creeping slowly back to life…

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yep, i’m back! well, perhaps i should say, i’m starting to make the motions to eventually BE back. it might still be a little while before this thing is going strong again.

but in the mean time… in the next post i’ll be throwing up a paypal button for pre-ordering of my “we’re in the fucking woods” shirts that i made for/at/about michfest many years back. i haven’t printed them since 2008 or 2009, but due to some incredible peer pressure, i’ve decided to whip up a few for gals attending this year’s fest. so… the button will be up for a week or so and then i’ll either ship to you at home if there’s enough time or ship to the land if not.

so stay tuned… hopefully tomorrow.

on hiatus

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not that anyone really looks at this site anymore anyways, but just a note to say that art by mags is officially on hiatus now, indefinitely. i’m super focused on wags by mags! and though i may or may not still occasionally create things, i am not focused on art as a business or even much of a hobby right now. i even dropped out of the new orleans craft mafia – so you know i’m serious.

i just need a break, some extended time away from the hustle of constantly making stuff. i’m sure i will go back to it eventually, in some way – i have always been and will always be a maker, a creator – but it will likely not be as art by mags. i’m not quite ready to tear down the site and give up the domain, though. so i guess it’ll just sit here as an archive, for now. we shall see what happens down the line.

of course, if you have specific requests, i will still entertain custom orders at any time. just know it will probably take me much longer to do it, as i try to find the time in between the dogs and cats.

thanks, everyone, for all your support of my art-and-crafty life over the years.

artbymags on tv!

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i know i’m technically on hiatus right now and haven’t been writing here, but as i was just enjoying the latest episode of one of my favorite new tv sitcoms this fall, 2 broke girls, i FINALLY saw my stencil painting that their set designer bought from me on etsy! i guess the camera angles just hadn’t gone in that direction yet in the set apartment on the previous two episodes, but it’s right there, hanging on wall in the living room:

 see it? smack in the middle of this screen shot. it’s a small painting, and it wasn’t much money and i don’t even like the painting – it and its companion piece which i still have were just silly little stencil things i sprayed on thrift store canvases one afternoon when i was thinking about my relationship with money. i had absolutely zero luck selling them at markets for almost a year! i almost don’t even like claiming that it’s mine… except that it’s kinda exciting to see something you made on the set of a new hit tv show that’s on every week!

this is what the painting looks like:

see? not really indicative of my usual work. kinda sloppy. though i guess it does have a little street art feel to it, which is probably why they liked it for this set. it does kinda look like the kinda crap you can buy on the streets of new york for $20!

if you watch the show (which you can do online from its homepage), you know their apartment is totally thrift store funky. it must have been a really fun job for the set designers to come up with, and there’s clearly a lot more etsy art on the walls beyond mine. but, hey, it’s still cool.

and this makes my second film/tv “credit” where something i made has appeared on screen. those who’ve known me for a while will remember that my popular “evildoer” stencil t-shirt appeared in the indie film “flakes” starring zooey deschanel many years back.

i guess i do keep getting signs from the universe that i am not done creating and selling my creations… but i’m still not really feeling it right now. but who knows. maybe i’ll get a rare burst of inspiration sometime soon. we’ll see.

check me out on derbygirlsblog.com!

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finally! something new to report!

i actually did this interview months ago, but it finally posted today. the owner of this awesome derby blog – derbygirlsblog.com – approached me via etsy about donating one of my clocks for a giveaway. so of course i said yes!

she sent me a list of questions via email and well, i couldn’t resist gushing about both of my derby teams – my first love, the derby city roller girls (dcrg!), and my hometown team, the big easy roller girls (berg!). i am still and will always be a rollergroupie!

so check out the interview and enter to win the clock!

update… and, scooters!

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wow, it’s been a while since i wrote here last. sorry bout that, y’all. but ever since i made up my mind to go into the dog-walking/pet-sitting biz, it’s kinda all i’ve been doing. there’s been no time for making of art or craft. i pretty much have been walking dogs 9am-4pm every weekday, sometimes more, and pet-sitting on the weekends. and when i’m not actively caring for people’s pets, i’m recuperating from being out in this scorching heat all day. it does really take a lot out of a person. it’s been hectic, and i’m just now getting to a point where i’m learning how to tailor my schedule to have some downtime.

but i know it will get better. i will figure out how to have more free time, and how to balance out the work with the creative time and the leisure time. it’s a whole new world for me now. and it will just take a little while for me to figure it all out.

all this being said, i did actually find the time this weekend to make a fresh batch of scooter clocks, inspired by the fact that amerivespa – the national scooter rally put on by the vespa club of america – is in town here in nola this weekend. i had originally been thinking, months ago, that i was going to be a vendor at the event, setting up a booth over the weekend. but as my life took its exciting twists and turns, it ended up not really being possible. but then my friend mallory of missmalaprop.com said she had been asked to be a vendor, and since she carries some of my stuff in her online shop, i thought, well maybe i can give her a few things to try to sell at the event.

so i woke up early on saturday morning, before the heat got too bad, and whipped up a bunch of new scooter stencil clocks in different colors. (see pic above.) i have to say, it felt really good to be making something again. i had actual *fun* doing it, which was nice.

as it turned out, however, the organizers of the vendor area never got back to mallory to confirm her participation, so she didn’t end up doing it. so now i have seven fresh scooter clocks in various colors that have no way to actually be seen by the scooter-fanatical attendees of amerivespa.

so i suppose i will spend some of my time this lazy sunday afternoon posting these to my etsy shop. but if you’re interested in any of them before i get around to doing so, just email me. if you are local or in town for amerivespa, i can deliver. or, as always, i can ship to anywhere. $30 cash and carry. $8 more for shipping/paypal fees. (i charge $40 on etsy to cover the etsy fees too.)

hopefully i’ll find the time and inspiration to make some more stuff soon. stay tuned!

never forget.

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most of you will know this, but for anyone who perhaps isn’t aware… today is the one year anniversary of the bp oilpolcalypse. i can’t believe it’s been a whole year since the nightmare began.

the times-picayune has a special section with many, many good articles and editorials. you should read it.

we should all remember the eleven men who died in that explosion.

we should all be aware that those closest to the oil-infected waters, and who worked in the clean-up effort, continue to deal daily with lingering health effects from exposure to the oil and the corexit dispersant used in the clean-up.

we should all continue to be aware that we still don’t know what the longterm effects of the spill will be. and that the seafood that is being harvested from the affected waters may or may not be safe.

and sadly, we should be aware that the same thing could happen again today, tomorrow or any day, because not enough measures have been taken to avoid the same situations that caused the bp spill.

so, please. keep spreading this information. keep talking to your friends, family, neighbors. keep pressure on your legislators.

and keep praying. for the gulf. for the planet. for humanity.

 

send love to the gulf