Saturday, August 20, 2011

ladies and gentlemen...

it is now vacation time! I'm off on my annual trek.. and yes I will probably be blogging along the way.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

new toy

Look at my new toy! I was lucky to find this at the reuse the other day. This will save hours on my hands.

Friday, August 12, 2011

August Trunk Show 08-18-11


August Art Gallery & Trunk Show



At Rare Bird, we’re sending out summer in style with our August Art Gallery and Trunk Show, and the third monthly Piedmont Avenue Art Walk! The energy these past two months has been incredible – it is such a delight to be a part of this vibrant community and we want to thank YOU for showing your love and support for independent business and local art.
August brings new and exciting mediums to Rare Bird! Featured Artist Ken Shelf creates whimsical, lush art with his terrariums. Drawing inspiration from nature, Ken cultivates his micro-paradises using succulents and other plants expertly arranged in glass tabletop and hanging containers.
Any lover of the natural world will have the same fondness for our other Featured Artist’s craft: handmade journals by Emily Coker. Using repurposed wood and vinyl records for covers, Emily lovingly crafts each journal as a unique creation, right down to the hand-torn paper edges. The results are books that feel personal and magical at the same time – perfect for daily journals, guest books, or sacred poem diaries.
Visit Ken and Emily’s work all month long at Rare Bird, and mark your calendars for the Art Gallery and Trunk Show on Thursday, August 18 from 6-9pmour monthly celebration of our featured artists. Admire, shop, laugh, sip wine and, as always, marinate in the sonic grooves of resident dj London Fog.
What: Art Gallery & Trunk Show at Rare Bird and Piedmont Ave Art Walk
Featuring: Succulent terrariums by Ken Shelf and handmade journals  by Emily Coker
When: Thursday, August 18  from 6-9 pm
Where: The Rare Bird – 3883 Piedmont Avenue – Oakland, CA
About Ken Shelf: Ken Shelf is the co-owner (with his wife, Amy) and lead cultivator at Succulence – a life and garden store in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco that sells supplies for a succulent lifestyle.  Ken also lives in Bernal with Amy and their children, Huck and Trudy. Ken’s plant art began with the creative camouflaging of marijuana plants in his tomato garden and continues with his exploration of the disintegration and reintegration of nature with itself. In his endless quest for interesting planting vessels, he has planted teapots, popcorn poppers, electrical boxes, watering cans, shoes, bicycle rims, bird-feeders, sea shells, grain mill belts, coal cans, potato and onion baskets, and a metal Hoosier flour bin for his wife’s 40th birthday. Ken teaches classes on vertical gardening and terrarium building monthly at the Bernal Heights store. Rare Bird is privileged to offer Ken’s terrarium building workshop in September! Check out our Classes page for sign up information.

About Emily Coker: Emily Coker is a self taught multimedia artist living and creating in Oakland. Inspired and intrigued by all things vintage, Emily creates unique handmade journals from repurposed wood and vinyl records. Noticing the slow demise of old practices, traditions, and routines in this soft copy world, Emily wanted to create a tactile hard copy medium for all to enjoy. Each page of her journals is torn by hand to lend a rustic feel that evokes something familiar in the user. The books are versatile and can be used for many things,  including journals, guest books, or even photo albums.
When not making books, Emily curates and runs an art event called Oakland Under $100 in an effort to pull together the Oakland community through the arts.  She is honored to be showing at Rare Bird, which facilitates that very idea for the Oakland art community.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

all turned in

I dropped off 13 completed books to The Rare Bird on Tuesday. I will continue to make more before the event but am pretty thrilled with what went out.
I'm giving myself a couple days to relax before getting right back into it.again. Duty calls my friends, but it sure is nice to take a break and enjoy doing nothing for a bit. School will start back up on the 22nd, so I really do need to try and enjoy the break. 

Go to check out the books - 3883 Piedmont Ave, Oakland.
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