I painted my kitchen floor... and I use the word "painted" quite loosely

My moo moo with the floor behind her... It's pretty loud... but I have my reasons.

ART STUFF... to do this weekend...

If you happen to be in Atlanta:


Art House Gallery and Studios Reminder: The Canvas Project and A Million Little Pictures exhibition is this coming friday, September 25th, from 7:00-10:00pm at Art House Gallery in Atlanta, GA http://arthousecoop.com/events/12


Or if you are in St. Petersburg, FL...

The Globe is having their Patron's art show... I think I'll have three pieces there and the opening is this Friday night!

ARTpool Gallery is having their RECORD REMIX ART pARTy this FRIDAY @ ARTpool!

If you happen to be in Wisconsin... check out the 50/50/50 show at the Eclipse Gallery in Algoma, WI. I have some ragdolls in that show...

And if you happen to be in NYC... check out the random post cards someone may be handing you on the street... lol.

Canvas Project Show this Friday...

Canvas Project Exhibition: Friday, September 25th at Art House Gallery in Atlanta, GA
The final exhibition for The Canvas Project will be on display at Art House Gallery in Atlanta, Ga on Friday. We're so excited to display it and hope that everyone can make it out. As always, we'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of the show!

I have 5 tiny canvas in this show. I wish I could go... it would be fun... I love the arthouse coop.

Open Letter to the aBAD artists that I met in NYC

This summer I went to the museum of fine arts here in St. Petersburg, FL. I went to see two exhibits--one on Warhol and the other on artist correspondence... my favorite was a letter from Frida and she left kisses on the bottom with her bright reddish pink lipstick. The show held actual letters with drawings and doddles and the traditional mail correspondence but from artists.

I was very moved by my trip to New York City to see A BOOK ABOUT DEATH. I enjoyed everyone I met there and felt a connection to art and artists.

So here is what I propose...

I want to compile an ongoing zine of our lives. The name of this zine is called ABALCABAL and was dreamed up by two artists: Allan Revich and Mark Bloch. The general idea is that I will compile what you send. I will organize, bind, and send each one of you a copy. Depending on what I get and when... will determine how fast I send it out. But I will do it... you will get it.

Now, I know that a few people haven't answered my (facebook) "friend" request so I can't include them... in this email but by no means--is this an exclusive list. I would like to keep it to those who had something to do with ABAD. So please feel free to repost or email to friends.

If you want to do it all you have to do is start sending... preferably...20 copies (for now) 8.5 X 11 pieces/letters to: (If you are sending internationally I will be happy to do the photocopying for you but keep in mind it will be in black and white). Also please feel free to send stamps or money to offset shipping costs.

Jennifer Zoellner
655 Jasmine Way South
St. Petersburg, FL 33705

The first edition is due by the end of october.
#2 is due at the end of February
#3 is due at the end of June
and so forth.


sincerely,
Jennifer Zoellner

What I consumed in NYC

Eclipse Gallery

http://ow.ly/15PVqy

I'm excited to be in The Eclipse Gallery's show: 50/50/50 show. Hello my name is Jennifer Zoellner and I make rag dolls in Florida.

Tender Buttons, Feigen gallery

Pictures from A Trip About Death...

A Book About Death blues

To Be Tangible, substantial, visible, concrete, manifest.
NYC last weekend... to be alive.
Now, here, abstract secret mask.
Left with the dishes,
the chore,
the bore,
the tore.
The struggle.

Sept. 17, 2009

"When Wilson became aware that her husband was attracted to a younger woman, she began to pay more attention to how she looked when she was with her husband. But she had left their marriage to follow her art. Her children and her grandchildren were welcome to follow her, or they could wave good-bye. As I have often had reason to say, art is a jealous lover. Later she admitted that she had left her husband for art before he had left her for the other woman. Still, she had been called a gargoyle, and suffered the fury of the scorned. During her sixtieth birthday weekend she was with her husband for their fortieth wedding anniversary, but she was also with her friend Ray Johnson, there in her studio by the Chesapeake Bay. She was already cutting into sexy photographs of young women." by William Wilson

September 14, 2009 I've got a little story to tell...

Although I had a fantastic time in the big apple... I came home a little sick. There was a "don't travel with the flu sign"... at the airport. Thankfully at that time I only had a runny nose. Could you imagine being quarantined at JFK? I most certainly cannot. Yesterday moped around. Today much of the same. And frankly, I can't wait to get a few things done--to be feeling better.

Let me tell you about my little trip to NYC. Left early thursday morning... played in China town and then Little Italy...In Chinatown I got this backrub that felt pretty good at the time but the next day--I was hurting! I bought the boys pokemon cards and Lulu a died hot pink silk fan... In Little Italy while sitting eating a lemoncello on sorbet--we saw Ted Danza walk by with a young thing... too funny... and to say that we saw it on Mulberry street. There was a festival of some this or that going on...

...then rested a while and got ready to see the A BOOK ABOUT DEATH SHOW . From our Solita Soho hotel Ginny Lloyd and I walked to the Emily Harvey Gallery. It was on the second floor and we were buzzed in at the front door. I met several artists immediately... and it was such a thrill to meet the people that had previously sent me mail art. I met Keith Buchholz, Reed Altemus, Reed Wood, the Sticker Dude, William Evertson, and Christine Tarantino.
The night was electric... and I felt out of my element... a strange girl in a strange land... Let the Fluxus entertainment begin! This guy named Mark Bloch did a performance piece about Ray Johnson where he wore Ray's book about death. (hope I'm getting this right...). I realized that I had quoted him about Ray in my CHromatophore program... so I had to introduce myself. He wasn't mad that I quoted him without asking... so at least that worry was over. The night was a blurr... and ended nicely at a french restaurant (Parigot, French Bistro, 155 Grand Street-corner of Lafayette)... apple tart with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ginny had the same. We had a desert wine too and I can't remember the name... but it hit the spot to have a really decent night's rest.

the next day... life after death...? Perhaps. We headed uptown... ended up at the MoMA which I have a certain kind of fondness for... like visiting old friends... and never having enough time to really get intimate. There is so much I could say about any place or event that we went to... and yet not enough space or time to do so. My goal of really putting myself "out there" in the world of art this year has really kept me, yanni, too busy... We had lunch at the 2nd floor moma cafe. I had a duck salad... and it was delicious minus the duck and the masca-blah blah cheese that I really didn't like. Anyway... I ate it cause I needed to eat something... then I left Ginny finished up at the MoMa and then went next door to see the Am Folk Art Museum. I made a connection with two people there... one that looks promising. And no, I'm not talking about the guy from Denver who invited me to lunch or dinner--my choice--the next time I'm in Denver. What a sweet old guy. Ok... on to the Ray Johnson art show at the Richard L. Feigen & Co. gallery... It was a strange gallery as you walk up to what looks like a townhome and get buzzed in... to find what used to be the Iranian embassy and is now a gallery. Feigen usually houses classic paintings but also handles the estate of Ray Johnson. Today we were looking at pieces of Ray Johnson's, Dali and Warhol. It was easy to see the interplay of the three men. I thoroughly enjoyed the space--as it was quiet and I was one of three people there. I bought the show catalog and the lady working at the desk offered us previous Johnson show catalogs as well as pins with the infamous Ray Johnson Bunny. Freebies are great... and Ray Johnson freebies--spectacular.
I told Ginny we had to make one more stop while we were in the area... to see "Tender Buttons." Richard Canard told me that I would like the shop... and I did--adorable. But it seemed like a mystery to me. The man working there was also named Richard. I asked who made the sign and the lady working there told me that the shop owner did. Later I was told by Mark Bloch that Ray Johnson made the sign. So I did as Richard told me to do and picked up a few business cards for Tender Buttons. And I bought some buttons... as I couldn't help myself.
Had dinner at mexican sort of place in soho... la Esquina. Delicious... and on to the Fluxfest show in Brooklyn. The lady working at the hotel... steered us way into the wrong direction... and $40 later in taxi fees and Ted on the phone with the google directions and cross streets--we made it... just as the Fluxfest was ending. We walked from there to the subway station with Reed and Mark and headed to the after party party... at Bill Wilson's house. On the subway I was serenaded by a man who claimed to be from outer space and played the saxophone. It was so much fun...

Bill Wilson is May Wilson's son. May Wilson is an awesome artist and friend of Ray Johnson. May and Bill were friends with Ray Johnson. This was probably the highlight of my trip... seeing and meeting Bill Wilson and listening to his stories of Ray Johnson. The art in his home was utterly amazing. And in a way I felt at home... a home filled with art... just feels right. At the end of the evening I ended up asking Bill what it was like growing up around all this art... he said it was a wonderful way to grow up and that it broadened his horizons. He signed one of his mother's art catalogs for me, "This is my mom, Many Loves, Bill" Bill is a pretty old guy but gracious as anything and I so enjoyed listening to him. The house was filled with priceless art and interesting people... a virtual whose-who in the NYC art world... and little ol' me. It felt good. Really good. Bill gave us as many Ray Johnson postcards as we could carry and books from his personal collection that he was ready to part with. What a day!

The next morning GInny and I had breakfast at the Parigot--I had the omelette with french fries and a salad. I'm not an omelette eater but knew that I just had to order it and it would be delish... and it was. Plus I enjoyed the staff... the manager who tried on my sunglasses and took a picture of me with my Diana camera and the chef who came out to say hello... And they were all french... nothing like a real french man speaking french! Walked around Soho... went to the bathroom in the dirtiest Starbucks bathroom that I've ever seen... and then caught a towncar to the airport... the rest my friend, is history.
I have about a thousand pictures but won't be able to post them all here... so here is 10... maybe I'll post more throughout the week!

Despair

I'm still in a real yucky place. We are still not on track with school... we are still drowning in class changes, random papers, homework shoved into a locker, dreams of golf teams and utter failures making the headlines. Triple ugh. Tomorrow I'm leaving for NYC. I had a fever this afternoon of 99 and started to get that body ache... Ted brought me home some "airborne," and I did some homeopathic stuff... and I think... I'm okay... No one wants to be sick while traveling... Still I'm hoping that I will leave for 3 days and come home to the perfect life... can you arrange that for me?

I just feel behind in everything and like I can't catch up and in the meantime I'm being asked to do more. It seems never ending. Don't know what exactly I can even do about it. Who sped up the clock... it's spinning out of control. Tomorrow I'm going to wake up and have a beard down to my toes... and won't know anything around me... oh, wait that's someone else's story...

And to make matters worse the vacuum cleaner is broke. I can't even do my homemaking duties.

On a happy note... here I am with the oil painting I entered into the Art's Center's democratic show. I went to the opening last friday and had a grand time. The crumbcakes really enjoyed taking part in the demonstrations. I enjoyed meeting and talking with a variety of people. Ted never made it to the show... too busy with that little thing called work. And the beat goes on...

Ryosuke Cohen

I received an email this morning from Ryosuke Cohen and here is his ongoing mail art call:

Please send me your stamp design, rubberstamp, or 150 stickers or seals. I will print or paste these materials onto the A3 size paper, creating 150 sheets. I will then send a sheet back with a list of addresses to each participant. I will publish at intervals of 8 to 10 days at that time will include 60 people or so. Brain Cell is always seeking a change, does not intend to settle and care of it’s extension of the Network. So... don’t mail a lump of stuff for several issues. Please send them to me one issue at a time, Thank you!

Ryosuke Cohen c/o Brain Cell
3-76-1-A-613 Yagumokitacho Moriguchi City Osaka 570 Japan
TEL&FAX +81.6.6991.1507


http://www.ryosukecohen.com/



http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~cohen/fractal/franctal050607.htm



http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~cohen/info/ryosukec.htm

Take a Deep Breath ALready...

All I wanted to do was eat today... and I wanted chocolate. Can't tell you the last time I wanted chocolate... I'm still exhausted from Chromatophore... which by the way went smashingly well... Maybe someday I'll tell you about it. Not much to tell... collected art, posted art, hung art, shared art. The sharing was very fun...

A Book About... Death

I'm excited to go to NYC for the Book About Death Show. I'm going to share a place with Ginny Lloyd--aka GIna Lotta Post. So the Queen of artistamps will be staying with the princess of mail art. Har har.

My head is spinning with my oldest crumbcake going to middle school... he's so disorganized and the teachers just assume that he can remember anything... he's lost at sea... and we missed the open house last night. Ted swears that when they woke him up Saturday with the automated telephone call that it said his open house was tonight... nope, it was last night--we missed it--and we totally screwed our son out of any hope of catching up and getting organized. I'm ready to spit nails... oh yeah, already did that last night. It makes me despise all things school and all things little boy and all things husband. The sheer lack of any organized thought amongst them drives me nuts. Why does mom have to figure every darn thing out?? Why does mom have to solve all the problems. Homeschool was so much easier... and a lot less wasted time.

UGH.

When I go to NY I may just never come back. You all understand don't you?