I don't have much to say today. Happy Friday the 13th... International Monster's Day and just plain old TGIF. Here are some cheerful pictures! Oh! And guess what else? The four original yetis are up for sale on my etsy shop. Check it out! 

As Ellison packed his things today for his big move to England, another big monster was born. Meet Alistair. He is even bigger and even fatter than Ellison [but equally as sweet and cuddly.] So many of my monsters seem to be moving to the UK lately. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit jealous of their travels!

Since it was a BEAUTIFUL spring day, I let the two new friends play outside. They decided to climb trees and I snapped a few photos before my camera batteries died. Knitting these big guys has been really fun... I may knit one more before I switch gears again... but probably not as big as Alistair. He used up A LOT of yarn. 

Six new yetis were born today!

[available!]

[adopted]

[available!]

[adopted]

[adopted]

[available!]

I've had yetis on the brain... and on the needles for the past few weeks. I decided to take a little break from knitting little monsters to knit up the biggest one yet... and he's fat, fuzzy and fabulous. Meet Ellison, the biggest erinmakesstuff monster to date! I realize that the above picture gives you no frame of reference as to how big Ellison really his so here he is with the new batch of yetis. 

The yetis adore him... like a father or the monster equivalent. And if that doesn't give you the idea... here he is with yours truly. See the family resemblance? [I hope not.]

I wanted to share the work of Carrie Lingscheit, an artist I met on my recent trip to Athens, Ohio. I briefly spoke to her when I found this print for sale:

It reads, "he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn Num 24:8." She explained that she made it for a unicorn themed exchange portfolio. Some versions of the Bible mention unicorns in passing, but it's likely that they actually meant rhinoceros. [The first Bible I checked had changed unicorn to ox but the King James version does say unicorn!] Carrie also referenced Albrecht Durer's Rhinocerous print which is pretty awesome. So obviously I had to buy it. Now I just have to figure out where to hang it.

I thought it was a bit funny that the Studio Art class I subbed for today was also doing a drawing project based on Durer's Rhino. I wish I would have known, I could have shown them Carrie's print. 
See more of Carrie's work HERE. It's definitely worth checking out!

Although I am a self-taught knitter and most of my creating takes that form these days, I did study art in college. I was a painting major and loved it. I majored in ceramics too, but painting was always my first love. Painting consumed my thoughts and, even more so, consumed my time. I needed it that way. I hate to say I've leaned toward knitting monsters out of convenience because I love making them too, but picking out some yarn and sitting down to knit is a whole lot easier than setting up to paint... and I can take my knitting anywhere! I can't deny it though, sometimes I miss painting and working through bigger  ideas so badly that it hurts. 

This weekend I headed down to Ohio to see my friend John's thesis exhibit. He is graduating soon with his MFA from Ohio University and Friday was the opening for his show. John and I were both painting majors and good friends in undergrad. After graduation we headed in different directions. I went on to get another degree in Art Education right away while he took a year off to work and then applied to grad schools for fine art. John is really an amazing person to have known both personally and as an artist. His recent work is very thoughtful and draws connections between material [in this case mostly housing construction materials] and our own bodies. 

He has a website at johnburtsanders.org where there are more details on his work. Although he hasn't posted his statement about his show on the site,  I'll post it here so you can have a clearer idea of his intent. [We'll call it an erinmakesstuff exclusive.]:

In Indivisibler, textures and materials fuse together to generate a tangled field of associations between viewers’ bodies and the installation of works. Alternating between formal cohesion and material disintegration, this work traces connections between body, architecture and landscape in order to merge them into an increasingly undifferentiated mass. For instance, by noting analogous textures and functions between one’s own skin and fiberglass insulation, an uncertainty between contained body and exposed environment imposes a confusion of inside and outside. This uncertainty is amplified by the eclectic arrangement of familiar materials in which common substances collide to induce uncommon experiences.

It has been a great weekend of art, meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Six hour car rides are also a great chance to get some knitting done! This week I'll be posting pictures of the new batch of yetis and [if everything goes right!] they will also be on etsy by next weekend. Beyond all that this weekend has also given me the urge to start painting again. Stay tuned...

Images by John Burt Sanders.
[PS... after Indivisibler comes down, the building materials will be reused to insulate a house.]