Crazy Quilt SpyGirl September Tour Dates: Indianapolis, Alexandria, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Rapid City, Wichita

CREATED/ LINKS/ 

My Crazy Quilt sketchbook continues its journey around the country.
Ruth and I caught the Mobile Library when it stopped in LA earlier this month.

Find my sketchbook filed under Anne M Bray.

Here are the scheduled locations and dates for September.
Check the tour page for up to date information!

September 3- 4
Indianapolis, IN @ Indianapolis Art Center
September 3- 4 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

September 7- 8
Alexandria, VA @ Torpedo Factory Art Center
September 7- 8 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

September 18
Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
September 18 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

September 20
Minneapolis, MN @ Light Grey
September 20 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

September 23
Rapid City, SD @ Dahl Art Center/Rapid City Public Library
September 23 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

September 26-27
Wichita, KS @ Ulrich Museum
September 26 | 12:00 - 6:00pm
September 27 | 6:00 - 9:30pm

September 29
Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Art Institue/SFUAD
September 29 |

Crazy Quilt SpyGirl August Tour Dates: Santa Barbara, LA, KC, St Louis, Baltimore, Richmond, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis

The SpyGirl Crazy Quilt Dossier, 70s Edition is still making its way around the country.
Where is it now?
Click here to check out the tour as it travels the US and get detailed information.
[August 2013 dates and venues are below -- but be sure to check the link above, as plans may have changed]
This sketchbook can be found on the shelves with a call number of 204.14-5 


Super excited to "be" in Santa Barbara, since there is a UCSB outfit in the book!

read the UCSB entry here

Jul 31
Santa Barbara, CA @ Figueroa Mountain Brewing
5:00 - 9:00pm

August 1
Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Museum of Art
5:00 - 8:00pm

August 2- 4
LA, CA @ iam8bit
August 2 | 11:00 - 7:00pm
August 3 | 4:00 - 10:00pm
August 4 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

August 14-15
Kansas City, MO @ The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
August 14-15 | 12:00 - 4:00pm

Aug 16
Kansas City, MO @ Hammer Press
August 16 | 4:00 - 10:00pm

Aug 17
St. Louis, MO @ Arts St. Louis
August 17 |

Aug 22
Baltimore, MD @ American Visionary Art Museum
August 22 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

Aug 23
Richmond, VA @ Virginia Commonwealth University
August 23 | 2:00 - 8:00pm

Aug 26
Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Musuem of Art
August 26 | 10:00 - 4:00pm

Aug 27
Nashville, TN @ Watkins College of Art and Design
August 27 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

Aug 29
Memphis, TN @ Crosstown Arts/The Dixon
August 29 |

Aug 30
St Louis, MO @ City Museum
August 30 | 12:00 - 10:00pm

SpyGirl hopes to "see" you on tour!

Crazy Quilt SpyGirl July Tour Dates: Orlando, Chattanooga, Louisville, Chicago, Portland OR, San Francisco, Santa Barbara

The SpyGirl Crazy Quilt Dossier, 70s Edition is still making its way around the country.
Where is it now?

For my new visitors, here are all the sketchbook pages as a video:

Or clicking on "Crazy Quilt Sketchbook" will show you all the posts here on SpyGirl.

Click here to check out the tour as it travels the US and get detailed information.
[July dates and venues are below -- but be sure to check the link above, as plans may have changed]
This sketchbook can be found on the shelves with a call number of 204.14-5 

July 2- 3
Orlando, FL @ The Gallery at Avalon Island
5:00 - 9:00pm

Jul 8
Chattanooga, TN @ The Hunter Museum
11:00 - 5:00pm

Jul 9
Chattanooga, TN @ The Creative Discovery Museum
3:00 - 7:00pm

Jul 10
Louisville, KY @ Mellwood Art Center
2:00 - 8:00pm

Jul 12
Chicago, IL @ Chicago Arts District Second Friday
3:00 - 7:00pm

July 13-14
Chicago, IL @ Hyde Park Art Center
1:00 - 5:00pm

July 19-21
Portland, OR @ Jupiter Hotel
July 19 | 4:00 - 8:00pm
July 20 | 2:00 - 8:00pm
July 21 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

July 26-28
San Francisco, CA @ S.F. Center for the Book
July 26 | 4:00 - 8:00pm
July 27 | 2:00 - 8:00pm
July 28 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

Jul 31
Santa Barbara, CA @ Figueroa Mountain Brewing
5:00 - 9:00pm

August 1
Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Museum of Art
5:00 - 8:00pm

SpyGirl hopes to "see" you on tour!

Crazy Quilt SpyGirl Hits the Road June Gigs in Brooklyn, Toronto, Providence, Portland ME, Montreal, Atlanta

CREATED/ LINKS/

The quilt in my van, June 1994. Car camping in Strafford, Missouri.

"Check out" my sketchbook at these venues in June!

This sketchbook can be found with call# 204.14-5 
or under my name: Anne M Bray

Jun 1
Brooklyn, NY @ 3rd Ward
3rd Ward 7th Birthday Celebration

June 7- 9
Toronto, ON @ The Distillery Historic District
9 Trinity Street, Suite 200
Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
June 7 | 4:00 - 8:00pm
June 8 | 2:00 - 8:00pm
June 9 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

June 13 
Providence, RI @AS220
115 Empire Street
Providence, RI 02903
June 13 | 4:00 - 8:00pm

Jun 14
Portland, ME @ Space Gallery
538 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04101
June 14 | 4:00 - 8:00pm

Jun 16
Montreal, QC @ Darling Foundry
745 Rue Ottawa
Montreal, QC H3C 1R8
June 16 | 12:00 - 6:00pm

June 26-27
Atlanta, GA @ The Goat Farm Art Center
1200 Foster Street
Atlanta, GA 30318
June 26-27 | 5:00 - 9:00pm

hours are subject to change -- check with the venue before embarking

The Providence Map Sketchbook That Wasn't -- Benefit Street

CREATED/ PURCHASED/ GIFTED

I think it was winter of 77, before I moved to NYC, that I stayed with Wendy at her apartment on Benefit Street. I'm fairly sure she lived over Geoff's. In her junior year at RISD, she was heavily into stained glass. I was at loose ends. 

My family, 2/77  MacDuffie School, Springfield, MA

I still have that scarf (I wove it in high school and my mom has a mate to it) and the puffer jacket (studio garb for those rare winter art residencies).

the jacket label

This is the first spread of a sketchbook project that I never got going on. My concept just wasn't doing it for me. The general Sketchbook Project theme was Mysterious Maps [more info]. I intended to draw maps of every place that I lived (or hung out) in Providence, RI with an outfit from the same time frame. It was supposed to be completed and postmarked yesterday. Last Saturday, I got stuck on the third entry -- I couldn't remember what I wore in the late winter of 79 when I lived on Trenton Street. And I was unable to find any photos of me from that particular time.

There is procrastination and having the creative juice to push and get a project finished. Then there are those road blocks that are often indicating the idea is not worth pursuing or that the format isn't quite right yet. I like the idea of mapping where I've lived. But what I'm remembering more strongly is the art I made and the music I listened to. I'll give this idea more time to jell and see what transpires. I'm not giving up, I just haven't figured out the best way to present my memories. Maybe revisit the "Letter to a Place I Lived", which I did for my NYC apartment. That might work -- a scrapbook of letters would be cool, AND FUN TO DO!

We interrupt this post to bring you this bulletin from RoadTrippers:
This Memorial Day weekend, jump into a jalopy and plant your foot on the gas. Wherever you are and whoever you're with. Go somewhere new, go somewhere you love, heck, go where you always go, just experience the freedom of the road, and have fun!
There is nothing to lose on this one, folks. You see, I am really, really terrible with money, and I love road trips so much that I literally want to pay for yours! All you have to do is create your Memorial Day trip on roadtrippers.com and share it on the internets for all to see and marvel at.
So click here and see my virtual Remembering RI Road Trip map.
The more clicks, I might get a prize -- woohoo!

This may be the catalyst to get this project jump started!

The Crazy Quilt Dossier: 70's Edition in Brooklyn 3/1-3/2013

Here are all the sketchbook pages as a video:

Or clicking on "Crazy Quilt Sketchbook" will show you all the posts.

The Sketchbook Tour 2013 starts TODAY! First stop: Brooklyn

Click here to check out the tour as it travels to Brooklyn, Austin, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Portland, SF and LA.

SpyGirl hopes to "see" you on tour!
This sketchbook can be found on the shelves with a call number of 204.14-5 

Crazy Quilt -- Cotton African Wax Print

Here's another NYC creation. I drafted the sewing pattern from an Afghani tunic that Bina [correction: Wendy] gave me in 1971. Another garment I never felt all that comfortable wearing. Maybe it was too bold.

Haha. "Too bold." I was being a little disingenuous there.

What I DO find interesting is that I have only one patch on the quilt with both the green/yellow/cream motif and the pin dotted brown background. So even while placing patches on the quilt, there was something about the print that made me uncomfortable. File it under "nice to view, not to wear." I have a few textiles that fall into that category.

I got this fabric (along with the qiana in the previous post) at Jerry Brown's, 54 West 57th Street [closed --thank you Aline and Cindy for researching and finding this emporium from our past!]. Not sure if it is authentic African wax print or a stateside interpretation. Here's a link about wax print, a textile with an interesting provenance.

On to the original tunic -- another garment that I wore to shreds.

my senior photo from my 74 yearbook -- no formal portraits for us 70s gals!

I found my "pattern" for it when I was retrieving the quilt.

if you click on these images, you can see/print them bigger

Discoveries like this justify my pack rat tendencies, imho. That and living in a house big enough to hold lots of stuff.

Thus concludes my pages of the Crazy Quilt Dossier, 70's Edition. I'll post a video tomorrow of the entire book along with information about the Art House Sketchbook 2013 tour, which starts in Brooklyn this Friday, 3/1/13, 6-10pm.

I'm a little sad these posts are over, but never fear -- next up is my 79-82 Maps of Providence sketchbook. Maybe SpyGirl with weasel her way into that book too! It's due 5/15. I WILL start working on it SOON. I've had it with my last minute nonsense.

Crazy Quilt Sketchbook Project

Do you remember me talking about my old crazy quilt back in July?
Here it is again:

I'm using it as the inspiration for my next Arthouse Sketchbook Project.
It will be a trip back to the 70s, SpyGirl style.

The Sketchbook has to be sent to Brooklyn by 1/15. I spent all day yesterday furiously working on it (oh the Sharpie fumes!). I'll post the pages slowly, however. Come back every Wednesday Tuesday and Thursday through February to see how it looks.

Threads and Surfaces Sketchbook on Exhibit in Brooklyn

Join Art House on Friday June 22, 2012 for the unveiling of: 

The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition
Brooklyn Art Library
103A N 3rd St. (between Berry & Wythe)
Brooklyn, NY 11249
4 - 8 pm

Art House is proud to present the first public unveiling of the Sketchbook Project Limited Edition archive. Following the opening reception on Friday, June 22nd, the Limited Edition books will be available to view at the Brooklyn Art Library on Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24, from noon - 8pm.
RSVP here

My book can be found on the shelves with a call number of 187.9-10.

It's the Thread and Surfaces: Fashion Icons book.

It includes pages with me, Anne the SpyGirl

Heather of The Style Confessions™

Laura of Wrinkle in Time Vintage

Kiah of From the "REZ" to the "CITY"

Diya of In Her Stilettos

Rocquelle of Consider Me Lovely

La Dama of Vintage Passiones Just Like Mine

Erin of Design For Mankind

Threads and Surfaces Sketchbook - The Video

starring:
Anne the SpyGirl

Heather of The Style Confessions

Laura of Wrinkle in Time Vintage

Kiah of From the "REZ" to the "CITY"

Diya of In Her Stilettos

Rocquelle of Consider Me Lovely

La Dama of Vintage Passiones Just Like Mine

Erin of Design For Mankind


This sketchbook lives at the Brooklyn Art Library
go check it out!

SpyGirl on Tour!

"SpyGirl: In Ten Minutes" is part of the ArtHouse Sketchbook 2012 North American Tour.

Today is the first day of the tour!
Brooklyn -- April 14th-29th
Opening April 14, 2012
6pm - 10pm
(last checkout at 9:15pm)
Brooklyn Art Library
103A N. 3rd St 
Brooklyn, NY 11249 

Will SpyGirl be coming to your town?
The tour dates are below

SpyGirl Status Report

Hello, all my internet friends! I have several deadlines looming large...

An art exhibition that gets hung 4/22, opens 4/24, reception 4/28.
If you live in the Los Angeles area, the details are here on facebook
and here: annembray.com

I am working some of the art into repeat so that I can offer voile scarves in the prints... nothing completed on that yet... eeek! I promise myself to at least have the one above available. I want to wear it to the FABB West conference on 4/30! You'll be the first to get the shopping link when it happens.

The Threads and Surfaces Fashion Icon sketchbook is due to ArtHouse in Brooklyn on 4/30. Must get back to doing those portraits, I have 12 to finish. If I do one a day...
I'll be posting those here as I complete them.


TAXES!!!!!!


The fake wedding journal is on hiatus at present >sad face<.


Any OOTD posts will most likely go on Facebook for now so please go like SpyGirl to see what crazy combos I concoct next.

There are lots of things I want to write about but I must concentrate on the top four items above first. For instance, I've gone undercover on Pose just to see what happens. I'm also monitoring Pinterest with a high degree of paranoia.
SpyGirl is very busy -- "on the QT and very hush hush."

Later, my dears!

Letter To an Apartment I Used to Live In

text:
Dear 355 Riverside Dr, Apt 1A, NYC, 10025,
 I walked by you this January. There
had been a heavy snowfall. Remember
the blizzard of 77? 2012 not as crazy
as that, but still beautiful.
I've pulled out a bunch of the art that
I made inside your walls. I'm going to
be exhibiting it this April at TAG Gallery
in Santa Monica. Yeah! I'm in a legit
gallery. Woohoo! I may not be the
"Great American Artist" that young Anne
daydreamed of becoming, yet I AM
producing art. It was a much more
convoluted journey than you had ever
imagined for me.
 Oh, and remember that guy who sat
me down on the couch and asked me to
marry him if I promised to have kids?
I did and I didn't and it didn't work
out. All for the best. I'm doing great!
I just wanted to let you ----->
know. Anne
_____________

This is another ArtHouse project.
Here are the directions, lifted from their site:
"What would you say to your childhood home?
It's been awhile, and the house you grew up in is starting to wonder about you... If your childhood home could hear you, what would you say? It might have been an apartment in the big city, a farmhouse in the country, or a cabin in the woods — there's a place from your past that will stay with you forever. Letters to Home is a community art project that asks creative people like you to write a letter to your childhood home. Share an epic backyard adventure, ask a lingering question, or reveal a long-kept secret — we'll transform our storefront exhibition space into a mailbox from the past. Every letter will be added to the Digital Library and archived in a boxed anthology that will join us on the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour."

2012

inside, 1977

1977

What would you say to a place where you no longer live?

spygirl!

title page
using a 8 x 5" kraft moleskine
this came from ArtHouse to be used for the January Monthly Sketchbook project with the theme "Opposite Day"
not sure if I'll send it back in to them

video of spy girl march-april journal

The ArtHouse Library is located in Brooklyn NY
201 Richards St #16
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Hours vary with each week.
Please check here before making a trip out to the library!

making clasp for book

here it is all finished and closed

Did the finishing touches on the Spy Girl sketchbook today and the process was more like some mad scavenger hunt in my house + garage. Since it's supposed to be a secret dossier, I thought a paper button and string tie clasp would be appropriate. Originally I wanted the mini envelopes to have these closures but glad I didn't find them -- it got so bulky with plain envelopes and clasps would have been too much.
My pal Mara sent me a link on "How to make your own button and string closure" which spelled out the process very clearly. (I would have done better if I'd had my printout on hand, but at that point I was tired of looking for things)

Hurdle #1: finding eyelets
I thought FOR SURE that I already had some. Looked in the box with snaps, etc. Found the eyelet setter but no eyelets at all. I could SEE them in my minds eye --AAARGH. Went through likely boxes in the garage. No luck. Found lots of OTHER things I'd forgotten about but no eyelets. Went and bought some. Only silver or gold available (wanted black). Sigh. Thank goodness for Sharpies.

The above link says to use a special large hole puncher -- well, forget that. I traced a penny and cut. I got better with practice. Needing the central hole had me thinking -- a compass would be helpful. Cursory hunt for compass unsuccessful. Good thing I could line up the hole puncher with a dot drawn in center of circle. (You can see below how off-center my first practice was.)

Hurdle #2: I used silk buttonhole weight thread for the string and it was a little wimpy. Beeswax. Where is the beeswax? Used a candle. Never found my sewing beeswax.

Hurdle #3: Button on cover needed to be in center of book because I unaffixed the back moleskine pocket to use as a flap that wrapped to the front. Could not use hole puncher. Exacto, razor blades... WHERE? Found exacto. (Also couldn't use eyelet setter but thankfully the eyelets came with a setter set one could hammer.)

above shows  

on right: first practice  

middle: #2 with string where I forgot it also had to be attached to book

near left: another button
far left: book cover with hole

Excuse me while I get verbose...

Roz asked me to write about my experiences journaling during International Fake Journal Month (IFJM) -- Roz is the mastermind behind IFJM. I have participated the past two years.

For my first fake journal in 2009, I took on the persona of a Leonard Cohen groupie, journaling as "I" followed his North American tour. I repurposed a paperback of his collected poems - Stranger Music (Amazon aff) - that I had on hand.
In retrospect, I was overambitious. I kept at a fairly steady pace at first. It was inspiring to read a poem and then draw whatever came into my head flavored with where "I" was on the road. I experimented with materials to find I was drawn to colored pencils - they worked the best on the thin, cheap paper of the book. Things started getting difficult when Leonard went into Canada (territory I did not know) AND I hit some poems I didn't like. I remember using Google Maps to plot his route (and likely towns for "me" to overnight in). I used both the map view and the satellite view - to get an idea of terrain "I" was driving through. It became increasingly arduous -- like a bad road trip. (Last spread) "I" didn't journal about Canada. I did the mileage chart (I do that on real road trips too) made some comments and left it at that. (The pages in the 2009 April area are all fake journal. There were additional pages with some nudity which I later removed to open the blog up to a wider audience).

This year's experience went a lot better - many factors helped me in the process. I knew I wanted to try another fake journal, had been pondering what my fake persona would be and Spy Girl appeared under a bush outside my house. It was fate. In addition, ArtHouse (a collective in Brooklyn) sponsors journal projects and launched a "small monthly" project for March/April to go in a black moleskine and themed "this is where I live." I decided to combine the two projects. I used the Spy Girl drawing as fashion template and rendered what I wore. (I tend to dress especially wacky in the spring + summer). Because "I" was a spy, I would place paper evidence from the day in little manila envelopes stamped "CONFIDENTIAL." For media, I used Sharpies, markers and colored pencils - just as I did in my fashion designer days (94-84). I had a blast and the project also inspired me to dig deep into my closet so that I wouldn't repeat outfits too often.

Bonuses from both these projects are the additional blogs. Before April 09, I had one blog - Sketches and Impressions, where I post mostly sketches inspired by Danny Gregory's "Everyday Matters" book and group. The 2009 journal begat The Glutton's Progress which I now use for postings about travel and food. Spy Girl begat this blog which I will use for fashion musings and continued renderings of outfits. I also have a blog on cupcakes and one on surface design.

I am not a "hard core" journaler, indeed, I envy those who are. I tend to start out with the best intentions and then get distracted and fizzle out. I signed on to the fake journal project to help get me journaling in a focused manner ("If it's not really me, maybe I'll work on it more.") The results are mixed, but steadily improving. The IFJM experience is a lot of fun. Go ahead, give it a try next year. If it doesn't work out, it's not you that "failed" -- it's "you".

spy girl's muse

my Spy Girl fashion figure template,

which I stapled onto the last page of the journal

I scanned, roughly cleaned and resized the original image in photoshop and printed it on card stock.

"I found the original drawing for Spy Girl outside my house under an oleander bush. She became my muse (and template) for this project. March + April 2010"

4.28

4.27