piper ewan's tenth anniversary in the suspended garden of disbelief

it is almost may, which brings my tenth year to a close. i have come a long way from making custom weddings out of my studio apartment. i have gone through 3 miles of ribbon, survived ten wedding seasons, put on 15 holiday sales, made over 1200 garters and i don't want to know how many flowers! please help me celebrate my tenth anniversary by coming by to say hello this month. the official date is 18 may, but i will be offering 10% off my accessories line and 30% off regular price ready to wear clothing (excluding sale and custom items) for the month of may. bring me some champagne, and i may be persuaded to make a better deal, no promises...

which brings us to:
First Friday May 2nd
6pm-12am
FREE! ALL AGES!!
OPEN TO EVERYONE!!!

the egg

534 se oak street (at grand & 6th)


Featuring LIVE MUSIC at around 10 pm by The Rostropobitches, an all-womens side project of the Portland Cello Project, sets by DJ NEALIE NEAL, DJ B.HILL, MR. ROMO and a special secret live music guest!

AND UPSTAIRS: more paintings by brent wear, fashions by piper ewan, faith jennings and a FANCY MAMMAL SUPER SALE

“For this group of paintings I have abandoned my usual practice of putting characters in my work, and allowed myself to explore the subtle abstract imagery that is present in many of my paintings, but not always noticeable. For me it is a return to the true nature of painting, to stream of conscience over composition and representation. The resulting images reflect not only complex dreamscapes, but also organic and machine like structures.

The idea for me is to create images that encourage the viewer to spend time in meditation, as if visiting a sublime, lush garden, and that the viewer will have their own emotional experience with the paintings.” ~Brent Wear

come see me first friday or by appointment. looking forward to seeing you!

xoxo,

kirsten a. moore
www.piperewan.com
shop: www.piperewan.etsy.com
blog: www.piperewan.blogspot.com

in the well worn path between where i sleep and where i work

there are a few efficient ways for me to walk to work in that diagonal nearly straight line of the mile between where i sleep and where i work. the walk is by no means monotonous. there are the neighborhood cats and chickens, the birds (i know where more than a few good nests are), the giant papier mache chicken timer on someone's porch. lately i have made two discoveries that have me torn in which direction i take on the way there.

the first is the vacant lot surrounded by a cyclone fence where grass and weeds has grown up where a building once stood. in there is this family of killdeer. at first you see nothing but weeds and garbage, but you can hear their call. if you look carefully, you can see them; they blend perfectly into the landscape. i have been watching this particular family for weeks now. there is a pair of adults and four chicks. they have long stilt legs, and their bodies glide along when they move about in their search for insects. when the mother sees me she cries out in this panicked call, and all four chicks scurry about in circles and eventually disappear underneath her. her mate is nearby. he lays down in the grass; extending his tail feathers moving them so that they look like they are fluttering in the breeze, or extends a wing to appear injured. 'come eat me.' he pops up occasionally to see if i am still there, and then resumes his charade to protect his family.

the other is another filled in hole where a building once stood. now it is a field of blue flowers. that doesn't sound all that exciting, but when is the last time you stood in a field surrounded by blue flowers?

i puzzled over these choices this morning as i sat on the end of my bed sewing flowers. the sporadic weather forces me to try and time my walk to work, so i don't get drenched. i genuinely believe that the sun wants to shine. it has been this way for the past several days. the weather people keep predicting rain. i felt torn between the killdeer and the blue flowers, but today i opted for the former. as an added bonus there were a pair of canada geese. and when i was one block away from the egg the first raindrops fell, as the sky turned dark for the impending downpour, for once i had timed it just right.

photo stolen from brent wear

biding my time

this is what a week's worth of work has looked like lately, give or take. all the special orders have been made and shipped, and etsy's replenished stock is hidden away in its plastic box lest it be confused with the rest of the menagerie. this has been my best month by far on etsy, and i have replenished my ribbon stock, and i even have added a few new colours to the mix. big porange flowers with feathers will be ready for next first friday. the ribbon that i make the garters has just offered new colours for the first time in nine years. i finally got that turquoise and red combination that i have been wanting to make since 2001, and i have lilac now too.

but this week of making garters and garters and garters has made me feel like i was biding my time. the accessories line has been taking off, and that is what i will be focusing most heavily on (russian birdcage veiling here i come!). no big announcement here, it's just what people are buying now. it's not like i can sell big couture gowns in portland, oregon during the big recession. after so many months of struggling, i have gotten to a place where i can start to feel like myself; which is an entirely foreign feeling. i am so used to being under constant duress, that i don't always know what to do with myself when the biggest thing i am obsessing over this week is whether or not to take the loan i have been offered to do that last big ribbon order.

at the cusp of my tenth anniversary, this isn't where i pictured myself. i am not complaining (i seem to be saying this a lot to myself lately). i am not sure where i thought i would be. i am not entirely out of the woods yet, but not struggling is a good place to start.

estrangement

today i returned to one of my longest running neglected lovers, after a 8 year long hiatus sprinkled with intermittent encounters that has left me depressed and longing and completely unable to let go. i needed the time away; my heart was broken by the rest of my circumstances, and things just sort of slowly faded away into nothing. i needed to leave the obsession and dependence of my early twenties behind me in order to be able to build a more healthy relationship that was not dependent on what others thought, on money, on self-righteousness, on expectation. my poor soul, how lost i was without you, but you were there sitting under my chair for months on end waiting for me to get over the heartbreak that i held onto like a badge, of proof of another distant life i used to lead. i am tired of talking about it. i keep my music degree tucked away in my filing cabinet.

i acquired my flute, an old powell circa 1950 back in 1992. i had no idea what "an original powell with a three digit serial number" meant when i was trying instruments from my flute broker on the search for an instrument that was better suited to the demands of a college level music student on into my professional beginnings, but a little voice in my head said one thing when i heard it, "mine." and when i first held it in my hands; before i blew my first note, i felt it, "mine." it felt like mine. i can't say that about too many things, and it is really strange to say about an inanimate object. it is a difficult quirky instrument that requires some coaxing to get it to play in tune, but has a most gorgeous velvety meaty tone when i play it. i was never for the light and airy pretty sound of some, i prefer a darker grungier sound with many nuances to be discovered as i evolved as a player. i certainly have my own sound, and this is my voice. i am not a singer.

the damage wasn't too bad. i still have a good lung capacity and breath control. the bad news is that my tone isn't what is once was, and my fingers are very clunky. it will take at least a year to get back to where i was, and the longer i wait, the longer it will take to regain proficiency. i want to say this time will be different. i am stubborn in my self-deprivation. i don't do the things i need to do in order to feed myself in stubborn defiance, and a refusal to take care of myself. that should be someone else's responsibility. except that it isn't. i am completely on my own, and everything is up to me. i know it sounds silly, and i could know it intellectually, but what good is the knowledge when i kept hedging my bets, secretly wishing for someone else to drag me there kicking and screaming. i just didn't have the wherewithall to do it myself. and now there is really no other option.

the big O

more publicity! i have been talking a lot lately about trying to market my stuff overseas while the dollar is weak.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1203731749171220.xml&coll=7

barometers and crisis panties

because my brain cannot be counted on to be a very good judge of my own situation, i tend to rely on barometers to tell me what sort of state of crisis i may or may not be in. lately it has been my body. severe sugar cravings are a sure sign of depression, and puking my guts out is severe duress. i am not sure where my wit's end is. i may be at it, or have passed it up a long time ago. true a part of me is dying, but i have been wanting to kill her off for a long time. she is a bad ally. she contributes to my odd insecurities, self-destructive tendencies, self-doubt, and worst of all apathy. but i am so used to hiding behind her (and her keeping me hidden), i am not so sure what happens without her.

lately i have been on the slippery slope of gathering momentum of success, and it scares the hell out of me. i don't quite know what to do with myself. it is everything i have worked so hard for over the past ten years, and absolutely so unexpected, i don't know how to handle it. being the centre of attention may be fun at parties, but it is a whole another story when it is real live legitimate publicity. i know it isn't out of nowhere. i have been cultivating this image of my business that suited the facade of my ego, but that ego is leaving me as i fight to pull her out sinew by sinew with every last drop of bile that gets purged into the toilet in the middle of the night. i still make the same sort of things, live in the same house, work in the same studio, talk to the same people, but everything is different, raw, unfamiliar and slightly disconcerting. i am turning into the person i am in my dreams, but the waking world isn't quite as accommodating. and my tolerance for disingenuous interactions is no longer waning, it is gone. this should be really interesting.

above is a photo of my first ever pair of panties. i have been thinking about it for long enough. i haven't tried them on yet, but this begins the long design process of a possible new line; provided that i can find time for development in between accessories orders (thank goddess for etsy!) i am NOT going to call them crisis panties, btw. look for more lingerie and more accessories in the near future.

piper ewan is a featured seller on etsy!

i am really excited and a little nervous. you can see the interview here: www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php

if you live in portland, come see me on first friday at the egg.
534 se oak street, pdx 6p - 12a all ages
it is the love show. for more info on that see www.launchpadgallery.org

xoxo,
kirsten
www.piperewan.com

fascinator!

i learned a new word a few weeks ago on etsy. the word is 'fascinator.' a fascinator is kind of like a hat; it is a larger piece made of flowers and/or feathers worn on one's head attached to combs or a clip or a headband. hmmm, i make those! i never knew what that was called! i ran back to my listings and retagged the appropriate pieces. i love a new word! and this one was a good one.

about two years ago, my friend cate handed me her grandmother's pincushion to decorate. it has been sitting in front of me forever atop its spool of chosen ribbon; just waiting for me to make it that special cocarde flower. yesterday was a kind of nothing day, where i had to tie up some loose ends after being out sick for a week. i caught up on my flower and garter inventory, and cleaned off my desk with an hour to go before my client was to show up. what to do? the pin cushion! this pin cushion was a tomato shape, and i made a pointy petaled flower whose petals curved around the pin cushion (sorry, no photo). maybe the flower is too big, but what if i made the same flower in larger ribbon to fit over someone's head? definitely not a brooch (i gave up and started making all of my flowers on brooches so that they could be worn on things as well as in hair), definitely for the head.

here is the first one. i am not sure what i will be sewing to the back. probably a comb.

the end of the longest week of the year

24 dec - 5 dec 2007 can be legitimately combined into one week. it was december 24th when i stopped moving, and decided to hold still for a moment after another grueling holiday season. i did my best to prepare for it this year; i knew what was coming, but in the end it was still two months straight of work without many breaks. and of course, a goodly amount of introspection on the fly. like it or not the solstice and the end of the year, and the time leading up to it is a time of transition. i am not one to make new year's resolutions, but december always brings about an awareness in me of what changes i need to make in my own life. in retrospect, i cannot say that 2007 was a bad year for me, but it was difficult. at the same time it was all about laying down the ground work for what is to come, as i strengthen my resolve to live on my own terms, and as i enter into year 10 of my business.

i won't bore you with the details of the longest week. there were many significant events that were profound, but there is no way for me to describe them in any significant way. what i do want to give an account of is the first friday show. if you missed it, you weren't meant to be there; that is understood. but it is a reminder to me to not blow everything off, and to be open to the opportunities and live experiences that present themselves to me.

we put on an art opening at the egg every first friday of the month, you know that, you are probably on the email list. this month's show happens to feature yvonne, a more recent member of the egg, and the show features a bunch of electric lamps. lamps weren't the entire show, but a good proportion of the show, and this is significant.

i arrived tot he egg around noon, and the whole egg was full of people preparing for the show all afternoon. as brent and i were preparing the upstairs, the lights flickered. he looked at me, and i confirmed that, yes, he saw what he saw. there was a big wind storm outside that i was barely noticing, because of the amount of activity going on inside. at five the show was coming together, but not ready (the doors would open at six). no matter, things always come together in the end. at 5:45p the power went out, and we were in complete darkness. not just a flicker, but out entirely. non-plused, we all set about looking for and lighting candles. john found his car battery bass rig, and we all cheered as 3 clip lamps were lit to continue setting up the show. the caterer was given a headlamp, phone calls were made, a generator was on the way! and the rest of us watched and waited. the food was set on the tables, the bar was open. kenneth came upstairs to let us know that we couldn't use any of the plumbing, as our system required the sump pump that worked on electricity. so no running water either.

six o'clock came and went. how lovely the space was lit by candlelight. how ironic that there was no power for a lamp show. but the show must go on. there was no way to cancel, the internet was down too. the generator arrived. a flurry of activity went on surrounding the arrival of the generator. it sputtered a bit, and died, then it started again. the lights were unplugged and replugged, and part by part the lamps lit. it was like some moment from the past, a bizarre solstice ritual, like new year's eve. the lights dimmed and brightened with the generator's inconsistent hum. we all stood around watching and cheering as each section of the gallery's lights came on. an abbreviated version of the original, but still amazingly beautiful. a shining example of community, of the egg, our egg.

with so much that could have gone wrong, and did, no one panicked. everyone pulled together and did what they could to make it all happen. and a truly memorable night at that. it was almost disappointing when the power came back on. there is something about florescent lighting that dissolves magic. but the rest of the evening was lovely too. i am sorry if you missed it, but maybe you just weren't meant to be there.

size does matter

through years of custom work i have gotten to be reasonably good at fit. the transfer from my mind to a two dimensional sketch to a three dimensional garment with all of its curves and movenment is more than enough to confound even many designers. i actually enjoy the challenge of the female form with all of its idiosyncracies. the biggest challenge is to fit within a size chart. as you may have guessed from trying on mountains of clothes (how many friends have called me crying from the dressing room of the local department store):

there is no such thing as an average woman.

we are reduced to 3 measurements: bust, waist, hips. no account for height, nor proportions relating to the three, nor length of limbs nor torso. fit can be a nightmare. setting a sleeve to lay flat AND be able to move withour benefit of stretchy fabric is a definite skill. so what happens when one is forced to make pret-a porter off the rack clothing? there are always the people on the peripheries of average size X giving me advice. oh how i hate the "you should," but i do listen. i may ignore, but i do listen. i have been developing an everyone corset for months now. i think i have gotten it satisfactorily made in its curves and adjustability +/- an inch.

the challenge was first grading it into multiple sizes. this process is usually put off as long as possible. it is really tedious. i won't bore you with the details, but it involves making that perfect pattern into every size considering those size chart boundaries of bust waist hip. i have finally managed 4 sizes: 1,2,3,4. but what to call them? they don't exactly correspond to bra sizes or SML. come try one on!

PRETTY GIRL HOLIDAY SALE
16 november 2007 artists' reception and sale 6-9
17 november 2007 sale 11-5
at the egg
534 se oak street (at grand & 6th) in portland

www.myspace.com/prettygirlholidaysale

hot for the holidays

i know, it's not even halloween yet, so why are you telling me i should be thinking about the holidays? because you need to think ahead to be ahead of the game, that's why. if you need a corset for the holiday party circuit (believe me, you NEED one in your closet) or new year's eve, it's time to start thinking about it. corsets start at $275. (see example above) and go up from there, but not to worry, credit cards accedpted and payment plans considered. and who deserves a gift more than you? you have worked so hard this year!

xoxo,
kirsten

photo: www.kaizennw.com

secrets show

being that i am the queen of the eleventh hour, i did everything i possibly could to put off working on this piece. mostly because i didn't have a fully formed idea of it in my head. when it came down to the wire, i set about looking for already drawn birds to save a bit of time, and i came across an envelope full of papers from my previous residence; my grandfather's condo. i moved in during the fall of 2003 just after my great-grandmother died at 100, one of my best friends and i parted ways, and my grandfather was moved to hospice care with terminal cancer. i lived there until fall of 2005. that time was a dark one for me. prior to living there i was in temporary residence with said close friend after moving out of my then boyfriend's house in a hurry. i arrived with all of my belongings from storage to the place where my grandfather lived for 25 years or so, and all of it's contents. he didn't prepare to leave; everything was left intact from the day he went into the hospital. food in the refrigerator, laundry everything that one aquires over their lifetime. needless to say it was an interesting couple of years there. having to sort through his life and mine in the form of possessions was a weighty task; one that taught me a good lot of lessons, making me re-evaluate everything.

at the time, i would post open lettres on my refrigerator. it helped me work through what i needed to work through and let go of. i remember a friend standing and looking at one of the lettres in horror. i had forgotten about it, it was jsut another piece of paper collected on my refrigerator. looking at these lettres on sunday (when i finally got around to making the piece), the thing that most struck me is that i have no idea who i wrote these lettres to. i could narrow it down, they could apply to so many relationships i had. it strikes me that people really had no idea what i was going through at the time. it was a sign to me that i had managed to work through so many things.

come to the show:
opening salon style show FIRST FRIDAY 7 september 2007 6p - 1a
534 se oak street (at grand and 6th) in portland, or
as usual, i will be upstairs selling my wares with special guest vendor io herbal alchemy and usual suspects: brent wear, faith hats and jody kucinski

nothing to report...

the last several weeks, heck the whole year really, has been spent figuring things out and waiting. my inner dialog has been hashing out that where to go/what to do as much as ever. the long slow burn of internal shifting has been happening as quickly as it can, which means sssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwlllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. and then there is the waiting. waiting for photos to come in. waiting for the pieces to fall into place. there are the things i can control, and then there are the things that i can't. in the mean time i am doing production work and gearing up for the holiday season, research and development, and taking time to do a few side projects. i will be putting up the side projects very soon (still waiting for photos). the long lull of august is almost over, and the fall will be upon us. i am still here muddling through, and preparing myself to hit the ground running.

left to my own devices

another artist and i were atalking bout whether we felt supported by our community, and the answer we came up with was "mostly."

we've passed the mid-point of august already, and as time marches on, i am still reeling from the winter and spring. if we count september, summer is half over, and i try not to freak out over the impending holiday season. i know you don't want to hear it. i don't want to hear it. when i decided not to take on any more weddings, i fully believed that i would be able to make up for it in wholesale. i had my photographer(s) lined up, and aquired the software i needed to update my website. i had grand plans to have my look books out by february, and my website updated by march, then april. i still don't have all the photos for my look book yet. almost, but i am one photo shoot away. website? i can't really think about that.

did you know that most stores won't talk to your sales rep without seeing everything in beautiful fashion photographs? did you know that a good amount of stores in portland won't look at local designers, because the quality, design and craftsmanship of most of them are so poor? the stores here that do carry local designers want the locals to put their goods in their stores on consignment while they buy from designers out of town outright. it's like being punished for living here.

and please don't tell me that you wish you could afford my stuff. it is rude. most of my other artist friends would agree that they hate it when people tell them that, but are too nice to say it out loud. it implies that what we do isn't worth the price. if you knew what goes into this business, you wouldn't say that. i know it may not be your intention to imply that, but most often, that is how we take it. a simple "i like your work" will suffice. do you know how hard it is to sell things i created? how personal it is? (and i am not the most sensitive person out there) that doesn't obligate you to buy anything from me ever. i can't tell you how many sales i get are from people who "could never afford it." these are the sales that i appreciate most, because it exemplifies a foray into a new world of possibilites for that person. i love being their first major purchase!

that said, i have somehow managed to quell the panic i felt every day, of worrying myself sick over money and bills, of waiting to hear from my photographer, of trying to figure out how i would make it to next month with home, studio, company, self intact. would i have enough things for the next show, how to afford more materials when i am struggling with basic bills, and how to not let this completly kill my creativity. all of these issues still exist, but somehow, i can't get myself to panic over them anymore. there is my trying to make myself panic over not panicking, but that's another thing altogether.

somehow, i have managed to accomplish quite a lot this year, or at least start a good number of projects and product lines. i would think i could have figured all of this out by year nine. i have always known that i am forging my own path on my own terms. i am still learning. this can be frustrating at times. it is about faith. faith that i will be okay. faith that in myself and my abilites. and a bit of faith in humanity as well. it is a humbling process.

thank you to all who read my little rants, who take my words to heart, who make the effort to show up, to repy, to pass me along to their friends. thank you to my adversaries for forcing me to assert my boundaries. and most of all thank you to all of my studiomates at the egg; who are supportive and leave each other to their own devices to grow and find their own place. i am looking forward into the fall.

image: "portrait of kirsten as a bird" by brent wear acrylic on found wood copyright 2006

cocoon bird

hello everyone!

here is the information for the dance performance i have been telling you about. it opens this wednesday, and is selling out fast! please read the information below, and click on the link to make reservations.

xoxo,
kirsten a. moore
www.piperewan.com


Theory1:dance presents:
Cocoon Bird
a pathway of dance installations through a home

Inspired by oracles and the trancelike states they would enter the work weaves together movement, voice and original music in a unique environment.

Cocoon Bird : August 8-12, with shows at 8:00 at 10:00 pm
1414 SE 32nd Ave (off Hawthorne)
Reservations Required due to limited seating: cocoonbird@gmail.com
$18/$15 students, artists, seniors

Conceived by: Tracy Broyles
Directed by: Tracy Broyles and Meshi Chavez
With: Tracy Broyles, Jenn Gierada, Meshi Chavez, Lisa DeGrace (movement)
Jean Paul Jenkins, lyd (music)
Lighting Design by: Malina Rodriguez
Costumes: Piper Ewan by Kirsten A. Moore

NOT MADE IN CHINA

here i have to take issue with a subject that has been eating at me for quite some time now, and i know i am not the only one. here i am amidst the official year ten of my fashion design company. for those of you who know me, or have at least seen my work, you know how much of my life's blood has been poured into my work; in creativity, attention to details, and time. lots and lots of time.

now is a bit of a transition period for piper ewan, and there is a new project/company thrown in for good measure. in this i have been researching outside production. this is a very scary proposition. it involves letting go of a major part of what i have been doing, and doing for years. it has been taking its toll on me mentally and financially. mentally, because i am not sure that i want to compromise quality and sustainability. financially, because, well i cannot compromise on my prices.

my main complaint from people is my price point. most people like to tell me that they could never afford what i make. it is one thing from people who understand that i have to charge what i do (and also note that my prices are comparable to stores like anthropologie or bcbg), becasue of the time and attention to detail that each piece entails. it is quite another when people are so used to buying cheap clothing, that they automatically compare what i do to what they buy that is produced in china or some other third world country. this is because my designs are produced by me, and not made in china or some other third world country where labour is cheap and labour practices are unsustainable at best, and unconscionable at worst. i am not here to argue that one should not shop at target, forever 21 or anthropologie, but one should at least be aware of the costs of these cheap disposable clothing and household items. i don't particularly want to write a treatise on the loss of the manufacturing industry to the united states to third world countries, or the hidden effects of globalization on our everyday lives. you can look all of that up for yourself if you care to. the product that i produce is made to last; this is planned into the design of every garment i make. this is why i spend long periods of time in the design of every style for look and fit, and why i don't follow trend. i go for timeless or 'no time' with unidentifyable elements, so that garment isn't disposable. and while i cannot guarantee that the garment will last forever, it will last a long while, or at least can be repaired.

what i would like to call attention to is a loss of apreciation to things that are carefully made and built to last. i am really tired of the effects of instant gratification on society. being that i have a very modest income, i am forced to choose my purchases carefully. what has this done for my life? it has made me learn to make everything from scratch: food, clothes, hand-knits, quilts, art, home items. most of my luxury items are traded for, because this is the only way i can afford these things. i want to be able to use and repair the objectss i own; instead of throwing them away. why am i telling you this? because i want you to appreciate that this is what my business is built on, and this is the dilemma i end up facing as i have been researching production on product lines for two soon to be three clothing companies.

a couple of weeks ago, i was looking for sock manufacturers. did you know that there are very few american sock manufacturers? where are all the socks coming from? why, china, turkey and pakistan. not really a choice here. i can have a product produced cheaply in a third world country that i would try to avoid spening money on if it were someone else's product. or i could have a very superior product that is sustainably produced that is five times the cost. the clothing can still be produced locally, but again, the cost will be considerably higher than anything produced in china.

what i would like to promote here is a change of attitude. instead of thinking only about the immediate, what about the future? and what about doing what you can? my whole life is centered around doing what i can with limited resources. i may not always be able to buy local, but i do when i can. given the choice, i will support a friend's business over a chain store. i realize very well that this is not always feasible, but i do what i can. it involves just a little forethought, and to keep in mind just how the price of whatever you are considering for purchase came to be.

shows 5 & 6 July 2007

so many shows! i know that it is a holiday week, so i am sending this out a bit early. i have two great shows this week! both are very different, so come to one or both!

first thursday:
94/7fm, p:ear, urbaca salon, and widmer brothers brewing present:
ALTERNATIVE GALA
featuring local artists:
piper ewan, brent wear, amy stoner fine art and craft, tim gunther photography, jean mcspadden clothing, eden dawn apparel, cicely b. designs, erin donley art, kara kruse photography, and p:ear kids artwork

July 5th, 2007 6p-9p

Urbaca Salon
120 NW 9th - Suite 101
Portland, Oregon 97209
PH: 503.241.5030
www.urbacahairsalon.com

this event benefits p:ear, a non-profit organization working to build positive relationships with transitional and homeless youth through education, art, and recreation to establish confidence and create healthier lives (www.pearmentor.org)

first friday at the egg:
534 se oak street (at grand and 6th)

upstairs:
and our special guest this month:
io herbal alchemy modern botanical products & gifts made in portland
piper ewan super clearance sale is continuing! LET'S MAKE A DEAL!!! and i have brand new designs that have never seen the light of day.
plus the usual suspects: visual art by brent wear, kirsten moore & jody kucinski plus faith hats and flare clothing made from recycled materials

downstairs in the launchpad gallery:

barbie meltdown theatre
an intergenerational exploration of gender and sexuality
featuring work by:
QuArt PDX : quartpdx.com
portland's premiere queer art collective
S.M.Y.R.C. : smyrc.org
sexual minority youth resource center
GenderBlendz: outsidein.org
outside in transgender/identity resource center

plus the usual dance party, snacks and cash bar. this is an all ages show! everyone is welcome!!!

sheesh, that is a lot! if you can't make it, but want to see me anyway, i am here almost every day from noonish until sixish or later, try your luck, or make an appointment.

photo: www.kaizennw.com

one thing leads to another...

i made two blanks of this skirt figuring that i could get them both done in one day. this skirt took me over two weeks. so much for making more than two. this skirt's sister will be made using bigger pieces, and how long it takes for her to come together will determine the cost of the first one. all told (if you remove the time lollygagging) the first skirt took me about 10-12 hours. if i could be paid for resisting, i would be really rich right now. if i could stop resisting, i would have a lot more pieces hanging on my racks.

now that this skirt is done, it is time for me to take a cue from my studio mates, and clean up my studio. the open space in the middle has been closing in on me. the piles of unfinished projects and half-baked ideas are weighing on me. this has been going on for quite some time. it was a slow rise of the tide of resentment building in me, and that wave crashed against the shore yesterday. so i will put my bad mood to good use. i need to spend a bit of time by myself making my surroundings pretty again. the clutter is starting to get to me.

portland's creative capacity

to my beloved community,

i had the privilege of attending the city of portland's creative capacity meeting on tuesday evening. (for more official information on creative capacity, see below) it was an evening of a segment of the artistic community coming together to begin a series of dialogs about how to help portland's artistic community thrive. in a room of 300+ people representing a range of portland's creatives the task seems incredibly daunting. i am not sure many can wrap their brains around the breadth and scope of the creatives who live, and make their living in this town.

i could go on a lengthy diatribe about several issues near and dear to me (education, buy local, micro-loan and programs, what constitutes community, the fragmentation and cliquyness of said "communities," the lack of accessibility of performance spaces, ridiculous fire permit and olcc regulations and the red tape one has to deal with to put on events, the implications of making one's living as an artist/musician/creative, the cost and inaccessibility of health insurance for the self-employed, the practicality of design and its importance in everyday life v. the "frivolousness" of the arts, and sustainability to name a few), but i would like to invite you to get involved. there is a disease of apathy and complacency that runs rampant in our society. we experience a certain ambivalence when it comes to activism. we are wrapped up in our daily lives. i know very well the challenge of paying bills, but i also know that it is far more difficult without the support of the community. the all or nothing attitude needs to end. many hands make light work. and for now they are only asking your opinion. i know everyone has an opinion on the subject, and now is the time to share it. you can choose the level of involvement that you can give, and i am tired of people complaining about the world, and doing nothing about it.

so please take a moment to check out the site, and give your opinion. if we show up in numbers, and speak loud enough we can make a difference.

thank you,

kirsten a. moore
www.piperewan.com


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Sam Adams"
Date: June 13, 2007 1:46:45 PM PDT
To: kirsten@piperewan.com
Subject: Creative Capacity!
Reply-To:


Friends,

Not enough money.

Making our creative community even better will take more than just finding more money for the effort. But, it is a lot about finding more money from the public and private sector.

Thank you for attending last night’s Creative Capacity Townhall. Over 350 people attended the event—representing many of the established and emerging businesses and arts organizations in the region.

Our discussion was an important starting point for forging the creative community into an effective advocacy group.

Thank you for your collective enthusiastic response to this call to action. Until we get CreativeCapacity.org further refined, keep your ideas coming on the blog at http://www.commissionersam.com/creativecapacity.

We will invite you to the next Creative Capacity Townhall in the fall after we have completed public opinion research and a series of smaller group discussions about specific topics.

In the meantime, get your colleagues, friends and patrons to sign up at http://www.creativecapacity.org.

A tremendous thanks to the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Northwest Business for Culture in the Arts, and the Portland Development Commission.

Special thanks as well to our hosts last night: The Gerding Theatre at the Armory and Vibrant Table.

To action! To advocacy! To art!

Sam

a skirt for your statuary?

apparently i am in an odd job phase right now. it is amazing how much time the weddings ate up every spring/summer. done are my 12-15 hour days with my bi-monthly day off (usually to attend one of said weddings or possibly a funeral). i might make it to the river yet! (it is still early)

i made this skirt for this bust my mother made in her ceramics class. i find among the women i have made clothes for, almost everyone dislikes their belly, hips, butt or some combination thereof. it is funny that in creating this bust, she made this section to mimic the parts of her own body that she doesn't like; which is what i covered with the skirt.