Rings and Things

Here's a sneak peek at a brand new product I've been working on - rings made from recycled vinyl records! I'm thinking of calling them Rock 'n' Roll Record Rings. But I'm not married to the name so I'd love to hear ideas if anybody has any suggestions for a cool name.

Anyway, I bought a ring mandrel from a seller on Etsy (it was a total impulse buy, she was promoting it on twitter) and have been playing around with cutting up bits and pieces from my scrap pile of broken painted records.
I've been collecting all these scraps forever and just waiting to find a good use for them. Rings are perfect, they are so easy to make, it's ridiculous. And with the ring mandrel, I can make them in the proper ring sizes. I am thinking of selling them for around $10 each. I would love your feedback on the pricing too!

I'm taking a batch in to Tender Loving Empire today, and they will be the first venue to try out the new product. I haven't even listed any in my shop yet, but I plan to make more and get them listed within the next few weeks, so stay tuned. I love feedback so please let me know what you think of this new idea! Thanks!

Buckman Art Show and Sell - March 6 & 7

I am excited to have my work at the Buckman Art Show and Sell for the third year. I hope you can check out this great event!

Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School
320 SE 16th Avenue in Portland

Friday, March 6, 5 pm - 9 pm
Saturday, March 7, 10 am - 5 pm

I will have a good variety of Eye Pop products at the show, and there will be work from more than 120 other local artists, and it's all for a good cause - to support the district's only arts-focus elementary school.

(Click here and here to see photos of art camps I have taught at Buckman too!)

Pictures from the School Funding Rally

Yesterday, Chuck and Tangereen went down to our state capital to let their voices be heard in the School Funding Rally.



The delegation from Tangereen's school got to ride this fancy bus:

Click here to read an article in the Portland Tribune about this event, and specifically about Tangereen's school, the Pauling Academy of Integrated Sciences.

What I look like

Okay, those are my feet. I got my first-ever pedicure last week, in honor of Melodie's birthday. She and Suzie and I went to Kalista Salon for a session of foot-pampering. I do believe I own the world's coolest pair of "flip-flops."


Also for Melle's birthday, we went out for dinner at Bamboo, where we had QUAIL EGGS!

Here is Suzie showing how one eats a quail egg:


And as if that weren't enough, just today I went out and got a fab new hairdo too! I now have what is known as a "shattered bob." Once again, I had Emie do it over at Gilly's on Clinton Street. I also stopped into Green Noise Records and picked up the Beach Boys' Endless Summer on vinyl as a V-Day gift for Chuck (who is currently making me a lobster dinner!). Anyway, here is what I now look like:

...and a little Photoshop action:

I am working on making some groovy new rings - I bought a ring mandrel on Etsy and am cutting up scrap pieces of painted vinyl records and shaping them to make cute rings, which I'm pretty excited about.

I am also REALLY excited that Amanda (from Bread and Badger) is coming over tomorrow to give me some much-needed assistance with my website, www.eyepopart.com. Look for some new updates soon!

Oh, and here are a couple pics from our show at the Know last Saturday night - it was awesome! It is so cool to look out and see that everybody is dancing their asses off. It really makes me happy to be in a band that people like to dance to!

Listen to our rocking tunes on myspace here: www.myspace.com/dartgun or www.myspace.com/andthevignettes.

The lobster is calling to me...

Juke's Self Portrait

Our seventh grade son, Julius, entered his self portrait in the Master Arts Showcase at his school, da Vinci. It didn't win any big awards but it is still pretty cool!

Because he is obsessed with Pokemon, there are lots of Pokemon creatures floating around in the background. Julius insisted I get pictures of them, so here they are!



Da Vinci is a pretty awesome middle school with cool electives like theater, dance, music, and a wide variety of visual arts. Julius is happy there!