As of last night my SHOP is completely restocked with everything I have left after the December round of shows. For all of you last minute shoppers, if you place your order before Tuesday morning and live in the continental US, I should be able to get your package to you in time for Christmas. In other news, "darts of love" is now officially up on the Joshua Heller Rare Books website. HERE Although my name is spelled three different ways on a single webpage, I'm still very proud!!
Uncategorized
Upcoming Events!
For the second year in a row I have been invited to participate in Monster of a Show (MoaS). This monster themed craft show is organized by the wonderful husband and wife team behind Claymonster Pottery. I had a blast last year and am looking forward to this year's show! Also, if you come Friday night there are snacks......magnificent snacks!
Friday, November 30th: 5pm - 9pm
Saturday, December 1st: 10am-5pm
928 Regester Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21239
That's right it's Art Market time!! When 300 MICA faculty, staff, students and alum get together the result is perhaps one of the most expansive selection of art and crafts that you will ever see. Prints, drawings, jewelry, hand woven items, pottery and the list goes on. With a wide range of prices you are sure to find beautiful items that fit your budget.
Wednesday, December 5th - Saturday, December 8th: 10am-6pm
Maryland Institute College of Art
Brown Building
1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21217
I've been talking about it awhile but I have finally finished another book project! Written by my friend Miriam DesHarnais, this was certainly a long time coming but I think the final product was worth the wait. You can see images from the book (just click the title) and it is available for purchase from Joshua Heller Rare Books. It isn't officially listed on the Heller website yet but if you would like more info you can contact him directly or just email me.
For now the shop is up and somewhat stocked. Later this week, I will have to take it down because of the shows I mentioned above. If there is something you have had your eye on that isn't currently listed send me an email and I'll let you know if it's available. Otherwise, I will re-open my shop on December 9th and list whatever hasn't sold. In most cases, I should still be able to accommodate last minute holiday shoppers.
I have also been continuing my collaboration with Furniture Press. Click on over to their site and you will see a selection of poetry chapbooks, many with covers printed by yours truly! I will have some copies with me at Monster of a Show and Artmarket, but for the most selection, visit the Furniture Press store.
Have a safe and healthy holiday season! I would love to see all of you so stop by one of these events if you can. Please email me if you have any questions.
Thank you all-
Jodi
www.jodihoover.com
Summer Update
Hello all-
I am happy to report that I have 24 new tiny paintings available for sale in my online (etsy) shop. For those of you that are not familiar with this series, I started painting little creatures this size for the Artomat project all the way back in 2002. These paintings measure 2 1/8 x 3 1/4 or the size of a hard pack of cigarettes. The paintings in this series are not titled but are instead numbered. I started with #1 and now I have reached #236! It has been a little while since I've done new originals this size, so check them out and let me know what you think!
To purchase: Jodi's Etsy Shop
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| Tiny Paintings 2012 |
I have also FINALLY finished the book project that I have been working on with my friend Miriam DesHarnais. The edition is 15 and I will have at least one copy listed in my shop very soon.
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| darts of love, watermarked |
There are also a couple of upcoming events that I am participating in.
ArtMarket at Artscape, July 20th-22nd, 11am-8pm Brown Building, 1300 Mt. Royal Ave. Baltimore, MD 21211
Once again MICA staff, faculty and Alumni are braving the insanity that is Artscape to bring you artworks and crafts in a lovely air-conditioned setting. For more information, please see the Facebook event page: ArtMarket at Artscape
For more information about Artscape, please visit the Artscape website: http://www.artscape.org/
Art-o-mat® 15th Anniversary Swap Meet, July 28th 1:00 - 4:30pm Smithsonian American Art Museum 8th and F Streets NW, Washington, DC
There are so many good things to say about this event! You will get a chance to meet a number of very talented Artomat artists. If you make art, you would get a chance to trade with these artists to build an artomat art collection of your very own. As if that wasn't enough, you will also have an excuse to check out the exhibition The Art of Video Games. For more information about this event please click here: Art-o-mat 15th Anniversary Swap Meet
Have a great rest of the summer!
All the best,
Jodi Hoover
Valentine Time!
Hello everybody-
It's that time of year again, the time in which I ask all of you to update or send me your current address so that I may send you a Valentine. Full disclosure, this year's Valentine will not be hand printed. Printing the Valentines has become an increasingly time consuming process and while I love you all, I decided to spend my time working on something else this January. Besides, five years of hand printed Valentines has a nice sort of completeness to it, right?
So what have I been doing? I again had been avoiding working on my book project. One night I finally sat down to work on the final print separations and realized that I really didn't have that many more layers to pull. I got to work and now I only have two more layers and printing will be done. TWO! DONE! Unbelievable. Next comes putting together all of the elements but I look forward to that part so I think it will be a nice way to work through the winter.
Here are some pics from the latest mock-up.
So in conclusion: Send me your current address, look forward to book news SOON, check out my shop to look at available prints & drawings.
Happy 2012!!
Jodi
Holiday Shopping
'Tis the season for shopping so I wanted to let you know about a few places to find artwork by some fabulous local artists including yours truly!
MICA Art Market
December 7-10, 10am-6pm
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Baltimore, MD 21217
http://www.mica.edu/Events_and_Exhibitions/Annual_Events/Art_Market.html
Started by MICA staff members, Art Market has gotten bigger and better each year. Art Market is hands down the best way to see work by MICA staff, faculty, students and alumni. Ceramics, prints, hand woven scarves and owl pillows! Stop by and check out the work, you won't be disappointed. I will have a selection of prints and drawings available for purchase.
Monster of a Show
Friday December 16, 5-10 pm.
Saturday December 17, 10-5 pm.
Idlewylde United Methodist Preschool
1000 Regester Ave Baltimore, MD 21239
http://www.facebook.com/events/183512968370896/
New for me this year, Monster of a Show is put together by the fine folks of Claymonster Pottery (Claymonster). It looks like an extremely talented group of artists and I am very excited to be invited to participate. I'll have prints, drawings and some screen prints available for sale. I hope to see many of you there!
Minas Gallery & Boutique
815 W. 36th St. Baltimore, MD 21211
http://www.minasgalleryandboutique.com
For years Minas Gallery & Boutique has been one of the best places in Baltimore to see great artwork, vintage clothes, books and other collectibles. If you are shopping on the avenue in Hampden, stop in and check out my tiny monster prints.
Towson Framing Gallery
410 York Road Towson MD 21201
http://www.towsonframinggallery.com/
Doing your holiday shopping at the Towson Mall? Take a break and check out Towson Framing Gallery! Located just south of the traffic circle, Towson Framing Gallery has a selection of fantastic artwork and great prices on framing. Currently they have a selection of my tiny monsters and some larger prints.
As always you may also find my work in my SHOP. I may have to take things up and down because of the other shows so
if there is something in particular you are after that you don't see in the shop, please feel free to contact me directly.
May all of you have a wonderful holiday season!
Jodi
Black Jack To Host Art-O-Mat® "Meet & Greet"
Hi all-
I will be here tomorrow afternoon. If you are in the area come on out and see one of the newest Art-O-Mat machines!!
Black Jack To Host Art-O-Mat® "Meet & Greet"
Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 3 PM until 5 PM.
Jeff and Barbara Black, Chef/Owners of Black Restaurant Group and the
newly opened Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Black Jack restaurants, are
pleased to announce a meet and greet with Art-O-Mat Creator Clark
Whittington, which is open to the public. Whittington will be at Black
Jack to discuss his concept and answer questions about his organization, Artists in Cellophane.
This Washington, DC visit is part of a nation-wide initiative to find
local artists to contribute their work to host venues across the
country. Black Jack is home to one of the two Art-O-Mat machines in
Washington, DC. There are 99 Art-O-Mats in the United States, which sell
original works of art for $5 a piece.
Art-o-mat has always
been focused on supporting local artists. Participating Washington area
artists include Georgina Goodlander; Jodi Hoover; Alyssa Salomon; Sarah
Aitken; Catherine Bohrman and Julie Ann Pelletier.
Black Jack
is located at 1612 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009. It is three
blocks from the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo and
is Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green Lines.
For additional information about Black Jack please call (202) 986-5225 or visit
newly opened Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Black Jack restaurants, are
pleased to announce a meet and greet with Art-O-Mat Creator Clark
Whittington, which is open to the public. Whittington will be at Black
Jack to discuss his concept and answer questions about his organization, Artists in Cellophane.
local artists to contribute their work to host venues across the
country. Black Jack is home to one of the two Art-O-Mat machines in
Washington, DC. There are 99 Art-O-Mats in the United States, which sell
original works of art for $5 a piece.
been focused on supporting local artists. Participating Washington area
artists include Georgina Goodlander; Jodi Hoover; Alyssa Salomon; Sarah
Aitken; Catherine Bohrman and Julie Ann Pelletier.
is located at 1612 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009. It is three
blocks from the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo and
is Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green Lines.
Winter weather
Today's entry is brought to you by the current winter-like weather conditions outside of my house. This sort of weather is not my favorite but it certainly is good at getting me to catch up on a bunch of things. So what have I been doing since July? Admittedly, not a ton of stuff. As much as I hate to say it, sometimes life is just not conducive to studio work. Let's just leave it at that.
I completed these two drawings for some very special clients.
The clients and I were both pleased with the results.
I have also been working on the book project, although of course it is moving forward SIGNIFICANTLY slower than I would like. However the past few weeks have been fairly productive so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
As usual Livejournal has done some weird things with the photos and as usual, I really don't feel like trying to fix it. I am becoming increasingly annoyed with Livejournal in general so maybe its time to figure something else out.
But I digress, you can start to see how the book is going to look in it's final form. Now I need to do another mock-up since the final stages of printing might be a bit tricky.
Who Loves Artscape?
The food, the music, crafts, artwork and now- MICA Art Market! That's right, at this year's Artscape some of my very talented co-workers and I will be setting up in MICA's Brown Building to sell our various artworks. I will be there from 12-8 Friday thru Sunday. According to the weather report, you won't even have to deal with stifling heat! But have no fear, even if it's hot outside, the MICA Art Market also features air-conditioning.
Here's information about Artscape: http://www.artscape.org/index.cfm
Here's a link to Art Market Info: http://tinyurl.com/6yj69ma
Here's a link to a picture of the Brown Building, located on Mt. Royal Ave. right in the heart of the festival: http://www.mica.edu/browse_art/brown_center.html
If you don't make it to Artscape, you can also see some of my work at Zia's Cafe in Towson, MD: http://www.ziascafe.com/ Come for the art, stay for the yummy sandwiches!
Hope to see you this weekend,
Jodi Hoover
www.jodihoover.com
the darts of love
Is it time to stop referring to my current book project as "the snail book"? It will actually be called the darts of love. Makes it sound a little more real, right?
Here are the latest progress pics-
You can start to get more of a sense of how the final pages will look. The collaged pieces won't look quite so three dimensional, they'll be tacked down firmly but I think you get the basic Idea. I'm really excited about how the prints are looking on the background pages. There probably won't be much progress to report in the next couple of weeks but I swear printing will continue!
Hello all-
I just wanted to let you all know about a couple of upcoming events.
Closing Reception (Facebook event page)
Thursday, April 28th from 6:30-8pm
Hairway to Steven
402 York. Rd.
Towson, Maryland
Join me at Towson's premiere barber shop for an informal closing reception. Stop by if you can, I'd love to see you there. There may be snacks, there may be drinks but there will certainly be artwork and barber's chairs.
Opening Reception: We Are Monsters (Facebook Event page)
Friday, May 6th from 7pm-9pm
Pleasant Plains Workshop
2608 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC
"A hand-picked group of over twenty artists, illustrators, and designers are bringing the beasts to the heart of DC. Dual heads, third-eyes, cloven hoofs, purple fur, and forked tongues will be found in obscene abundance. Media will include painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, maybe even a little video."
That's right, D.C.!! For all of you D.C. folks who have or have thought about making the trek to Baltimore for one of my shows, here's your chance to see something a little closer to home. For Baltimore folks......well who doesn't enjoy driving to D.C. on a Friday night?
Seriously, I am very honored to be invited to participate in what looks like a really awesome show.
In other news, I have been hard at work printing a book written by my dear friend Miriam. Yes, it is the same book project I've been talking about for years. The difference now is that work is actually being done and moving forward at a decent pace. You can follow along on my blog (http://jodihoover.livejournal.com/) or by clicking the NEWS section on my site.
Stay tuned for other news which may even include a solo show in one of my favorite southern states!
Happy spring to all of you-
Jodi Hoover
Layers and inky considerations
I've started printing the actual images for the snail book project. For those of you who are not familiar with my screen printing process, it goes a little something like this... I print a background sheet, related images generally have a related background image. In this case the related background sheet is a solid color with the wallpaper pattern printed over it. The bulk of the images for the book will be printed separately and then collaged onto the background sheets.
With that in mind, here's the first color on one of the snail-lady images.
hmmm....the color on this photo is terrible but you get the general idea. See all the dotty messy stuff around the main image? That my friends is the sign of a poorly exposed screen. The emulsion had not fully hardened or been exposed to enough UV light before I washed out the screen. If I weren't such a lazy printer I would have re-exposed the screen or used a screen filler to plug up the holes. Since the image with be cut out of the paper it doesn't really matter for my purposes.
After the first layer is printed, I use screen filler to paint in the areas I want to remain the initial color. With ink on the screen it looks something like this:
The purple-y parts are screen filler. The light part is where ink can still get through the screen. The next layer ends up looking like this:
Here you can see the dark and light ink colors on the image. The sheets of paper are held in place by using registration pins. That way each piece of paper ends up in the same spot. The screen is on a hinge so it can be lifted up after each pass without disturbing the registration. I am probably explaining all of this poorly. Maybe I'll tackle this topic in a later post.
Usually when I print I mix the next ink color directly from the one I used previously. Often I just mix them in the same container so the process of making the new color ruins the one before it. I suppose it's just another way of making sure I can't recreate a print edition. Because this is a book project, I want to make sure I have ink available in case I need to go back in a reprint any one image or section. So far this is resulting in a large number of small containers with cryptic labels filling up the shelves in the print shop. I'm finding it rather soothing.
Printing part 2
Oh and of course, my other major printing project has been this year's Valentine!
I didn't do a big announcement and email thing this year because I printed fewer of them than usual. However, I do still have some left sooooo if you can read this and want a hand printed Valentine then send your address to jodi@jodihoover.com. I'll keep mailing them until supplies run out.
Printing
I've been spending a lot of time in the print shop lately and I've been pretty happy about it. So far this year I've done print covers for two Furniture Press books (http://furniturepressbooks.com/). The first, "Tea Party Poems" is already available on the Furniture Press site and the second, "Aquinas and the Mississippi " will be up for sale soon.
I also had the great pleasure of printing baby shower invitations for my good friend Andria Linn (http://www.andrialinn.com/). She and her delightful husband Jeff welcomed their son Oliver into the world earlier this year.
I really love this image and may rework it in another print sometime soon.
Despite these side projects work on the "Snail Book" has moved forward. The base pages are all finished!! I wanted to have a consistent background image and use the color difference to indicate different scenes or acts in the story. Here they are...
*if you are reading this on Facebook, click the "see original item" button to see the pictures.
Things to do in Towson
Hey everybody- if you have a chance this month swing by Towson's newest barber shop Hairway to Steven. Not only could you (if you are a male person) walk away with an awesome haircut but you can also check out some of my drawings. That's right, up for the month of March, my drawings in one of the coolest new art venues around.
Still haven't seen enough art? Head right up the street to Towson Framing Gallery. There you can wander through rooms and rooms of art of all shapes, sizes, mediums and prices. If you want to make an afternoon of it, check out Bread and Circuses Cafe where you can find delicious sounding menu items like the Beer Lovers Plate (grilled Bavarian sausages, Parisian mustards and salted nuts).
See? Who knew there was such fun to be had in scenic downtown Towson?
Snail Book Update
One of the many wonderful things about having a husband who owns a hardware store is when I said I needed a homosote covered wall in my studio, he was able to make that happen. It has been very useful over the years, but has proven to be especially useful for this book project. I have tacked up the page mock-ups for the whole book so I can step back and look at the whole thing at once.
It's been a great way to get a sense to the page rhythms and has been especially helpful as I layout the text.
The text will be printed separately on a iridescent paper. I'm then using a scap booking dye-cut thingy to get a doily effect on the corners. It's supposed to represent snail slime trails but also to seem feminine/lady-like? It looks nice on plain paper but I haven't tried it out on the paper I'd like to use. Anyway, I have to carefully plan out how those separate sheets go onto the pages. In some cases they will go on last, so over the printing and in some cases the final print layers will go on over the text sheets.
At any rate, the main page paper is purchased and torn down, ready for printing. I'd like to say I'm going to start printing soon but I'm working on this year's Valentine print and another cover for a Furniture Press chapbook. So it will be busy times in the print shop but might not be as focused on this project as I'd like.
Snail Book Update
Although I haven't updated in awhile I have not abandoned this project. After the last post I sort of hit a wall. There was something really off with the images and I couldn't really figure out what. I wasn't interested and I couldn't make myself work with them.
Then a couple of weeks ago i had the chance to show one of my other books to a class from Johns Hopkins University. I noticed that people had reactions (I hope good but I suppose they could have been bad) to my drawings. Something finally clicked, using clip art was not working out for me at all. I enjoy drawing, people respond to my DRAWING. The other was just not going to work out for me.
Sooo, literally back to the drawing board! Now I am finally ready to scan in images and layout the pages. For real.
Here's a preview of a couple of the new, non-clip art related drawings. The color is off because of the light in my studio but it does make it look kind of cool and moody...... *okay so I guess it's just one photo. My LJ photo woes continue. Uploaded file. rotated, saved just like the one below but the other photo just keeps loading sideways.....sigh.
Summer Lazies
I had big plans for this summer. I really did. Non-stop printing printing with maybe some home and studio organization thrown in for good measure. Some how that's not exactly how things are going. Despite my good intentions I seem to have been hit with a giant case of the post-grad school lazies. For me, this involves watching a lot of movies and TV on Netflix, reading a ton of semi-worthwhile novels and spending a significant amount of quality time with the PS3. Ahhhh, the life of an entertainment junkie.
As you may have guessed all of these distractions mean that work has progressed very slowly indeed on my book project. However, I have picked out a paper, made some clearer decisions about the binding and played around with a little bit of printing. Here are the results thus far....
For the base pages, I'm printing an old wallpaper pattern in a very light iridescent ink. This pattern will be on every page and will hopefully serve as a unifying element. The colors of the pages will change as you move through the book. Since there are very specific references to time of day (or passage of time) in the text, I 'd like the color of the pages to start off a gray-blue (for morning), progress to a brighter blue (as seen above) and then move into an light orange color for sunset. The colors will all be printed as a gradation across the page, which looks very nice when it's done but certainly leads to more potential mess-ups during the process.
I have not decided if I will print the other elements separately and collage them on the base pages or if I will print everything directly onto the pages. There are pros and cons to both. I finally decided that I need to get the base pages printed so I can SEE the colors and the look before I make my choices. I keep trying to have everything perfectly laid out before I get into any major printing and have finally come to the conclusion that it's not working for me with this particular project.
In other art related news, I designed and printed wedding invitations for my lovely friends Amanda and Scott. Please excuse the crappy photos, I took them with my phone. Better ones will follow soon!
I had a lot of fun with this project although again it highlighted a major flaw in my ability to collaborate or work with clients. I have a very difficult time expressing how the color is going to look in my final piece. I know (roughly) what it will look like but somehow I haven't come up with a way to translate whats in my head in a way that makes sense to others. To make matters worse i often switch colors on the fly as I print if my first attempt doesn't go as planned. hmmmm.....I don't really know what I intend to do about any of this but I suppose it's good to be self-aware, right?
Anyway- future plans.....more work on the book and another cover collaboration with Furniture Press!
Fragmentirety
This is the first product of my collaboration with Furniture Press. I designed and printed the cover on BFK Rives Newsprint Gray. The edition is roughly 60 and I will only be selling a limited amount. Available via the SHOP link on my site (www.jodihoover.com) or by going to this link directly http://www.etsy.com/listing/49357563/fragmentirety
Fragmentirety, by Jenny Hill 16 pages Furniture Press Chapbooks Edited by Christophe Casamassima Cover art by Jodi Hoover
Small scraps of writing are powerful, glimmering. Fragmentirety celebrates the broken and the whole of the daily in a series of very short aphoristic poems.
16 page hand-sewn chapbook, $12 (includes shipping in the US)
Spring/Summer Update
Well there's a lot to get to but first let me invite all of you to the Towson Arts Collective 3rd Anniversary show! The opening is Friday, June 11th from 6-8. I am pleased and honored to have a drawing in the show along with 70 plus other artists. The details about the show are below. If you are unfamiliar with TAC, please take a moment to visit their site (http://www.towsonartscollective.org/). They are a hard working bunch of people who have been putting together some fabulous shows and great programs right in downtown Towson.
Affiliated with TAC is Furniture Press run by Christophe Casamassima, who just may be one of the busiest people I have ever met. I met Chris earlier this spring and was charmed by his enthusiasm and energy. I have agreed to design and print roughly 4 book covers a year in editions of 50-60 each. The first of these books is a book of haiku titled "Fragmentirety" by Jennifer Hill. (http://www.wordpainting.com/jenny-shop.html) I was a little nervous about printing for someone else, since I haven't really done that sort of work in years but Chris and I worked well together and I am looking forward to future projects!
The book has just been completed and will be available for sale on the Furniture Press website in the near future: http://furniturepressbooks.com/home/ (currently there appears to be something wrong with the site but since it worked yesterday, I'm assuming it's temporary.)
I will also have a few copies for sale on my website. I don't have them listed yet but keep checking! I'm attaching a few pics of the finished cover as a sneak peek.
Speaking of the website and the shop, feel free to click over in that direction and check out what's for sale. I have a full range of items from very small prints to some new original drawings. I am especially pleased to offer a few prints of older drawings. These drawings were sold from some of my earliest shows. They are available now as high quality digital prints, matted and ready for framing. Also, if you have been thinking of including one of the "Night Sky Series" screen prints in your collection, now is the time to do so! What I have listed in the shop is all I have left. Once they are gone the edition is officially SOLD OUT.
I am also excited to announce that I will be one of the jurors for an upcoming TAC exhibition curated by Christophe! Fellow artists, please check out the prospectus for "The Text and it's Discontents" (http://www.towsonartscollective.org/call-for-entries). Feel free to apply to the show and forward liberally! I can't wait to see what sort of submissions we get!
I hope everyone is having a great start to their summer. While I may not send out another mass email until fall, I will be updating the NEWS section of my site on a more frequent basis so check in there to stay in touch. I hope to see some of you at the opening on Friday!
Jodi
PS- I still have some Valentine prints left. If you would like one or didn't get one, please let me know!
**if you would like to be taken off this list, let me know and you will be removed ASAP**
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To: jodi@jodihoover.com
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Why do I make art?
or I suppose, more to the point- Why do I sell my art?
I suppose I could go on and on about the importance of conveying my ideas to my viewers or some other such art-y nonsense but the truth is, I sell art so that I may purchase car parts.
Yes, that's right, car parts. Specifically parts for my 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I bought the car when I was 15 and have lovingly held onto it and dumped money into it ever since. I sold art and saved money to rebuild the transmission, I sold art and saved money to have it painted, I sold art and saved money to have the engine rebuilt.
Frankly it broke my heart to have to take it off the road roughly 7 years ago, but I have sold art and saved money and by golly, I'll be driving it by the end of the summer.
Perhaps its a weird cycle to be in, having a car so tangled into the cycle of making and selling art that I don't think i could separate them if I tried. I've been doing it for so long, I can't imagine anything else. In college I even went through I brief period of making at, if not about, than at least related to the car. That resulted in having an instructor look at me and say, "I just don't understand car people" and then refusing to spend any more time with me or my art. Looking back over some of those prints, they aren't bad and at the risk of being a little too obessive, I may even return to them someday soon.
Until then, a very very special thank you to everyone who has ever purchased my artwork. Today for the first time in 7 years I drove my Karmann Ghia into the driveway. Granted it was only from the street into the driveway but it was driving. I still have some more parts to buy (and some more art to sell) before it's truly roadworthy but I'm one step closer and that's what really counts.
