This month is time to prepare for Opulent Mobility 2022 and a host of new classes!
OM 2022 opens October 9 from 1-4 PM at Antelope Valley College Gallery in Lancaster, CA and you are most cordially invited. So excited to share the wonderful artists and artworks with everyone! Get a sneak peek of the exhibit here and join us at the opening. I'm thrilled to be part of the many fine workshops coming up this fall at the Makery on Los Angeles Street. Click the link to sign up! My offerings are: Rag Rug Making on Friday, 10/14/22 from 6-9 PM Textile Portraits on Friday, 10/28/22 from 6-9 PM Visible Mending on Sunday, 11/13/22 from 2-5 PM Embroidery Portraits on Sunday, 11/27/22 from 2-5 PM You can also take classes in book arts, glass blowing and mosaic, cyanotype, macrame, carpentry, and so much more with artists Dave Lovejoy, Cathy Immordino, and Cathi Milligan. As if that weren't enough, come take Art Quilting classes with me October 19th from 4-6 PM and 6:30- 8:30 PM at Remainders Pasadena. This is part of their 21st Century Artist series, and I'm focusing on the stunning quilters of Gee's Bend. Thanks so much for joining me. Let's get together (safely) in person. (PS: I am a mask wearer because this pandemic isn't over. I encourage us all to continue to keep each other safe.)
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 Advair Diskus/inhaler by Judith Klausner Thank you to everyone who submitted work to OM 2022!
The artists this year will be: A. Laura Brody, Kat Chudy, Katlin Combs, Kellie Gillespie, ju90, Bronte Grimm, Ash Hagerstrand, David Isakson, Judith Klausner, Ellen Mansfield, Lisa Merida-Paytes, *Katherine Sherwood, Annelies Slabbynck, Misty Stokes, and Rachel Ungerer. (* online only) We thank you all for sharing your art. Stay tuned for the exhibit at Antelope Valley College Gallery and on this website! Keep us in mind for next year, when we will challenge you to imagine a world where mobility, disability, and access are not merely functional, but opulent. ___________________________________________________________ Many thanks to the Numotion Foundation for their generous sponsorship and to all the wonderful artists of Opulent Mobility past, present, and future.  Hello and welcome! I'm inviting you once again to my Rag Rug Making online course.
If you've been following me and my work, you know how much I value sustainability, community, and making things yourself. Rag rug making is such a beautiful combination of all these things! It turns scraps and remnants of old projects into something beautiful. Each fabric or piece of clothing or remnant has a story, and putting them together into a single project is so satisfying. Making things by hand is definitely therapeutic. Embroidery and basket making was recommended to soldiers after World War One as a way to recuperate from trauma. The act of making hand crafts is proven to release serotonin, which helps combat depression and anxiety, and crafting is even prescribed to help with pain management. The only thing that makes this better is to share the process... and this is what this course offers. As a student, you're invited to join in, make something of your own, and then share it with a community of people who also love this work. Sign up and you'll be invited to join a Dischord group where we can share our work and make some good friends along the way. The class is https://textile-arts-with-a-laura-brody.thinkific.com/courses/rag-rug-making and the price goes up August 15th. Enroll now for half price! You are awesome. Let's make beautiful things together and show them off. Best, Laura For more about me and what I've taught, check out my classes page. Links on the benefits of hand crafts and sewing: https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/stories/4-reasons-craft-good-your-mental-health https://pariscorp.com/health-benefits-of-crafting/ https://www.shswny.org/the-unexpected-benefits-of-crafting  If you've been following me, you've probably seen a lot of my rag rug making, and maybe you saw that I finally put up an online course.
It's my first time working with Thinkific and after doing more research I realized I under priced it. Oops. So you get to benefit from me being excitable if you sign up now! I'm finessing the course up until then, because of course I keep finding more things that I meant to add to it. When you enroll you'll get access to the course for a full month, so you won't miss out on any updates. Enroll and get access to the course for 30 days. https://textile-arts-with-a-laura-brody.thinkific.com/... My rag rug making started as a form of therapy. During the past year or so, I needed something pretty and meditative to help me get out of my head- and it works so well. Maybe you could use some soul soothing too? This rag rug making course isn't only useful for plain circle rugs, although of course you can make those as well. I go over regular twisted rag twine, braided twine, "toothbrush" or Amish style rug making, a woven and crochet sample, coiled and stacked construction, and both hand sewing and machine sewn techniques. These methods can be used for rugs, place mats, wall hangings, trivets, table runners, and have lots of potential for soft sculptures. I am excited about the soft sculpture possibility and am already concocting plans...Thanks so much for joining me on this journey. Let's create wondrous things together. Best, Laura  Woven Community rainbow rag rug by A. Laura Brody So I put up my first online course on rag rug making! It's been a process learning the platform and the steps, but it's come together and has a ton of great information.
https://textile-arts-with-a-laura-brody.thinkific.com/ The course has a free preview- take a look and if you like what you see, sign up! These rag rugs have been such a balm for my spirit over the past 2 years, and I've learned so much about different ways to create them. I think you'll love this too. Right about now we could all use something meditative and beautiful. Also: The Opulent Mobility 2022 call for art deadline is July 31. 16 more days to submit your art that re-imagines disability as opulent and powerful. Join us! Many thanks to the folks who have already shared their art. Let's imagine a more fabulous world, and then make it so. Thanks so much, Laura  "Driven" by A. Laura Brody. Photo by Heidi Marie Photography Have you shared your art with us yet? The deadline is coming up!
Opulent Mobility and Antelope Valley College invite you to imagine a world where disability, mobility, and access are not merely functional, but opulent. Share your artworks that re-imagine disability, mobility, and freedom. We accept 2-D and sculptural work, music files, and performances on digital media. The deadline for submissions is July 31 and artists may submit up to 10 works of art. A flat $20 fee covers administrative costs, but it can be waived if that causes hardship. There is no consignment fee. All sales requests will be directed to the artists. This year's exhibit will be in person at Antelope Valley College Gallery in Lancaster, CA and online at www.opulentmobility.com. The show opening is October 8, 2022 and it will run through November 6th, 2022. International artists and folks from around the country, you are encouraged to share your work! Sending digital files is a great way to be included without incurring shipping costs. We'd love to share your art with the world.  Visible Mending Tomorrow I'm giving a Visible Mending workshop at the Makery on Los Angeles Street.
It's 2-5 PM and on the same weekend as Delicious Little Tokyo, so you can make a day of it! Bring the things you need repaired and we'll fix them together. It will be good to mend in good company. There is a fee (I have to earn my keep at the space, after all), but I will donate half of any proceeds to Sonya Passi's and Free From's abortion fund. Get in touch for details. Let's repair together. And work to repair our future.
It's been a rough road lately (both personally and in news of the world), but there is some good news to report. In sad personal news, we had to put out sweet dog Lucy down because of liver and spleen cancer. It was a real shock and we miss her terribly. On top of the school shootings and recent Supreme Court news, it's been a lot.
In good news... My sculpture of Melusine is included in the online exhibit "Bodies" by Ikouii. This intriguing exhibit celebrates bodies of all kinds and I feel honored to be a part of it. Nebula Enthroned and Le Flaneur are now on display in downtown LA. If you're in the area, we'll have workshops and events at the exhibit for Delicious Little Tokyo June 25-26th, including cooking classes, glass bead classes, and a visible mending session. Or... visit the Makery Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 PM by appointment. This is my first DTLA studio and it's really a delight to join the LA art scene in a new way. It was also a real boost to help lobby for arts in LA with ACTIVATE LA! We talked with Gina Ender, special assistant to LA County supervisor Kathryn Barger, about funding arts and music in schools, expanding organizational grants, and offering low and no-cost rentals to artists and creative entrepreneurs through local venues so that ALL of LA can can the arts access it needs. It's also good to finish shooting Catching the Bus, an indie film written and produced by my friend Rebecca Wackler. The film is a funny, dramatic exploration of how folks seem to become invisible in our society as we age, and it was great to be able to costume these lively characters. Along with costume work for my TV show day gig, though, it was a lot, and some rest is welcome. Take care of yourselves out there. We will regroup and fight the good fight. And by the way, have you submitted your art to Opulent Mobility 2022 yet? XO Laura  The Firebird by A. Laura Brody. Photo by Heidi Marie Photography Opulent Mobility 2022 is now open for submissions!
Opulent Mobility and Antelope Valley College challenge you to imagine a world where mobility, disability, and access are not merely functional, but opulent. Share your art that re-imagines disability, mobility, and freedom! We accept 2-D and sculptural work, music files, and performances on digital media. Deadline to submit work is July 31. A flat $20 fee covers administrative costs, and artists may share up to 10 works each. Opulent Mobility is curated by A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler. Many thanks to Larissa Nickel and Antelope Valley College Gallery for offering to host this year's exhibit, and to the Numotion Foundation for their generous continued support.  Hey! I thought some of you might be interested in an online make your own duct tape mannequin workshop I'm offering. It's free and will be on Saturday, March 19 from 1-2 PM or 2-3 PM. (I'm figuring out the best time for it, but will record the workshop if those times aren't good for you.)
Custom duct tape dress forms are great if 1. ordinary dress forms don't work for you/your size or 2. you want a more squishable, alter-able form without those adjustable mannequin gaps. Duct tape isn't a perfect solution, but it works well, and I can show you how to make it work even better. Thanks so much! Contact me to sign up. (Many thanks to Libby Pace, Gillian Efros, and Yvonne Guillen for joining in this long ago live duct taping session. Looking forward to meeting up and getting those forms adjusted and ready to use again!) |
A. Laura Brody
I re*make mobility devices and materials and give them new lives. Sometimes I staple drape. Archives
March 2023
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