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Update #23: the Beauty of Words
Hello Kickstarter supporters of last year's Beauty of Life Show! Thank you so much for your love and support of that show, which was the highlight of my year. I just wanted to let you know that I have a brand new Kickstarter campaign I launched last week called Elephabet. If you want to come along for the ride again, I've just barely started posting progress reports. Here's a few teaser images, but click here to read about the whole thing. Thanks for letting me shamelessly promote...you can now go back to your regularly scheduled weekend activities.
Update #22: wrapping up the Beauty of Life
Hello Beautiful People! Here's the final installment (at least I think so...) from the Beauty of Life show--sending the pins out to the nearly 100 Kickstarter backers! My trusty sidekick Alice was there to lend her shipping expertise (plus the donation of little boxes from Red Horseshoe Paper!) to the effort.
I had already written all the thank you letters I promised--found the perfect stationery at SCRAP after searching high and low for about an hour. Finally I discovered way down low in the paper section, a plastic crate filled with old paint color samples waiting for a future re-use. Among the slim strips were some larger pages from a sample book for local eco paint company Yolo Colorhouse. These were much more beautiful than the typical hardware store variety--the paint is applied in thick swashes and I decided to cut them down into something more abstract, like a Rothko painting and then write my letters there.
Alice and I worked together for about five hours and got all the shipments ready to go. Here I am holding up the printed receipt from the Post Office--it's taller than I am! 
One last note: I have posted many of the pieces remaining from the repeating sections for sale online, which you can see by clicking here.
Thanks so much to everyone who supported this project! I truly could not have done it without you! I hope you love your pieces. Take care and have a safe holiday.
Hilary
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Gretchen Schutte on December 14, 2010
Hilary, thank you so much for the note! I love my leaf tie tack and have told many people about the awesome project you completed. Best wishes on all of your future projects and happy holidays!
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janet Frohnmayer on December 14, 2010
Hilary - I loved the pins you sent and am wearing one on my favorite holiday coat. Best of luck to you on all your future creative endeavors. it was great fun to be part of this terrific project!
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Merrian on December 15, 2010
I wore my leaf pin for a job interview today, I hope it brings me luck. Happy Christmas!
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Update #21: The Beauty of Life.....it's alive!!!!!
Hey Beautiful People!
I'm pleased to officially announce that the installation is complete! Alice and I put in another 9 hour day yesterday and completed the wall work, put the carpet in place, and called it art. The one thing I needed a bit more time to contemplate before publishing the final pictures was whether I wanted the carpet at all, but my return today confirmed it. The installation is right next to the desk of David Muir, who has seen every single installation in this venue's 15 year run. David is shown here helping adjust the vining parts that extend under the rug, which he took a particular liking to. No wonder he was Spirit of Portland Employee of the Year in 2009!
I recently found out that this month is also the 25th birthday of Portland's most beloved work of art, the brobdingnagian babe Portlandia, who sits above the entrance. This Friday afternoon at 3pm there's going to be a party with cupcakes and a public ceremony, so I decided to come on down and also make it an unofficial opening for my show. Click here for more information about that event.
Thanks again to everyone who made this show possible--the labors of: Alice Mclean,Tura Sugden, Kristin Mitsu Shiga, Junko Iijima, Andrew Lorish, and Matt McCalmott.
A huge shout out to the 96 people who supported this project by pre-purchasing pieces via Kickstarter: Locey Pfeifer, Clarke Green, Beka Amblin, Marthe Le Van, Tom Romero, Abigail Spring, Deena Preston, Donna Sutor, Sylvia Engelman, C. Robertson, Kathe Swaback, Temple Lentz, Jen Neitzel, Hal Pfeifer, Marla H Bane, Teri Thomas, Tina, Samuel Hernandez, Ann Morton, Gretchen Schutte, Cristina Ljungberg, Amber Landgraff, Kierstin Gray, Karon Flage, Jody Creasman, Arthur De Bow, Sara Flemming, Barrie Gillies, Rosmairta Kilara,
Liana Weiland, Jody Lemke, Mindy Tchieu, Heidi, Barb Stark, Mary D Reuter, Amy Ruppel, Renee Hudson, Merrian, Priscilla Nielsen, Karla Reinhardt, Husam Alghamdi, Richard Osborn, Janet Frohnmayer, Heather Shirkey, Mindful Mimi, Caryl Schiavon, Sheila Cannon, Tali Weinberg, Jololove, Heather Sabin, Phoebe Baker, Guido Stein, Kelly Cowing, Margo Thoma, Melanie Van Weelden, Julie Sabatier, , Wyvonne Colombo, Ruth Ross,
Nayla Hadchiti, Namita Wiggers, Penny Craig, Susan Ator, Brea Cali, Jordan Pfeifer, Maria Matson, Mathias Craig, Garth Johnson, Mary Rumsey Dorskind, Lisa Palmatier, Sylvia Riveland, Shir, Nancy Turner, Melissa Matson, James Gourlay, Lisa & Scott Cylinder, Brandon Shelton, Sarah Jesudason, AnnaCaroline Tod Sonier, Jennifer Menken, Patty Sgrecci, Louise Edgerton, Steve Keeble, Brigitte Martin, Lori Kobayashi, Kendel Ratley, Issy Tavares, William Craig, Tracey Waldron, and Rev. Steve Sharp.
And, of course, all the fine folks the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
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Merrian on October 14, 2010
Congratulations on the hard work and lovely art Hilary. I love William Morris along with his socialist views and his desire that art be practical and accessible - that we all have a right to beauty in our lives. I love that even from here in Australia I got to be a part of this. All the best, Merrian
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Susan Ator on October 14, 2010
How beautiful. Oh how I wish I could see that in person! I got chills just looking at the pictures; I cannot even imagine how spectacular it is in real life.
Congratulations on a job well done. *tip of the hat*
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Gretchen Schutte on October 14, 2010
Hilary ~ It looks fabulous! Congrats on achieving your goal and creating such an awesome work of art. I am so happy that I could help support you in this endeavor. All the best!
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Update #20: installation: day one
The last few days getting things together have been intense, but I've also made sure to appreciate it all--I love the thrill of seeing a big idea come together and it's only a few weeks a year that I allow myself to be completely immersed in an art installation without any other distractions. On Saturday, my friend Junko Iijima came to help out for the morning and together we put all of the pin findings in the finished pieces. Junko is a great artist herself--click here to see some of her work. Checking this off my big list gave me one last task--to finish all of the one of a kind work for the wild sections, which I have been slowly chipping away at as I did the repeat parts, but one last push Sunday made me feel like it was time to start putting the pieces up on site.
My assistant for this final push is Alice Mclean, who I met a few years ago through Art on Alberta. We spent the morning hanging the wall panels that Matt built, and mapping out where the main part of the repeat pattern will live with repositionable painter's tape. The tape will be removed once the repeat sections are in place.
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Garth Johnson on October 12, 2010
Hilary! You are one awesomely crazy lady. I wish we could be there in person!!!! This is looking amazing.
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Donna Sutor on October 12, 2010
Wow-wow-wow!!! Hilary- it is looking wonderful. I am awed.
~best, Donna
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Susan Ator on October 12, 2010
This is stunning. I, too, wish I could see it in person. Very very beautiful. I am thrilled you were able to get funded.
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Update #19: New opening date - Thursday, October 14th!
Hello Beautiful People!
See all those lovely black X's on my huge checklist? I'm coming down the real homestretch here with my Beauty of Life installation--late last night I finally completed all 768 of the pieces that will make up the repeating sections. Wanna see?
(Add ibuprofen and Excedrin PM to my materials list for this show!) Now I have the next five days to resolve the rest of this monsterpiece, such as attaching the pin findings, the detail work on the four wall panels, installing the work, and transporting it to its final resting place, the Portland Building. I have slightly adjusted the official opening date for this show to Thursday, October 14, 2010, so I hope that won't affect travel plans for any of you who are coming from out of town. Please note that there is no formal opening reception for this installation, but it will be on display through November 14th during the building operating hours Monday-Friday 7am-6pm.
I have a new team member to introduce to you--Tura Sugden, who soldered all 1600 of my pin findings, plus another 50 wires for two of my smaller designs. I met Tura through Velvet da Vinci initially, and she really came through for me in getting this massive part of the project done. (This picture is of Tura processing the hundreds of pounds of honey from her father's bees last year!!)
96
Backers
$5,710
pledged of $2,500 goal
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 20, 2010.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
the “thank you kindly” package, which includes: a hand-written thank you letter in an envelope filled with color postcards from my past shows, and your name and/or link to your website on my blog, website, and show statement as a supporter of this project.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a teeny tiny fruit or leaf pin or tie tack from this installation.
Pledge $45 or more Pledge $45 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a brooch from this installation.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a get a set of three (two large and one teeny tiny) brooches from this installation.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a get a collection of 7 brooches (five large and two teeny tiny) from this installation and a custom wall display for mounting your grouping when it's not being worn.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a neckpiece from this installation.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
supporters will receive the “thank you kindly” package and a get a collection of 12 brooches from this installation and a custom wall display for mounting your grouping when it's not being worn.
Project By
Connected as Hilary Pfeifer (909 friends)
I have two personas as an artist--one is under my own name, where I create craft-influenced sculptures and installations that speak about the relationships between humans and nature. I have shown this work with Velvet da Vinci Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Fuller Craft Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Indianapolis Art Center, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
I have a deep love of design, so I sometimes work under an alter ego: Bunny with a Toolbelt. This body of work includes small figurative sculptures that are sometimes functional (nativity sets, wedding cake toppers.) Bunny with a Toolbelt perfectly encapsulates my love for learning and working in many different art media with my fondness for occasionally appearing in public in a big floppy bunny suit.
In addition to Etsy, I sell my Bunny with a Toolbelt work at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon College of Art and Craft, The Center for Art in Wood, and Crafty Wonderland's biannual bazaar in my hometown Portland, Oregon. The work I show on my Etsy site has been featured in the Style section of the Sunday New York Times, Brides Magazine, and ReadyMade Magazine, among others.
