Don Fardon - I'm alive

Textile Artist Satu Montanari satumontanari.com [August 2007]

Unbelievable how the time flies. I generally find blogging a way to sort of "empty my desk" after a workday or after an extensive project but somehow I seldom blog these days. Maybe there's just too much happening and I'm starting to avoid nerdy life style. Or maybe there's just nothing going on with my life... Anyway, I notice that my English is getting rusty. Have to start practising again.

Actually, there has been something going on: my exhibition will go on still + one week and I've already sold two works! Last week I received a grant for update/developement project for Coloria and Coloriasto, and also a new project with dancer Noora Nenonen and I ...If You Just Asked got a small grant.

Also, my Grande Art Project News is definitely the most biggest artwork order this far: before christmas I got a call from the Jyväskylä Municipality which wanted to order 90 prints from me to be given as gifts. Of course I said yes. So, it was a bit hectic for a while when I tried to make both these commission works and my exhibition + all the work projects. Right now it starts to look good. I've already delivered some of the artworks to my client and there's not much left to finish.

At the same time when I'm feeling absolutely exhausted, I'm very enthusiastic too. Positive comments from my works lately have really swinged my mood up and given some extra energy. I would so much like to do something completely new and different design projects right now - something more graphical and powerful. I'll have to sketch something down soon - maybe using Illustrator again after a while. Would do good. Some practising there too...

Raveonettes - You Want The Candy

This autumn has beed absolute madness. I've never worked as much as I've been doing this few months.

These are finished:

satumontanari.com for textile designer Satu Montanari, published already in August (in Finnish, English and Italian).

kainoramies.com for the Noramies family (about sculpturer Kai Noramies and his daughters Irina and Anita, both artists), published in November 27 (coming soon also in English).

Taitosaari project was a EU project including craftsmen from Northern Central Finland region. I travelled to small towns Viitasaari and Saarijärvi almost ech weekend during the autumn and gave lectures about net and designing and stuff. Website for project was actually opened today at www.aivia.fi/kadentaitajat (only in Finnish).

First autumn layout, and then christmas layout for Taito Shop.

Flash screening project for Jyväskylä Art Museum's window for December.

Websites for f.ex. composer Antti Auvinen, photographer Mikko Auerniitty, artist Anna-Lea Kopper and textile artist Hannele Ollakka are well on their way and so are visual redesign of Säynätsalo, Craft Museum and Jyväskylä Art Museum sites and visual design of the site for Jyväskylä's museums.

And about my own art projects:

The co-operation project Lepidophobia dance piece with Noora Nenonen (dance) (+using Mikko Hietaharju's soundtrack) got its premiere in November 15th. I made a flash piece based on my online Lepidophobia project (which I haven't been able to update due to my technical problems).

The most nerv breaking though is my future exhibition: one month to opening and nothing ready. I'll let you know...

The Banshee - Talking On The Phone

Detritus exhibition at Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, US, has opened today.

I've been back home since Friday. NIN and Ladytron gig was good and the whole week was quite fun... But I'm soooo glad to be home again. Work-a-holic.

As soon as I came home I started working with Taito mag Centennary net exhibition. The project is not anymore in so deep panic mode as one could think - actually, I'm feeling quite calm about it. There's still tomorrow evening - when I can fix the rest of it. Eh.

I've also made dozens of small updates and continued making site for Satu Montanari... And I *should* make few layouts before next Monday and finish the dancer's site before Tuesday. I propably have never had as many unfinished projects at the same time as I have now. Nevermind. I'll survive.

Tomorrow and the day after that I'll be teaching in JAO. Oh, what an evil plan I have on my mind...

Killers - Read My Mind

The day started with desperation: trying to connect to the server to update Alvar Aalto Foundation
and The Craft Museum of Finland. They both gave me "not responding" - gave me already yesterday. Luckily I reached Kari who fixed the connection and I was able to update the strange and uncomfortable error I had put accidently in one of these websites (not revealing what and in which site...)

Last days have been updating, updating + updating. Placing Papiina's new products on their website took a while and then there has been some very ordinary updates of new dates etc.

Most of the projects I thought I should have finished in December are still nowhere near to be completed... Many of them, like Taito Shop site, is so near the finishing line that I don't have any problems with them.

I have some layout problems though. I still have to make better layouts for dancers and also SARV wasn't satisfied with my first layout set so I should make some improvements there too. And there are some new designs I've promised to make, such as for a craft artist Satu Montanari and Taito magazine 100 years web exhibition. Hopefully I'll find the long lost flow soon :)

+ UPDATES Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland, Gallery Becker and Papiina