02282025
dear reader,
as the role of wife
settling into
the role of artist
(i chose the title of wife
despite what i knew
i chose what i wanted
despite what i knew
and im so sorry)
as a settling divorce,
as the necessary pieces
finally decide to move forward
as the decision to move your queen out
as the decision to move time out
to notice how much time we spend/waste
thinking about
how much time we have
how long the milk has been spilt
as the decision to allow
one thing
one title
one state
to roll into the next.
i(e)nquisitions require time.
notice how its spentused
its not the what
its the how
as a universal roll,
so you just want me to go down this list?
yes please. but now im really caught up in what a universal roll, as a baked good would be.
how do you price the artwork?
a few factors such as the size of the piece, the techniques (all created in-house that breed in real time) which add original textures, the weight.
and this is a big one that I've ensured goes unseen: the difficulty of the materials to work with, both in a physical sense and a narrative one.
like after a few minutes thinking 'wow. this is killin my hands but im not callin the shots so okay. here we go.' or, more personally, the fact that my own story is in them. a woven representation of a man i loved that includes the romper i wore when he fell out of love with me, and the dress i wore to encourage him back in.
and so many more moments. a whole collection from another life, really. (all of the weavings available now in the shop and the 14 weavings i have left within the streets of Chicago, IL have all been made since arriving here in September 2024. there is a whole other 40ish piece collection back in New York. a collection of all the art i made as a wife. a collection from another life (and thats why i le(ave)ft it with you.) i hope to share them all with you.
what other factors?
weird things within obtaining materials and production. like i haul the bike wheels on the bus.
how many at a time?
like 8.
how many buses?
two- 49 and 65. Western and Grand.
(my grandma owned a drapery shop. my grandma grew up during the depression and used both sides of a Kleenex to blot her lipstick in perfect rows. my grandma was my safe haven as a child. she moved into the first house i really remember after my parents' divorce. my uncle, her son, was a 'whatever ya need i can build it' person. my uncle owned a decking/carpentry business. he built her an adjoining in-law apartment. we lived on a hill. stepping out of our kitchen door into the garage, walking down a small step to a platform with two recycling bins to your left. one is blue the other is green. then two more steps down arriving on shag carpet atop grey concrete. bundles of dried flowers hang from studs to your right. on that same wall eight feet down is a light blue/grey door with a peephole. and as you knock from a stationary location, she knocks against the wall as she approaches from the other side. she wore matching heavy cotton sweatsuits too. but i wanted to share with you that fabrics and i go way back to the root of me. and sometimes its very easy to spend time there. and others are very rough waters, with very dark skies.
and it shows in the quality of the piece.)
alright, lemme loyola this answer. that was my grandmas name, loyola. so you stay here and i'll knock, proceeding towards you with an answer:
i keep thinking what if everyone who was inspired by harmontown, made their own harmontown. and as a golem in plato's cave, i hope we have. because that's the beauty of harmontown, isn't it? how the town can look so different for each of us, but the townspeople are the same? and our own harmontowns, i think, would just be the creation of a similar therapeutic practice that could look any way we wanted. not necessarily as grand as from a stage or screen, but the practice of a dialogue. even one that only exists within yourself.
so thats who you are- you're my comptroller. you're my jeff b. davis. you're my best friend.
in what ways did you pigeon hole yourself as a wife in order to avoid repeating them?
well. i thought a partner replaced you. the dialogue with self became the dialogue with another. that that dialogue was what a shared history was. but instead it led to... not that.
what do you know now?
there needs to be four seats around the table- a seat for them, me, me, and the relationship.
how many seats are at the table?
one.
why are you so aggressive as a pedestrian?
it feels important practicing courage. to practice putting my body in harm's way to be seen. to practice using my body as a weapon. to practice peaceful aggression in both a mental and physical space. because courage takes practice. because we need to see each other. because practice becomes the practice. and more often than not, i make my point by moving aggressively with radical warmth. especially in response to someone adapting their behavior for me; when i am seen. we know positive reinforcement is more a(e)ffective than negative from how we train dogs, why wouldn't we use the same thinking on our human neighbors?
why should people support toolboxearth? why should people welcome it into their hearts and homes?
because the power of art works and thats what drives toolboxearth.
because i take the title of weaver seriously
because it's the only title that fits just right
because it's unique
toolboxearth is a trim off the top each time you pass it to encourage courageous regrowth. starting with your eyes.
art can save the species guys. we must allow it to be saved. support an artist today. send a recommendation of a new artist to a friend or a love letter to one you know. gestures are not all monetary. there's lots of ways to kick up dust for each other. to support and encourage.
stop kicking the ball to someone else.
what makes what you do special?
im willing to journey far for art, because it works as visual therapy.
im willing to do whatever it takes to reach you.
because there's nothing more important for me to do with my life than journey for you and us-
to build a bridge.
because i wouldn't dick around with it if it wasn't something worthy
because im good at the translation
between
because i take the title of weaver very seriously
because of our roll(e)
within
because it works
a belief that we each have a piece that fits
we each have a title that fits
my hope is to help you find yours
alongside the journey of mine
within the knocking choir of us
and its unique-
(whatever your it is)
the way we can each invite others to take a step
the way we each step
to knock against a wall.
thats what makes what i do special.
thats what makes what you do special.
and we needya.
art can save the species-
how many times has it already?
it's a tried and trued method.
we just have to allow it
and all that takes
is organization.
gather
create
promote
(think art auctions- even in someone's garage, artists up on stage creating alongside musicians, the streets are the studios)
show us
we can push back
by communing
so keep rollin dear reader
my hope is to meet you
many times
nose to nose,
back to back,
