Who Shares Wins

skulletons

2012-01-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my dad Russell Ries for introducing me to the Seven Kingdoms.

Quarrel

2011-12-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

My mom pointed me to The Happiness Project and on that site I saw the quotation below.

“We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.”

-- William Hazlitt, "Characteristics"

Damn. Well that sure nails it for me. I have been most quarrelsome of late and slow to recognize the truth of Hazlitt's quotation.

Grateful

2011-11-24T06:44:00.001-08:00

this too

2011-11-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

Open the House

2011-11-14T14:49:00.001-08:00

Art, food, drink, and the end of November! A festive time to see the famed 17th Street Studios and-- if you're lucky-- buy art from one of its many talented tenants. Wednesday, November 30th from 7 - 9 pm. The studios are in the attic of Redeemer Church, 1642 Highland Ave. (37916) at the intersection of 17th St. and Highland in the Fort Sanders Neighborhood.

Double Dipping

2011-10-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Come one come all and join the Urban Land Scouts. We will be walking in the 4th + Gill Neighborhood and noting edible plants. All ages welcome. Free.

Ross Marble Quarry

2011-10-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

This image shows part of the Ross Marble Quarry. It is a fine place to take a walk if you find yourself in South Knoxville.

Yes Men, Yes Lab!

2011-09-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Yes Men are artists/activists who stage media-savvy pranks to draw scrutiny to corporations and institutions putting profit before people, among other sins. Below is a video of Yes Man, Andy Bichlbaum, posing as a DOW Chemical representative and apologizing for the Bhopal Disaster.

The Yes Men are currently hatching Yes Lab, currently described as "...a series of brainstorms and trainings to help activist groups carry out media-getting creative actions, focused on their own campaign goals." You can fund the Yes Lab via their kickstarter campaign.

Below is a list of actions carried out by Yes Lab (as quoted from the Yes Men mailing list). Pretty savvy stuff:

General Electric Short-Circuited
Activists US Uncut, with a little help from the Yes Lab, sent out a press release announcing that General Electric would repay the $3.2 billion tax credit they received last year despite massive profits. The announcement was momentarily picked up as true by the AP, and the market, unable to leave a good deed unpunished, responded by knocking $3.5 billion off GE’s share price. The result was massive, enlightening coverage of GE’s tax-cheating ways on everything from local TV to CNN.

What the heck is an Asthmaze?
A small group of activists wondered how a big coal company might address the fact that coal causes childhood asthma. The result: “Coal Cares,” a faux greenwashing campaign in which Peabody Coal tried to “make asthma cool” with free themed inhalers to kids living within 200 miles of a coal plant. The site, taken as real by many, quickly went massively viral, which didn’t amuse Peabody one bit but did help publicize coal as a major public health issue. And as it happened, in the week following the launch of Coal Cares, a real-life attempt by the coal industry to mislead children was defeated by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Hooray!

Beat Up On Chevron? We Agree.
Chevron decided to launch a $90 million greenwashing campaign with a street-art aesthetic, and was stupid enough to approach street artists for help. One of them, Cesar Maxit, promptly leaked Chevron’s plans to Amazon Watch. The Yes Lab helped Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) release a much more honest version of Chevron’s campaign just hours ahead of the “real” McCoy, generating a deluge of media coverage. Hundreds of user submissions and some amazing videos from FunnyOrDie further derailed Chevron’s $90 million lie, infuriating Chevron even more—though not quite as much as the $18 billion judgment against them in Ecuador, which Chevron has vowed never to pay. The fight goes on.

Coal Burns Wealthy Neighborhood. Neighbors Nonplussed.
Students from Columbia College in Chicago came together with Greenpeace and the Yes Lab to create the illusion that a new coal plant was planned in their city—but that instead of going in a poor neighborhood (like the two coal plants that already exist in Chicago), this one would be built in a rich one. The plans got a rise out of residents and the media, and helped focus attention on Chicago’s much-needed Clean Power Ordinance.
Canada was the victim of two Yes-Lab-assisted actions, both targeting the Alberta Tar Sands, the England-sized mess that has made Canada the worst per-capita carbon emitter on earth.

Hair Clogs Pipeline
In the first Canadian action, a group of activists had Enbridge—who are aiming to build a massive pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands through pristine wilderness to the British Columbia coast—announce “My Hair Cares,” a crackpot plan to sop up inevitable spills along the pipeline route with the hair of volunteers. The resulting press publicized Enbridge’s botched spill cleanup in Michigan, and let Canadians know how stupid it can be to let oil flow through your watershed.

More and More Mordor
In the second Canada-centered action, a group of students, working with Greenpeace, launched a surreal campaign, complete with infomercials, cell phone videos, a tweeting campaign, a Facebook page, etc. to make folks in Canada think that the new Hobbit film was saving money on Mordor scenes by shooting them in the Tar Sands. The “news” went quickly viral and helped to cement the Canadian Government’s reputation as top-shelf planet-killing bastards.

Canadian War Room Defeated
Another Canadian action on the same subject took place way back in December 2009, before the Yes Lab really existed—but it happened according to the same model, so the Yes Lab is claiming it. Read about it here!

France Remains Offensive
An ad-hoc group called CRIME (Committee for the Reimbursement of Indemnity Money Extorted from Haiti) announced, on France’s behalf, the repayment of €17 billion to Haiti in relief aid—a payment equal to that which France extorted from Haiti in 1804 as a condition for their independence. Because of France’s ham-fisted reaction, the story received global attention, alerting many to the deep colonial roots of Haiti’s problems. The media attention was also used to launch a campaign that further built pressure on France to do the right thing.

People Bite Apple
It’s a bummer that our shiny tech toys are made using the blood of people—or, more precisely, the “conflict minerals” that play a big role in the violence and instability of Central Africa. So a group of students, together with Friends of the Congo, produced a fake Apple ad campaign touting a “Conflict-Free iPhone,” and calling for the citizen’s arrest of John Paulson, whose company finances some of the worst extraction practices. The project received hundreds of media hits worldwide.

Unnatural Gas
Students and local activists launched a campaign to cover Manhattan with stickers warning residents that if a ban on hydraulic fracturing is not extended in New York State, they’ll soon need to test for their water’s safety by trying to light it on fire. The project communicated viscerally just what’s at stake if gas companies are allowed to drill in New York’s aquifer, as the companies are demanding.

Shell Game Uncovers Oil Slick
In the Hague, activists impersonated oil giant Shell and publicly apologized for devastating the Niger Delta each year with oil spills larger than that of the Exxon Valdez. The action generated hundreds of stories—all highlighting Shell’s atrocious record.

Near Florabama

2011-09-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

Madeline Rogero for Mayor

2011-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Knoxvillians, I want to publicly endorse Madeline Rogero. I have met the women several times and am deeply impressed by her bearing and experience. I believe she would be a tremendous asset to Knoxville and the East Tennessee region. I am especially impressed by her goal to make Knoxville the "greenest city in America." You can read more about her platform at her website: Madeline Rogero for Mayor.

If you care to donate to Ms. Rogero's campaign, this link will take you straight there: Donate to Rogero's Campaign

Hesitate

2011-07-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

A neighbor sent me this link about "guerilla gardeners" and other creative activist in Berlin. He knows I like to garden and he knows about the Urban Land Scouts. In fact, he's come home to find us out front making seed bombs for various ULS workshops and events.

Stephen Evans, BBC News, Berlin

I read the article and was immediately struck by the foolishness of Petrus Akkordeon's planting. Not because I disagree with his hope that

"...if you plant one flower, the whole place changes. For several seconds, it's a nice place. People see these flowers and feel better for a moment."

but because I think it is a waste of a complex living thing to plant a flower in the shallow crack of a modern sidewalk. Where will the flower root? What will happen tomorrow when the workers paid to maintain the plaza come and find a clump of dirt and this sad wilted plant? They will sweep it up with the cigarette butts and cellophane wrappers.

It is not enough to plop down plants for a couple of hours and congratulate yourself on fighting the capitalist system...or whatever system you think your flowers are fighting. Cultivation takes time and several inches more soil. If you want to use planting and growing as tools in your activism, learn how to do it right.

These are the things I think every time I introduce seed balls (or seed bombs) to Urban Land Scouts. I consider them more successful for the poetic way in which holding one causes us to look at the landscape with new intention and expectation. They can hover between a purposeless object d'arte and a functional tool. What's more, if they are to work, that is, to grow plants in places where they might otherwise not grow, we've got to get deep into the specifics of what we grow, where it grows, and what happens after that. The examples I gave at Urban Land Scout camp were that we would never make seed balls with kudzu in them, nor would we try to lob seed balls with heat-loving plants into damp and shady areas.

You've got to work with the "genius of place" and if the place is a corporate office plaza in Berlin then you've got a radically different set of circumstances in which to support plants. I would encourage Mr. Akkordeon to start smaller and more insidious: mosses or small ferns planted in the shady cracks at the building's foundation. Then, prepare to tend to your plants every day...if not weekly. In this imagined case, it would be Mr. Akkordeon's presence, rather than that of the plants, that might change the whole place.

values

2011-07-14T17:23:00.001-07:00

sketches for jsa poster, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

Images made working on a poster for a conference held by the Justice Studies Association. The conference was called "Reducing Social Harms: Seeking 'Just Living' in Our Communities and Our Selves" and was June 2 - 5 , 2010 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Good Omen

2011-06-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

This was one of the first things we saw when we got to Jess Wilson's farmstead home in Monteagle. I took it as a good omen.

Carson Fisk-Vittori

2011-05-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Blaise recently pointed me to the website for Carson Fisk-Vittori. It's beautiful stuff. Go and browse.

Summerset, Carson Fisk-Vittori, 2010
Archival Inkjet Print

Untitled (Tasty Tunnels), Carson Fisk-Vittori, 2011
Ant food gel, plant food get, harvester ants, plexi, shrub

Skulletons in the Garden

2011-05-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

The Future is Always Wide Open

2011-05-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

There are certain life lessons I have to learn over and over again. In no particular order they are:

Be patient.
Be still.
Be kind.
Do not worry about things you cannot control.
Know where you're aiming before you fire.
Do not talk about important things when you are hungry or tired.
Good shoes and good food are worth the money.

In particular, I find it hard not to worry about what work I will find in the coming months as my stint at Beardsley Farm winds to a close. While I've enjoyed the radical change of pace and the knowledge I've gained at a demonstration farm, I miss teaching. I also miss making more money. There, I said it. I want to pay off my student loans AND eat well. Can't do that on an AmeriCorps living allowance.

I don't know if you've heard, but this is not a great time to be job searching. (And I'm one of the lucky ones!) With that in mind, I began to imagine what I would like to do if money were no problem. It is this: I would like to establish an Urban Land Scouts program in which we could work with students daily on both the land-craft elements of the scouts and the critical thinking and making that fuels reflection and greater awareness. Since my time at the Outdoor Academy, I've joked about wanting to start things like The Katie Ries Farm School for Young Ladies, but now I find the joking falling away as I consider what it might actually take to realize an established Urban Land Scouts program.

An established program, even an after-school program, is a two to five year goal. What I can do right now is this: Urban Land Scout Camp at CAC Beardsley Community Farm. I'm partnering with Schools of Influence Education Foundation and CAC (the parent organization of Beardsley Farm) to try and pull this camp together for this July! What's more, we're trying to get it funded so that our campers can attend at no cost to their families. We've generous local sponsors (like the Tomato Head, Cruze Dairy Farm, and Community Television of Knoxville, among others) and will be asking individual donors to step up and donate whatever they can. I know that money is tight, but this project won't cost much and it will give a lot to people in our community-- both by supporting Beardsley Farm's work and by increasing educational access for sixty Knox County students. If you would like to read or disseminate our one-page proposal of the project, you can find it here.

So there you are. The Future remains unknown and daunting, but I've got this project in my sights. Please stay tuned for when I come asking you for money to fund the project. Ha.

Before I Die

2011-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

My dad sent me a link to this neat project. Let's put one up around Market Square.

Before I Die

Violet Vinegar

2011-04-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to cook more and cook better. So far, it's slow progress. Who knew? Violet vinegar is hardly cooking, but it was satisfying to make and even more so to use (although I am currently underwhelmed by the flavor). My two kind friends, Rachel and Christy, helped pick violets in Morningside Park. Thanks ladies! You can usually find violets in moist shady spots. Some have whiter flowers. Those are fine to use too.

I found several recipes for violet vinegar online. The gist of them is to put clean picked violet blossoms in rice vinegar for a while. One recipe mentioned that leaving the jars to sit in the window would increase the spiciness of the vinegar, but I cannot speak to that (yet). So far mine tastes much like the original vinegar, but now it's a pretty color.

You should pick only healthy young flowers. Gather a lot. Let's say at least a half a brown paper bag full. Rinse and drain the flowers gently. Pick off any stems. Put the mound of flowers in a glass half pint jar and pour the vinegar over them. Let set. Ta da, vinegar made purple.

This is on the first day. As time wore on, the vinegar turned color and the flowers lost theirs.

Wisdom from my Momma

2011-03-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

This is not original to her, but she quoted it to me on the phone yesterday and it rings true:

You can either be right all the time or you can be in relationships with people.

Blooming Earth

2011-03-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Stacey Adam, of Blooming Earth Flowers, is bringing all sorts of good things to Knoxville. In addition to fair trade flora, Ms. Adam will be teaching interested folks the fine art and craft of making soap. Here's the skinny.

This image comes from http://mouseinyourhouse.wordpress.com/

Luffa Soap Making Class-

Sunday, March 20th, starting at 5:30 pm, $18

This is a melt and pour class focusing on using our farm grown luffa. We will be using essential oils to create our own scents, and the soap base is SLS free. The end product will be 6 round bars with luffa in the center (They make great gifts).

Bring a bottle of wine or other beverage and snacks to share (if you would like, this is not a requirement). I will have an appropriate spring time drink available to warm up with if necessary. Glasses and napkins are provided.

We will need at least 12 people to sign up in order to have the class.So if you have friends or would like to make more than six bars of soap let me know (i.e. 12 bars would be $36).

Read what Christina blogged after our December class. It is a delightful read! Thanks Christina! http://mouseinyourhouse.wordpress.com/

Great, right? And...check out these other workshops coming up at Blooming Earth Flowers. Stay tuned for more information or email Stacey at bloomingearthflowers (at) gmail (dot) com to stay in the loop.

Saturday, April 9th
Home Brew Demo
Lots of yummy samples and food by Mockingbird Events

Sunday, May 1
Lye Soap Making Class
Get a demo on how to make lye the old school way and then actually make some soap with it.

Sunday, June 12
The Blueberry Lavender
Our First Annual Blueberry and Lavender Festival! Food will be provided by Bruce Bogartz of Rouxbarb and cocktails crafted by Laura Sohn of Mockingbird Events. Along with music and dancing and blueberries of course. It will be an evening to remember!

On a slightly unrelated note, I would like to propose renaming the May 1st workshop "Lye to Me." Oh! Punny? No. Ok. Enough.

Green Tunnel of Great Dizziness

2011-03-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

I recognized several locations in this. And then I got dizzy and had to turn it off. It is mesmerizing and beautiful. Maker, Kevin Gallagher, describes himself as an "amateur naturalist" and teaches art at Virginia Commonwealth University.

A six month journey along the 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail, condensed and reinterpreted into five minutes of stop-motion.

A full quality version is available for purchase on DVD. Go to www.smtgltd.bigcartel.com/ and look for it on Stephen Vitiello: Soundtracks.

www.anothergallagher.com

Rival Collective

2011-02-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Here's to collaboration and ambition. Ben and Greg (together Rival Collective) are two young designers about to launch from the University of Tennessee. Their thesis project, Rival Collective, involves "exploring the the nature of change in collaboration and limitation as they relate to the transition from being a student to working in the professional world."

They wrote to me (among others) to solicit prompts, assignments, briefs, etc. In response I asked that they help me promote an upcoming series of Urban Land Scout workshops at CAC Beardsley Community Farm. Their work arrived this evening and I am buzzing. The ten posters they designed are, in my humble and unbiased opinion, near perfect. I could not be more pleased.

I was also pleased to find various iterations of the posters posted on their tumblr.

New Shoes

2011-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

I made my first pair of shoes under the kind tutelage of Daniel Scott. He'll be teaching at least two more workshops (if not more) at the Knoxville Birdhouse in April. Stay tuned to their calendar to sign up.

Emerging Artists

2011-02-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Image by the talented Jonathan Bagby.

I am honored to join a fine crew of young, local emerging artists whose work will be featured in an upcoming show at the Emporium Center. The Arts and Culture Alliance, whose work fills the Emporium Center's gallery month after month, is a great resource for anyone wanting to plug into the local art scene.

Below are my fellow emerging artists. Check out our websites and consider buying our work while we're young and relatively undiscovered. You can also read the full press release from the Arts and Culture Alliance here.

Ashley Addair - www.noroomforhipsters.com
Jonathan Bagby - www.jonathanbagby.com
Julie Bernal - www.juliebernal.com
Robmat Butler - www.robmatbutler.com
Antuco Chicaiza - www.antucochicaiza.com
Hannah C. Holder - www.hannahholder.com
Heather Ann Jackson - www.heatherajackson.com
Jessie Morris – Photography - www.jessiemophoto.mosaicglobe.com
Erin Mullenex - www.erinmullenex.com
Katie Ries - www.whoshareswins.com
Jessie Van der Laan - www.jessievanderlaan.com

just ripe

2011-02-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

just ripe is a worker-owned food cooperative that's been selling delicious and seasonal prepared food at the Knoxville Farmers' Market on Market Square for over a year now. They're about to take the big step of moving from charming-but-transient-gypsy-caravan to a brick and mortar store in the Daylight Building in downtown Knoxville. As you might imagine, this is an expensive project. In the same spirit that inspires their products and business model, just ripe has launched a Kick Starter campaign.

For the uninitiated, Kick Starter is a website that allows people with a vision (like the women at just ripe) to crowd source the funding for said vision. They've set a goal of $12,000 and have until Sunday, February 13th to raise the money. If they don't reach their goal by then, all pledged monies will be returned to the donors. If they do reach their goal Knoxville's food and culture scene will be so much the richer.

It is cliche but true to say that every bit helps. Five or five hundred, the women at just ripe will be grateful for your help.

mixed

2011-01-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Provenance and Consumption

2011-01-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

I am making drawings about skinning deer in anticipation of doing the actual work. It is an odd mediation. This drawing was a test run for a print to go into a portfolio exchange. If you're so inclined, you can buy it for your very own.

Worthy: 3

2011-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

This clever image comes from an interview in the Nashville Scene which you can read here.

Sam Smith (Sam's Myth) is the kind of wonderkid you think doesn't exist in real life until you meet him and then it seems perfectly normal, albeit a little unfair to the rest of us, that someone should be able to do so much so well. I first knew Sam as an eager little kid in lower school in Nashville. As we progressed through middle and then high school Sam was to me the guy-who-could-draw-really-well and I looked up to him (and envied him) forever and ever, amen. (He was also and remains today a talented drummer and musician among other things.) One of the things I took away from Sam, and for which I remain very grateful, is the model of putting your work out there. Or as was said in my sunday school, "Don't hide your light under a bushel."

Fortunately for all, Mr. Myth burns brightly and in many directions. If you live in Nashville you can go see his fantastic movie posters at the Belcourt. The rest of us can content ourselves with browsing through his blog, flickr stream, and portfolio.

what I'm thinking...

2010-12-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

Planning for a "new genres" class I hope to teach.

Drawing America by Bike

2010-12-30T18:42:00.000-08:00

Just what it sounds like. Eric is riding his bicycle all around the US, drawing, and blogging / facebooking about it. I especially like this image from his time in Knoxville. I think I know these people...or I want to.

You can track the man in "real" time with this handy google map.

View Larger Map

Order and Access are Delicious

2010-12-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

My husband introduced me to delicious.com and it's been a valuable tool. Delicious is sort of like a link library where you store and catalog sites of interest. You can search for anything that interests you and see the sites bookmarked by other users. Here's my list of bookmarks on the site: Katie Ries

Some body

2010-12-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've taken home several odd grotesque vegetables with plans to draw them. Their body forms are so pleasing to me. As is the visceral moment when the root finally releases from the soil.

This drawing (and another which didn't turn out as well) mark the end of my procrastination. Or an interruption to it. As an added bonus, you can purchase the drawing here.

Tonight marks the rare overlap of the winter solstice and the lunar eclipse.

Wear It

2010-12-16T06:15:00.000-08:00

Although I'm not inked myself, I appreciate much about this piece. It comes by way of Esther Garcia of Butterfat Tattoo in Chicago. File this under: things to hold you over while it's icy.

Littlest Print Exchange

2010-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Exchange portfolios are one of my favorite practices of printmaking culture. A group of artists are given (or agree upon) a theme, dimensions, and an edition number. Each artist receives a complete set of all the prints. Often two or three of the portfolios will go into special collections, be sold by the organizer, or go on display.

In the case of the Littlest Print Exchange, organizer Christopher Clark gave participants the theme of "cliché" and the littlest print dimensions of 3" x 3". The resulting prints offer insight into the minds of the fifty-five artists who participated in the exchange as well as a nice survey of the diverse aesthetics of print media.

Click on the image here to visit the Littlest Print Exchange site and browse a gallery of the 2010 images.

Barn Razing

2010-12-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Razing the Barn from katie on Vimeo.

Razing the Barn (2) from katie on Vimeo.

Oh Painting

2010-11-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

I waver continuously in my understanding of how an image may affect us. Mark Rothko is quoted as saying that he wanted the viewer to fall to his knees and weep before Rothko's paintings. I've never fallen to my knees and wept before a painting, certainly not in any of the privileged institutions where one can see a Rothko in the flesh. That said, some images speak to me. Most often the work makes me want to make work.

The paintings of Sam McKinnis make me wish I were a painter. Or that I were fabulously wealthy and could buy several of his portraits. Shown here is McKinniss's virtuosic study for a portrait. Browse through his series and wish you were a lithe young thing in the Boston area.

Then It Hit Me

2010-11-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

Scanning old photos and found this.

New York City, 2005.

Cobblery, Shoe Making

2010-11-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning a project in which I hope to make myself a pair of tall fashion boots out of leather (or hide) that I tan myself. A brief google search for "shoe making" turned up this gem, Ms. Mary Wales Loomis. She asks, "Have you ever thought about making your own SHOES? I did."

Yes, Ms. Loomis, I too have thought about making my own shoes. It did not occur to me to make my own pumps, but now that I've seen this glorious display I'm considering getting set like Ms. Frizzle for my next job interview. Ms. Loomis is an example of why I love DIY. She ripped up a pair of shoes to learn how they were made; she cast her own "lasts" using plaster of paris in a pair of existing shoes; she starts teaching her shoe making; and then she publishes a book. Right on sister.

I'm reminded of the craftastic Zen saying, "To make a kimono take apart a kimono." Or something like that. I've found this to be especially true with other clothing projects: careful deconstruction reveals the process in a poetic way. Perhaps I will be heading to AmVets tomorrow to find some boots for an informative and Zen dismantling.

Time is a Luxury

2010-10-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

I finally made the sumac tea. It's pretty easy: add cold water to the berries and let sit for a while. Strain and drink. As reported, it is very much like a lemonade. I would like to add that it soothed my hangover, cured my acne, and made me a sparkling wit for 24 hours, but that is not true. It is refreshing and simple. That's enough.

Since graduating last year and starting work at Beardsley Farm I've been cooking more. My half CSA share from A Place of the Heart Farm has helped push my food experimenting. As I write, napa cabbage sits in brine waiting to become kimchi. In November I'll attend a canning class by my friend Kat Raese. I enjoy the labor of cooking as much as I like to eat the food, but am continually amazed at how easily I can pass several hours cooking. And then it's time to think about the next meal.

This experience reinforces for me that the obesity epidemic (and our other failings of health, both physical and ecological) are far more complex and difficult than a matter of will or making good choices. It's hard to argue for things like canning your own food (which takes several hours) in comparison with buying canned goods from the grocery store. Especially when the store bought food is so inexpensive. I have the benefit of several factors that make it easier for me to cook and experiment with things like canning and kimchi, but chief among them is time. I have time to cook because I don't work three or four jobs or have several children or older relatives in my care. Were I responsible for feeding people beyond myself and my husband, you can bet there would be a couple nights of fish sticks and ketchup.

I enjoy fantasizing about a life lived more closely off the land: growing more of the food we eat, having bees, making our own clothes and furniture, etc. etc. but the reality of that lifestyle is that it demands a lot more of your time. As of yet, I cannot figure a way to be the super urban homesteader and have a contemporary career. I follow the flickr images of a woman who goes by the name Wilderness Gal. She and her husband and daughter are living a back-to-the-land life of homesteading. It looks gorgeous and rugged, but it also seems isolated and all consuming. Their sustenance is her primary occupation, where as I approach things like gardening and wildcrafting as hobbies with aesthetic and metaphoric value.

The Way You Do One Thing

2010-10-24T20:15:00.001-07:00

A friend of ours recently mentioned the expression, "The way you do one thing is the way you do all things." The truth of the sentiment makes me cringe: the way I do most things is not the way I want to do all things. To quote Issa, "And yet, and yet." And yet I rush impatiently into many situations only to find myself wishing I'd had the presence of mind to stop for a red hot minute and make a plan. Or change my shoes.

Today as we traveled up and down I-75 I saw clumps of staghorn sumac growing in edges of the fields alongside the highway. Since last fall I've been wanting to harvest the berries and make the lemonade-esque drink I've read about. Additionally, it is supposed to rain tonight and I'd heard that it's best to harvest the berries before a rain drains them of their flavor. These details converged in my mind and generated a sense of great urgency that propelled me to rush out to the embankment near our house as soon as we got home. Despite the fact that it was dusk and I was wearing cowboy boots, I made for the sumac I'd seen growing, slipped through to the other of the chain link fence, and started skittering up a steep slope towards the plants.

After watching me fall clumsily through the tall weeds, a burly neighbor yelled up to ask just "What the hell are you doing?" I told him. Twice. And then skittered away trying to look like I had every business stumbling through the brush and hoping he wouldn't call the police. None of the young sumac plants I found had berries-- they don't produce until at least a year of growth-- and I realized I would have to hop the tall fence in my stupid boots in order to avoid backtracking down the steep hill. I ripped my t-shirt in the process but avoided skewering myself on the fence. When I finally found a plant with berries, I was so eager to make up for my earlier mistakes that I greedily broke a primary rule of foraging and harvested all three clusters--rather than leaving some to reseed or for other foragers to harvest.

The way you do one thing is the way you do all things. Next time I will do the one thing with better planning and more reasonable shoes.

Raise the Roots

2010-10-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce "Raise the Roots: A dinner to celebrate and support CAC Beardsley Community Farm." This fundraising dinner will be hosted by the Tomato Head on Market Square, Monday evening, November 22nd, from 6-9 pm. Tickets are $25 and available for purchase here or by clicking the button below. Dinner will be prepared by Tomato Head owner, Mahasti Vafaie, and Maryville Tomato Head cook, Robert Birkholtz. Doors open at 6 pm and the buffet dinner will be served at 7:30. Please help us spread the word about this event and about the important work of Beardsley Community Farm.

In Process

2010-09-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

Preparing for the Beardsley Farm fundraising dinner to be held at the downtown Tomato Head.

Ideas

2010-09-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Rough quick sketch and colored final image proposing a podcast project to be completed at an artist residency. It pays to draw better sketches first and have less photoshop clean up to do, but I was in a hurry and kept it very loose. I like to keep some of the drafting lines in the final, but am not sure how much that helps the image.

I hope to try and complete this project with or without the residency, but the support would be helpful. Cross your fingers and pray to your favorite deity for me, please.

Flippant

2010-09-12T13:53:00.001-07:00

Tomato does a chin up.

First Friday in Knoxville

2010-09-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month. In Knoxville (as in many cities) that means that many galleries host opening receptions for their new shows and several businesses stay open late. Although there has been in the past some disagreement over who "started" First Friday or who "owns" the event, it happens all over and without any overarching management. I think that's a great thing. While I hope for the continued development of Knoxville's art culture and scene, I do not think that management or cohesive advertising is the way to do that.

I think that the best way to develop Knoxville's art scene is to participate in it. Make art. Look at art. If you can afford to, and the spirit moves you, buy art. The First Friday gallery walk is a great point of entry. Below is a map of SOME of the galleries participating in First Friday festivities. I hope this can be a truly collaborative map. If you would like to be an editor of the map, please drop me an email or comment and I'll add you in. Once added, you will be able to add other collaborators, in addition to editing the map as you see fit.

View First Friday Galleries in Knoxville in a larger map

More Warming Up

2010-08-30T14:57:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I think the warm up and practice stuff ends up nicer than the finished big works. This is a small study for a smaller print.

Warm Up Drawings

2010-08-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Some drawings in which I tried to think of unusual scenes or phrases and draw them quickly.

Worthy: 2

2010-07-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

In June I had the opportunity to travel to Poland (and briefly to Berlin) for a printmaking exchange with students at the Art Academies in Poznań and Wrocław. It was not an especially productive trip in terms of making work, but it was profoundly inspiring in terms of art heroes. In addition to the hyper-talented students with whom we stayed (among them Ania Czuż, Agata Gertchen, and Marcin Szewczyk...with more coming to visit Knoxville this fall) we were fortunate enough to visit the printshop wonderland of Keystone Editions in Berlin.

Keystone Editions is the print home of Sarah Dudley und Ulrich Kühle, two Tamarind-trained printers who wandered the (printmedia) globe gleaning tips and tricks for setting up a functioning printshop. Their travels and observations have paid off, in addition to good light and exciting editions, Keystone has some damn fine feng shui. It made me wish I had a couple more years of school left so I could come intern with them and live in Berlin...

So here, I salute the worthy and well-planned efforts of Printmakers Sarah Dudley und Ulrich Kühle. Long may they and Keystone Editions live. And if you're heading to Berlin (or have deep pockets to purchase art) look them up here.

Worthy: 1

2010-07-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

I've been admittedly slack about ye olde bloggery, but I don't think anyone is losing sleep over it. Onward and upward and outward now.

In honor of getting back in the game and things that are great (summer, swimming, reading, the public library, etc.) I bring you People Worthy of Praise, No. 1 (of many?), Molly Adams.

I met Molly in college and soon recognized her superior style, intellect, and ability to put-an-assclown-in-his-or-her-place. She now produces radio for Vocalo.org in Chicago and maintains and maddeningly interesting tumblr feed. Seems like every time I go there all I want to to is reiterate and repost the interesting stuff she's found. I especially appreciate her for keeping me updated on contemporary feminism.

So there you are, Molly Adams, worthy of praise. Alright now.

Treading Water

2010-06-30T20:37:00.001-07:00

What next? What next?

Oh this?

Ok.

Camera, Camera

2010-06-06T06:28:00.001-07:00

I am traveling in Poland now. It is on the whole more similar than it is different, but I find myself seeking out and photographing the details that are "foreign" to me. Neither my traveling companion nor I speak Polish. It is frustrating and a little hollow not to interact with anyone but the young and educated, although we have been profoundly grateful to the young Polish folks who translate between us and, say, the train conductors.

There is something consumptive about being a tourists and I haven't quite figured out how to own it well. We have only a month, which will end soon, and then we return to the US with anecdotes and photos. On that subject of photos and the tourists who take them, I present Camera, Camera a film by my talented friend Malcolm Murray. This is only a trailer, you'll have to attend the LA Film Festival in mid-June to see the world premier, but even this small bit hints at the way the camera facilitates and distorts our consumption of foreign culture. If you're in LA, or know a film or travel buff there, encourage them to make a point of seeing Camera, Camera.

CAMERA, CAMERA - Trailer from malcolm murray on Vimeo.

Cześć

2010-05-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting photos here for a while. Also, if you're on the skype, give me a ring at kt.ries. English feels good like a hot shower or a rich meal.

Over and out.

Leaving Home

2010-05-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Every time I prepare to leave a place, my nostalgia for it spurts out of control. Right now, as I prepare to head to Poland for a month, I am especially infatuated with Knoxville and the people here.

In addition to viewing my home and life through rose colored glasses, our damn sweet dog was almost squashed flat by a car today. I had a swift vision of puppy guts and blood, but she was not hit and emerged with only a broken harness to show for the event.

Lord, increase my bewilderment.

The First Land Scouts

2010-04-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Although there have been many who signed on with the Urban Land Scouts, this young person and his mother were the first to send in photo documentation of their scouting.

I am thrilled both to see the second phase of this project start, and to see all the spring plants blooming in the woods around them. You can see more photos at urbanlandscouts.com.

Special Tea

2010-04-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

This tea comes from Sally Payne by way of my mother. We drank it all summer when I was younger. The taste signals to me the promise of summer and leisure. It is simple to make, very sweet, slightly caffeinated, and good with ice.

Carrots

2010-03-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Contemporary Labor

2010-03-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Urban Land Scout patches in the digital flesh. You can earn yours soon.

To the Streets

2010-03-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Urban Land Scouts | Levels 1-2 here

Dissemination

2010-03-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

This is a QR code. It is a two-dimensional pattern which can be scanned by smart phones much like a barcode. According to wikipedia, QR stands for "quick response", as the pattern is intended to be decoded quickly. This one here directs scanners to the nascent blog of the Urban Land Scouts. I'm trying to formalize my display for the gallery and thinking this might be a funny way to represent the blogging badge.

Here also is an image of that badge (pre-embroidery).

Come to the Downtown Gallery in Knoxville, TN from April 15-30th to join the Urban Land Scouts and start earning your badges.

How To Do What

2010-02-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

I have not yet met Sue Bell Yank, but I occasionally turn to her blog about "Writings about the social in contemporary art."

Her most recent post speaks to my experiences both with the Birdhouse and my earlier visit to Colorado College, a liberal arts college in Colorado Springs and my alma mater. While at CC I gave a talk about my own work, which is increasingly socially-based and (I hesitate to write this) "post studio". I also talked briefly about the work we do at the Birdhouse. I spoke with a couple of students about how the Birdhouse runs-- for example, are we a non-profit? How does it work? Who are the "members"?-- and answered a surprising number of questions about how I was able to make a living making art. I was honest about that: I do not seek to "make a living" doing the work I do. At the very best, I hope to stay in the black (see this post), but I think a lot of these students are stuck in a semi-obsolete model of Artist makes Object, Someone buys Object, and Artist makes Money. Very few of the artists I know make even half of their income from selling works of art. It's a nice thing to do, but we also supplement our incomes by teaching, giving lectures, doing commercial work, or having paying jobs that are entirely separated from our studio practices. You've got to hustle, right?

Sue Bell Yank talks about her frustration(?) with students who want a How-To guide to community-based social work. As with so many things, the answer is to jump in and do it. Each situation is unique and specific. As to running a successful non-profit she writes,

"These things are dependent on people you know, the strength of your mission, your ability to express it, the appropriateness of your location, your relationship with funders, your prior experience."

I hope that we as a nascent collective will remain flexible and able to express our mission well. I hope that for myself as an individual too. We shall see.

Thoughts Counting

2010-02-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it really is the thought that counts...at least not in art. Even if art is conceptual and not object based, you've still got to face the issue of presentation. And presentation, it turns out, matters. I think I've got in mind what I want to say, what experiences I want to impart, and (to some degree) what objects will be in the gallery, but I cannot yet put my finger on the presentation.

Here below is a drawing made in pursuit of that elusive presentation and tone of voice.

The Future As I Know It

2010-02-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

Just today I accepted an Americorp position to work at Beardsley Farm doing outreach and farm work. I am very glad to be entering that community and grateful to have some sense of what the future will hold. Now to nail this thesis business.

You can read more about Beardsley Farm here.

Exactly

2010-02-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

I am lucky to work with many talented and grounded people. Jarred Elrod is someone who I admire for both the quality of his work and the way he integrates his design practice with his life. To wit, the video below, which he made with two other talented young designers, Greg and Christian.

This is exactly how I felt today after a meeting about my own thesis project. Thanks friend.

the act of sitting from Jarred Elrod on Vimeo.

No Patron, No Product

2010-02-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of commerce, patronage, hierarchy, the-myth-of-genius, capitalism, and/or the democracy of the multiple I bring you: the PayPal button.

Clicking on the button above will allow you to donate real live USDs to my thesis project. My hope is to establish a temporary store in which gallery visitors can "purchase" plants, seeds, and seedlings in exchange for committing to specified labor and stewardship. Instead of paying for the plants, the purchaser will sign a contract and be documented. You, potential Medici of contemporary art, can help make that happen.

My hope is to distribute at least 12 semi-mature fruit and nut trees, which I estimate will cost approximately $40 each. If you would like to sponsor a tree, click yonder button. If you'd like to get involved in the project in other ways, please send me an email or consider coming to the Volunteer Interest Meeting, Thursday, February 11th, at 7 pm.

Thanks.

Pecan Branch

2010-01-25T06:25:00.001-08:00

pecan branch, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

From East Knoxville. The fall of 2008 was much drier than 2009 and yielded many more pecans for my friend Charlotte, from whose tree this branch fell.

Charlotte tells me that every year several pecans root in her yard and make small saplings with deep taproots. In one of many failed art-gardening attempts last year, I took several pecans and tried to get them to sprout. No luck.

Thanks to Tour de Plants, we now have a 5' pecan tree in our house. We brought it in to avoid the freezing weather and there it stays. The mature tree could get to be over 60' tall and will potentially be dropping nuts on the ground. This limits slightly the public locations in which it will be welcome (e.g. not great for the greenway, no good in shallow soil, etc.). If you live in Knoxville, and have room for a pecan tree in a semi-public location, it could be yours. Let me know.

Agricultural Cliché No. 1

2010-01-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

Student Labor = Free Labor

2010-01-20T06:37:00.000-08:00

Design is work. Art is work. Both take time, skills, discipline, and materials. I often get the impression that those outside of these fields think that the work is accomplished through force of will and genius. I do not assume that Kerry Mitchell of rouXbarbeque lacks respect for design and art generally, but I do assume this contest is a great way to get a lot of young people to work for free. Sure, one lucky designer wins, gets paid and eats well for a while, but everyone else has just donated hours of their time and energy to a job. The design students I know at UT are already busy working their asses off. There's also nothing here to say that rouXbarbeque won't keep elements of your design(s) for future branding or other projects without declaring you the winner. Again, I do not doubt the good intentions of Kerry Mitchell and the rouXbarbeque crew, but I feel this aiming this contest at students is disrespectful of both the students' work and design as a practice.

Why not hire a commercial designer? There are many great firms in Knoxville? For example: Robin Easter or Yee Haw Industries. If rouXbarbque still wanted the publicity of a contest, they could contract a working designer for several options and put them to a public vote.

Dog and Order

2010-01-12T20:12:00.001-08:00

I was not especially keen on getting a dog. I am wary of the way we treat domesticated animals and selfishly did not want to have to look after anything other than myself and my beloved.

Thankfully, I misunderstood. It's not like that at all. I am grateful for the small dog who has entered our life. As Jane Goodall said to work around her desire to anthropomorphize the chimpanzees, "If she were human..." I would say that she is socially minded, high spirited, and happy. Currently she is tightly curled on the floor and sleeping.

Her animal-ness is a good reminder to me when I am trapped in a thought bubble and feeling as if my anxieties were of global importance. It is often good to take a walk and start anew.

Red Tide Poison

2010-01-03T12:06:00.003-08:00

Found this propaganda gem in a thrift store in East Knoxville. I liked the simple two-color design of the cover and was surprised to find just how bat-shit-crazy it is. Not only is the body copy chock full of nutzo sentiments (published by the Soldiers of the Cross in Englewood, Colorado) but the previous owner has added her own dubious notes about the commie invasion. In addition to communists, the reader was worked up about "the Jews". She notes to herself, "Satan is destructive."

The text next to Castro reads, "old, ugly sloppy mouth/ He'd look real good with lipstick, a dress, and high heels./ The "bearded lady." ha ha" The reader/note taker goes on to highlight several communist ploys and notes they are "Carl's favorite tactics."

Scary and weird. Can't decide if I should throw the book away or keep it as a reminder of how deeply we fear perceived differences.

young garlic

2009-12-28T20:12:00.001-08:00

young garlic, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

Winter

2009-12-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

It is cold now and hard to imagine that it will ever be warm again. The small green things in the garden reassure me: spring will come.

2009-12-18T13:36:00.001-08:00

Have been chipping away at a real-live portfolio web page and am pleased to say it is at least 40% finished. Hoo-ray. You can check it out here.

In other news, here's a photo of a lady with a kitten who appeared at my bank one afternoon this summer. She kept talking about finding the kitten all smooshed on the side of the road and how she just couldn't leave it to die. The women at the bank were swooning, especially the police woman. I think the kitten may have been a little brain damaged. Look at that sweet face...can you see it?

This woman and her brain damaged kitten in the bank are the sorts of things that I like about Knoxville. Just a hair off color and in places you wouldn't expect it.

God bless us, every one.

Moment, Not Mint

2009-12-17T05:42:00.001-08:00

The good stuff, originally uploaded by Smashimus.

I like the declarative vibe and the typography in this piece very much. Seems full of inside jokes too. Take it to the streets folks.

Oaxacan Food

2009-12-13T17:55:00.001-08:00

Pork Rind Childhood

2009-12-12T15:30:00.001-08:00

I think the memory or idea of food is often more satisfying that the actual thing itself. In honor of food memories and Mockingbird Events' Street Food Dinner tonight, here is a drawing about my memory of pork rinds at the Monteagle flea market.

Great Hope

2009-12-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I ordered six fruit and nut trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. You pay to become a member and then you get a discount on live trees...and they come by post!

They are bare root trees, which I read are less hearty than burlap root balled trees or container grown trees. No matter, they arrived on Saturday in a triangular cardboard mailer: 2 pecans, 2 kieffer pears, 1 plum, 1 redbud, and two free forsythia shrub (i.e. branches). We've had a large pecan sapling (~5' tall) leftover from the Tour de Plants and I decided I would plant it in a large newly established median space between 5th and 4th Ave.

The Tennessee Dept. of Transportation has just this summer finished a large interstate overhaul called SmartFix-40. In it's wake, the interstate on ramps are safer, we have noise barrier walls, and there are several recently disturbed areas passing through succession. TDOT planted several trees (magnolias, dogwood, etc.) but they must be heavily fertilized as the surrounding soil is junk. It's mostly clay and full of rocks: no good for young trees and nearly impossible to dig a deep enough hole for my pecan tree.

So instead, I planted the small and sad little bare root pecans from the Arbor Day Foundation. I mixed some of my compost into the clay and surrounded each tree with leaf mulch (also left over from the bike ride). Now I wait.

And wait. And wait. I will return to check on their progress in a couple weeks. The plane in which they are planted has a strong slope and I fell asleep last night dreaming of terraces, sedums, and paths. Maybe after I get my Masters in Landscape Architecture. Ha.

Here is the one of the trees on site.

Legacy

2009-12-07T13:46:00.001-08:00

legacy, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

This photo comes from Saturday afternoon when we happened by Legacy, an excellent vintage store, now emptied to make room for storage (great idea, Jeffrey Nash, use a retail storefront to store your crap).

My bitter feelings towards developers (with more money than sense) aside, this is a good example of how the visual gets at things that words cannot. I like images that reward the penetration of the gaze. Look closely at the photograph and find the owner standing at the back of the store. It was probably one of the last times she'll stand in a building that has been her life for decades. I almost felt as if I shouldn't have been there witnessing her and it.

Instructional Test

2009-12-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

About Cooking

2009-11-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hot Damn

2009-11-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tour de Plants was yesterday and went pretty well. We planted fifteen blueberry bushes, seven rasp/blackberry bushes, a pawpaw tree, a pecan tree, two tart cherries, and a generous handful of garlic.

Much to my delight, one of our riders took the Gleaner's Guide to Knoxville (an online google map) and made an iPhone app that finds the nearest source to you. The irony (or tension) of using a very expensive smart phone to find marginal food sources is very pleasing to me. If you have a magIcPhone, direct it here and check out Eric's app: http://tinyurl.com/igleanknoxville.

Processing

2009-10-26T11:25:00.001-07:00

Our second "Gleaning Tour" went very well. Our group was bolstered by several knowledgeable enthusiasts. Here we are picking/digging up chicory. I hope to roast it and grind it up for a coffee substitute. Ah yes.

This photo is by Stephanie Untz. You can see more images from the tours here.

Speaking in Tongues

2009-10-25T18:11:00.001-07:00

Organelles

2009-10-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Collaborators

2009-10-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Checking

2009-10-11T20:50:00.001-07:00

man, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

Looking at Death

2009-10-10T11:59:00.001-07:00

8 October 2009, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

We have mice in our house. The traps we set make a dull sound when they snap on a mouse body. This one died with his eyes wide open and looking outward. Their bodies are usually stiff when I fling them into the overgrowth across the street.

Memory

2009-10-10T11:56:00.001-07:00

7 October 2009, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

One sketch from a series of Daily Sketches drawn from memory.

Stewardship

2009-10-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

10th October, 10 am - noon, Parkridge Neighborhood in E. Knoxville
We will meet at the Parkridge Community Garden on the corner of E. 5th Ave. and Olive St. Please bring a pen and wear comfortable shoes and clothing for walking outdoors.

24th October, 10 am - noon, 4th & Gill Neighborhood north of Downtown
We will meet at the Birdhouse, 800 N. 4th Ave, on the corner of N. 4th and Gill Aves. Please bring a pen and wear comfortable shoes and clothing for walking outdoors.

XYth November, 10 am - noon, South Knoxville neighborhoods tbd

I will be hosting ongoing events addressing ideas of land stewardship, labor, and community. Please contact me if you have ideas for a tour in your area or would like to get involved.

Pattern

2009-09-24T08:30:00.001-07:00

Made this to print on the backsides of some loose book pages. The book illustrates two weird baby dreams.

Small Carrots

2009-09-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

These came from the garden behind the Birdhouse.

Why Community?

2009-09-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

What's so great about community?

I'm trying to answer this question for myself. Is it really that great? No, not inherently. This is, I think, why you've got to work actively to cultivate the kind of community you want to see (or need). That row won't hoe itself.

I think we've got biological hard-wiring pushing us to band together, but I'm not sure I want to get into that with my work.

Thesis haiku: 1

2009-09-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

TRACFONE voicejail night
The machine quickly deters
a small branch of it.

In America

2009-09-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

In America, we have so much food that we fight with it.

I believe that waste is a sin. This poster really set my hair to curl. The fact that the event benefits food banks does little to assuage me.

Patience

2009-08-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like best about gardening is that it demands patience. While there are ways to speed along germination, fruiting, and rotting, plants have their own time and it does not sync with your Palm Pre/iPhone/whatever. It's biological and ancient. They will not be hurried or cajoled.

For example, this fig tree cutting. I'm told it will root...in about a year. First it will shed its leaves and seem dead, and we will wait. Then some time in the future-- the post grad-school future where I am starting out my highly successful career as guest lecturer and artist shaman-- the fig tree will put out roots. And I will sing and dance.

If it doesn't root-- if what seems like dead, is dead-- that will be the future just as well.

Thesis

2009-08-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

"The world is large and full of noise."
-Jane Hirschfield

I meet with my thesis committee for the first time tomorrow.

Diagram

2009-08-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

"It is not the number of units in a system that give it strength, but the number of connections between those units."

Notes from Gene Monaco and Chad Hellwinkel's lecture at the Birdhouse

Yield

2009-08-17T20:00:00.001-07:00

I'd read that you can grow potatoes in a "tire tree" made by continuously stacking more tires and dirt over the leaves and stems the potatoes put out.

My friend Jorge pointed out that tires contain cadmium, among other things, and so I tried the layering method in a plastic bucket.

It did make potatoes, but not the multiple generations I'd imagined the tire tree would produce. Next year I'll try it with chicken wire and straw or wooden produce boxes. It seems you need to get more height to get a larger yield.

I enjoy the way root vegetables yield. I imagine all the returning UT students are giving way with a similar muted *POP*.

Fall Is Coming

2009-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's still very warm here.

Snake Handlers

2009-08-16T07:58:00.001-07:00

snake handlers, originally uploaded by kt.ries.

The truth is richer and better than fiction. These are sketches from a lecture by Fred Brown and Jeanne McDonald, authors of "The Serpent Handlers", at the East Tennessee Historical Society.

My favorite part was about an elder woman of the church: The first time she handled a snake...it died.

End of Summer

2009-08-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Swimming pools remind me of the hot sticky end of summer. This one did especially.

Who Shares Wins

skulletons

Quarrel

Grateful

this too

Open the House

Double Dipping

Ross Marble Quarry

Yes Men, Yes Lab!

Near Florabama

Madeline Rogero for Mayor

Hesitate

values

Good Omen

Carson Fisk-Vittori

Skulletons in the Garden

The Future is Always Wide Open

Before I Die

Violet Vinegar

Wisdom from my Momma

Blooming Earth

Green Tunnel of Great Dizziness

Rival Collective

New Shoes

Emerging Artists

just ripe

mixed

Provenance and Consumption

Worthy: 3

what I'm thinking...

Drawing America by Bike

Order and Access are Delicious

Some body

Wear It

Littlest Print Exchange

Barn Razing

Oh Painting

Then It Hit Me

Cobblery, Shoe Making

Time is a Luxury

The Way You Do One Thing

Raise the Roots

In Process

Ideas

Flippant

First Friday in Knoxville

More Warming Up

Warm Up Drawings

Worthy: 2

Worthy: 1

Treading Water

Camera, Camera

Cześć

Leaving Home

The First Land Scouts

Special Tea

Carrots

Contemporary Labor

To the Streets

Dissemination

How To Do What

Thoughts Counting

The Future As I Know It

Exactly

No Patron, No Product

Pecan Branch

Agricultural Cliché No. 1

Student Labor = Free Labor

Dog and Order

Red Tide Poison

young garlic

Winter

Share This

Moment, Not Mint

Oaxacan Food

Pork Rind Childhood

Great Hope

Legacy

Instructional Test

About Cooking