Back Porch Projects

Feather Notebook

2012-01-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

Little Lark, silver feather notebook, made with love in portland, oregon using recycled paper
www.alittlelark.com

Mixed CD Fabric Cases

2012-01-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Jessica had extra felt around and sewed up CD cases for mixes. Sweet!

TBD Art Exhibit: Olive Stew

2011-08-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Olive Stew First Friday Art Exhbit at the tbd design firm Loft

June - July 2011

When you mouth the "Olive Stew," it looks like you are saying, "I Love you."

Try it.

This happened to me once. I boy I like in middle schoool looked at me and mouthed, "Olive Stew." and it broke my heart when he explained the joke.

Such is an appropraite title for the various ways we struggle to find, be in and understand love. So let's dive in.

I asked a handful of writers, photgraphers, illustators to adderss how the struggle to find love and belonging plays into their lives. They responded in their own way, each telling a unique story about their triumphs and failures. From missed connection to praying after sex our stories are true accounts of the experiences we face.

Bendfilm Awards.

2009-11-26T23:10:00.000-08:00

When you don't have a graphic design degree you work for free. And you work all night for biscotti and energy drinks, correction; shots. Energy Shots.
Two weeks. Three friends. 17 Awards. Rider Strong. One night of glitter, salmon sandwiches, too much red wine, and independent films.
These are the awards given to winners at the Bendfilm Awards Ceremony, October 10th 2009 done by Jonathan Ludwig, Erin Gorrie, & myself, Rachel Lee-Carman.

i buy stuff cuz i think it's pretty...

2009-08-27T00:04:00.000-07:00

so i found a button-down men's shirt with the most beautiful fabric at a thrift store... and i knew that the fabric would transform into something new and lovely, like maybe a summer top... or a skirt!

here is another detail shot of the print, so you can bask in the awesomeness!

i decided to make it into a skirt, so i cut off the sleeves, cut off the top, sewed up the sides, and sewed the front along the buttons after the second one down to prevent peekaboo while i'm out and about.

rawkin' my tomboy stylie!

sweater recon!

2009-08-26T23:36:00.001-07:00

i work retail, so my weekends rarely match up with everyone else's. i've been wanting a bit of "me time" and what better way to spend it than making stuff! i'm a chronic project starter, so i decided on little recons (reconstructed project) to get into it.

first step: put on kettle! drink tea or french press coffee cuz it's nice and gives a little boost. put on music! i prefer last.fm i've been listening to a lot of "iceland" or "twee" tag radio.

i've had a turtleneck sweater for ages that i haven't worn since i moved to portland. i couldn't get rid of it... nothing is wrong with it... and i love how long the sleeves are!

i figured this sweater would be much more flattering as a scoop neck sweater, and i like red... so i cut and added red stitching around the neck hole and the sleeves, cuz i thought it would be cute. this next pic shows the shape of it afterward...

and here are some of the little details! hopefully after the sweater gets washed, the neck will fray a bit. i made the first round of stitching pretty tight so it shouldn't fray past it.

viola! new sweater for fall!

Mixed CD.

2009-08-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

A person of the highest caliber and music taste stepped out of my life recently and back to Alabama where she came from a year ago. For two weeks she let me kidnap her CD album for playings of musics in my kitchen. Beirut, The Cave Singers, Tom Waits, Jens Lekman and some songs her brothers band recorded in a bathroom. Did I say her music taste was the cats pajamas?
Before she left I made her a little playlist of artists I thought she might like and sealed it in embroidery fabric stitched up with embroidery thread. Before I did that I sewed on a little paint sample patch, drew some stars and basically called it a day.
Quick project! Minimal supplies! TA DA!

Songs on playlist:

Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes ... Kristin Andreassen
Boom Swagger Boom ... The Murder City Devils
Sleepwalkin' ... Modest Mouse
Little Person ... Jon Brion (from the film Synecdoche, NY)
Terrible Angels ... Coco Rosie
After Hours ... The Velvet Underground
Chocolate Jesus ... Tom Waits
I'll Be Gone ... Larry and His Flask
Deep Water ... Portishead
Little Yellow Spider ... Devendra Banhart
Brand New Key ... Rasputina
St. Francis ... Ohbijou
About here ... Malcolm McLaren
Track 11 ... Sarah Jackson-Holman
Track 05 ... Sarah Jackson-Holman
Track 12 ... Sarah Jackson-Holman
Track 09 ... Sarah Jackson-Holman
Sunflowers ... Paul Cantelon
Stars Fell on Alabama ... Billie Holiday
I'll be Your Sylvia Plath ... Laurel Burns
Emilie Simon ... Femme Fatale

"I miss your broken China-voice" Lara had said when I played Tom Waits and two weeks later she was gone. Poo.

Cork people.

2009-08-22T18:15:00.001-07:00

It started like this: last summer I was involved with an arts and crafts group focused on creating things to be placed in public spaces outlined by the book: The Guerrilla Art Kit by genius Keri Smith. This book includes many extraordinary ideas for invigorating the third eye of passersby. One of the projects we partook was cork painting.
Painting these little corks, we gathered around a table spread with supplies; craftsers of all ages, kids to middle aged adults in Clare's living room listening to someone bang on the piano.
This summer I needed a unique advertisement for my zine event that took place on August 14th. Who better to represent this event then a little piece of bark-wood?
The event showcased my zine collection; all the works of independently published materials I had collected from book stores, festivals, trades, etc since I was 17. The corks were represented with a favorite quote I had collected from a zine or independently published work. On the back of the quote was the name of the writer and their zine, and an invitation to the event that read, "This and more at Dudley's Cafe and Bookshop. August 14th, 3:00."
TA-DA! Anyone reading this will certainly be motivated to come! How cute! How crafty! This Rachel is a genius! I want to have all her zines and give her a screen printing set for Christmas! Gosh!
Okay. So.
Materials:

Several corks (I get mine from Lou, white haired yogi dishwasher who saves them from the restaurant he works at - I bet you can talk to a local wino and get some from him/her)
Sturdy nails about 2.5 inches long. 2 for every cork.
HOT GLUE GUN
Bits of material for clothing.
Permanent marker for facial details.
Something for hair. I used that moss stuff. You can use yarn or any stingy material.
White-out (optional)
Bits of embellishment. (optional).
Cardboard or some durable material for writing quotes.

Another idea I would have liked to try if I had had the supplies were fake flowers. How nice they would have looked on a cork-persons head! I asked Kevin if he wanted to go to the cemetery to get some off graves when I was working on my project. He acted all offended, like stealing from the dead is so uncool. Pft. Bitches better be bringing real flowers when I die.
Cork assembly is simple:

Stick in nails at the "bottom" of the cork. These are legs!
Draw face on upper half of cork with permanent marker (I think this is best, embellishments can be made with type of clothing or hair) or paint.
Prep a supply of little clothes. I used little squares of fabric for aprons. The Guerrilla Art Kit has cute examples as well.
Glue on the clothes. Glue on the hair.
Write some quotes out. You can have the corks "saying" them in speech bubbles, holding a sign or whatever. Your corks can be silent. Please, for the love of Holden Caulfield, don't have them being offensive. Kids are the ones who always find these. They pay attention and deserve no less than to have their world filled completely with love and knowledge.
Embellish with such and such. Give them arms, sparkles, wands, crutches.

After I got all the corks assembled (they looked so cute) I loaded them into an old typewriter case and headed downtown.
The usual distribution for these projects is NIGHT TIME. In my project this was not an option. I walked the two strips of Wall and Bond (busy areas) stopping abruptly when I found a good place. Taking out a cork, I would place it carefully, take a picture, and move on like nothing happened.
When you walk away from art like this you can only smile and imagine what people may think...