Zine Scene - Poly Pocket Issue 1

Poly Pocket! 8 pocket-sized pages of poly processing! I affectionately call this zine Poly Poche. Inspired one day by my current relationship dynamic and all of the new mental energy I am putting into the communication, negotation, compassion, and positive self-talk that it takes to be more like the person I want to be in relationship. The time and effort I put into writing, editing, and designing this little book was driven as much by my desire to process my own relationship to relationships as it was about my interest in involving other people in the process. In fact many other people are already involved--most of what gets me through relationships and my life in general is the non-judging, empathic, reflective listening and advice of my friends. I think it's important to open the conversation as wide as it will go and to think about what roles we play and how we interact in our sometimes very small communities.

While polyamory/non-monogamy may seem like a radically different choice in terms of relationship structures, many of the ways that one is challenged in a polyamorous framework to think about self in terms of relationship could well serve the population at large, within any relationship. So let's look at how our capitalist ideas of scarcity inform our relationship models and how we view the love that we receive. Let's examine how we can take care of our internal selves while being good to our partners and relationship. Let's think about how we talk to other people about our feelings and figure out how to be accountable for our feelings and behaviors. And let's do it in a safe, loving environment!

I hope that this zine entertains and also give y'all something to chew on. The first issue is about me and why I am prioritizing my relationship to myself. The next issue is simmering in the brainpan. I'm pretty sure it's going to be about jealousy.

If you would like to own a copy, you can make a donation to me using the donation button below and I will send you one! If you can't afford to pay or you would prefer to do a trade, email me at asterfig-at-gmail.com.

knit on the brain

apparently knitting has imbued itself into my writing as well. i must admit i have written more than one knit-thematic poem in the last couple months. here's one.

for whom do my raw hands lumber around two
simple sticks of bamboo
these could be twigs, i think. or
chopsticks. would my hands know the
difference?
my fingers curl over lusty weighted fibers
and cramp without my noticing.
my half-hewn projects like half-finished
sentences linger, dance on the brain and
beg the question -- might...
could i tear words asunder the way i can
these hand-knit messes...i just may
choose a mangled mass of words
over a neatly constructed failure.

Spoons, and Handmade Nation

one day a few months ago i was having lunch with a friend of mine and she told me about an article she had read about depression. the author of the article analogized depression to having a finite amount of energy (spoons) to deal with the trials of daily life. so let's say you have six spoons on any given day: waking up and getting ready for work might deplete you of one, morning commute another, workload could take away two, the argument you have with your sister could take another two. suddenly you're left without the emotional capacity to take yourself home, make dinner, call a friend for a drink, or make art.

so. spoons. i have decided to put more spoons out into the world. this is the first piece in my spoon series. it measures approximately 22 in. x 26 in. this particular piece is already spoken for, but there will be more to come, and yes they will be for sale.



in other news, i have a new myspace page that includes some of my very short stop motion video, some blogg-age, and soon enough, a calendar of the craft shows/zine symposiums in which i will take part.

whatelsewhatelse? oh yes! i have some new exciting book love to spread around!

Handmade Nation: the Rise of DIY Art, Craft, and Design is a book that profiles people from different regions of the US who have influenced/taken part in the rising DIY movement. it also includes a timeline detailing when now-major players in the indie craft scene came to fruition, like Bizarre Bazaar, Venus Zine, and many many others. Bonus! it's also a movie!! that's right. a movie. find more information at the official website.
i love this book. it is my new best friend, my new lover, my new muse.
check it.

B I G F A T D E A L B O N U S:
there will be a screening of this film at the Mezzanine in SF, March 11th. all the details:

San Francisco Film Society Presents:
SF360 Film+Club: Handmade Nation
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Doors open at 7:00pm, show starts at 7:30 pm
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street, San Francisco, CA
Tickets are $8 for SFFS members and $12 for non-members and are available here.

see you there!

KnitKnit Artgasm

Second only to those precious gems of fabric and random found-objectry one acquires at SCRAP, knitting books are my craft achille's heel.


Let's talk about about KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave. In this book you will find not only profiles on some amazing textile artists/activists/crafters but you will also find patterns for couture knitwear, installation knit pieces, boxing gloves, and possibly the tiniest knit sweaters in the world. If you're not interested in knitting anything, at least pick up the book for the pictures of two Deere tractors holding knitting needles and knitting a gi-normous american flag, or a room-sized installation replete with knit tree centerpiece. This book makes me drool.

KnitKnit started as a zine in 2002 and was released in a total of 7 issues, the contents of which you can peruse on the knitknit website.

knitknit. chinchin!

SQUEEE :D

six weeks later! seems that i am constantly falling off the horse/ready to get back on the horse.
it has probably been obvious that since i got back from the portland zine symposium in august i haven't been working very much. i spent the fall trying to fill my creative well and find new direction for my creative expression through fashion styling and design.

i have been on hiatus from fashion the last few months, though i did recently style a photoshoot for my lovely friend Sarah Swell - you can read her blog and buy her jewelry online - i'll post a link to my portfolio once i get the final images.



the creeping depression and the concurrent sinking pressure of not "producing" has been getting to me for the last six months.

so i'm finally gettin off my arse and getting back to work! i think the turning point occurred last week when i piled up my multi-gallon containers full of fabric in the hallway. when my housemate asked what i planned to do with it and i told her "get rid of it" she shot me a look like i just told her i was planning to sell my baby off the back of a truck. well it worked. i have a few textile sewing projects simmering in the brainpan already but right now i'm focusing on knitting lace from my favorite knitting book Super Stitches Knitting.

right now my hands are full of the magic sprinkles of creativity, but i will find more and more reason to blog, i'm sure, as projects come to fruition. thanks y'all who keep checking in.

many artgasms to come!

nostalgia in the new year

when a new year rolls around it somehow seems appropriate (and more appealing!) to have nostalgia for times past. here is some old writing i have found from the not-too-distant past, which was itself inspired by nostalgia. (wow that was redundant. please forgive - it has been a while since i've blogged.)

~~~~~~~~

there's a lightness
in the stench of wet
city street.
my gait is determined
focused
mindful and mindless.
i barely notice
feet slipping from
under me -
lightness shifting
to scuffed hands,
scuffed shoes.
lightness bringing blood to
the cheeks.
quickening of the pulse.

our eyes meet in passing,
our expressions
stone-etched.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

planes hang
middair above my head like
puppets on a wire
the eucalyptus sway as
we rush by.

in my mind we are together.
Canon Beach and dog
vomit on the sidewalk.
ice cream and disposable cameras,
like it was yesterday.

here the wind doesn't
rough you up as much
and the ocean doesn't
smell as salty.

here i can't find
a patch of grass to lay in,
and i take trains
for hours at a time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here's hoping that a new year incites me to revive this attic of a blogsite.
happy 09!

Squid Vicious

the first year i met ladi, we joined our love for crafting to make a mutual craft exchange. that was probably our first heart to heart craft experience. since then, trips to scrap, zine-making, knitting lessons, and a weekly tuesday night craft session have evolved through our friendship.


this year i decided to initiate another fall craft exchange. she hasn't decided what she wants yet, but i know i want a hat. i was searching ravelry and came across the most blazingly glorious hat i have ever seen in my entire life. i am desperate for it.

the giant squid hat.

personal interjection... and apologies

while september seems like a distant memory, somehow october snuck up on me and disappeared about as quickly.

the last month has been about getting my life in some semblance of order. i've gotten a flexible job with good pay and it's walking distance to my house which is a plus. another couple of perks being that i get to play dress up with customers and do one of the things i love best: provide excellent customer service. i know, i'm a validation slut. i will get it anywhere and everywhere i can. now, moving on.

i've also gotten an internship at a design co-op called the mission statement. this co-op features ten different clothing, jewelry, and accessory designers who showcase their work in the space and also work there 3-4 days a month. hidden in the back is a studio where i'll be working with the women who run the mission statement to fabricate their custom designs as well as their off-the-rack pieces. wooot.

now for a couple other tidbits:
i just learned about two great resources for diy goods and education!

Parcell Press
the "one stop online zine shop", this distro has got zines, comics, books, etc. etc. etc. and a bloggy blog (now on my blogroll thankyouverymuch) to keep up with those diy gallavanting folk in the zinescene.

Scintillant Studio
a small jewelry studio in the heart of the mission (!) that offers workshops in metalsmithing and blacksmithing for those zesty folk who like to work with their hands. they also offer open studio time for current and former students to make their magic. who can beat that?


now that i've had a significant hiatus, earmarked by an icky cold, i hope to get back into the blogging game before this webspace gets cobwebby and makes us all sneeze.

Questions and Artgasms

for the last few weeks I have been thinking about jewelry, fashion, wearable art and textile arts... asking myself questions about product and productivity. why and what i want to make, and how. for what audience? in what capacity would it be available to them? am i addressing the needs of a community, or am i dispensing my point of view for the purpose of its relevance to be reflected back to me? how do i imbue a feeling into a manipulated fiber, metal, or other object? if i do, how literal or conceptual do i want to make it? would it still be wearable? how much time would i devote to half-baked projects? how will i go about my own creative evolution?

perhaps these are questions that are questions only in the sense that their answers remain unknown until they make themselves known. perhaps they are not questions for me to verbalize, to let roll around in my brain, let alone on my tongue; and far be it for me to pose them to another living soul! and yet. they nag. surely it's less work to allow myself to be carried away in the swell, and be washed upon the shore when the sea of contemplations has had its merry way with me. but my instinct is to struggle!

whether these lingering ideas are bringing me closer to or further from creating is a point of debate. being a fabricatin', product-oriented individual i rarely give much time to sheer pontificating. and if i could help it now, i would - it would at least lessen, to a degree, a bit of my own anxiety as a designer/artist/fabricator/creative spirit - to quell the bitty beast inside of me that screeches about hungry-like, as it seems fed only insomuch as my eyes can feast on some finished project born of my own two hands.

this could be seen as the long, overworked, explanatory prose that gives voice to the fact that i'm not posting pictures of things i'm making right now, since i've made it clear that i'm not making anything (!). it also provides a segue to the artgasm i had this week at California College of the Arts' (CCA) textile exhibit. the exhibit that has compelled me not only to embrace and go deeper with my own thoughts about art for arts sake and the significance and purpose of "product," but also to research some textiles programs that i could apply to in the future. yes, i thought it was that good.



when: Thursday
where: Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts Oakland Campus
who: students, faculty and staff of the CCA Textiles Program
what: an interesting and inspiring look into the textiles program at CCA. when i walked in the first thing i saw was a full-sized buck head made of sticks (acting as a frame for the model) and pulled-taught material. it was uncanny how realistic it was. the hand-embroidered wall hanging of jim jones and his special purple cup resonated with me not only as a possible modern-day kitsch consumer item, but also as reference to our reverence for those thinly veiled, self-proclaimed demi gods who are eye-catching in their flamboyance but ultimately little more than a bit of concentrated handiwork.
in contrast, a circle skirt of found white fabric machine stitched all around, and hand-embroidered around the waist had a strange historical quality to it. it reminded me of recovered materials from the turn of the century - like a child's sunday skirt - well cared for in its time, but yellowed and limp from the relentlessness of dust and the pressure of time.
finally, another piece that i absolutely loved was a series of three-dimensional hearts by Anne Wolf which channeled her hopes, fears and frustrations over multiple miscarriages and her baby's heart problems. these hearts made in different ways out of her old denim jeans were some realistic, some puzzle-like, yet each exuded a sense of loving, careful craft. each well-thought hope, dream, and love for her babies and their heartbeats stitched neatly - almost painstakingly - into and through the denim.

fashion blogs! the good, the bad, and the rest will have to wait

when i think of fashion blogs i think of fun, entertaining picture book-like blogs that express creativity and arouse visual interest and inspiration in the reader/viewer. they can be personal, industry-focused or just plain pictures (like one of my favorites, the sartorialist).

what i like about the sartorialist is that it's simple - minimal commentary, great shots of people sporting unique looks - the images really speak for themselves. the quality and taste level of the images shown on the site are enough to let the audience know that we are respected as viewers. i have to emphasize that these photos are simple, delicate, tasteful, and yet have their own stories to share. these stories are brief but articulate, like a well-written haiku, or words spoken by a sage.

there are blogs, on the other hand, like fashion indie, who resort to scandalizing displays of tastelessness "just because it's friday." in the "just because it's friday" post i saw today i was appalled at the play on those inspirational/motivational posters. you know, the ones that show a picture, a large word (like "teamwork") and a small blurb at the bottom elucidating the significance of said large word. all right. pretty uninspired template to begin with. but not half as bad as the images and messages contained within. three out of eight of these frames contain purely size-ist jokes: boring, normative, and just plain cruel. the other five frames are supposed to be funny because the text frames the image subjects as stupider than we (the viewers) supposedly are. all in all, not what i would expect from a fashion blog. i say, if you're gonna post something like that, don't bother posting. it's purely insulting.

which brings me to my next point, the book i'm reading called fashion as communication by a brit named malcolm barnard. i haven't gotten too deep into it yet, though the author has thus far discussed fashion as a form of communication, cultural reproduction, and (if you're one to take a conflict theorist stance) of course then follows the ways in which fashion is used to reproduce dynamics of power and privilege. i knew that some day my love for fashion and design and my invariably sociological mind would find a happy marriage - and apparently these are the days!

more to come regarding sociology, fashion, and shifting oppressive paradigms!

Incidental Accessory

so I've been commissioned to make a backdrop for a USnaps.com photobooth. i was testing out my grommet setter - you know, for setting metal rings into fabric, vinyl, etc etc - on some scrap fabric to see whether the fabric was thick enough to hold a grommet. done and done. but then i had this five foot long piece of scrap fabric with grommets at either end of it. and you know, scrap fabric is always kind of tricky because apart from putting it aside to make yarn, a quilt, or patch up old clothes, it seems to be just a space-wasting nuisance to me. oh, but not this particular piece. i got to fooling around with it and made little old me a new necklace. wonk!

Personal Interjection Plus

the last few weeks have kept me pretty busy, what between physical and emotional cleansing, designing some new skirts, doing homework, piecing together work, and of course my ever-evolving social calendar. add to that tap dance class and i have barely had the chance to make time for being depressed.

so i haven't been producing as much as i'd like to. looks like i'll have to wait till the next round of Mission Indie Mart to be a vendor and make some buck for my wares. but something worth mentioning here: i'll be working at the Aunt Lute publishing table at the Radical Women Conference this weekend. we'll be selling Aunt Lute books to the amazing folk who grace the conference. i'm more than a little excited to be surrounded by a sea of female revolutionaries...the energy will much resemble that of the Bay Area Girl's Rock Camp benefit: empowering and inspiring with electricity in the air.

oh yes, and one more thing: the fashion event i am styling this thursday. it's called Planet X. Not only will i be responsible for doing the last check to make sure the models are perfect and sending them out on the runway, but i will also be actually dressing and styling the male models, since the design company rep won't be there to choose their outfits. shweet. total big deal for me. just the adrenaline rush i've been looking for.

and since i can't leave you without an image...here's a great piece of handiwork i saw the other day. barbie bondage!

Maximum Rock N Roll Artgasm

this week i was asked to co-lead a zine making workshop at a benefit for the Bay Area Girls Rock Camp - the Bay Area's permutation of the Girls Rock Camp that originated in Portland. this past summer was their first year of camp and they're doing awesome - this week they are moving into a real live office space, and paying themselves! it gives me hope that personally and politically sustainable grassroots programs are alive and kicking. the icing on the cake is that the benefit was at a sweet non-profit, all ages music venue in Berkeley called the Gilman. will definitely be making my way over there in the near future.



the zine making workshop was a fabulous mayhem-magical amalgam of puff paint, cut & paste, markers, and of course creative genius. we rolled in with our own zine, the Ultamini Guide to Zines, for people to take home and stay inspired. and we were asked to lead the workshop at next year's rock camp!




Now to the Artgasm portion of the evening...

when: Saturday night
where: Benefit for Girls Rock Camp, the Gilman in Berkeley
who: Purple Rhinestone Eagle
what: a trio of hard-driving, incredibly talented, invariably Loud women rockers from portland. the combination of the almost-falsetto lead vocals, a healthy dose of rage, and the intense heart thumping beats reminded me of one of my favorite female rock bands of all time, sleater-kinney. it made me want to dance, scream, rock, and be back in college again. good times.

bad day, good mood

let's just call this a personal interjection, since things like these will appear only so often, and since it is not specifically design/ craft/ textile/ art related.

some days i feel like i'm being sucked into the vortex of my life and all i can expect myself to do is swim around in it, finding rest in the form of an occasional buoy. if i can avoid the emotional undertow, all the better (usually i can't). but sometimes i manage to wake up in this mood. and i revel in those days.

Artgasm

my last few days have been rife with sensory-titillating artworks.
consider this an e-dossier of this week's artgasm-worthy work.

when: Sunday morning
where: Ashby fleamarket, Berkeley
who: Goldiloks
what: a collection of wearable and visual art based on collage. goldilocks dresses old windows, shadowboxes, and woodblocks in stimulating color palates. conceptually, she incorporates elements of pop culture and the idea of lost memories (dare i say both reflective of the broader concept of inherited cultural histories) into her work. she also decorates baked goods! talk about mixed media. you can read a little article about her at ill-literacy dot com, or you can look at her flickr account to see all of her amazing work. she is most definitely working it.




when: Sunday afternoon
where: Gallery Route One, Point Reyes CA
who: Pam Bolton and Cindy Cleary
what: an amazing collaborative installation piece which focuses on our interactions with and connections to trees. in addition to trees, stumps, and rocks carefully placed throughout the space there were paintings which incorporated some element of trees - leaves, natural bark dyes, whathaveyou - and which were an equally stunning addition to the space. i wish i had taken some pictures. but this brief and inadequate video will have to serve as your glimpse into a show that can really only be taken in using all five senses. i know, it's not fair to you.



when: Tuesday evening
where: Yoshi's Restaurant and Jazz Cafe, Oakland
who: José González
what: "José González from Sweden" is how this classical guitar virtuoso (as jazmine describes him) introduced himself to us at the beginning of his set. he then proceeded to lull my mind into a melodic, lyrical trance while simultaneously managing to galvanize my body through his percussive inclinations. some of the songs would work well as lullabies, while others were torrential in their vibrant angst. and yet throughout, his fingers and hands worked with ease; only the curve of his neck, the crooked focus of his face on the fretboard, gave any indication of how consumed he was by the instrument. also, one of the percussionists played a mouth piano! (also called a melodica.) i just can't get enough.

Charmed, I'm Sure

i found some old shrinky dink stuff that i made during a fit of creative boredom one afternoon in the suburbs at a friends house, long long ago. (okay, not that long. last year.) most of it was entirely useless for anything remotely interesting, with the exception of two little keys i made...
i figured i'd make them into dangling earrings for my friend ladi since she rocks the plastic earring look, and wears it well.

of course, once one little key was at the bottom of the earring, it looked sort of sad. alone. graceless. "let's give it friends!" was the general consensus, and ladi, being the ever-prepared crafter/thrifter/finder of random junk that she is, pointed me straight to a jar full of little plastic charms. a dream was born, and so were these earrings.

accessorize my fist!

...or any part of my body, really.

the problem with having worked with a jewelry designer for a year - being taken to trade shows and learning techniques in handcrafting high quality jewelry myself - is that i am now severely disappointed by most all 'handmade' jewelry in my price range. (ah, if ever i thought that the adage 'ignorance is bliss' wasn't true!)

my best jewelry score (and a tried and true conversation piece) are my Chee-Me-No earrings, made by Lisa Cimino. scored through a trade show. i'm sure they were expensive but i don't even remember how much they cost - it was worth the price! i'll never let these go. she even made the posts bigger to match my earlobe gauge. fabulous.

the other go-to piece of show-stopping jewelry is my jerry rigged cascading gold chain necklace, which i made by (cleverly!) stringing three gold chains together and creating multiple cascading layers.

i often fantasize about making my own accessories, about having a jewelry bench to sit at, with fire and soldering pick in hand, making all kind of adornment for myself. alas, with those expensive tools out of my reach at the moment, i will have to settle for what i can find from the meager offerings at bead stores in san francisco, dick blick, and jewelry suppliers online (without breaking the bank). hopefully what i come up will be as original and amazing as i'm convinced it will be. pictures to come.

first item on the wishlist: a hand saw! will have to pick that up tomorrow. it's great for making jump rings.

today's steal deal...and a bit of jeopardy.

recently, i've been daily and devoutly scouring my mainstay thriftstores for that perfect fall boot. while i haven't found anything in that department, today i found a beautiful, deep navy blue pair of nickels - as always, the italian made shoes hypnotize me. with a cross back, ankle strap, charming gold buckles and closed toes, these scream sexy librarian. always the feminine look i strive for. and what's better? what makes this today's steal deal? the shoes were three dollars at thriftown. three dollars.



in other news, my friend jazmine has started a blog called what's ur damage. in her first post she introduces herself by listing her 7 dream categories if her life were a game of Jeopardy.
so, in case you didn't feel you knew me, here are mine. what are yours?

1. superficial fashion and textile snobbery
2. armchair psychoanalysis
3. craigslist W4W
4. virgo astrology
5. sex education
6. the world of chocolate
7. sociological musings

upcoming: pictures of silk wallets! and my latest skirt design! information on my new website! more exclamation points!

keeping up appearances

attempting to stay up-to-date with the happenings in the spring collection. this mostly means checking out Women's Wear Daily on a regular basis and gagging or gazing at the realized visions of so many designers.

i still haven't worked my way through everything i like and don't like...
but here are a few memorable moments thus far.

first, the chic grease-monkey butch look which i love!
by amanda wakeley - london shows
next, i saw this look by Eley Kishimoto (also London shows)
and thought 'wow, that's me!'
at least, this is my fashion spirit.
edgy, strong, a little hard, with a touch of femininity for contrast.


and finally.
i love prints!
and toying with that fine line between abject and absolutely gorgeous.
nicole miller.

Short-Range Missiles

i've been sucked into the world of style blogging for the last two hours and haven't gotten around to detailing my goals for the next couple weeks, so i suppose i'll do it here.


1) silk wallets!
i scored a load of houndstooth silk - probably tie samples - from SCRAP a couple weeks ago, along with the necessary vinyl facing to make my bi-fold wallets (see past posts). this is the first time i'll be working with silk in any capacity, really. the pattern, colors, and texture lend itself to a sophisticated look, though hopefully still fun!



2) work on my damned website!
for my birthday my fabulous sister entitled me to a domain name of my choice, custom web design, an easy-to-use content management system, and back-end support for a whole year. why do i not have a website yet? ok, it's only been three weeks. but still. i don't know what the domain name is going to be yet. but today, as i tried to squeeze my feet into a half-size too small pair of calf-high onitsuka tiger sneakers (god did i want them to be my size...picture to come), i decided on the tagline for the site: "No Pain for Fashion!"


3) draft skirt slopers for sister, housemate!
despite my miniscule workspace of 65 square feet, i must plug along in my patternmaking practice. i have clients! but it's just that much more work to lug all my stuff into my housemate's room, work on the floor, move back to my room, iron on the floor in my room, blah blah blah. see the mental block i create? it's a hump i have to work through. as my housemate micah once said, "if christian siriano can do it, so can you!" (you can see christian's segment in the last episode of PR Season 4 at minute five, here.) so. in order to get better, earn money, practice skills, and have fun designing, i just have to suck it up and work with the space i've got, cause it ain't gonna change any time soon.

good goals.
on another note, all this skirt-age is making me ache for a new pair of tall boots...something with a unique look that isn't too modern or trendy, timeless but rare, comfortable and fabulous. is that too much to ask?

for one reason or another, each of these caught my eye...