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lookcloselypress

lookcloselypress
Date Joined: May 13, 2008
Last Online: December 23, 2010
Birthday: April 21
Country: United States
My Website
my swap-bot stuff on flickr

About Me

*****HI EVERYBODY!****** I WILL BE TAKING A BREAK FROM SWAP-BOT FOR A WHILE TO FOCUS ON OTHER ARTWORK, BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE GONE MISSING. IF I OWE YOU A POSTCARD, PLEASE MESSAGE ME HERE AND I WILL BE IN TOUCH WITHIN A WEEK. I HOPE TO RETURN AND BE MORE ACTIVE AT SOME POINT, BUT FOR NOW I HAVE TO DO OTHER STUFF. THANKS EVERYONE FOR BEING AWESOME!

I live in Brooklyn, NY, where I make artwork. My medium of choice is quilting, because a quilt can easily contain any other art medium you can think of, and I like this all-encompassing quality. I like things which are hand-made and filled with craftsmanship and weirdness and humor. I am particularly fond of artist postcards, and intend to create and send a lot of them to people here at swap-bot. I photograph everything in my life obsessively, and I love the idea that documentation of an art object can easily be interesting enough that it becomes artwork in its own right.

Anyone interested in doing a one-on-one handmade postcard swap should post a comment on my profile. Open theme is fun, and I also love a challenge, so if you have an idea, I'd probably like to try it out!

When sending me swaps or forum tags, please clearly indicate your username and the name of the swap or type of tag. Otherwise I may not be able to figure out why I am receiving a cool thing for which I would love to give a great rating.
I always send out my swaps on time, so if you have not received from me and feel like you should have, LET ME KNOW, and I'll re-send! I also promise to rate promptly unless I'm out of town.

Favorite Art Media

Quilting, Photography, Digital Art, Collage, Sculpture, Painting, Book Art, Printmaking

Maybe couldn't live without:

  • sewing machine
  • digital camera
  • inkjet printer
  • flatbed scanner
  • vast collection of paper scraps
  • laminator
  • wacom tablet
  • a patchy assortment of acrylic paints
  • four giant bins o' fabric
  • many many different pairs of scissors
  • adhesives-a-plenty

Stuff that interests me

  • closeup views of pretty much anything (hence the username)
  • images that look as though they illustrate a story that hasn't been written yet
  • autobiographical zines by fascinating people
  • radio storytelling
  • boxes of mysterious objects that you might find in your grandma's basement
  • children's books
  • fictional characters who are creepy yet not evil
  • people who are introspective
  • diagrams of all types, particularly of things that do not really exist
  • text and lettering
  • shiny things
  • repeating patterns
  • small funny-looking animals that really do exist
  • dogs and the things they do
  • monsters and mythological creatures, especially those that have a particularly weird and idiosyncratic story to go with them
  • strange collections, and the people who collect them
  • any interesting surface design technique for fabric
  • berries, nuts, fruits, tubers, spores, basically I am fascinated by any part of a plant that it uses to reproduce itself. but especially berries!
  • quotes and lines of text that are removed from their original context - they can have any meaning they want, now!
  • bright colors and unusual color combinations and also muted colors and images that are missing a color they would usually have and images that have the wrong colors.
  • reflected images, particularly in unusual mirror-type surfaces, like water and textured glass
  • birds that can't fly as well as mammals that can
  • small objects found on the street
  • test patterns, registration marks, color patches on fabric edges, badly worded explanations for how to use or assemble things, and content lists, particularly one from a giant skein of pale yarn that said, "100% miscellaneous odd lots of undetermined fiber content."
  • containers of all types, particularly boxes and very wee jars
  • paisley, polka dots, William Morris type patterns, vintage wallpaper patterns, argyle, plaid, batik, herringbone, jacquard fabrics, brocade
  • useless facts of the "strange but true" variety

Favorite Music

Chroma Key, They Might Be Giants, The Sun, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Bach, Stereo Total, Hedwig & the Angry Inch soundtrack, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Musical Episode soundtrack, Musicals in general, Bad Religion, The Shins, The Cardigans, Carmina Burana, Cibo Matto, Howard Shore, Laura Love, Paul Simon, The Postal Service, Queen, Rammstein (yeah yeah, they're the cheeziest band ever, but I still love them!), Smash Mouth's "Astro Lounge" album,

My thoughts on Hearts

I interpret hearts to be a way of saying, "I really like this a lot!" and I will give them for two reasons: If you go above and beyond the swap requirements for me, or if I happen to think your artwork is especially awesome. I will never be angry at anyone for not giving me a heart (though I may go in the corner and be sad), and I hope everyone else will feel the same way.

Ratings

PostMuse rated for HPC2: Potato Print Postcards! on Nov 3, 2009
5
rating
Comment: So very sorry for the long delay in acknowledging your beautiful postcard. I love the goat, and all his bits :-)
happypup rated for HPC: Illustration for a Fake Story on Mar 24, 2009
5
rating
Comment: wowwwww... your art is so cool. What a great pc! So sorry the first one got lost because, regardless of what you say, I bet it was cool too! I absolutely love it! Who knows what Darwin and the Rainbow Haired Lady might do while you guys are away?!?......
Response: You know, I'd been thinking about that, and I'm pretty sure they get up to a little more than just having long talks about finches...
Martij rated for HPC: Illustration for a Fake Story on Mar 16, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Really a nice card, very involved fake story rendition. Thanks
CARROLL rated for HPC: Illustration for a Fake Story on Mar 13, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Woo Hoo! The rainbow haired lady arrived today! Thanks for the re-send and the random poetry, as well.
Martij rated for HPC: Strange Fruit on Mar 11, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Great card, sorry I was late getting it rated, but I do appreciate it. Thanks
CARROLL rated for HPC: Strange Fruit on Feb 20, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Thanks for the surreal freeze-dried strawberry postcard. Love the rainbow checks.
marleysghost rated for HPC: Inverted Image on Feb 4, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Oh Wow! I looked at the picture, then had to look at it again and again. Every time I see something I didn't notice before. I love the colors. Now every time I look at something, I'll be thinking, now hat if... A new obsession to add to my list... Thanks so much!
Martij rated for HPC: Inverted Image on Jan 31, 2009
5
rating
Comment: I really like your inverted image. You're right, it is surprising what the colors do, mine is of leaves and they look very translucent in their purple hue! Thanks for the exercise, I hadn't experimented with this. You get a star for helping to stretch my creative side!
Response: Awesome! I love giving people the excuse to make new and exciting stuff.
justingrid rated for HPC: Tasty Vegetables on Jan 21, 2009
5
rating
Comment: It looks like you are having fun experimenting. Thanx.
sweetz15767 rated for HPC: Tasty Vegetables on Jan 18, 2009
5
rating
 
justingrid rated for 5x7 Packaging Art on Jan 1, 2009
5
rating
Comment: Thanx. Since we are both so good at collecting junk are you up for another?
Moominbrooke rated for HPC: I Made It In High School on Dec 8, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Thanks! I had French in High School, too. :0)
wackystuff rated for HPC: I Made It In High School on Dec 8, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Thanks for the nice card and challenging theme!
CARROLL rated for HPC: I Made It In High School on Dec 4, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Thanks for the "Little Prince look-alike" postcard. I remember writing stories for high school French, too. The illustrations were my favorite part of the whole project.
TíaBel rated for HPC: Something Black & White on Nov 29, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Thank you! Nice Kiwi. :)
VickiM rated for HPC: Something Black & White on Nov 27, 2008
5
rating
 
5
rating
Comment: Thanks for the cool postcard with the really interesting facts about sloths. Is that your artwork? It's great.
Response: Yep, possibly the best ever drawing by me! Too bad it'll be really hard to top!
justingrid rated for HPC: Fun with Hole Punches on Nov 17, 2008
5
rating
Comment: An absolutely wonderful card.
YooperHill rated for HPC: Fun with Hole Punches on Nov 15, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Very cool!
danit rated for Drawing of a Robot handmade postcards on Nov 11, 2008
5
rating
Comment: Thank you

Rating Overview

Overall Hearts Stars Hosted
5.0000 99 45 49
Completed Fives Threes Ones
88 140 0 0
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Uncategorized
0 1 3 84
View all

Currently In

  • the user is not currently in any swaps :(

Currently Hosting

  • the user is not hosting any current swaps

Comments

sunnysidey on Apr 22, 2009:

Hey I got your letter and goodies today!!! I just noticed on your profile it was your birthday yesterday so I hope you had a good one. Will write back soon. Sam xoxo

justingrid on Nov 30, 2008:

Got the packaging pieces hope to get inspired sometime in the next week so one can make its way back to you.

chaitee on Nov 17, 2008:

Hey you! Sorry for the lateness, I'll have your cards in the mail within the next few days and I'll make up for the tardiness too. Thanks for the understanding; it's refreshing considering the asshats that I've had to deal with on this website lately. xx

sunnysidey on Nov 9, 2008:

I got your letter with the two great postcards - thanks heaps! Very conveniently, I'm your partner in the HPC Black & White swap so again I'll get to save on postage :-) Sam xoxo

annaklara2008 on Sep 10, 2008:

Hi Stella! Thank you for the postcard, I loved it! And And thank you for making sure that I got something in the wikipedia-swap.. You deserve two stars! Anna

Kasasha on Sep 9, 2008:

Another Brooklynite on swap-bot, YAY!

jenkosman on Sep 1, 2008:

Thank you so much for being in my surprise mail art challenge! It was so fun to see what everyone came up with! I was just think last week that it would be fun if everyone go the exact same thing too! It's a great idea! When school settles down I might host a swap like that or maybe after Christmas...
Thank you so much for playing!

PostMuse on Aug 24, 2008:

I have started a discussion on the Handmade Postcard Club forum about the possibility of an interim group since the founder, @TeraBACat hasn't logged on in so long. I hope you will post your thoughts.

sunnysidey on Aug 18, 2008:

I've just set up a new Color swap in the Handmade Postcard Club! Hope you will come join in the fun!

massie on Jul 14, 2008:

Pathetically, it's taken me this long to figure out how to post a comment. Of course! I'd love to do a postcard swap with you. As the veteran swapper, wanna suggest a theme?

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