A new month, another new project–the Greedy Girl Calendar swap! Delighted to be swapping with the lovely Emily of Milly One of a Kind
How about you, dear readers? What are you up to this month??
A new month, another new project–the Greedy Girl Calendar swap! Delighted to be swapping with the lovely Emily of Milly One of a Kind
How about you, dear readers? What are you up to this month??
Baltimore screenprinters and letterpress junkies rejoice!
This Sunday, Baltimore Print Studios will celebrate their grand opening!

Open for the first time to the public, Sunday’s event will feature letterpress and screenprinting demonstrations and light refreshments; all for FREE. Come one, come all–Sunday October 17th, from 3–7 PM at 18 W. North Ave.(between Maryland Ave. and Charles St.) in the Station North Arts District.
This weekend the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will play host to the Contemporary Print Fair. Visitors to the event can enjoy and purchase prints from fourteen major contemporary art dealers, galleries and presses. The two day event will also feature guided tours, artist lectures and a panel discussion.
Consult the event Web site for a full list of scheduled events and participants
The Baltimore Fair for Contemporary Prints & New Editions
Saturday and Sunday, 27–28 March 2010 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.
at The Baltimore Museum of Art 10 Art Museum Drive Baltimore, MD 21218
Looking for something to do this sunny weekend, Charm City and D.C. metro readers? Then why not check out the Highlandtown Spring Artfest this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Held at Magnolia Designs Gallery in the Skylofts, the Artfest promises to be a fun way to welcome the new season and support local artists and craftspeople.
Artists at Saturday’s event will include: Adornments by Atelier Beads, Elisa Shere Jewelry, Joe Dennison, Lana Bella, Robert Funk, Tigerlilyshop and many others.
Saturday 20 March 2010, 10 a.m. — 3 p.m. at Skylofts 3701 Bank Street, Baltimore, MD 21224, check it out
The videos of last week’s Ignite Baltimore 5 are all available on YouTube; life is good.
The event itself was great; bigger and even better than IB4.
Here are a few of the more memorable presentations:
transcript of Brian Sacawa’s talk
Part of what I liked about this talk was the belief in Baltimore he expressed– that we are not simply, “Brooklyn’s farm team.” His tongue-in-cheek humor didn’t hurt either.
Wolverine AND Teddy Roosevelt in the same presentation?! Yes, please. Why do I have a feeling Tom has a master’s thesis worth of notes on this topic lurking in his sketchbooks.
A great, smart young woman who is working hard to change the world around her.
To me, this was the most important talk of the night–a brand strategist talking about the power of storytelling and the values of theatre being applied in business.
Living in the Balto/D.C. metro area and looking for something to do this weekend? Well then head down to D.C. this Saturday (19 Dec) for the fourth annual Holiday Booty Market! Featuring the work of twenty regional artists and crafters, the market is a great chance to find last-minute holiday treasures for your loved ones all while browsing among the beautiful furniture available at Design Within Reach. A few of the vendors featured Saturday include:
The event will be held in Washington D.C. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Adams Morgan Design Within Reach showroom. Checkout the event Web site for more details.

Images: 60 bugs, De*Nada Design, Mary Ellen Doran, Goshdarnknit, Red Prairie Press, Jaime Zollars
October was such a busy month that it’s hard to believe that we’re already four days into November; but here we are, the day before Guy Fawkes Day the TEDxMidAtlantic conference.

I’m excited to see what tomorrow’s conference holds and hope to have plenty to share in the days following the event. In the meantime, if you haven’t already read it, there is a thoughtful article about the conference in today’s Baltimore Sun.
And if you were not lucky enough to obtain registry for tomorrow’s event, beginning tomorrow (5 Nov 09) there shall be a live feed of the event available here.
Image: Me
I did not attend the AIGA biennial conference, Make/Think, last week in Memphis. I tried, but my planning efforts quickly became a logistical nightmare; in the end, I decided to save the money for a mortgage payment instead of the agony of figuring out travel to a town with out Southwest service and overbooked hotels (despite the fact that this is THE most important national graphic design conference).
While catching up on what I missed (which should take a quite a while considering how densely they pack the programming for the AIGA biennial conference), I thought I’d share a few of the early highlights I’ve unearthed:
AIGA Make/Think interviews with golden nuggets of tasty advice and entertainment for all, but mostly students. from drifting creatives on Vimeo.
Charles Brock’s, of Faceout Studio, look at the Kindle as a book designer.
Did you make it to Make/Think, dear readers? I’m still disappointed about missing Debbie Millman, Jill Greenberg, Stefan Sagmeister (even if I’ve heard him speak before) and about a hundred other interesting people.
Poppytalk Handmade has just launched their latest monthly online “street market.” Beginning today and running through Friday, September 18, this month’s theme is “School Days: A back to school market.”
If you haven’t already taken a look this month’s goodies, here is a peek at some of the things that caught my eye:
If you haven’t checked them out before, Poppytalk curates a monthly online showcase of international design talent; beautiful handmade items are available in this fun and diverse marketplace. Go check it out!
Images: Poppytalk Handmade
For the 34th year in a row, the American Craft Council (ACC) will hold its annual San Francisco show this weekend at the Fort Mason Center!
If you have never been to an ACC show, boy have you been missing out! This year’s San Francisco show will feature 250 national artists who have traveled to the Bay area to show and sell their latest and greatest– furniture, clothing, jewelry, décor (a list of exhibitors is available on the show page organized by medium).
Over the years, I have been to many of the ACC shows in Baltimore and seen an AMAZING range of work and art. By attending these shows, I have met artists whose work has enriched my life, enlivened my home and even inspired my own work.
Not a Bay area resident? Fear not, faithful reader. There are other ACC shows around the nation throughout the year.
For the rest of the 2009 year the ACC shows are as follows:
San Francisco, CA Aug. 14–16, 2009
Charlotte, NC Nov. 6–8, 2009
Sarasota, FL Dec. 4–6, 2009
For 2010, the ACC shows are as follows:
Baltimore, MD Feb. 25–28, 2010
Atlanta, GA Mar. 12–14, 2010
St. Paul, MN Apr. 16–18 , 2010
San Francisco, CA Aug. 6–8, 2010
Hopefully, you can check at least one of the ACC shows in the next year!
For those of you from the San Francisco Bay area, I thought I’d post a reminder that the Renegade Craft Fair is in town this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Featuring more than 200 artists (TWO HUNDRED!!) this event is not to be missed!

In addition to handmade goodies spanning the spectrum from wearables to consumables, there will raffles and workshops. Personally, I’m especially excited to see paper goods from Dandy Lion Press, jewelry by Mama’s Little Babies (who I’ve mentioned before), Bird vs. bird designs’ bags and Stella Neptune’s clothing.
And do you know what the best part of all is? The fair is free, yes FREE… as in no money to enjoy a beautiful afternoon by the bay surrounded by handmade goodies and the talented people who make them. So go check out the Renegade Craft Fair.
This past January (the 19th to be exact) was the bicentennial of his birth, and since then the city of Baltimore has been celebrating the milestone with ongoing events and exhibits throughout the year. The programming for Nevermore 2009 includes a range of events from theatrical performances to gallery exhibitions and walking tours.
The September 25 performance of Berenice at the National Museum of Dentistry should prove to be interesting and I can only imagine what his funeral service on October 10 shall be like with a number of notable "dignitaries" in attendance. Of all the happenings around this milestone though, I hope most to visit the Art of Darkness: Inspired by Poe exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art on display from October 2009 through January 2010. Autumn is, quite arguably, one of the best times of the year to visit Baltimore-- the light is golden, the leaves are turning and there are always tons of great cafes and galleries to discover and enjoy. If you've never been, there's nothing like a long October weekend getaway in Charm City, check out the City's visitor's bureau Web site for travel ideas, or ask a local, ask me!
Images: LOC Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-10610).
These photos are long overdue, but this year’s California Blacksmith Association Spring Conference in Petaluma was a heck of time! The highlight this year was a visit from a trio of Italian smiths — Claudio Bottero and the Stenico brothers, Jadran and Martino. During the two feature days of the conference, Claudio produced a sculpture entitled “Casanova” working with the Stenico brothers as his strikers.

Above: Claudio’s sketch… it seemed to serve more as a reference for the ever growing audience, as none of the smiths appeared to refer to it during their forging sessions

The finished sculpture was auctioned off during Saturday night’s banquet. Just beautiful. More photos from the conference taken by the CBA librarian, Whitney Potter, are available here.
Set against the background of the Petaluma Fairgrounds, there were plenty of textural details to discover as well. Here’s one of the more playful pieces of type I discovered during the weekend:

Eric, the Junk’s Captain

Brian with Munoz’ tall-bike

Thank-goodness for welding goggles random “shelter” (Pronounced:“Porta-Potties”) in dust storms

The Steampunk Treehouse

In the thick of the storm

The Shop

Some of our encampment

The Esplanade is that’a way…

Behold the devastation — our shade structure is gone


Dusk, view from our camp looking towards the Esplanade

The Junk, ready for a night sail


Our neighbor’s dome under a full moon



The beginnings of the 10’x10’ mural that I’ve been working on in my freetime.
quotes of the week:
my left hand is asleep — it’s excruciating