The Road Unfolding

It's already been a whirlwind month and I'm feeling wonderfully worn out by it all. I've gone out almost every night so far- and worked every single day. I'm tired and wired and unsure as to what this next five weeks of non-stop chaos so is going to bring. (Did I say five weeks? I might have meant meant fifty years...) Whatever it is, I'm ready. In fact, I'm so excited I've just about lost my manners. I'm hungry and banging the table cause I smell the bacon cookin' at the end of this road.

But instead of talking about the next big thing, let me tell you about the Emerald city, artwork, magic and wizardry I've just seen...

I had a really nice weekend- which I kicked off with my firstborn daughter, Baby Bird for the Cornish BFA show. Before making our way down to the studios, we dropped into Cornish to check out my current show (it's been up for a couple months, but I hadn't seen it fully installed, yet.) The curator, Ian Toms, did such a beautiful job with it. It was really exciting to see my work so lovingly installed. I don't think most people realize what a HUGE difference installation and lighting make.

Afterward we headed down to see the show.

I planned on walking thru once, saying hi to Ian and then heading for the hill for drinks with my friends. As it turned out, however- the show was AMAZING and I stuck around all night.

We didn't get a lot of pictures but here are a few samples. It's up thru the end of the month- if you're local (Seattle) you should go check it out. These guys aren't playing around.

Not only was the show awesome, I ran into a ton of my old classmates and peers- all of whom seem to be doing pretty durn well. Some are even teaching at Cornish, now.

Saw Andy and Dead C from MonsterFresh.com.....

And even Jesse, who was unquestionably one of the best artists in my graduating class.

A bunch of us headed up to the Elysian for (my favorite) beer (a barrel aged, limited edition Jasmine IPA) and then called it a nite. I was up and at 'em early the next morning to bake cupcakes for a very exciting surprise party.

Ladies and gentlemen- please behold the sweetest tin man you can possibly imagine. This is Jeff: my girl Missa's incredibly thoughtful and creative tin love-toy. He decided to throw her a Wizard of Oz themed birthday party.

(The Tin-Men at this party were the SHEIIIT!)

How's this for romantic- Jeff had her girlfriend bring her to the house from dinner- totally blindfolded- where she was immediately lead to the bedroom. He had tornado sounds playing loudly and fans blowing like crazy so she could "be blown away to the emerald city." Keeping her blindfolded, they took off her clothes (this sounds dirty, but i assure you...) and re-dressed her in a perfect Dorothy costume (right down to the socks, pigtails and little stuffed dog.) Then, she was lead down the hallway (which he redid to be a Yellow Brick Road) and into the Emerald City which had been decorated to be a glowing green fairy bog of sorts (I got to help!) She opened her eyes to see her kid and all her friends dressed up as bastardized creatures of Oz- smiling and blowing bubbles at her.

Glenda the good Witch came forward to present her with (yet another) treat- perfect ruby red slippers Jeff had picked up.

So fuckin' perfect. GOOD JOB, Jeff.

My contribution (as usual) was cupcakes. I made two kinds of cake- dark chocolate and lemon and three kind of buttercream- marionberry key lime, orange and peppermint (for the chocolate only.) Jeff had requested red (for the slippers), yellow (road) and green (emerald city.) In this light, though- they all look green.

(That gorgeous little lion in the foreground is Missa's 10 year old son, Alex. He partied with us for most of the night.)

Did I mention that Jeff also bought her every single version of Wizard of Oz ever made? She was sooo stoked.

Kate made her this sweet top and even sewed kitties over her pussy.

Missa had her way with my tin-man's cod-piece. It's quite irresistable if you ask us.

From that point on- we celebrated.

The highlight of my evening was getting pinned to a car in the middle of a balloon volleyball game by a group of psychadellic kitties intent on strapping mini-trampolines to my feet. Yes, last nite I finally actualized my dream of moonbouncing thru the streets of Seattle in the middle of the night dressed up as a liberated lioness from the dark side of the moon.

I bounced till my ankles were bleeding from the friction. And then I bounced some more. Missa and I are gonna moon-bounce around Greenlake on Monday.

Once my ankles had truly taken as much as they could stand, Tena took me into the bathroom to find bandaids so i wouldn't have to take my moonshoes off. It was just as well since SOMEONE had stolen my gold platforms and run around capital hill like a wild woman.

Me and Tena hung out in the tub. Some kitties like the bath.

Missa and I sang Danzig as loud as we could so people would pee outside.

At the end of the night I helped Missa put a very exhausted Tin man to bed. He was balls to the walls of the great green crystals and giggled as we struggled to get him out of his tin-chaps.

At this point the party was pretty much over, but we still spent a final hour making a green jellyfish maypole and dancing around to Jamiroquai before calling it a nite.

So the partying was AMAZING, but now it's time to crack down and give the good party love back to the world. I'm leaving in ONE WEEK for Pinson, Alabama for my next show- Dreaming of Giants. I am getting more and more nervous/excited the closer we get to leaving. Almost everyone I know thinks I'm borderline crazy for doing this. I mean, we're gonna be on the road almost four times as long as we're gonna be in Pinson. The trip itself is gonna cost more than we can afford to spend and use up almost all of Lars' saved vacation time. The party itself is gonna be in the STICKS- there will be NO walk-up traffic. But I know this is right- even if it's a bust. Crazy, maybe- but if I learned NOTHING else from Year of the Wrong, I did learn to follow my internal compass- even when it leads me up vertical walls or thru dark churning waters infested with hungry piranhas. I am on MY path, because fulfilling my purpose seems like, well... kinda the whole point.

I can't wait for the calm that will come as soon as I hit that road. There's something about the road for me... once I'm on my way, there's a sense of release- it's as if I'm somehow able to finally relinquish my need to control things. The gamble has been placed, it's just time to take in the magic and richness of the Ride.

For everyone who's coming out for Dreaming of Giants- thank you SO much for going out of your way for to spend this evening with me. I can't wait to meet all of you and hope with all my heart that you'll find this Rodeo as meaningful as I surely will.

Loving you always,
Thea "all the man that you'll ever need" Wolfe

Posted on 12 May 2009, 8:00
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Sometimes There's a Reason We Keep The Lights Out

Today i woke up and there were rainbows beaming across my bed and onto my skin and walls. The sky was clearer than I've seen it in a long time, and the sun was strong and generous.

I have an extraordinary sense of smell and in some ways have always recognized Spring as the point at which the sun lavishes enough heat and concentration to draw out the green smells and memories that the rain and winter have pushed down and sealed into the earth.

Today I realize that the storm is moving on. It's been a rough few months, but I think bluer skies are finally rolling in and I couldn't be more ready.

It's funny how the brown times are. I feel like I've had many unexpected opportunities to see things as they really are lately. Some of it's been hard, some has been beautiful and it's all been good.

Sometimes morning hurts. Sometimes you wanna keep things in the dark because it's easier, more comfortable, or more romantic. I guess I got a little perspective this year on how much of my world is still in darkness. I'm ready for the light.

I feel like if I can see things more completely, I'll get even more from the mindfuckingly rare and brilliant gems around me.

Now that the storm has passed, I'm gonna try and shed some of my own darkness, too. I'm gonna be EVEN more exactly what I am, even the parts that scare me and everyone I know (except Jake Jake.)

I'm gonna try new things...

...and wear my sunglasses when/how ever I want.

I'm gonna bake cakes..

And rock...

Practice pulling off more impressive fatalities...

Be one bad-ass, mu'fucka/righteous cowboy with my bro, Dave Navarro...

Let things end...

Attempt to join this motorcycle gang (called the Pleasure Barons.)

Snuggle more...

Try to discover awesome new music (my newest found treasure is Gliss!)

Hang out with people who inspire me to be smarter and better...

I don't know why, but i feel like there's gonna be a lot of expansion for me this year. I wanna be ready to take as much of it in as possible. I sense a bout of good fortune and i want to be ready and deserving.

Please come to my next art party! It's in Pinson, Alabama (Birmingham area). There's gonna be beer, whiskey, and more meat than you can shake a stick at. It's also being hosted by one of the coolest women I think I've ever met. I'll be bringing as much art as i can pack my truck (and roof compartment) with. I really feel like this is gonna be a special evening. For more info, please visit my "Shows" page.

That's it, for now. Sorry for the delay in updating, it's just been a crunchy, toothy time and I've withdrawn into myself, but like I said, the sun is out and I'm getting restless to return to the world.

As always, I apprecaite all of you who've written/bought art/offered to host an art party. It so reinforces me in what I'm doing to know people are feeling it. I love you guys immensely, and that's TROOF!!!

Love,
Thea "Worst Mom Ever" Wolfe

Posted on 7 Apr 2009, 9:32
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