I Love Film.

Hello my friends,

As some of you know, I have a special soft spot for medium format and instant film. Don't get me wrong, I love my digital camera through and through but I continue to be moved by analog film in a different way than I'm moved by digital. Perhaps there's a scientific reason behind the processing? A chemical effect that makes film feel different than digital, regardless of the composition or content?

I'm not sure what it is, but my heart skips a beat for film and I think this love affair is really only beginning. I dare say I take 100 digital images to every film image, but I have a few new film images I want to share with you. (If you're curious, you can see more film here.) A little bit of my summertime on film...

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So, if you have a scientific reason for the difference in digital and analog film, please share your expertise with me! And if you just agree to the difference in feeling--call it texture, essence, shadow, element, or even emotion--then I think that's perfectly acceptable too. xoxo, k.

A Quick Trip to the Oakland Hills

Hi friends,

I hope your week is going well. I've been so inspired by what's happening at Habit this month while simultaneously missing my regular blog reads, so I thought this combination called for an extra post this week. I haven't taken a photo every day in July, but I have managed to take a handful of photos and it's been a lovely exercise in reconnecting with my day-to-day living. (Hello daily life, goodbye exhibition schedule). So, I wanted to pop in and share some July images with you.

We recently headed to the Oakland hills with our picnic blanket and takeout burritos to catch the sunset. We were able to marvel out over the treetops as the sun washed a rainbow of colors over us before setting beyond the hills. I captured these photos in Tilden Park during one of our short adventures.

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The weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait for my first full weekend off in what seems like forever. I'm super duper excited for two whole days with my sweetie to wander around without very much direction. What's on your priority list for this weekend? I'm hoping to make it to a large body of cool water and do little more than wade around at the edges. If I'm feeling particularly inspired I might clean-up the studio or bake some chocolate chip cookies. I can't imagine I'll get much more ambitious than this. Perhaps, though, a trip to the movies. xoxo, k.

The Installation is Over but the Garden Abounds

Hello friends,

The Dresses/ Objects Project is now officially closed. This weekend was full of one last dressmaking session on Saturday and a lovely poetry reading on Sunday afternoon. Now my studio is officially bursting at the seams with bags and boxes and heaps of things we brought back from the installation. I'm excited to say that a few new projects were born from this one including a commission and a possible opportunity to show the dresses again in 2011. (Keep your fingers crossed, please!)

In other news, it seems our garden has been bursting at seams of its own. I admit, lately my husband has been the head gardener and I've been an eager but inconsistent assistant. Lucky for us, he's been tending to the herbs and veggies while I've been preoccupied with the exhibition. There are fewer things that make me happier to live in Oakland, CA than our ability to garden and frequent robust farmer's markets all year round. Today, I thought I'd take you on a little garden tour, so you can see what we currently have blooming.

My husband's favorite: the dear little potatoes.

A handful of tomato plants are more promising each day.

Our blooming onions.

This was the first year we successfully grew garlic. Yum!

Potted herbs continue to thrive: sage.

Behind the basket you can see lettuce and the last of the chamomile.

We had more fava beans than we could eat. Amazing.

I've already dried & chopped two batches of peppermint tea,
they love the shade by our front doorstep.

Summer squash and a pumpkin, visited by a brown butterfly.

A hearty handful of basil in the sunlight.

I know a number of you are gardeners too. Are you growing anything special this season? I'm wholeheartedly invested in the urban gardening movement--it's so inspiring to see pots and patches of edible plants all around our lovely cities. Someday, I hope we have a big barn for our art studios, an orchard full of apples and stone fruit, and half a dozen chickens too. xoxo, k.

The Dresses/ Objects Project: Closing Weekend

Dear friends,

I'm still in exhibition land over here in Oakland, CA. The Dresses/ Objects Project is only open until Sunday, July 18 and I can hardly believe it is nearing the end. (Good grief!) What a lovely and bittersweet place to be: almost at the finish line after so much preparation and hard work. I have to say that this creative marathon has been worth every (metaphorically) sore muscle and ounce of sweat. Truly, I couldn't be happier with the artist collaborators, the opening weekend celebration, the generous press, and the things we have planned for this closing weekend too.

I've been at the gallery each Saturday afternoon making one last dress and I haven't quite finished the last dress (I've only designed, cut, and pinned the dress together) but I'm so excited to have this opportunity to meet with visitors and work on the last dress/ object at a much slower pace. (Slow = joy!) And so, I wanted to share a few more photos from the installation and the previous photo shoots too. I've just uploaded a bunch of images to my Flickr set if you want to take a stroll through dress/ object lane.

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*Here's the front view of the installation, over 1,600 square feet:

*And a view from the side:

*A view from my sewing station, at the back of the gallery:

*A view from the other side, looking in:

*A close-up of the back wall, my color study/ inspiration lines:

*And here are a few more images from the previous photo shoots, mostly dancers:

*The choreographer for the opening receptions:

*A dancer, after rehearsal:

*Two dancers, profile & pretty:

*One of my favorite images from the photo shoots, makes me smile every time:

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I'll be present this Saturday afternoon from 1-5pm if you want to come visit with me and the dresses. Sunday is the closing reception from 2-5 with a poetry reading at 3pm featuring three incredible local poets: Lara Durback, Jennifer Manzano, and Erika Staiti. I love these three poet ladies through and through and through. We were all classmates together in the MFA Poetry program at Mills a few years back and I continue to find inspiration and amazment in the work they create. They are brilliant and beautiful ladies! I can't wait to hear them read and if the stars align, I will make an audio recording of their reading.

So, come by on Sunday if you are feeling a tug at your heartstrings for a bit of poetry, experimental prose, and maybe a glass of white wine on a lovely summer afternoon. I can't believe we are already in the middle of July. Dear friends, I hope your month has been happy. xoxo, k.

Hello, World.

Hello friends,

Just peeking out to say "thank you" for all your good wishes on The Dresses/ Objects Project opening last weekend. I can't believe it's already been a full week, and yet it also seems like a lifetime ago. I spent this Saturday in the gallery beginning the very last dress. It's going to be a little bit like Betsey Johnson meets Denyse Schmidt if that is at all humanly possible!

I managed to find a few hours this weekend for some much needed nesting and I've never been happier to weed the garden, scrub the kitchen sink, or tackle the growing pile of laundry. I even baked some cupcakes to take to a friend's 4th of July barbecue and spent a few hours in the garden with my sunhat and a book. I'll be back with links to photos & exhibition stories soon. For now, I'm just enjoying a little bit of post-show quiet. xoxo, k.