Larissa King

Last year I started making a series of prints on canvas using a wire sculpture that I flattened.   I enjoy the immediacy of the process, and after they dry I enjoy the meditative tedium of writing (at my friend Joan’s suggestion) and drawing all over them with permanent markers.

Earlier this year, I took some of them downstairs to Northlight Digital to be photographed.  You can see one of the results above.  I think David did a great job.

The words on the piece shown above are from my twitter feed, which is not public because I got tired of “follow spam.”  There are no big secrets, and I am happy to share the contents with anyone who has a twitter account and seems human and is not trying to sell me anything (so don’t be shy).

Last weekend I participated in the Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk.  Lia organized and led the walk in White River Junction, and it was a lot of fun.  The photo above is not the best one I got, but I think it is my favorite anyway.

Life has been a little like that photo for me this summer: simultaneously full and empty.  I’ve been doing a lot of meditating and reading, and some experimental baking in spite of the heat.  I have not spent much time at work.  That will probably change in the fall.

Next open studio is August 6th.  Maybe I’ll see you there.

It looks like Kam Ming will be reopening next Tuesday.

I put up a new poster today, in honor of First Friday.  The photograph itself doesn’t bother me, but I’m not entirely happy with it as a poster.  I think it would have been better if I had gone with something more contrasty, like maybe this:

Oh well.  September will be here soon enough, and then it will be time for the next poster.

I have not been in the studio much lately.  I am attempting to rewire parts of my brain, which is a lot of work and is keeping me very busy.  I’ve been reading a book called The Brain That Changes Itself, which I heartily recommend as an encouraging companion during any remodeling of the inside of one’s head.

(Full disclosure: The aforementioned book is a product which I am currently using and enjoying.  Nobody has paid or otherwise induced me to say anything about it.)

Lastly, here is a picture of the clematis in full bloom at the Copeland Block (which is officially off the market now, as it is a silly time to be trying to sell a building):

The weather forecast had said that today would be rainy, but it wasn’t.  So I spent some time at the Copeland Block with my spiffy new weed-whacker.  I don’t have a lot to say, but here are a couple of happy-making things I saw:

1. The clematis is close to blooming:

And

2. apparently Joanna has been painting:

This sign has been in Kam Ming’s window for several weeks now.  I have encountered no visual, auditory, olfactory, or bureaucratic evidence of actual remodeling.  People keep asking me about it.  All I can say is:

1. No, I don’t know what’s really going on.
2. Yes, it worries me a bit.

The sign pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling lately (except that, unfortunately, I don’t have a doppelganger you can call).  I am, as they say, “getting help for that” and one of these days I will stop sleeping so much.

This is the most recent in a series of small felted wire sculptures.  Eventually, I will have made a whole herd of them.  Then I will hang them in the empty storefront window at the Copeland Block.

My wrists are all sore today because my trainer made me walk around on my hands, with my feet on an AbDolly, like a paraplegic wiener dog.  It was not a good day for doing things with my hands.

Lia recently announced that PHOTOSTOP will be hosting a Photo Slam in the near future.  Combined with the gimpy wrists, it was enough of a nudge to dust off my DSLR and take some photos.

It was raining today, and the light in my studio was nothing special.  So I went across the hall to Kathy’s studio and photographed this piece on her fabulous glittery concrete floor. Here is a funky close-up of the middle section, which is covered in crocheted red wire and stuffed with bright orange-yellow wool:

People have been asking me how they can get a copy of that poster.  So I have set up a Zazzle store where you can have one printed.

• I wouldn’t recommend having it printed in any size larger than “small” (at 15″ x 20″, that’s comparable to what’s hanging on the orange wall).
• I don’t know anything about the different types of paper they offer as options for printing.
• If you decide to order one, please let me know how it goes.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who visited me tonight!  I enjoy meeting you and hearing your ideas and questions (even if I’ve heard them before).

I’ve emailed the winner of the drawing for the poster on the orange wall.  If I don’t hear from him within a week, I’ll draw another name.  It makes me a little sad that I don’t have a copy to give to everyone who expressed an interest.  I will be having postcards printed with this image on them.  Let me know if you’d like one as a sort of consolation prize.  They should be ready in time for next month’s open studio (April 2nd).

Also, I really will not mind if you download the file from flickr and print your own poster (as long as you don’t pass it off as your own work and/or sell it).

The next poster was going to look like this:

But given the popularity of the current poster, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just print up another copy and keep it on the wall for another three months.  What do you think?

Dave and I spent the last few weeks visiting various beaches in New Zealand.  I’ve uploaded some photos from the trip to flickr.

Now we’re home, shaking off the jet lag and mollifying the PigBear.

I had a lot of dreams about work while I was gone.  There’s so much of it to be done.

Today I checked on the Copeland Block, which was still standing.  I unclogged a toilet, changed a lightbulb, and waded through a big pile of paperwork.  The Poopsmith (who is now at least 3 years old!) seems to have enjoyed his month of benign neglect.

Tomorrow I’ll visit the Basket Cases.