Saturday. Art. Car. Snow. Seattle. Scotland.

funkomavintage attended an art show Saturday night featuring stunning photos by friend Nich McElroy,  held at Prism in Seattle or more correctly ...Ballard! 
What a beautiful evening....we only had to walk 7 blocks to the gallery/shop...or maybe, if Skip was giving directions.......13 blocks.

The Scotland comes in at the after show drink at Macleod's with a lovely map of Scotland painted on the ceiling, ala Sistine Chapel-wise.
On the wall are framed photos of famous Scots....Robert Louis Stevenson, JM Barrie, Ewan McGregor....Andrew Carnegie...Judy Garland....Katherine Hepburn....
Really!
The List is Long....
photo belongs to Nich McElroy 
Vintage 122 Volvo in the snow.

2 of my favorite things

Horses. Beach.

and bonus....Robert Louis Stevenson.
"We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions, and organs as our own,
and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear."




  

from here....

last summer Mark and I went to the Greg Kucera Gallery, and this is part of what we saw....

It looks like driftwood, but many of the horse sculptures are really made of bronze and copper. Cast into metal, they were first made of wood. some were...Madrone.....  that tree is one of my favorites. It's a West Coast native...like me. Others were first made of tropical woods...then cast in metal.
 the artist: DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD
Seven Bronze Sculptures,was the show, and the artist.

Who thought of that first?

who gives a shit! this  curatorscode....is being talked about in the blogosphere..... at  http://www.thingsmagazine.net/..

I first heard of this nonsense on NPR on Sunday..Sometimes I can point to the exact person/mood/light/food/blog post/magazine/book passage/snippet of poetry/ 3 martinis/ hangover.........but mostly, what we think...is a long brewing mish mash of life and death. I'm all for linking back to a blog or website if I can, and I do now always link to a pic source if I can at all.....
It is very important to protect copyright, and internet linking to a source should be practiced.

.....And really now...I've been alive a lot longer than the little girl that thought of this CC thing...and I'll tell you...most of the time I cannot pinpoint the exact thing that made me think something, make something, or write something.

for instance....Say you write a post about raising chickens in your city yard....Do you need to link to the first blogpost back in the 90s that talks about chickens? Do you need to reference all the city people back in the ancient times that raised chickens in the cities??
Do you have to link to all the hipster "urban pioneer" bloggers that talk about their chicken coops and egg recipes??
No. But you can share a link to blogpost someone did that was really cool....especially if you use their pictures, you better link the pic (don't steal. Share!)

Hey, you young kids you did not invent--- 1.   good food 2. good housekeeping 3. vintage !! 4. messy bun 5. sewing 6. knitting 7. art 8. craft 9. writing 10. sex 11. babies 12. getting married 13. writing books 14.decorating with used/junk/found 15. DIY  16.gardening 17.chickens 18. kale.......but you may have invented being self-satisfied and narcissistic....
and this is after I found a few shitty scraper blogs that stole hundreds of my posts and pics. Blogger has to pay them ad revenue, yet are not very helpful in shutting them down. I have to send 700 requests to Google with the DCMA violatons One At A Time ! meh. Only Disney will really benefit from the DCMA when they threaten a little suburban mom that makes Disney  Princess hair bows.

so, Mark and I are working on TONS of new projects....the goal is to make a dozen or 2 new handmade items....Yeah! In addition to the vintage we list every week........
Here's some pretty pictures on my workroom shelves......they are very inspirational to me, and maybe to you....

White Man Moccasins

One of my most fave pictures is this whimsical print by Lee Marmon. He has been taking pictures of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo people, for nearly 60 years. Encouraged by his father, Henry,  when Lee was a callow 22 year old veteran of WWII, he began to document the elders of his tribe, the daily life, and the moment in history when Indians were moving  into modern life, and leaving behind the centuries of old ways of living. Indians are of course, still living in the old ways, but in the middle of the 20th century, they began to ...perhaps...feel more comfortable integrating modern things in their daily life.
For at least a hundred years, American Native people had been forced to assimilate, and we see in Marmon's long historical perspective, Indians making the choice for themselves to choose what they want, and to take what they like, and also, to insist America finally honor every treaty the Indians signed in good faith...only to see each one broken over the long occupation of their lands by us foreigners.

Taken in 1954, it's a photo of tribal elder Jeff Sousea, the elderly caretaker of the Laguna mission. As a kid, and today when the sun peeps out, you can find me lazying in the afternoon sun just like elder Jeff. He has his  traditional headband and his hand made beaded and wrought jewelry and on his feet....a modern (though well-worn) pair of Converse shoes, or maybe a pair of Keds. That ankle circle patch...can be seen on both cons and keds.

more about Marmon

you can buy the postcard of Marmon's photo here

this picture of Lee is from here

 Here's the latest Converse and moccasins in the funkomavintage shop.....
I only buy the Made In USA Cons....now that Nike owns them and they are made in China, they suck.

Moccasins...

Converse, and moccasins are my 2 favorite shoes to wear....when I'm not in cowboy boots, that is....

The Red Tiger Asic are for running, and the POLO by Ralphie, and the plaid by TUK are my exceptions...based on cuteness.  I am paring down....from the 15 personal pairs...I used to have.

These moccasins are in rotation when it isn't raining...I'm making a pair of Navajo-style moccasins in black leather. It's fun! That pair of light brown leather, are (clears throat) about 35 years old.

why buy cheap crap from China, when you can buy it real handmade?

the real thing from etsy

Target......

I could go on like this for hours.....
Target sold out btw....

Hey Guess what...

Portland has that Tacoma doesn't?
more tattoos, more bicycles and more coffee shops?


Well that, maybe........Portland is a  city that values the arts.
If my idea of filling empty stores and buildings downtown with ART wasn't so obvious, I'd really take the credit.
ART is always what saves a town....and Tacoma, being a working class tough little bugger, needs more of that.






Fantastic artfests, music fests, hot rods for granpas, hot rods for hip chicks and dudes, Cones of hot ART... Proctor Art....6th Ave Art...and more farmer's markets are happening...what huge changes have happened here in our little burg in just 10 years...If we could blot out the big ugly condo projects that stick out of our sweet humble little town like a whore in church, or at least, a banker in church.




When I was a wee thing, I used to visit Millie's family up in Lake County.
Any storefront in along the main street was filled with something....drawings, pictures, posters, anything interesting! All a person had to do was contact the bldg. owner and ask to do a project. The bldg. owners being smart Californians, I guess, got the ball rolling there. The local newspaper office would print pictures for kids to color, and collect them, and then hang them in the store windows.That's where I got the idea that A) Grownups care about empty windows.

B) Republicans like art.
This is also where I learned to draw a Dog face....big time!


Oh what does Portland have that Tacoma doesn't??


Food Carts.


Take a look, via Design Sponge.

What do I mean "Saves a town"...if people give a crap about what things look like...and I don't just mean, manicured lawns and tasteful house paint colors....
if people give a crap, and get loud, and say Yes, and then No to the ugly....
we can make Tacoma look more like Portland, or San Francisco or VancouverBC...and a lot less like Stockton or Brawley or Hell.



and also...it makes people feel better, because if I see that you care, I'm less likely to drop my garbage*...If people feel Hopeful, they'll act nicer. They'll try harder. And they'll vote....for the kind of politicians that put people first, and let money take care of itself like it always does.....
.It's all About Culture and building a welcoming community that makes room for lots of different kinds of people, but under no circumstances, should there be any excuse for a PFChangs. that's just lazy and nasty.



*I don't ever drop garbage.EVER.

The standard by which I measure......

Daniel Clowes.....always......click it. Really, it's OK. It's a tumbler and this is the best I can do about that...

In honor of MJ...deregulation and Ronald Reagan..and other types of out of control behavior....

I am earnest. I can't do the Shiny Happy People thing, but I am basically happy...considering I am living thru the time in history that saw the lovely society formed by The New Deal, being dismantled by the Republican Revolution, for which Ronald Reagan reigned as First King of Destruction, Federal Edition.
Reagan said this: "

I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.

Ronald Reagan

And he meant It !! Regulation is the way we protect ourselves from evil assholes, hopefully. And, when the regulations on dangerous companies become Republican-style weak, Reagan's beloved Deregulation, the BP Oil spill is what happens.

The BP Oil Debacle is the Exact Universe the Republicans wanted, and what Libertarians wanted ....it is their Wet Dream!

And here is the difference between Irony and Coincidence... So, discuss.....is the BP oil hell, Irony, in that, with Deregulation, companies do what the fuck they want and when the shit hits the fan, Republicans call...For...Regulations !!!
....or just a Coincidence that deregulation and catastrophe happened at the same time, and most of the oil is washing up on the shores of states lead by Republican governors.

Texas - Governor Rick Perry, Mississippi - Governor Haley Barbour, Louisiana - Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida - Governor Charlie Crist, Alabama - Governor Bob Riley.

my mind boggles.


This link dates to Sept. 11, 2008, in the Bush/Cheney years..........."Government officials in charge of collecting billions of dollars worth of royalties from oil and gas companies accepted gifts, steered contracts to favored clients and engaged in drug use and illicit sex with employees of the energy firms, federal investigators reported yesterday." and it goes on...

that's from the Washington Post. Billions. Of. Dollars. that belong to you and me.that the oil companies kept because of deregulations and corrupt "regulators" in the Republican "governance" in the last 30 years......

So...I can do better than that.... I prefer this:
Back to Daniel Clowes.....


Aren't you glad that we have recalls of dangerous items? That's regulations at work!
;-)
So, regulations of dangerous or potentially dangerous activities...is a very good thing...and over-regulation is not a good thing.


Mindless shopping ...no, let's not do that. But Shopping Is Fun!!
Yes it is and we are wired for it.....
So, buy vintage and used as often as possible.....Fix, repair, mend and make when you can.
Here's some of my faves around the internets.

Electric Cars !

Urban Farming !

Parks ! this land is your land, this land is my land...

Happy Cheery Marimekko

Now listed in my etsy shop,funkomavintage, is this superb midcentury modern, mcm, vintage Marimekko print.
It's by Maija Isola who designed many of Marimekko's now classic, legendary fabrics.



Marimekko began as Printex, a fabrics printing company. Finn Viljo Ratia bought it in 1949 and his wife Armi Ratia hired young artists to design fabric for the company. They were wild and bold ! Sales were slow so the company made clothing of the designs.
The first Marimekko clothing was designed by Riitta Immonen, and in 1951 Marimekko held a fashion show in Helsinki.

Now, Marimekko designs are printed on fabrics and all manner of home decor items....from bedsheets to bath towels to wallpaper. Dresses and shirts and accessories are designed using the wild fabrics.
Tote bags, kitchenware, and children's and men's wear come from the design tables of Finland's Marimekko.
All over the world, major cities have a Marimekko shop. They're instantly available by mail via the internets too!

Even Anthropologie had dresses made of Marimekko! It is quite popular again...
today, many of Marimekko fabrics are well-known.
Here's just a few.. These pictures are on the Marimekko website, click the clicky link there <--- Maija Isola's cheerful Pergola pattern (1965) is made into a sweet jacket by Marimekko designer Samu-Jussi Koski.





Maija Isola's Kissapöllö from 1961, is here in a dress by Koski.

Kivet 1959.



Kaivo 1964
and the sweet and wild.....unikko.
Marimekko says: Unikko came about in 1964 after Armi Ratia had announced in public that no floral fabrics are designed at Marimekko. Maija Isola did not accept rules or restrictions and designed in protest a complete collection of bold floral patterns.

I Kissed Patti Smith

her show had better come to the nw...or else....road trip.....

Yoko Ono, the Maysles, fashion

threeASFOUR from threeASFOUR on Vimeo.

It's Art at Work month...here's some art, here's some work

A snippet view into my "studio"...Where the Magik Happens!"

too drunk to put on proper eye makeup, Gladsby's pal, Japanese 50s Elf watches over the doings....





Hi ! vintage Beistle paper skeleton welcomes you in ...



Just follow the Hand...Its cousin is Thing...






Hi! Welcome to funkoma vintage....I got all dressed up for you and put on eye makeup and a fancy dress !!



Here's my "window view of the country and uh, Seattle"....some stuff I made....really blows your mind, huh?





My friend Pee Wee, a kind of, unofficial Rampart mascot..."art", clock says 4:30, so break time is over.




The Heartbeat of bloggerville. Look, I'm looking at my Facehole page. awwww....Did you notice both a cup of coffee, and a fresh martini?? yup, that's how I roll....




A vintage car crash or 2, my favorite new hat, a scanner I'll hook up someday, vintage ice skates, skeleton wrapping paper....just the usual office wall decor....I love my dangly Puritan Shayne made for me when he was about 6 or so...so cute....John Lennon's head in a rusty Tonka toy.




Behind me, a couple of chairs....a vintage "rocking horse"...needs new legs (nahh)...file cabinet I got from Annie where I file my denim...and junk...Roller skates listed on etsy. You can sit here when you come to visit.

Ok, that's all for now...I'll show you the other side another time...the photog area, the sewing desk, the tables chock full of crap that I make into Real Cool Stuff!

Folksingers In Hell...

Want the real Tacoma? Here you go!

Written by David Fewster. Filmed at the Antique Sandwich 10/13/09. A Folksingers In Hell Production

We Could Be the New Pittsburgh !

Hey Tacoma....Feeling down? Down Down Down as a Luzon Building Brick? A pile of Luzon Building bricks?

Feeling as down as a world class bridge...that has no purpose in life but to mock you as it lays barren staring at a world class corporation headquarters that just broke up with you....over the phone...with a text???
Hmmm?

You need direction ! You need a Role Model !
Here, take a look at Pittsburgh....
just one quote...OK, maybe 2 or 3...This will cheer you up...because There Is Hope !!
Just get off your flaccid ass and quit accepting the idea that businessmen and women with an MBA know anything about Life!
Invest in Art. Art. Art.
Art Garfunkel.
Art Walk.
Art Run.
(2 of my friends have MBAs and more are lusting for them....)
Oh sure we need Bean Counters, but they can't be Leaders...or you end up with the Tacoma Mall. Which is an underground Tomb of Corporate Crap. (now that there is no alcohol-serving bar)

I mean the name alone...Pitts...burgh...who knew??
a snippet or 2...

"Jeb Feldman, owner and co-manager of UnSmoke, fell in love with the town soon after he arrived from New Mexico, also to study arts administration at Carnegie Mellon. Braddock's empty lots and neglected streets inspired him to work with others to help spur development. He joined ranks with the city’s young and determined mayor, John Fetterman, who has gained national attention for his efforts to create a workable model of urban renewal. With the support of the mayor, Feldman sees investment in the arts as essential, both to invigorate residents and lure artists and their followers. He has become an unofficial spokesman for Braddock's artistic development."

and very very important...

"Once a shell of its former industrial self, Pittsburgh has been busily making itself over. Now its cheap rents and artistic legacy are luring a new generation of creative pioneers, writes Yael Friedman ..."
Linkie here, and no ...I did not forget that Tacoma hates Andy Warhol.... that Tacoma rejected Andy is a mistake I intend to never ever let Tacoma forget...

let's say that again...CHEAP RENTS
I pay 2 grand a month and I have about 3000 square feet for workshop and retail. I love the space, but the rent is waaaaay too much. Mr. Riley charges the cheapest rent for the most space in Tacoma...in a neighborhood you'd like to have a shop in.
You other landlords, fuck you.
This is Tacoma. It is "a shell of its former industrial self"
You, bad landlords, with your insane high rents have kept Tacoma dirty and stupid. It's waaay hard for one with good intentions to get a foothold here. So...the bad neighborhoods attract the Artists, the Creatives, the Brave...
with NO HELP from the Landed Gentry, or the Government. ...which is fine, but it's too hard, and good people have to give up and leave...a dream delayed is a dream denied.


It does not have to be this way. Anymore.
Vote. Vote Responsibly.
When I think of Jim Merritt, Marilyn Strickland, Kevin Rojecki, Roxanne Murphy, Marty Campbell, Beckie Summers Kirby, Catherine Ushka-Hall and Chris Van Vechten for Tacoma School Board, Victoria Woodards....
All have vision and energy and can lead Tacoma to her new Destiny !

Being Scary...Being Sarah Palin

The Woman Who just won't go away...like that little paper cut at the end of your pointing finger, the one you use 1000 times a day...
Yes, Sarah Palin, The Painful Hemorrhoid of Politics, Proof Positive, that just because someone is in possession of a twat, it doesn't make them...
a) Smart

b)Kind

c)Trustworthy

If you gotta Do Sarah one more time this year...Please, the more we hold her kind up to ridicule the less power these morons will have over us....
You Must See This !!
listed by seller buddhagouda at etsy!

We're very streetful...

and greatful the Urban Art Fest...will be twinned with Hot Rod aRama... more or less...
I'll be going...because I love the iron...weird.
cars are evil, but chopped up cars are soul-charging heart-smacking Cool, daddy-0........



I've vowed to never do another outdoor show again..so I won't be vending there.....
i really hated getting rained on...
what a mess...(see Lulu's blog for a pictorial review.)

went to the Joel Dance and the Art show at the Merlino /IOOF bldg, (I helped dress the ever lovely Charlotte...)
then on to drinks/pizza/Colin/Jenny at PSP........

All week, last week, Mark and I rearranged the shop, moved tons of new stuff in...(Pics later tonight)

And I guess we'll be open for short time during Sanford&Sons auction Monday evening......Read the NewsTribune for details!!!

What's new?
Furniture...clothes, home design...vintage vinyl...
and summer is being phased out over the next 3 or so weeks...and fall is moving in...
Small furniture is being set out on the floor...later this week...
smaller homes, dorm rooms and ...your camping camper or Bedouin Tent need Decor !

from my last post bemoaning the State of Destruction...I see many repeat faces in the shop and some...I've never seen in the shop...but surely out and about...
I have been extremely critical of the harm the City has done to our district...because someone has to fill you in on the Whole Story, and the News Tribune has been harmful to us, slamming our district in a negative tone that borders on libel/slander...

and it was and is ONLY because a group of citizens protested loudly on what the Train People wanted to do to downtown Tacoma...that is, Build a Wall of Brutal Concrete, was the design changed to something much more uplifting...
There is nothing that says Public Transit has to be Mind-Slammingly Ugly, but governcrats often go the way of Cheap and Ugly...why? They never ever went to Art School!!!

I worry that Tacoma only gets the "Happy, Happy, Everyone Is Happy" delusional side of the story....in Gentrification, Winners are picked and Losers are kicked...by Government...you need to know that those in power on the City Council and the City Manager...want Tacoma to become a white-bread sanitized UnCreative spot on the road between Portland and Seattle.....
We'll never become a high-class Artful Community until we have at least one bona fide Art School, and a Law School......why? because without a body of energetic fresh weirdos (I love the creative weirdos we have but we don't have enough to make Tacoma fully satisfyingly amazing...)(Yes, I'm talking to you Folksingers In Hell, Colin and Lyn..et al...)
And a Law School, with its yearly graduates of charged up Do-Gooders...will go after corruption and stupidity (Luzon Bldg.) so that it will not reign in Tacoma forever.......
Museums house Art from outside Tacoma...which is why Tacoma made such a big f'n deal outta Dale Chihuly...there's no reason why we can't cultivate 10000 more talents like that....
I know we have SOTA (good start!) but an MBA school is the opposite of creativity....except for creative ways to get all your money, Bernie Madoff...
**********Remember, you heard it here first....**********
the lovely Sarah commented:
I would hope that whenever the Elks deal goes thru and is actually refurbished, you would get a lot more foot traffic back on antique row. Trust me, I still go there. But when the Elks is shiny and new, tourists will like all the little shops and vintage wares (here's hoping).

I think some tourists don't always make it beyond the museum district and Pac Ave.

I loved Rampart from the Steve days, he was always so friendly, and love that you guys have kept it alive in your own way. Don't give up yet.

I responded:
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment...
I really do want more retail down here...it's so lonely!
Ask my neighbors...I really do want us all to have a great success, and not just in the Capitalist way...($), but to be creative and to give Tacoma tons of fun and inspiring things to do!

So, I do hope the Elks project happens and I hope a million more businesses open up...

Sadly, our business has been decimated by the City of Tacoma. The Elks project, if it ever happens, will be at least 2 more years away. My lease is up in May 2010, and I'll go...
Steve was able to keep Rampart going, with my/husband's help for part of the time, only because Steve had a very very cushy City of Tacoma job.....I find that extremely ironic.The new city manager Eric Anderson, only has one idea for Tacoma...and that is to turn Tacoma into the most condo-friendly retirement/bedroom community that exists to employ every single MBA that UWT can spit out.

Business is the enemy of Art (true fact), Art exists for its own sake. Business exists only to make money. We, are caught in the middle. I'm not rich, will never be, but I'm feeling pretty happy...and pretty creative...and that is a feeling that no amount of money can buy!! But bring some money downtown anyway, just in case...;-)

It's Alice In Wonderland...

Like a billion girls on the planet...I loved Alice in Wonderland...and I love the
Sir John Tenniel illustrations that we most identify with the story...oh sure...Disney wrecked it tho it is a charming movie...it's old school Disney.......
No.
The real Alice is Tenniel......like this:




But I saw theeeeeese the other day....and wow.







click this Linkie for more......

Imagine my delight ! when I found this dress last year....in a thrift of course. It's a 90s babydoll....just barely vintage in about 5 more minutes......covered with Sir John Tenniel illustrations !!! oh yes.
I'll be wearing this in Portland this weekend...





I found this ...thing...what is it? a tablecloth? an antimacassar? I don't know...
It's a Hitatchi thingie....(its also says Castle)
I adore the illustrations, the secondary gothy colors, the whole mid 60s pop art take on Art Nouveau...
it's pen and ink line drawings like the Sir John Tenniel drawings.....with those lovely colors.....
it's just a length of white cotton with fringe at either end....




It's just big enough to make a bit of a skirt
...add some white lace and other gothy White Queen stuff.......



Gee, I do believe I have my whole Fall theme all lined up......
stay tuned funkoma fans and etsy shop buyers.......
I think it might be Alice I want.... is a Wonderland....kind of season...