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I don't do studio visits very often, but yesterday I ventured out to Randy Wray's studio to deliver a drawing of mine he adopted from the Fine Art Adoption Network. The drawing Randy adopted was on the FAAN site for a year while I collected requests and then decided which home would be the most suitable. Randy was actually the very first request I received and he gave a convincing appeal and I'm a fan of his work and his various art- related activities, so it was a very good fit.

Like me, Randy organizes an artist-run project, called Element Editions, that involves invited artists to produce experimental prints. Element Editions prints are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum. I bought a print by Andrew Piedilato!

Andrew is a Bushwick artist. I've taken to calling these neighboring art pals, "studio-mates," he hangs out at the "Pocket," and he made an irresistible print for Elemental. It might take me awhile to pay the print off in installments, but it"ll be something to look forward to! In the meantime, I've put a new print of my own up for adoption on FAAN.

A year ago, 2 years ago, now

Looking back to two years ago:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2007

Managing time

While at Aunt Kathy's this Memorial Day weekend, I squeezed in some art making time between naps and between sofas. Cousin Michael, age 5, pulled out his drawing board, watched me and commenced gluing and drawing. We drew together.

I'm back in New York now and organizing for Pocket Utopia's "soft opening" on Friday. I really can't say enough about the expert technical website advice from Artcal and Artcat. I'll be trying to finish up the website tomorrow while working on more drawings.

And a year ago.

now.

Pocket Utopian Weekend 2

Part II -

Pocket Utopian Weekend

Part 1: Pocket Utopia presents: Maggie Michael, “Emotional Infinity (Subtitling Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles)”

Michael Smith, Roxy Paine and Sculpture Center

Comedy and humor were vital to the group of artists featured in The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984. Michael Smith, an amazingly funny artist, gave a great performance at the Met last Sunday. On the roof of the Met, Roxy Paine's sculpture sprawled out and everything was relative and contemporary.

Then it's back to the seventies with the Sculpture Center's current show, and in the basement is a gem of an installation by Michael Ashkin. An inspiration!

Perhaps, you might be inspired by the The Free Skool at the University of Trash, an informal educational program that invites the public to become transient professors and students by proposing and participating in workshops, classes, meetings and more. Running during all open hours from May 11th- August 3rd, the University of Trash will host workshops ranging from weekly reading groups, book making workshops, to physical education intensives. A schedule of events will be updated regularly on SculptureCenter's website. The full schedule can be found on the Facebook page for University of Trash.

To propose a project or event for the Free Skool, email freeskool@universityoftrash.org.

picture above: Librado Romero/The New York Times

Roxy Paine's 130-foot-long treelike sculpture is made of 10,000 pieces of stainless steel.

I love Longo

I love Robert Longo. And I also really appreciate T.J. Carlin for writing a wonderful series for TIMEOUTNEWYORK titled "Studio Visits." T.J. recently writes up a wonderful interview with Robert Longo in this week's TIMEOUTNEWYORK.

T.J. Carlin is consistently inspiring with her ventures to galleries and her delving deeper into why artists make art. This is the quote for the day, week, year, from Longo:

T.J. Carlin: "What would you say to a young artist?"

I would say… "Don't worry about selling your art." Having colleagues and a community and a group of artists that you have solidarity with, it's like strength is in numbers. When you're younger you're able to exchange ideas more freely. I still have a core group of friends that I think are like my board of directors, that I trust emphatically about stuff.

Longo's solo show, "Surrendering the Absolutes," is on view at Metro Pictures through May 30; "The Pictures Generation" runs through Aug 2 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

T.J. interviewed me a year ago for an article titled No man's De Land. She's been a big supporter of Pocket Utopia.

P.S. The Met is having a big warehouse book sale through May 10th!

Pocket Utopia is the nucleus of the critical mass of Bushwick

The above quote is from James and Barry (well, really from Barry via Twitter). I love both of them! What's not to love? They are huge supporters of the arts. They throw great cocktail parties, have an amazing art collection, which always continues to inspire, and they are damn good company!

Barry even offers up useful tidbits on Twitter. Both Barry and James edit ArtCal, an indispensable art calendar.

I've been a long time fan of James's blog. He sees art everywhere. I cherish his blog entries.

They've written about me and it's about time I've written about them! I'd be lost without them.