TinyHaus blog

Aren't these gorgeous? These Zodiac Crayons are the work of Diem Chau of the TinyHaus blog. If you live in the Chicago area, you can see her work at the Packer Schopf Gallery on West Lake street - the show runs till March 14. She has uploaded the entire series here.

Love's Labor Lost, Act V, Scene I

They have been at a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps

----Moth

He could have been speaking of academic prose.

Romeo and Juliet #1

O she doth teach the torches to burn bright

- Romeo

Valentine's Day Cards to make at Home

For this one you just need stiff white paper and something interesting to cut the heart out of. I have used a leaf which I dipped in water mixed with polyvinyl adhesive (Elmer's glue for Americans). Oh, gel medium would probably be another alternative. You can also take fabric and dip it in this solution, and after getting all the excess off, lay it on stiff white paper. Allow it to dry throughly, and then cut a heart shape out of that. This is how I made the heart below, with a little bit of kimono silk. It's key to get the excess moisture out, and it's not a bad idea to tape the paper you stick it to down to avoid warpage - I just tore through it myself without doing so.

For the second one, I deliberately cut the little heart out with scissors instead of an exacto knife to prove to myself it was possible, it's a little rough. glue the paper "spring" to the inside of card and to the back of the heart. You should end up with something like what is below:

For the third one, you need a little heart pattern smaller than your card. Cut a strip if them out of stiff red paper - It is much better to trace the heart, or cut around it, than to fold the paper first and attempt to cut through it - this will end in tears! To avoid heartbreak, cut the line of hearts out, leaving them attached at the sides, and fold them afterwards. I have collaged old wrapping paper onto them, but you could also write a poem.



It's my intention to scan in some fun stuff as a sheet for you to print out at home later today.

And here they are, a few things to copy, print out and play with -

Ben Hirschkoff's Sculpture

This is as large as I could get the image right-clicking. It's part of the Play Decay series of Seattle-based sculptor Ben Hirschkoff. I first saw the piece about ten years ago, when it made a vivid impression. A week or so ago a friend was describing a piece that he had bought in a video store/art gallery which no longer exists, and when I in turn described this piece, he identified the artist as the one who had done the sculpture he bought. Ben also does some intriguing/startling collages with non-traditional materials.

What I like about the Bullswan is its simultaneous absurdity and logic. Hope you will click above to see it larger on his website.