25 for 25

in honor of aol's 25th anniversary they held a grant competition to find 25 artists, writers, and creative thinkers and award them each with $25,000. i submitted my appilcation about a month ago, and i got the call yesterday that i was one of the lucky chosen few! amazing! i can't thank them enough for this opportunity. this is going to allow me to really focus all of my energy into being as creative and productive as possible. check out the other 24 winners here!

in honor of the grant, i thought it was about time for a new artist picture, so i made a poncho and and got all dressed up for it. i think it turned out pretty nice!

phobos V2

back to work!

i was never really satisfied with how the original phobos quilt turned out so i've decided to remake it.  phobos is one of mars' moons.  instead of being circular, it'll be on a rectangular quilt and i'm going to use a technique called mola.  this one's going to be a first for me.  the mola technique was invented and is used by the kuna indian tribes off the coast of panama.  it's a way of showing up to 7 layers of fabric by cutting away each layer and folding it under to reveal the color beneath. it's sort of like reverse applique.  they make clothing out of it, but i thought it might be interesting to see what it would look like as a quilt.  learn more about mola here and here!

lost (and found) in space

 just got back from oslo and it. was. amazing.  the show looks great and ethan and i had a great time at the opening reception.  it was nice to finally meet stina, the curator, and anita, the project manager, in person.  (i have been in contact with them for a year.) the show is jam packed with lots of great work, so if you're in the area i highly recommend checking it out, duh.

the day after the opening there was also a lecture by patrick gyger, the director of the museum of science fiction, or "the house of elsewhere", in switzerland, about the art of science fiction.  awesome!  you can check out his museum here: maison d'ailleurs

i heard through the grapevine that there was talk of the princess of norway getting a private tour through the exhibition as well!

...and, if you missed it (like i almost did) i was featured in an article written by alan boyle about a contest that etsy and nasa are putting on, on his cosmic log blog on MSNBC!  you can check out the article here.  nasa and etsy are teaming up for a design contest to celebrate the shuttle era (which is coming to a close soon.)  winners are eligible for a $500 shopping spree on etsy and an all expenses paid trip to the launch of the next space shuttle!  for more information click here!

oslo!

the day has finally arrived!  oslo, here i come!  i'm off to oslo, norway to go to the opening of "take me to your leader!  the great escape into space" at the national museum.  wish me luck!

also, a special shout out to the good people at dailycandy.  they featured my space battle pillow shams on their site yesterday and my etsy store got 1000 hits!

wrappin' up

 starting to wrap things up and get things prepped for oslo.  i made a new shirt to wear to the opening of the show: "take me to your leader! the great escape into space" at the national museum.

also, my friend eliza wants to be a giraffe for halloween and i wanted to help her out before i left.  i made the head and i think it turned out pretty good.

horse hats

a local bike builder here in brooklyn saw my hats at b's bikes and contacted me.  thomas makes awesome handmade custom bikes under the name horse cycles and wanted a small run hat line made for him.  they're mostly wool, warm and soft, and screen printed with his companies name and logo.  check out his site here: horsecycles.com