go to over here now.

My current (gorgeous, updated) website has super nice blogging options — I've been successfully lured over there. So for now there's no new stuff here.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE NEW 

SECRET LENTIL BLOG, okay? Great.

hold the line

"My secret lentil bag is my go bag to take to the women's March in DC. It will carry my phone charger, chapstick, MetroCard, some Band-Aids and other things that will make this trip possible, safer, more comfortable. I am wearing a fishing vest, and cargo pants. We cannot carry backpacks. So I'm packing my pockets full of things I will need, this secret little bag will be up close and personal the whole time. We all do what we can. Hold the line."

This is from artist Amy Bartell who is in Washington as we speak. I'm not there but my zipper pouch is. And it's being helpful! I'm so proud. You can see Amy's inspirational work here.

the big spiders are my favorites

I've had Louise Bourgeois on my mind this week since I watched the documentary "Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine" last week. Allow me to say: I'm a little scared of her. But in the best possible way, I think. It's a respectful fear. I've never understood artists who appear to have that direct unbreakable link between their selves and making work. I'm in awe of it every time.

“My knives are like a tongue - I love, I do not love, I hate. If you don’t love me, I am ready to attack. I am a double-edged knife.”  ― Louise Bourgeois

"I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands." — Louise Bourgeois

"Art is restoration: the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life, to make something that is fragmented - which is what fear and anxiety do to a person - into something whole."                     — Louise Bourgeois 

As I grew up mostly mom-less and with a love for all bugs I was extra thrilled that she interprets spiders as mother figures. I mean: Charlotte's Web, right? Right.

I will also say, I had to wonder if she wasn't the reason for a lot of terrible confessional performance art and embroidered text on things that came after her. Not that it's all terrible, blah blah blah, but you know some of it is. There was no reason for any art student to still be pouring honey on their boobs in 1993, and yet. I did love that the Guerrilla Girls interviewed got that she would probably not want to be embraced by them. And I love that it didn't stop them.

I've Seen Things ...

This is the artifacted piece I just finished: I've Seen Things. I think a lot about what I'm doing with these pieces — okay yes, possibly too much — but what it comes down to is this: I like to look at old stuff. It satisfies my soul. I am not about new and shiny and precision and maiden voyages, with all the false purity and myths about perfection those imply. I'm about time, wear, mistakes and damage and repair and continuing to forgive ourselves for forgetting to put the bins out on garbage night, and for the big stuff too: for digging deep into unspoken shames and setting those out into the sunlight then moving forward with our imperfect bodies leading truly messy sweet caring wonderful lives. It extra satisfies my soul to make this work. Sometimes I want those holes and repairs to be visible. It helps us know we're all in this together. It makes space for us to show up every day, damaged but still whole, repaired (and possible stronger for it), to do the good work of caring for each other.




 





I've also written about artifacting here if you'd like to see what I think I'm doing.

You can see more photos and check availability of "I've Seen Things" here.