slovenly in slovenia.

no pictures.

after more than a whole day awake, i was too tired on the train from graz to even lean over and unpack my camera from the backpack. so i looked out the window, dreamily trying to take in the landscape while drifting in and out of nods. my back hurt a lot.

things i remember, pictures logged in my mind: chocolate coloured rivers near to (and sometimes all the way) bursting their banks; plaster fallen off brick walls; three perfectly complicated and askew antennae on the roof of a crumbly home; small, old train platforms in small, old towns; drizzle on the window. at one point, i looked hazily out the window and thought i was back in the smoky mountains.

right before we pulled into ljubljana, my nose started bleeding. it was time to rest.

the city is old and lovely and i look forward to exploring it more coherently and attentively in the coming week. but for now, i need my body and mind to catch up to their new location. this sort of travel is so far from natural.

trans-atlantic.

boy does it pay to have friends all over the place. toronto to düsseldorf, düsseldorf to graz and then jacob was waiting for me at the airport. before running off to his rehearsal, he showed me quick sights, took me to an eat-as-you-wish pat-as-you-wish vegetarian restaurant and dropped me at his home for some tea, some internet and a shower.

and is there anything more normalizing than a cat visit? that's bubbles.

alright, now that i am clean and refreshed, it is time to dive back into this foreign country and see if i can't get myself on a train to slovenia.

cloudhopping.

i write this note from the cramped yet wifi-rich climes of pearson international airport. i have not said much about it, but i am on my way to a five week performance tour of europe. as this is mostly a performance tour, i probably won't be posting all the gory details here. i will leave this space for wild travel stories and art/craft related exploits (i feel my ten days in berlin with leah may yield some of the latter).

but as for now, i sit at the precipice of two flights, one train ride, sixteen plus hours and a whole heap of nervous crochet. by tomorrow night, i should be in ljubljana, slovenia. crazy!

i should also report that i forgot all my makeup at home (for shows more than life) so i am typing this with a fresh mac makeover of powders, sticks and creams. i am dressed like a greasy slob, so this must be quite ridiculous. i also wept after a last wave at aitor through the security screens. very unexpected, indeed. for all of our bickering on the road, this is the longest we have been apart in a long while. i guess...i am used to our closeness.

happy birthday, sweetie. have fun hiding my stuff and smoking in the shower while i am away.

oh, they are boarding the plane. adventure beckons!

warming rhode island necks.

artwork by jen corace

more news!

neck warmers from the sweetie pie press have been selected to fly off to rhode island as part of the 9th annual craftland holiday extravaganza in providence. get ready for some cozy throats, rhodies. the show always looks incredible and i am so sad that the timing never seems to work for me to get there. oh well, at least my woollens can!

jars and drawers.

photo by leah, letterpress cards by small caps

trans-atlantic event alert!

little leah is putting the last touches on the wunderkabinet way over the ocean in berlin. those stalking me will remember that i contributed both gold toof buttons and some button sets to the first ever curiosity cabinet/group show in history*. there are a bunch of familiar friends/geniuses in the show, too (tara, shannon, lee, saddle, shannah), and i am chuffed to be in their companies. i am really excited about the show and am proud of leah for letting yet another of her wonderful ideas out into the world. i will even get to see it in about a month!

for those interested, i think she might be accepting proposals for round two (opening in january) now. me, i have crochet schemes for that kabinet.

*totally not true. in fact, i have a date to check out the dazzle at narwhal art project in toronto over the weekend. great minds curate alike.

the way way north.

mittens by sarah mcneil

today i spent a mid-mania lunch watching a documentary about the arctic. it made me profoundly sad. i felt full of awe, as well, of the landscape and the people who fit into it. in an act of comfort and indulgence, i trolled around etsy for other works that gave me this same feeling. here they are.