trying to express what I'm searching for with these pages but the message isn't 100% there. Inner peace. Mental peace. Soul Fulfilling peace. Stability peace. Maybe I will blog about how I am feeling at the moment sometime soon...then again, maybe I won't. Right now on the outside I may seem ok, act ok and carry on with normal life (as normal as normal can be), and still seem to be my normal goofy Kelly self but I'm not really feeling ok. It's like an internal tug of war-so many stupid feelings and inner turmoil at the moment. No worries. No worries. I'm trying to stay optimistic and hope that things will work themselves out. Right now, it's just hard to be positive when you just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head. I am looking forward to our trip to Las Vegas next weekend-that will be fun! Also, having a "play" day with friends tomorrow (Friday) running around L.A.; I have Saturday off (a day to hang with my two favorite men!!) and Sunday I am teaching two cool classes-it's stuff like that that keeps me going!

The weather is getting warmer. Not my favorite time of year (I told you, I'm weird). Tristan and I headed over to the park for a wee bit this afternoon. Ya know, there's something to say about just watching a child bounce a ball for a bit. The sheer joy in his face spoke volumes. It's nice to try to slow down, relax, breathe and not have to worry even if just for a few minutes every now and then. I love my boy! He always reminds me of the wonderful, simple, special things in life.



*****

Film review: Two BIG thumbs up. If you haven't seen it yet, check this one out.

***

Oh yeah, and you don't have to be *in* Los Angeles to check out one of *my* most favorite radio shows, Friday nights from 7 to 9 pm (West Coast time) on KCSN. The extraordinary Madly Cocktail. I LOVE this show!!!

Angela's talking about it. Sarah's talking about it. Erika's talking about it.

Coming Summer 2007

to a bookstore near you!

In the meantime, you can find a teaser here.

FIELD TRIP! I joined my son's 4th grade class on a field trip to the San Fernando Mission today.
Here are some pictures from the day:


















*****
Make sure you check out Bill Moyers' return to PBS "Bill Moyers Journal" tonight (Wednesday at 9 p.m.)!!

***

Were you watching PBS last night at 10 p.m.? I was shocked to find NOVA airing the special that I mentioned in September on Global Dimming. PBS renamed the special "Dimming The Sun". It is a MUST see for everyone.

***

I *LOVE* Tom Morello. And more on Morello here and here.

I couldn't let today pass without a memorial to the Armenian Genocide.


If you see an abundance of these flags or people wearing special Armenian "STOP" t-shirts today (I saw several young men at the Glendale mall today wearing them). Ask them why.

Wikipedia

Genocide 1915

From today's Chicago Tribune

Two more pages from my journal:

The Mary image and the hands images are from Anahata's books. The pens are Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze. Papers are from Paper Source, Pulp (on La Brea) and Wrap Paper Scissors (on La Cienega).

This page I actually did while doing laundry at the laundromat today (especially since we now have a brand new washer and dryer in our building...I went to use it today-for the first time-and the damn washer is already broken! Don't get me going...) Sooooo hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the laundromat I went (another place to add to my list of "where I make art"). Pens are the Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze (black) and Sharpie Poster Paint (waterbased) in white.

Views from my porch (new neighbors moved in to the "puke yellow" house across the street...um, a year or two now it seems. They've done a lot of work on the house but I wish they'd paint the damn thing. For some reason it seems landlords and house owners in my neighborhood know nothing about color and love yucky colors. Ugh ugh!!) Oh, and that is the infamous stop sign that most do NOT stop for....right next to my favorite "magic" mailbox (one of the few in L.A. that seems to work-and actually gets mail to it's destination FAST).

*****

Happy Birthday Mumia.

***

David Halberstam killed in a car accident.

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Stop the Time Warner inspired Post Office Rate Hike!!

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Two interesting articles pointed out on Eddie Campbell's site:
No Nudes is good nudes to some...
Is this 2007 or 1947??

Las Vegas, here I come...



Text as Art



Hip to Be Square (two needle coptic stitch)


More Than Words: The Art of Collage


Off The Wall: More Collage and mixed media techniques


Wonderful World of Color Theory (Fun, Easy and chock full of ideas and inspiration-you WILL learn how to use color!)

I will be in Las Vegas May 4-6th at Las Vegas Art Stamps teaching FIVE classes. I am really looking forward to it as I haven't been to Las Vegas for a while and it will be a lot of fun!!! It seems like my whole family is trekking out with me-Tristan, My Mom, My Sister and my Brother in Law so the drive to and from will be a little squishy squishy but I am looking forward to it. After all, it is VEGAS. (LOL I'm not a gambler, a drinker or interested in any of the current shows but I do like to "people watch"...and I'm really looking forward to teaching at a new store!!)

(You can click on each of the photos and the links will take you directly to the store for class info and even MORE photos of the samples. The actual samples are IN the store. Thanks!)

If you know of anyone who may be interested, please pass along the info! Thanks!!!

Vivaaaaaaaaaaaa Las Vegassssssssssssssssssssss

The Before and The After:



Journaling that I added tonight with my Sakura Pens (Gelly Roll Black) and Sharpie Poster Paint Waterbased in White




Ditto the same pens but I also used Hambly Rub Ons



Same pens (black Sharpie poster paint waterbased this time though) and American Craft Co Rub Ons


No ramblings from me today...at least not yet...

Just sitting here on a Sunday night listening to the rain fall softly in the background as the husband and I listen to "The Swinging Years" with Chuck Cecil on KCSN (we listen via the internet as the reception isn't that great here on the regular radio...it's on from 8 p.m. until midnight on Sundays). I'm so happy that they moved this show to Sunday nights as it used to be on Saturday afternoons and I often missed it as I was teaching. I love big band, swing and that whole era of music (and movies).

Oh and lastly, I was reminded of the late great Erma Bombeck in class at Violets' on Saturday and her wonderful, wonderful quotes (Lorraine mentioned the infamous Titanic quote: "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.") The one I need to remember right now is:

"My theory on housework is, if the item doesn't multiply, smell, catch on fire or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one cares. Why should you?"

Now where the hell is my Erma Bombeck book. I'll need to pick that one up after I finish reading this one.
Excelsior, my friends! Excelsior!