Maybe an Artist

I have not always considered myself an artist. It's never been a primary component of my identity, but it's always been lurking in the background. It's funny how even when you are working quite hard and improving rapidly at something like art, you still may not consider yourself to be an artist. I think the main difference for me is that I consider myself to be more of a designer than an artist. The images that I print are so graphic as to be more 'design-y' vs 'art-y'.

Where this distinction begins to break down is the non-reproducible pieces that I create. In my monoprints (uses a marked plate) and monotypes (does not use a marked plate, but uses stencils, feathers, etc.), I am using more painterly gestures to create a once of a kind work of art that expresses an emotion or mood. These monoprints utilize my plates (reproducible elements) most of the time, but not always. Other times I use stencils or just ink in my monotype prints. The examples you see below are a mix of monotypes and monoprints.

So where does that leave me? An artist by night and a designer by day? I suppose there are worse things to be!

P.S. I highly recommend Maybe an Artist by my friend Liz at Large aka Liz Montague!

It's Quiet Uptown

I love Uptown Minneapolis. Despite it's misnomer of a name (it's def not Uptown of Downtown tbh), I LOVE Uptown. But not everyone feels the same. The most concerning aspect of this trend is that not all businesses feel the same love as me, and we rely on the business strip in Uptown to give it the vibrance that makes it feel like home for so many people.

Living in Uptown is convenience exemplified. I can walk to Target, Lund's, Cub, and (if I take a long walk) to Whole Foods. I'm walking distance to 8 great coffee options (Black Walnut, Canteen, Dunn Bros, Isles Bun & Coffee, Curioso Coffee Bar, Corner Coffee, Lake and Bryant Cafe, Uncommon Grounds Coffeehouse... the list actually goes on).

My favorite bar and restaurant (Sooki and Mimi) and bookstore (Magers & Quinn) are around the corner from each other. My bank (Chase) is one block from my home.

And yet Uptown is quiet. Businesses are leaving left and right. We recently lost Kitchen Window, Stella's Fish Cafe, Urban Outfitters, CB2 and H&M.

On the other hand, a new era is upon us. Arts and Rec and Curioso Coffee are some of the newcomers who are helping revitalize the business district that we know and love.

I called around to my favorite coffee shops in the blizzard hoping to find one that was open. I finally got lucky with number 5, Curioso. I had only been in once before, because their default milk is oat (for planet saving reasons), and I have a strong preference for almond milk (sorry planet). Despite this setback, I was able to enjoy a delicious skim milk flat white in a total blizzard in my neighborhood.

If that doesn't convince you to give Uptown another try, I don't know what will.

Ps! Curioso now offers almond milk! Big win!

MAGGIE <3

Well shiiiiiiit. Maggie Rogers absolutely destroyed Minneapolis last night.

Some of her best moments were: first, asking all the single people in the crowd to raise their hands and asking us to look around at all of the hot, single people in the crowd. Next, Maggie's "I'm Speaking" moment: when she was expressing heartfelt love for the crowd, this one guy was yelling some compliments at her. She totally called him out and asked him to stop yelling and to listen. She reflected that the world would be a better place if more men took the time to listen. The crowd absolutely lost their shit. And finally, Maggie restarted two separate songs after messing up the lyrics once (or twice). She was so sweet about it, and the crowd just seemed to love her more for it.

My other big takeaway was how much fun Maggie was having. She was living her dream and seemed genuinely elated to be doing it and to have us there with her. I felt very loved and seen by the performer, which is rare. She stuck to her set list most of the time and didn't chat with us too much, but when she did chat it felt meaningful. 13/10 performance.