Risky Thursday May 25, 2006

The big red ball!

Anyone who knows me even a teensy bit, knows that I love to make lists. Oh how I love the list! Sweet, sweet lists. And since I’ve been fairly neglectful about updating the risks I’ve been taking lately…I thought I would list them instead of writing long confessionals about my mini triumphs.

I tend to be a pretty nervous creature, much like a squirrel or a river rat. I have to try things that freak me out, constantly. This keeps me more alert, happier, and out of my comfort zone, (i.e. my nest made of top ramen and old People magazines.) Plus, after awhile, taking risks can be kind of fun.

Top five risks I’ve taken (or I am about to take..) this month:

1. Driving. I’ve been doing it more and more. Braving busy parking lots. Mastering the stick shift on steep hills. It’s definitely still my number one fear (besides the obvious, shark attacks and molten volcanoes.) I can drive a couple of places now without feeling completely overcome.

2. Playing a Hanner show by myself. Just me and my ukulele. There was no Naoto on the guitar sitting beside me. ( I missed you Naoto!) I was really nervous during the day,but once I got there and started playing, I had a great time. I always do.

3. Doing the Craft Rock and Crafty Wonderland…that turned out to be incredibly awesome! The best.

4. Going to Pennsylvania to roll the big giant red ball. (Check out the video by Mary Edwards.)

5. I’m traveling to Korea this Sunday. My little brother is getting married! I’m scared that I’m going to have a repeat of my last trip to Asia (about a year and a half ago) when I ended up in the middle of a Typhoon, stuck in Tokyo, using my body as a human shield. Aack!

Long live risky Thursday!

What's New Monday May 22, 2006

My table display at Craft Rock!

Happy Monday Everybody! Here’s what’s shaking in Johanna Land this week..

Craft Rock last Saturday, put together by MotoKitty, was awesome! It was outdoors, and despite threats of rain, it was an incredibly gorgeous sunny day. I put on mucho mucho sunscreen and still got pretty crispy, especially through a hole in my jeans, where I didn’t put any sunscreen at all. Now I have a quarter sized sunburn on my thigh that sends a message to the rest of my skin, saying..”this could be you! Always wear sunscreen!”

Ok, we got some stuff on this site figured out, (thanks Gabey) The mailing list is back up again, looking better than ever. Sadly, if you signed up for the mailing list last week, your data was lost. Drats. If you would be so kind as to sign up again, I will mentally high five you.

Drum roll**** I finally got a store figured out! After all these years. It’s on Etsy, but you can get there by clicking on “store” in the menu bar. Thanks Wendy and Joey for giving me a kick in the pants about that. Etsy is easy, and so awesome..why did I wait so long to try it out?

I have a Hanner show at Red and Black in Portland this Wednesday at 8:00pm. Yippededo! Not to be confused with the Black and Red in Brooklyn where I’ve played a few times (sorry Michael…)

Speaking of Brooklyn, I’m going to be in New York from June 11th-20th doing a whole bunch of fun crap…like playing a Hanner show at Pete's Candy Store on June 15th, and (another drum roll) selling paintings at the Renegade Craft Fair!! I’m sharing a table with Wendy, and I can hardly wait!

re-cap May 19, 2006

Hello friends,

Well, due to some sad computer malfunctions yesterday, my recent entries were lost into a sea of data sadness. Well, not that sad really. I only lost two posts, and here are the thrilling highlights...

1. Crafty Wonderland last week was awesome-o. I had a fantastic time and can't wait to do it again.

2. I'm going to be at Craft Rock this Saturday at MotoKitty (from 9-3:00), selling more little bitty paintings and chowing down on the food from Genies, an awesome brunch place next door. (Brunch = mimosa + bloody mary + delicious.)

3. I updated my artwork page with some paintings from my mini series.

4. Next Wednesday, the 24th, I'm playing a Hanner show at Red and Black at 8:00. (*yipe!)

5. My print for "Rebuilding the Building" is going live on Pretty Darn Swell on May 28th. Five dollars from every print goes to Habitat For Humanity. Yes!

6. If you want to join my mailing list, you can't! Oh dear, .. just temporarily. Unfortunately that little email list feature, crashed too. We should have it up again tomorrow, safe and snuggly in the menu bar.

7. I'm still doing risky stuff for risky Thursday. I haven't written about it much, but man oh man, am I ever. In fact, my stomach is in a perpetual state of fluttery...so that must tell you something. I'll give you a new run down of that, next Thursday.

That about covers it...have a great day!

Orange Picker May 19, 2006

Orange Picker 8" x 10"

What's New Monday May 08, 2006

Happy Monday Everybody! Here is a run down of what is a movin and a shakin in Johanna Land this week....

*I just got back from Washington, PA (near Pittsburgh.) I spent the last week participating in a performance piece by Felicity Fenton and meeting a lot of creative and resourceful people. What an incredible week! I honestly don’t know where to begin, the whole experience was really full and deserves a whole post. So stay tuned later this week for an in depth run down, photos and all.

*I had a little mention on this site while I was out of town. What a cool blog!

*I’m going to have a print of the painting “Rebuilding the Building” on Pretty Darn Swell. I’ll keep you posted when it goes up. Five dollars from each print will go to Habitat For Humanity.

*Come on down to the Crafty Wonderland next Sunday, May 14th at the Doug Fir Lounge here in Portland. The fair is from 11:00-4:00 and I’m going to be selling some mini paintings and some big paintings too. Come by and say hello!

Go-go Monday!

What's New Saturday April 29, 2006

Mom and Dad 4" x 4" acrylic on canvas

Hello my little chickpeas. Happy Saturday!

I'm going out of town this week, and I probably won't be able to give my usual Monday update, so here it is, two days early!

Tomorrow I'm heading to Pittsburgh, and then on to Washington, Pennsylvania to help with a performance piece of Felicity Fenton's. Whoo-peededo! I'm super psyched to be around Felicity for a whole week, along with a bunch of other awesome creative and inspiring folks. Thanks to Wash Arts for asking me to participate and for making the arrangements for me to come. I can't wait! If you're going to be in the area on May 3rd, drop me an email and I'll give you the whole where and when details of the performance.

I'm going to be selling my stuff at the Crafty Wonderland here in Portland on May 14th, and I plan on bringing with me a whole "Mini Series" of paintings like the one posted above. All of the paintings are 4" x 4" on canvas and I like calling them a "Mini Series" because it makes them feel like dramatic 80's tv. Please come on by the Doug Fir on May 14th so that I can high five you, even if you're shy. Don't worry, I'm shy too. Sometimes people think I'm mean because I'm shy, but I'm not. I'm actually very nice. Well, sometimes I'm mean, but that's only because I'm a human and not a robot without emotions.

The first annual Camp Unsound is going to be happening in Portland in May..(the where and the when are still up in the air, sign up to the Unsound mailing list for updates.) Here is a little blurb about it...."The Usound Records family are going wild.. and you're invited! Members from Eagle Kin, The Diminisher, and Hanner will be performing in the Oregon wilderness for one day and evening of camp-out good times, just like the olden days. There will be crafts, campfires, frisbee, three legged races, face painting, bow and arrow practice, veggie dogs and real dogs. But most importantly, there will be a hootenanny that will rival any other hootenanny past or present, and for this reason..you should come. And bring your swiss army knife. And your very best friend. And jug and/or kazoo to join in the ruckus. This is a free event, meant to build harmony among campers everywhere."

Have a great week everybody!

Risky Thursday April 27, 2006

Ahh, risky Thursday. I'm continuing with my new tradition to try something that scares me each week, and post about it on Thursday. This week, I stuck my toe into my biggest, baddest, darkest fear...driving. And unfortunately, I don't have any photo montages of this particular riskiness, because I was too busy cheating death.

Now some of you may ask, driving what, exactly? Surely you must be driving something spectacular for you to be so afraid, like a tank. Or the space shuttle. Nope, no...just a car. An ordinary car.

I've had my license since I was sixteen, but I developed this State-Puff-Marshmallow-Man sized phobia of being behind the wheel when I was living in New York and not driving anymore. So this week, with my sister bravely sitting in the seat beside me, saying encouraging things like "No, no..that was his fault.." and "It's ok, you can drive on the bike path. Or go in through the exit! No one cares." I drove us from my house to the pool for a swim. And back again. I only stalled out once, and only partially angered a man in a giant (and I mean big), red truck.

Status fear report about this week's car challenge: Fear of driving? Still very high. Heart stoppingly high. Nauseatingly high. Ten ten ten on a scale of ten. Ten being high.

What's New Monday April 24, 2006

"Goodbye Brooklyn" $290 10"x 20"

Happy Monday Everybody!

What’s new in Johanna Land this week…

* I added a few more images from the Quilt Series onto my artwork page. You can see these paintings in person at the Flying Saucer (494 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, NY)

* I still have a few prints available of the “Just with Friends” painting..(details in the entry below this one.)

* I’m flying to Pittsburg next week to participate in a performance piece by Felicity Fenton.

A few years ago I helped out Felicity with a performance she masterminded about hunger. It involved rolling an enormous inflatable ball through Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn bridge and back again. It was a pretty crazy day, ( a windy day if memory serves, which made the whole ball rolling kind of intenso) but overall the whole thing was a huge success. Such a huge success, apparently, that her piece is going to be reenacted outside of Pittsburg on May 3rd. If you’re in the area, come on out for an awesome ball rolling event. I'll have more details about the exact where and when, later this week. Hurrah!

Prints for sale....get your prints for sale... April 22, 2006

"Just With Friends" 8" x 10" Twelve limited edition prints available.

Happy Saturday my little pickled beets,

I am hoping to have a store put up on this here site one of these days, sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I figured I would make my version of a roadside shack to sell my wares.

I have made a limited edition, giclee print of the “Just With Friends" painting (pictured above) It’s the first time I’ve ever had a print made of one of my paintings and I’m pretty excited about it. When I say limited edition, I mean really limited..I only had twelve made. I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out, so I was a little nervous about making more. But man oh man, they are gorgeous!

So, if you’re interested in buying one, here’s how it works. Shoot me an email from my contact page, and let me know that you would like one, and I will in turn send you a paypal invoice. You don’t need paypal to buy the print, just a credit card, and then I will send the print off to you, fast as can be. Dang! Technology!

Prints are 8" x 10", $25 (unframed, shipping included, signed and numbered on the back).

Also, if you’ve seen a recent painting on this site that you would like to see as a print, let me know. I have print making fever!!

Risky Thursday April 20, 2006

Every Thursday I think I’m going to start posting about things that I’m scared of trying, but tried anyway. I’ll skip the obvious freaky things, like toothy sharks and old egg salad, and go right to meat of my fears.

I’m starting this week, with the lawn mower. I’ve never mowed a lawn in my life, for many reasons. Most of those reasons involve my fears of sharp, fast moving blades colliding with my precious little toes.

The Lawn Mower Challenge started out, very rough. I had to have some help getting the thing started, and it felt impossible to wield once I did. Our lawn is slopey, the grass was jungle-ish, and those whirring blades kept making scary menacing threats to my appendages.

But I’m happy to say, ultimately, it was a success. Soon I was muscling that mower up and down our lawn with sweaty confidence. Eventually, the scariness turned to exhaustion and mild boredom.

I can now happily say that I’m no longer scared of the mowing the lawn, I just don’t like doing it.