Leah Virsik

Showoff Revisited, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

Sewn to the watercolor paper above are scraps of my quilt pieces that were lying on my floor. I love those end scraps. Very patchwork like. They remind me of prayer flags. I’ve been wanting to make some prayer flags and it’s so so nice when things just happen without any planning. What started out as a postcard mail art experiment has turned in a fun little series and I’m feeling a bit attached. I don’t want to mail them. I’m curious to discover what’s underneath them… what am I meant to learn from them? It will be revealed.

As much as the mess on my floor bothers me, I love picking up a paper or fabric scrap off the floor and helping it find a new home.

I spent a fair amount of time looking for a WordPress Portfolio theme for my website this evening. There are definitely some nice ones out there but not exactly what I want. I can super focused and not want to do anything else. The transition from one thing to another can be difficult and yes, I know I need to clean the dishes at some point.

Thanks so much for reading!

Quilt Squares, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

I’ve been working on this quilt and I can’t say I love it and I’m not sure this is how it’ll end up. I think it actually looks better in the photo than it does in real life. We’ll see… I’m out of my comfort zone and I don’t want to finish… I would easily quit except I have one last class to finish up and I don’t want to be a slacker. This is that difficult part that I don’t so much enjoy but I’m in the middle and putting myself out there. I imagine other people can identify.

Lots going on… here’s my promised update from yesterday: I really enjoyed Alyson B. Stanfield’s seminar in San Francisco yesterday. She talked about the importance of repetition… of getting your name out multiple times, in different ways. It takes about nine times for a viewer to take action on something. I know many times I need to hear something in a different way, from potentially a different person before I take action. I really appreciated how she personalized her content to us. She shared some of our own blogs and websites and gave some mini-critiques. I personally got really great feedback from her and it inspired me to take action and make some changes. One artist website that she gave kudos to that I really appreciate is the site of Maria Coryell-Martin.

Alyson also mentioned some reasons why artists need to blog and two of them are (1) to learn about your art (yourself) and (2) that the process builds confidence. I would say the more often you do it, the more benefit you get. I realize this since I’ve been been participating in Leah Piken Kolidas’ Art Every Day Month Challenge. It’s pushed me in really positive ways. I realize I’m more connected to my creative self, not just about art. I’m thinking bigger and realizing how my life contributes to my art through cooking, exercise, sleep (or lack there of), etc.

I always enjoy meeting new people and I was lucky to meet some wonderful artists at Alyson’s seminar including Ellen Rosenthal, Barbara Downs, Deborah Caperton and Heike Seefeldt. Plus, I really enjoyed connecting with artist Matthew Kowalski and his lovely wife and writer Kathy Sterbenc who had turned me on to Alyson’s seminar in the first place. Thanks guys! Ellen signed up for my journal-making class this Saturday at Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda, CA. I’m really excited!

Yellow Wallpaper A6 Envelope, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

My site is back up. It was down for a little over a day. I didn’t realize how attached I was, especially since I’ve been blogging so often with Art Every Day Month Challenge!

I had a really great day full of inspiration and motivation and meeting other artists at Alyson B. Stanfield’s Art Marketing seminar in San Francisco. I’ll share some more about the seminar tomorrow.

Stitched A6 envelope above. This one is very excited to be on a journey to Italy next week!

Here’s the drawing Tom left for me the other morning. The envelope in the thought bubble is from this post or at least I think so. Today, I cut paper for my Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal Workshop at Frank Bette Center for the Arts (Alameda, CA) on November 21st. I’m so excited! I also made some yummy zucchini lemon muffins and went to yoga for the second time this week…and an interesting note… for as tired as I was going in, I have a lot of energy now, better than caffeine. Hopefully, I’ll get some good sleep tonight!

Green Blue Landscape, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

I’m a very lucky girl. Tom left the sweetest drawing for me this morning. He mostly draws pigs and drew me if I were a pig thinking about my art. He drew me wearing a hat today, my red button necklace and my piercing above my lip. I get the most support from this wonderful man and am really grateful. I unfortunately left his drawing at work but will scan it in to share.

I ran across Wendy Richmond’s article entitled “Blogging with a Different Perspective”. I love her writing and am really enjoying her book Art Without Compromise. You can read the intro here. In her blogging article she talks about her blog “supporting the development of a body of work”. This makes a lot of sense to me. I started blogging in order to document my work, to watch it grow and be a witness to my voice. I began through the inspiration of an article written by Kelly Rae Roberts. She talked about how over time she got to see the development of her voice. When I’m in the middle of it, it can be difficult to see my growth.

I notice as I’m participating in the Art Every Day Month Challenge that I’m creating my own “rules”. I need to blog every day, I need to post something creative I’m working on. It can be in process. It doesn’t matter how much time I’m spending on art but it seems that when I blog about it, I’m addressing it, I’m showing up. The excitement of planning what I’m going to write about keeps me going. I keep staying up too late unfortunately.

Quilt section, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

It’s day 10 of Art Every Day Month.

A teaser of my quilt. This is actually one square I like. I know it doesn’t look like a square… I’ve been enjoying using my scanner lately rather than the camera… especially with these dark evenings.

Tom’s impressed that I’ve been keeping this up. I’m actually impressed too. It’s so fun to be a part of larger community and connect with other people who enjoy making! You all are helping me keep going. Thanks!

My friend Bonnie Randall Boller (who started a blog!) sent me this link about dry point etching on a cardboard plate. Looks like fun and easier than zinc. My first introduction to printmaking was from Enrique Chagoya in college.

(You are) Worthy & Envelope, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

It’s day 9 of Art Every Day Month with Leah Piken Kolidas. I just barely got the reference to this being about 30 days… as in it usually takes about that long to create a habit. The love that I’m receiving from this group is super amazing and I’m really grateful for everyone who has commented on my posts and flickr images. Thank you!

I added some stitching and handwriting to my mini painting above. I created the envelope from an Interoffice envelope. I didn’t know there were so many different varieties!

My body is super sore from an intense yoga workout with Alice yesterday. I’ve been wanting to step up my yoga practice and it seems to correlate with my doing more art lately. There’s part of me that wonders where I’ll fit it all in and then another part that believes that they are connected and if I do more yoga I’ll do more art too. It’s so satisfying to push my body past the point where I actually feel like going. And it’s frustrating to be working out and feel so out of shape.

I’m currently working on my quilt top. I’ll post photos eventually. Combining colors and pattern and lights and darks… and not painting over… This is where I’m having to stretch. I ran across this mosaic artist today who “paints” with glass.

Looking forward to hear Alyson B. Stanfield speak about artist self-promotion this Saturday in San Francisco. She’s awesome! I highly recommend her book, I’d rather be in the studio.

Purple Layers, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

It’s day 8 of Art Every Day Month.  I had a fun day yesterday with the multiple art openings. Tom came out to visit me and that was really special. My piece on auction at Pro Arts was bid up again! It’s so interesting to me to hear a bit about how my work affects other people.

Life is so interesting. I cut out lots of envelopes today from wallpaper books, interoffice envelopes, catalogs, etc. So much fun. Once I look at things in an artful way, it’s difficult to call them junk or garbage. Tom’s been very helpful in helping me look at things differently.

I started these painting above, collaging and sewing 4″x6″ postcards as mail art. I’ll mail some of them out. And they’ve developed into something else, potential for a class I’d like to teach and also powerful daily art exercises. Because they started as something to go in the mail rather than a frame, the back is another interesting element that is seen as well. I’m so grateful to be doing this work. Thanks Leah Piken Kolidas for the inspiration! It feels addicting. I don’t want to stop but I’ve got a quilt to be working on and muffins to make…

Abstract Love, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

I am getting ready for two exhibitions today, one for Alameda Women Artists and the other at Pro Arts Gallery. A little surreal.

I’ve been on the computer all morning, well a little sewing on this piece “Abstract Love” that I’ll be mailing to Pod Post.

It’s a lot of work to blog and to post work, to keep up with others, etc. It brings up a lot for me. What’s important? What do I want to focus on? Maintaining balance. And the fact that I’m really enjoying this and want to keep it up. For now, I’m going to just focus on the fact that I’m enjoying this and not worry about the other stuff.

I was talking with an artist last night and my fantasy about him was that he didn’t have a day job and it turned out in fact that he did. Actually, it was good for me to learn and also know that I’m feeling pretty prolific in the moment creating all these little arts… §:0.)

Don’t Forget to Breathe, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

I come home tonight after a really enjoyable evening touring Oakland’s Art Murmur with my dear friend Lanell. Tom reminds me about my need to blog and I forgot, like it completely slipped my mind. It’s so wierd. I was quite enjoying my popularity today and was fearful that I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up and look what happens! It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway, I’m really glad to be writing right now.

Tom also reminds me that I was out supporting the arts and fulfilling my AEDM challenge in that way. It’s true. As a creative type, I do think it’s incredibly valuable and important to support others on their artistic paths. Tonight, I really enjoyed blankspace gallery’s showing of Michael Hall and Daniel Healey’s work.

On a really exciting note, I got to show Lanell my box on auction at Pro Arts Gallery. It’s been bid up to $150! It was a treat to see. Such an emotional roller coaster for me though. I really wanted to be okay if no one bid on it but I have to say I’m quite pleased that someone did. My process in creating this definitely stretched me and opened up new avenues of exploration. I’m looking forward to see what comes out of me next!

Posted above is one of my mail art pieces I was working on yesterday. It’s a mini painting actually but not quite finished.