Working on this!



I and Loren Leahy have been working on putting this show together for over a year now.  The results are finally in!

If you'd like a peek at some of my recent studio work, I've posted some in-process shots on my Flicker site, here.


All the work for this show is based on the theme of Illuminated Manuscripts.

Read on...

--Michelle
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GILTY PLEASURES art exhibition @ Sanctuary Tattoo

April 3rd  – June 3rd, 2009

31 Forest Avenue – Portland, ME 04101

(207)828-8866

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11-7

Opening Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 6:00-9:00pm

CONTACT: Chris Dingwell: (207)828-8866

chris@sanctuarytattoo.com | www.sanctuarytattoo.com           

Sanctuary Tattoo is pleased to present GILTY PLEASURES from April 3rd to June 3rd, featuring the work of eleven artists: Loren Leahy, Michelle Souliere, Clayton Cameron, Michael Connor, Reuben Little, Helen Lukacs, Angus McFarland, Martha Miller, Michel Ouellette, Greg Souza, and Carrie Vinette.  

Inspired by the theme of illuminated manuscripts and all their elaborate trappings, these artists have each labored over their own expression of this centuries-old tradition.  Tasked with generating artwork inspired by any or all the elements of old parchments and moldering tomes filled with brilliant and mystifying imagery and text, this group of artists has produced a wide range of pieces, from watercolors to silkscreens, to shrinelike bottles, to bound volumes.

The way is paved with gold leaf, pigments made from semi-precious stones, and age-old imagery re-fired in the crucible of modern consciousness.  The eye follows maze-like lines and finds itself growing new ideas in the back of the brain, subconsciously diving into the labyrinth, led by the string of breadcrumbs, worshipping at the altar of the page – humble paper brought high by the artist’s hand.

Yes. Only almost a year late. Photos from our trip to NYC last spring. Comicon and all!

I'm working as much as I can in my studio, getting prepped for the Illuminated Manuscript show that Loren and I are putting together at Sanctuary Tattoo for April's First Friday.  It's pretty keen.  It's going to be good.

Just in case any of you out there are interested in being contributors (hint toward Copper Age et al)... you should email me at michelle.souliere[.at.]gmail.com.

I'll post some tantalizing photos from the studio as things develop.  Meanwhile, take a look at the Douce Apocalypse, which is feeding some of this madness.

Finally got around to posting photos from Halloween 2008! Everything from our party to the Man-Witch gig at Geno's on Halloween night. Yippeee!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157611803596830/

You have Adam to thank for my finally getting around to it -- he's a good pesterer. :)

Have fun!

I sit here and watch Ghost Hunters reruns, a ghost in my own house, touching the things we leave behind (with my mind) until the final cleaning. Our traces.

I read books about writing (How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors). I read books about making art (Lynda Barry's amazing new book). I make no art. But now I write.

A small splash of fake blood on the toilet lid from Halloween preparations before a night at Geno's. Fluorescent stains of manic hair dye here and there on bathroom furniture and floor (whoops). In the kitchen, a lingering, crystallized splatter of caramel where Salli works her magic on the gas stovetop (we will miss it in our new all-electric kitchen. Although it has a dishwasher. Although it has a disposal unit in the sink).

Mr. Bones sits, the top of his skull disarranged, on a pile of stuff that needs to go to my studio. He is still grinning. Good, one of us needs to.

The old green velvet couch I sit on, typing, and have spent many evenings ... It will go out to the curb, and hopefully find a good new home where they won't mind (like me) that the cats have had a go at the stuffing on its elbows.

The clocks tick.

Everything echoes.

Things are in boxes. Some will not come out again for years, I just know. Because this is temporary, this exile. We must leave this home that is not our home but was. Go to a new home that is not our home (with mysterious strawberry blonde wig left in the kitchen, more mysterious cheesy smell coming from the disposal). But not stay there. Because I am going to buy a house. A home of my own (our own). Because I am tired of uprooting like this when now it is time for something I do not get uprooted from (although Cynicism says "Do not forget about Eminent Domain").

This year has been strange. It will all be okay. It will all work out. It always does. It isn't easy. But that is the only thing normal in this world, always.

There are too many things that live with us. Some go away. Probably too many will stay.

There is a bookcase in a funny place in the livingroom here. Waiting to go. I am waiting to go. I should be in bed, asleep.

As in-between exiles go, this one will not be that bad. The parking is somewhat nightmarish. The space is too small for as many as we are. The total rent due each month is terrifying. BUT the heat is included. BUT it is a pretty cool space, about 30-40 years older Victorian than our old [weep] place. The landlord seems nice. It is almost right across the street.

The change is not over, there will be more. Upheaval. I will remain me. We will remain we, but different. It is always the way. It will be alright.

Here are a ton of photos of Peri and Will's wedding:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkbrilliance/sets/72157607586662722/

...and here is a video snippet of The Watchers playing Search/Surf and Destroy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avd4YkvcY98

I thought I'd posted them earlier, but apparently not!

:)
Enjoy...
M

My housekey and my copy of the car key have been missing for 2 1/2 weeks. They showed up last night on top of the post at the top of the stairs here in the house. The only thing is, it wasn't Tristan that left them there, it wasn't Salli, it wasn't Mich, and it wasn't Adam.

I'm thinking house elves.

Yes, the Slathering Blood Goat. What? You haven't met him? Well, now you can. Me + oil pastels = crazy drawing for the Man-Witch art show, based on the lyrics for "Mastering the Worm," an epic black metal ballad about breakdancing. To whit:

"You! Arise to the new brutality,
Knees bent before the slathering Blood Goat!
Kip-up, flat on your back,
The North's unholy Applejack!"

Dan Knight, who hosts the bi-weekly show "Random Thought Crime Generator" on WMPG in Portland ME, interviewed me live on the air back on April 14th, 2008. It was great fun -- my first radio show! We talked about the Strange Maine Gazette and the Strange Maine blog, and delicious topics -- from cryptozoology to the world of zines, and beyond.

The other night, I finally finished squaring away the audiofile, got it formatted as an MP3, and edited it to exclude the musical playlist of the show to bypass copyright issues, and found an online home for it so folks could finally hear it.

Click the player below to listen, or visit the hosting site here.



If you want to download the file, just go to the hosting website here, and where the link to "Original" is, just mouseover and either right-click to "Save As" (PC users) or hit CTRL and click to "Download Linked File" (Mac Users). It's about 35MB.

Enjoy!

SUPER MILK BABY JAPANESE MONSTER MASH-UP!

The title really says it all! This terrific group show at Sanctuary Tattoo pits eight of the Portland area's scariest artists against eachother in a battle of wits and skill over Tokyo! School girls will scream, bones will crack, the sushi will bite back, and buildings will crumble like old matzah balls... or something like that.

Featuring amazing new works of art by myself (Michelle Souliere), Carrie Vinette, Angus - Earl of Portland, Greg Souza, Mordecai Sulk, and more.

See my Flickr.com page for samples of works in progress! Tantalizing...