Hello dear friends –

here is what it feels like to have one summer between you and graduation and moving to a new big city and embracing your most genuine dream (to be a starving but full artist):

There is a sense, a strong sense: that I am sitting on the edge: of what could be a very large&beautiful summer.

Previous summers were generally Very Good if not Very Unremarkable. But recently summer has been Very Bad (life delicately explodes at the best and worst times). I had retreated back into the womb out of fear and now dare I emerge ? though the wind blows so strongly and I could imagine it would not be difficult to simply fall off the earth if I travel too far from the center.

I do not mind being birthed again. I am cold and whimpering but may my Loves of both earth and sky keep me warm.

above: Inked rubber stamps printed on muslin.
Project for my Fibers&Related Media course (fall 2015)

I have much to do this summer, my first summer of hopefully making tangible progress towards a tangible goal. I have a lot of art-making to do. Never have I felt so summoned to create art. I suppose this innate desire has always waxed and waned, but it has reached a new intensity. I have a few deadlines coming up to keep me motivated:

• First Friday: I will be having two solo shows in Scranton. Please come by and say hello. I am nice. The first show is:

alice: can we draw together
when: Friday, June 3rd, 2016 @6PM-9PM
where: Ale Mary’s
126 Franklin Ave, Scranton, PA 18503
what: a fun mixture of fiber art, printmaking, painting, and whatever else happens. Probably free food.

   The second show is still a work in progress:

Name: TBA
when: Friday, September 2nd 2016 @6PM-9PM
where: eden-a vegan cafe
344 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503
what: cool art hanging on walls at a delicious restaurant

• Scranton Zine Fest: My awesome friend and Marywood graduate Jess Meoni will be hosting Scranton’s only underground art and literature festival for the sixth consecutive year. The fest runs from noon to 7PM and features over twenty artists, myself included! I will be selling zines and lots of other fun goodies. Come find us in Adezzo’s Alleway: 515 Center Street, Scranton, PA 18503 on June 11th, 2016. Check out the zine fest website for more info (illustrations by me, edited by Jess Meoni)!

• TEDxYouth@Scranton: Another great event hosted by Jess Meoni, this official TEDx talk will discuss “Fear and Fascination” on September 9th, 2016 at the Theater at North. I have been named Art Director and will be designing the set along with two other great local artists. Keep updated with the conference here.

Other than that, I am hoping to keep up with daily sketching and writing and making some great art – for myself! Sometimes it is hard to make art just for art’s sake, but I would very much like to experiment more and fear less and have no one to answer to…just for a few months while the sun is warm.

~alicia