With Love, North Philadelphia XOXO

Oh, I got one...an idea that is...a new body of work is making itself known in my brain as I type this...and I'm already excited. For now, all I'll say is it was inspired by a cat wrapped in duct tape, stories of dead dogs being thrown over fences, and those darn "With Love, Philadelphia XOXO" billboards I see everywhere...

Weekly Update

I've just come off a fabulously relaxing weekend of much needed lady time...I had full intentions of getting in the studio but am glad I had the 2 days off (I am pregnant for goodness sake...!). I'll be in there this week prepping for the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours and starting some new sketches and whatnot. More on that below:

Current Exhibitions


Step Right Up...
New sculpture by Darla Jackson
September-October 2009
Vagabond Boutique
37 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA

This show is still up until October 31st, so if you're in Old City stop in and check it out!



My Face in Your Space
September 10 - October 2, 2009
Nexus Foundation For Today's Art
1400 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA

This show is like the Facebook of art, where participating artists had to create a portrait of the artist that invited them to be in the show. It runs until October 2nd.

Upcoming Exhibitions

In October...

My studio will be open to the public for 2 days as part of the 2009 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. Come see the space I share with the fabulous Ms. Aubrie Costello.

POST Open Studio
October 3-4, 2009, 12-6pm
3237 N. Amber Street, Studio 3-3-A
Philadelphia, PA

My studio will be included on the Friends of CFEVA Guided Tour on October 4th, which is great for those of you who are not sure which studios to visit! More info can be found on the POST website


Fall 2009 Classes

My Sculptural Forms class at the Fleisher Art Memorial is up and running. Last week was our first week and everyone is doing fabulously. Unfortunately the The Introduction to Animal Sculpture Class through Pterodactyl Philadelphia didn't run this time, but I'll be offering another session in the spring so anyone who's interested, please let me know!

That's all for now...I'm off to deinstall the Fringe Fest installation!

Best Husband Ever

So I get a phone call today...
Me: "hello?"
Justin: "Do you want a horse skull for $25? It has a jaw and everything."
Me: "YES!!!!!!!!"
Justin: "Ok, I have to go get money out and I'll be home in a bit"

Sure enough, in a short while my hub comes home and walks in with the lower jaw of what looks to be a T-rex (it terms of hugeness...horses are so damn big!)...he runs back out and comes back in with the rest of it and I swear, it was like Christmas! It's so huge! And awesome! And perfect for sculpting, reference, using as a teaching prop, etc! I am so so so excited...!!!

Me and George (the skull)

Surely not every woman has a guy who sees a horse skull being sold on the side of the road and thinks of her...I consider myself lucky ;)

Darla in Real Life: Part 2 - Crazy Cats and Fancy Packages

Some days are needed to just stay home and catch up on the business end of art, ie updating resume, sending out applications, emails, emails, emails, planning future projects, etc. Quite honestly I love this part of it...getting my affairs in order always frees up my brain for being able to make stuff without panicking in the middle of sculpting (OH MY GOD! DID I REMEMBER TO PAY THAT BILL?! DID I EMAIL THAT GUY ABOUT THE SHOW AT THAT PLACE? DID I REMEMBER TO TELL THAT PERSON I'LL BE THERE NEXT WEEK TO PICK UP [INSERT RANDOM ART RELATED THING HERE]?, etc, etc, etc)...

The other reason I love these days is because while I'm at home taking care of businezz, I get to see what it is that my cats actually do all day AND I get the mail as soon as it comes! (Note to readers: I absolutely love, adore, obsess over getting mail...not getting mail will turn a good day grumpy in an instant and vice versa.)


Turns out that, the cats, they don't do much...







And mail has been good! Yesterday I got a bag I ordered from BunniesBunnies on Etsy (it's called the 6 Bunnies bag! How perfect!)


And she included 2 freebie items!!!! This pin:


And this little wrislet! I was overwhelmingly exciting...not only did I get mail...I got extra presents in the mail!
Ok, now for the actual getting down to business part...

Biz Ladies

In case anyone hasn't ever seen this blog, Design Sponge is a beautiful blog that offers, among many things, a weekly section called Biz Ladies. Many topics are covered here that can pertain to both artists and crafters and all are super informative. I say check it out...

Darla in Real Life

I worry...it's what I do. I come from a line of worriers...My mom is way better at sneaky worrying than my Grandmother is...She'll atleast ask concerned questions, instead of launching a full on attack of scary "facts" and questions and statements, like my grandmother would do...so in a way I think my mom has helped me be a much more normal worrier than I might have ended up otherwise...
Still, I feel like my own personal worrying has changed in the last year (most likely due to being pregnant for most of the year)...I used to worry without doing much about it, would forget and get over it until I was reminded again of said cause of worry days, months or years later, ie, killer bees, monsoons, food poisoning, stove on, etc, etc, etc.
Now I try to be a responsible worrier...When I worry about something, I try to research it a) so I can learn more about it (which sometimes makes me more scared) and b) so I can try and do something about it.
Something that came up recently is cell phones...Justin and I were talking with our friend Laura about how we don't really know how bad they are for us...we suspect the badness but aren't sure and have never really bothered to look into it. Funny enough I got an email today from the environmental working group (You want to feed paranoia...go to this site. It's awesome and scary scary scary.) about cell phones and whether they are safe. You can search for your phone and see what models are better. There's also an article about 8 steps you can take to reduce your radiation exposure, which I thought was good to include. Turns out that our cell phones are two of the bad guys (shit.) but we've been needing new ones anyway so...maybe we'll switch it up and get ones with lower radiation exposure... Anyway, in case anyone else out there is paranoid like I am, here's the article: IS YOUR CELL PHONE SAFE?
I know this has nothing to do with art. Sorry for that. I've just been in "life business mode" today...meaning paying bills, tracking a package to Belgium that has gone missing, cleaning up my filing cabinet, and overall being responsible and organizing my life...so I felt like this was more on my mind at the moment.
Anywho...Happy Monday.

Next up....?

So what now..? All my shows are installed and staying put (for now) and I am trying to think about what I am to do with myself...Philadelphia Open Studio Tours is coming up in the beginning of October so that is the PERFECT excuse to get my disaster of a studio back in order...(Justin always teases me and says I can work in a trash pile and/or hovel and won't be bothered by it...this is only partly true...I CAN work in an absolute mess, but prefer not to...)
And then what? Well, I've got some ideas coming to me as the impending baby gets closer and closer to coming...Strange images of rabbits and having babies and all that, but weird (of course)...I think I'm going to do some drawings and watercolors as prep work...I have plans to get to the Wagner this week or next to sketch as well...I've been trying to get to that place for years...literally YEARS! I can't believe I've never been...the kick in the ass has been that Justin will be cladding (aka framing out and covering in wood) their bronotosaurus leg (art handlers do the strangest things dont they?) and so he's been mentioning it quite a bit...
Anyway, my thoughts are to plan a body of work, or a group of pieces that relate to one another...and also to plan out some large, room sized installations...I've got some crazy ideas and might use my down time to get logistics figured out...so with all this inner brain craziness forgive me if I seem a bit scattered/all over the place in the next few months...heck, it might be more exciting that way? I don't know...
Anyway, off to sleep...cleaning studio and/or Wagner tomorrow, with photos to come either way...woo hoo!