little paper planes!

Hey there! The big news around these parts is that now just in time for the holidays you can now find 3 prints of my work over at Little Paper Planes!

Thanks to popular demand I've decided to make archival inkjet prints of some of my drawings- for the hardcore you can find the originals over at etsy. You can also find my letterpress print made with bff Kyle Van Horn on their site.

Kelly's been an absolute peach to work with and I'll be doing an edition of smaller one of a kind constellation screenprints for them early in 2010.

Big Changes in the Studio

Mr Tillman and I are opening up our attic above our studios. This is a big deal it means that our studios (which are matching his and hers spare bedrooms on the top floor of our 3 story rowhouse) can be entirely dedicated to working rather than working and storage. Of course living in a house built in 1870 means that we could use all the storage we can get for things beyond the studio too.





To prepare for the mess that is cutting into the plaster ceiling we have tons of stuff from Robert's studio sitting in mine while his sits unusable all covered in plastic. For the next few weeks we're sharing a space and really scaling back the work we're making. I'm only drawing in the sketchbook and weaving since the big weavings are made in smaller pieces I can tackle this without a lot of space. The small furry assistant helps too.

Seasons at Young Blood

I have a piece (along with dozens of other artists) in Young Blood's big seasonal show. Each artist tackled one of the four seasons and I'm sending this charming little (5" x 7"!) framed drawing for spring- which I chose whithin minutes of recieving Kelly's initial email invite to be in the show. Atlanta friends- go see the show- it opens next week.

Ceramics at the Transformer Auction

I'm happy to have some of my ceramic work included in the 6th Annual Transfomer Auction and Benifit Party this November. Transformer is the best little alternative space in DC and they've been really supportive of my sculptural work and keep my drawings in their flatfile. There's a bunch of terrific artists in the show if you're in town...

sweaters and stars

I used the last few days of summer making and thinking about drawings. I had a really great studio visit from Heidi and cranked out a bunch of work including a bunch of small 8" x 10" drawings which are now up in the shop.

a new home

Kira just posted an image of my drawing all framed and hanging up in her house. It's so nice to see how people live with your work.

a nice end of summer surprise

Abbey from Aesthetic Outburst wrote up this super little post about my work for a guest post for sfgirlbythebay. It's always good to get a little shout out and I love seeing that new 'awesome drawing' out and in the world. Perfect thing to find the last morning before my back to school meetings really begin.

letterpress prints- now in the shop

Back in 2006 my pal Kyle Van Horn and I made a big ol' stack of letterpress prints. They've been kicking around my studio and given as countless thank you gifts but in the effort to clear up more space in the flat file I've decided to list them on etsy.

The feature hand-drawn wood grain botanical shapes along with some bird friends and are overlayed with the words "thank you" and "you're welcome" as if they were shadows coming through windows.

Since the prints are in fairly large editions they're at a much lower price point than most of my work- if you've been looking at picking up a work on paper but originals are out of your range here's your chance!

Website Update!

My super star web designer and I just completed a big summer update for my site. The redesign we did in January ensures that these things happen much much faster. Did I mention that if  if you're in the market she's the best? As I've said to some people in person it's wonderful to have another set of eyes helping you showcase your work- I'm pretty close to my practice and think I've found a way to notice everything- Melissa always sees something new. I've been asking her to choose the front picture and I just love what she comes up with. I know I'd agonize over it- try to find the little studio view that's just right and end up with something that feels forced, and not natural. This one's perfect. Thanks again Melissa!

Click on over to check out the new drawings and sculpture.

Collaboration Update

The prints are done, we've presented to the committee and I've started to post each of the six images over here. 

Now it's time to get back to other projects and start getting these out in the world. I've got some ideas but would love to hear from other people who might have a good venue for these.

Wowee Zowee!

I just got back from a trip out to my suburban Chicago hometown for a wedding and got a peek at this newly finished piece my Mom made based on my wall piece at Goucher College! In addition to being my number one fan my Mom is a terrific quilter and it's fun to see my drawing translated into a different material. I love how the quilted texture exists only on the white space and not on the dots, stems or flowers and or course that teeny tiny precarious stem!

She did all this just cause she liked that piece. I wonder what something we planned together would look like.

On Site!

I'm on to week two of my summer grant, that means Terry and I are shooting up a storm. Here's a little outake from this morning's Niagara Falls shoot. One down five to go. It's going to be a productive week, you can follow along daily over here.

Full Speed Ahead!

My summer grant period has officially begun! For the next two weeks I'll be focused on my collaboration with photographer and colleuge  Terry Lansburgh. I'll be blogging about the process daily over here.

shop update! breaking up the plywood stumps!

I've decided that to make room for some new work some older work needs to find a new home. Therefore I've begun listing the individual stumps from my 2007 plywood stumps sculpture on etsy. They're priced by size- S, M, and L sort of like sodas or popcorn at the movies. I think they look charming in little groups.

Transformer Flat File at No Soul For Sale Art Festival in NYC

Transformer will be participating in the No Soul For Sale-A Festival of Independents  in NYC June 23- 28th. The Festival "will bring together the most exciting, creative and respected not-for-profit centers, alternative institutions, artists’ collectives and independent enterprises from around the world that contribute to the international art scene by inventing new strategies for the distribution of information and by supporting a diverse cultural program" and has over 30 spaces participating. 

Transformer will be featuring new work by Geoffrey Aldridge and bringing along their flat files, which happen to include almost a dozen pieces of my work including this piece laser light show!

In the area? Traveling to NYC? There's a reception June 23 from 6-9 and the festival runs through the 28th.

shop update!

I added the two prototype ceramic bows to the shop! These two are one of a kind with the shiny glaze. The rest of the pieces will all be fairly matte, if you're into shiny....

ceramic bow prototypes!

I've been busy in the ceramics studio making these clay bows. these are the first few out of the kiln.  They're still in the prototyping stage. I'm making some minor technical changes in how I make them and then plan on doing more experimenting with glazes. Rumor has it I might be happier if I do a layer of underglaze first.
The white one broke while it was still greenware. I'll use it to test glazes.

shop update!

I've finally added some new drawings and ceramics pieces to the shop. I think they're ready to see the world.

If you're interested...

asculpturetobephotographed.blogspot.com!

I've started another blog over here to document my collaborative photo project. More studio news and updates posted here soon.

Horray!

Terry Lansburgh and I will be continuing our collaboration this summer thanks to our school's generous F. Parvin Sharpless Faculty and Curricular Advancement Program (FACA).



We made the above piece dandelion back in 2007. You can see more images from that project here. We plan on documenting the whole process start to finish with another blog. I'll post a link to it as soon as it goes public.

Penned travels to Lump In Raleigh NC

Last year's Artscape Spectacular salute to all things pens has taken it on the road! Arriving this week at Lump in Raleigh NC. My drawing was made with the super-duper bic 4 color pen!
You can check out all the drawings here. This one is my favorite.

General Merriment!

I just returned from a three day jaunt to Memphis, TN where I had a show at Material and gave a lecture at Rhodes College and did some critiques with their students.





The show was a terrific experience, I generally end up showing drawings and sculpture separately from each other. Since I had the gallery all to myself I had the chance to put the two together for a show of what I was calling my "celebration-based work" which included a new woven table based piece, the high-five self portrait, veneer bows, and drawings.

I was especially happy with the way the drawings looked all grouped together. I think they look more object like and grouping them made them both seem bigger and showcased the relationships and repeating forms between the pieces.








I had a great time reconnecting with my host all around Memphis art superstar Hamlett Dobbins. We hadn't seen each other since Iowa City and it was lovely to meet his family. Hamlett introduced me great people like Melissa Dunn, fellow flag lover Joel Parsons, and Erin Harmon, AND we had a chance to swing by Melissa and Erin's studios before I flew out on Saturday.

The show received some press here and there and here is an awesome response to my lecture at Rhodes from Chandler Pritchett.

general merriment!

we make it art interview!

Rachel Sitkin interviewed me for her new blog featuring studio visits and interviews with Baltimore artists. Check it out!

Photo by Rachel Sitkin

Respond Opening Pictures

Baltimore art-blog superstar Cara Ober came to the Respond Opening. Not only did she take so red hot glamour shots and give my wood-grain skirt the media attention it deserves- she also wrote up a pretty cute description of the piece.

photo by Cara Ober.


Alex over at There Were Ten Tigers posted some opening reception pictures too!

Laser Tag Wars!

One of the many things I liked about the Art and Industry project and show with York Arts was the opportunity to bring my work to a community broader than the kind of people who go see and write about contemporary art. I believe contemporary art is fundamentally democratic and should be accessible for and by everyone. I really liked the opportunity to work on site at Graham Engineering, meet the people who work there, and ultimately make work on site.

I knew once the show was up that it would be their "Writer's Eye" show- meaning local schools would come to York Arts for a writing workshop based on the work in the gallery. In this case the Art and Industry show. Donna just mailed me the resulting booklet containing "Laser Tag Wars" a short story by a 6th grade student about the ultimate laser tag battle between rival groups of 7 and 10 year olds in a big factory! It's awesome. It's great to see my work in a completely different light.

Respond at Goucher College

RESPOND: Heidi Neff, John Shipman, Stuart Stein, Christine Buckton Tillman
February 2 - March 8, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, Feb. 12, 6-8 p.m.

Painters John Shipman and Heidi Neff and mixed-media artists Christine Buckton Tillman and Stuart Stein respond to the architecture of Rosenberg Gallery, creating site-specific paintings and mixed-media installations directly on the walls and ceiling of the gallery.

Curated by Laura Amussen.
Hope to see you there!

New and Improved!

Horray! Melissa at Paper Pencil Pixel and I have just finished a complete redesign of my site!  I love it! It feels clean, tidy, and better organized for how I use the web as an artist. This here blog links from the site (which is probably how you got here...) and I'll be using it as a rapidly updatable news section of the site. I'll be posting show announcements and other big studio news over here so feel free to check back.

Respond @ Goucher College

I've spend the first few weeks of the new year making this 32' wall piece for the exhibition Respond at Goucher College just outside of Baltimore. Four artists were asked to respond directly to the space and I've been making these explosive, celebratory woodgrain contact paper flowers (they're either hydrangas or queen anne's lace- I can't decide) to relate to the giant wooden molding below the wall. You can see about half of it in this picture, it's like the wall has a giant wooden bumper, which functions to make it look classy and protect the art from people getting 'too close'.