Coming Soon: Rockpile Bindery

In June I'll be working in the new studio/shop (which is looking great, by the way). Thinking about the change of location has led me through some symbolic transformations, with one of the ensuing considerations being my business name. I will be leaving behind my alphabet-inspired name whilst carrying my true love for all things abecedarian into my future ventures.

Many thanks to many friends, strategies of chance, and postmodern american poetry for counseling me through the selection of a new name. A logo should be forthcoming in the next few weeks,with some switching around of web pages as well. That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

XO

R is for rockpile

Stay tuned...more to come on some changes and new beginnings!

Historically, an important element of my creative process has been getting myself caffeinated. More recently, though, I often wake up and drink green tea or even, um, decaf coffee. I miss the buzz, and I also don't miss it, you know? This is how I feel when I am pleasantly buzzzzzed:



I look happy, don't I? I have no real point here, except that coffee makes me feel crazy, happy, and creative all at once.

Are Crafters Edgy?

This is a question I'm coming back to a lot these days. To rephrase, or clarify a little bit, what I'm pondering is how I'm changing as an artist now that I'm settling down in Asheville. I got my BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago a little more than three years ago. I spent a while making drawings in my bedroom and sending out pieces of mailable art when I first moved to North Carolina after graduating, but I really felt like I hit a sustainable stride when I started making books, or, as I now think of them, Crafts.

So I've moved from Art making to Craft making, and it feels pretty great. And it's surprising. My printmaking teacher once angrily lectured our class that if we needed extra money, we should get a part time job, because he sure as hell didn't want to see us spending our time making prints to sell in the school's yearly holiday art sale. At that point, I saw no prospect of making money on making things unless I sold out bigtime.

But now I don't feel like a sellout, even though most of what I make these days has a retail destination of some sort. I don't feel edgy, but I still feel like an artist. Most of the time I feel like a creative person who makes beautiful things that lots of people happen to like looking at. That's not too bad, is it?

At the beginning of June, I will be unemployed. And to tell the truth, I really can't wait. The more I think about working for myself, making books and other pretty objects to sell, the less appealing it sounds to work for someone else on their schedule. I'm happiest waking up at the crack of dawn and sitting down with a cup of coffee to get started on the day's projects, enjoying the sun coming through the windows and stopping when the sun is starting to set. Working for myself and on my own terms feels so much less like work than the alternative!

I know that I'm facing a lot of hard work and a lot of uncertainty in the future, but I am looking forward to those long and golden days of early summer in a whole new way.

supplies