aitor and the chipmunks.

today aitor caught the chipmunk that has been running loose in phil and noelle's house for the last couple of days. this was extra good as it entered the house on our watch. i can't say that it is aitor's fault that one of the cats likes to bring him gifts. at least this time it was not a cockroach or a snake.

in tandem.

some images from our bike ride picnic to the bell tower where jaime and jerry got married the day before.

skyview.

look what we spied on our way out of belleville. had there not been so much work to do, i would have loved to explore that place more.

box of nothing.

shannah gave me this perfect box to keep my growing pile of awards from getting crumpled or crunched on the road. i think it makes them look like a box of sugar candies. yes, it is time to leave this southern illinois oasis, pack the travelling studio (ie. junk pile) back into the car and shove off for our next destination. see you all in indianapolis!

sweet nothings.

i am now five days away from delivering my first edition of awards for nothing to cortney in milwaukee and more than halfway to my total of 100. the latest additions include materials like security envelopes, sheet music, handmade paper, doilies, nozzle checks, tissue paper, chopstick wrappers, seam binding, bias tape, thread, leather, rick rack and more!

while staying outside of st. louis, award making has benefited greatly from space to work in bruce and shannah's living room and material acquistions from shannah, bruce, the upcycle exchange and cranky yellow. autumn at upcycle was particularuly helpful is getting me the ribbons and sewing notions i have been short on. if you are in st. louis, you should totally check out the exchange. you should totally not check out cranky yellow because it is currently closed.

the experience of trying to do such a picky, scrappy project on the road has been a challenge to say the least. as much as i love the road, i am yearning for home and my studio.

nothing in particular.

here is another sneak peek at some awards for nothing. i made a huge materials score last night thanks to one of my hosts here in illinois, bruce. bruce makes art out of collections and experience a cling all too familiar to me. but he is currently having some sort of great change of impulse and has been clearing out collections. this task being easier when the materials will be used and loved, he loaded me up with scraps, envelopes, waxed wrappers, handmade papers and more.

i have a tonne to work with now. the last batch was so colourful, too!

and nicholas says my packaging is almost ready, too. now to make sure it collides with me as i move. nomadic life in the modern era takes a fair bit of planning (and luck). feel free to wish me both.

ps - i have recommended dave's book to bruce.

breakage.

one of the most heartbreaking elements of the awards for nothing project is breakage. the experimental nature of the project lends itself to disaster and yet every piece consumes completely one-of-a-kind materials. with so much unknown jamming into my machines, i feel like a potter waiting for the kiln to fire. it's never entirely clear what will emerge. i'm always nervous the result will come out busted.

i like to think these broken pieces pierced their own mylar coatings to maintain their ephemeral natures.

i might leave them in public places.

it's also worth noting that those broken awards are lodged on a stack of new security envelopes given to me by the great bruce burton (no web presence at this time). sorting and slicing through them last night really made me want to revive the project.