|06|07|08|

Hello, hello!

After our last event at the Pelham Street Fair, we sure were hot, hot, hot and totally exhausted!
97˚ and not so much water.
Despite the grueling heat, some other-worldly flags came into existence and we were lucky enough to wind up with most of them in our hands.

Here are some of the phenomenal flags that were made at the fair.

Again, we would like to thank all of our participants and remind them (you), that if they (you) would like their (your) flags back after the Patches are finished with them, just send a lil' ol' e-mail in our direction (patchworkcaravan@gmail.com) with flag descriptions and a place for us to send them!

The image is a bit large, so click on it to view all of the flags.




Also, here are some highlights!

Thank you! Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday! We had a really great time and got a lot of cool art. We'll post soon with pictures and flags and a full account of how it went. But for now, we're real hot and tired and going to rest our weary bones for a bit.

Electronic affection to each of you,
Jane-Claire Artemis

Oh, well!

Did you know that Chad Stayrook is the only person in the whole world who has the keys that open the garage doors of the studio where the Caravan is? We didn't! Did you know that Chad Stayrook is presently out of town? We sure didn't know that, either! So, after all that hard work, all those sprained wrists, all the glue stuck in my hair, the Caravan itself is held prisoner in the Heimbold sculpture studio. And as such it is going to have to miss the party tomorrow.


But we'll be there! And we'll have art, photos, information, zines, candy, and more! Most importantly, we'll have all sorts of truly radical materials for our community art enterprise, the Flag Project.


So COME! Make some art! Hey, it's a goddamn PARTY in the STREETS of the SUBURBS -- there will be HOT DOGS and SNOW CONES and stuff. Bring any recycled materials (old clothes, magazines, paper, glitter, whatever else) you might wanna craft with, and bring any instruments you might wanna make beautiful music with!

See you tomorrow, puppies.


MOIRA OLIVIA JANE (AND MAGGIE VIA LIVE SATELLITE FEED)

Dear Readers.

Oh, readers.

I hate to start every one of these blog posts with the same general message, but I have to reiterate: it has been an appallingly long time since last we spoke with you. Our reasoning this time around, however, has less to do with schoolwork and more to do with the many changes that have been made to the Patchwork Caravan project. Indeed, this has been a period of metamorphosis for your friends, the Patches, and I didn’t feel quite comfortable updating the blog without the complete resolution of the various issues which required our attention.

So allow me to update you on our progress! You’ll note the Mission Statement on the right side of the page has changed. This, dear readers, is because the Patchwork Caravan project has been extended. While we were always hoping the project would live on into coming years, we have now ensured its longevity by postponing our North American tour until May, 2009. In the meantime, Maggie and yours truly will be applying for grants and organizing benefit shows – we hope to raise enough money to convert a car to biodiesel for a really thorough tour during the summer of 2009. We’re also going to continue the Flag Project throughout the year and we’re really excited about establishing relationships with other DIY groups, arts groups, and radical movements in New York and beyond. (Most recently, we’re becoming friends with this really great group in New York City called Reclaim the Streets who are fighting to take back public property for the public. Check them out!)

The next few weeks will be devoted to an intense, whirlwind tour of the greater New York area. How whirlwind, you ask? Well, we already have our first date this Saturday, June 7th at the Pelham Street Fair! Pelham is a lovely little village just north of Manhattan and once a year they have a town-wide street fair with lots of delicious food, live music, helicopter rides (!), and tons more. This year, the “tons more” includes the Patchwork Caravan! We’re going to have the Caravan open and covered in art, and a huge table full of materials for the Flag Project. We’ll have surprise party favors and smiles for all who come by.

So come on down! We’d really love to see you. The fair runs the length of Pelham’s main drag, Fifth Avenue/Wolf’s Lane, and we’ll be setting up shop in spot 14 – near the bakery at 309 Fifth Avenue. If you live in the city, just make your way to Grand Central Station and hop on any red-line, Stamford-bound train, and get off at Pelham station – a mere 25 minutes north! (To plan your trip, this is a very useful little tool. Just select Pelham under the “To Station” pull-down menu.) When you get off the train, turn left immediately and walk a half block to Wolf’s Lane where you will see the Pelham Street Fair! The fair is all day – 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM – and as long as you’re there, you can check out our yard sale at 1:00. We have a lot of cool stuff for sale and, as always, it’s a great cause. We’ll have more information at our booth for those interested.

Thank you for your loyalty and patience, darlings. We know this is not what we originally intended for the project, but we’re really thrilled to have more time to work and get the word out, and we hope you’re still excited about art that can happen anywhere.

Happily and hopefully,

Q

P.S. I bet you can't wait to see a picture of the Caravan, huh? Well, I can't wait to get my hands on a digital camera, so let's wish good luck for both of us, right?

We Are Still Alive.

Friends, countrymen:

1. It's Springtime. None of us want to be inside updating a blog.
2. It's Conference time. Any time any of us do spend inside is spent with nose in book as we each have jumbo-sized papers due in not very much time at all.



But, of course, none of this is at all fair to you, dear reader. We apologize! Sincerely! Profusely! From the bottom of our meek hearts! We are all wracked with shame and guilt. And so I write this to you, a mere promise that as soon as I turn in this odious paper for my literature class, I will devote all my hours to you, internet. I will shower you with flower petals and HTML and photographs of your humble servants begging everyone we see for a vehicle.

In the meantime, why not check out our MySpace page? It's not much more exciting than this blog, though our tentative route plans will be posted in the coming days, along with pictures and links to things we think you'd like. Might I suggest that you pay particular attention to the "Donate Now" button? Donations of more than $15 dollars will be reciprocated with the most intriguing and enigmatic of MYSTERY BOXES! While supplies last, of course.

And! Of course! Huge thanks to everyone who came to our carnival, particularly those who left with tattoos. Everyone's donation of money and time made a huge difference to our morale, but those who left with memories of the day permanently branded into their flesh are the true heroes. We're with you forever now, you know.

Remember, Blog Babies, that we love emails. Suggestions? Comments? Art donations? Philosophical musings? patchworkcaravan@gmail.com, dear!

All the love in the world,

Jane.

P.S. None among our readers has a van or SUV or Jeep or Radio Flyer they're not using this summer, right? If that vehicle is weighing you down, I know one way you can get rid of it...!

Donations, Carnivals, etc.

Good morning, all.

I'm sorry I've been late for the update train every single time it's left blogosphere station, but Spring Break happened and then college kept happening no matter how sternly I pretended it wasn't. But here I am, now, and that's what mattered.

First, I want to thank everyone who came out to our ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was a huge success! I cannot imagine having had more fun or hearing more encouraging things. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Secondly, to those who have donated through our PayPal button: you may have received an email saying that your funds were returned to your account. It's true. I didn't realize that we had to upgrade my personal PayPal account to a business PayPal account (because we're a business now, I guess) and I couldn't do this immediately because I was out of the country during spring break. To those who have sent checks in light of this internet blunder: smart move! To those who have had their money returned who want to un-return it - that is, give it back to us again - our Pay Pall button is officially fixed and we are officially a non-profit business that can receive credit/debit card transactions. So you could try again!

Or you could come to our CARNIVAL!! Doing anything this Sunday? Didn't think so! Why not put on some sunscreen and your favorite hat and mosey on down to the THREE DOLLARS AND WE'LL BLOW YOUR MIND PATCHWORK CARAVAN BENEFIT CARNIVAL. I'm serious - we will blow your mind. Among the activities offered are:
1. Hair-cutting!
2. A scavenger hunt!
3. Prison tattooing!
4. Palm-reading!
5. A date auction!
6. There will probably be cookies!
Can you imagine?! All that for three bucks? The fun starts Sunday, April 13th at 2:00 PM on the Sarah Lawrence College North Lawn. (We'll move into the Tea Haus if the weather is crappy.) So hop on that Metro-North, hop off at Bronxville, follow these directions, and come hang out, will ya?


View Larger Map

See you there!

jane

TOUR! CAR!

HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!

WE ARE STARTING TO THINK ABOUT THE PATCHWORK CARAVAN TOUR FOR THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER 08!

IF YOU ALL ARE INTERESTED IN HAVING US STOP BY YOUR AREA OF THE CONTINENTAL U.S. YELL AT US!

BUT FIRST! WE NEED A CAR!
CAR!
CAR!
CAR!
BUS!
HORSE!
ANYTHING TO CART OUR ART CART!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN DONATING A VEHICLE OR HAVE A LEAD ON HOW THE HECK WE WILL BE ABLE TO ROLL AROUND THE COUNTRY!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

sincerely yours,
the frantic p.c.

what happend?

Sorry it has been a while, you know SPRINGBREAK08!!!!!!!!

BUT TO RECAPP!
The ribbon cutting cerimony went SUPER WELL! thank you all who came, participated, and played. Here is a peek into the past.

the first of the flags!

miss emily einhorn!

the sweing circle!

zookie and shoolie!

the beloved bare caravan!

us patches!

We promise to post up real deal images of all the charming flags all the darlings stiched together soon. THANKS AGAIN!

keep in touch!

this is what jane was talking about but in flier form!
come! come! come! come! come! please! please!



--------------------------maggie

Flag Project, Fun Times.

Good morning, all.

First, I want to extend the warmest and happiest and most gracious thanks to our benefactors thus far. The donations will not only help us out on our tour, but they warm the cockles of our hearts to know that you guys care.

Secondly! And to the point! We have been hard at work on the Caravan (and it really is hard work) and now the floor is done. We're all exhausted and bruised calloused but also pretty proud of ourselves. (I held a power drill, Ma! A power drill!!)

So you know what this means. It's almost time to party. On Tuesday, March 11th at around 6:00 PM, we're going to hold our inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Heimbold Visual Arts Building on Sarah Lawrence campus in Bronxville, NY. This is an open invitation! If you have any means of making it out here, we hope to see you. It should be a lot of fun: we're going to have some food, some rousing speeches and some live music. (Music by our very talented friends THE SEX WHISTOLS, MAUD DEITCH, THE SPLINTER ENSEMBLE, ZOOKIE AND SHOOLEE, and who knows?! maybe more!)

But most importantly, we're asking you to come so you can participate in our Flag Project. The Flag Project is one of the most exciting parts of the Patchwork Caravan. At every stop along the tour (starting with Heimbold on Tuesday) we're going to ask people to come into our tailer and make some art with us right there on the spot. We're asking for personal maps or flags of everyone's neighborhoods and communities. ("Maps" and "flags" should be open to interpretation - they can be made of whatever media the artist desires. You want to interpret "map" as poem? Sure! You want to make a flag with floss? Go for it! "Neighborhoods" can mean whatever you want, too.) Because we're trying to stay rooted in DIY and self-sustaining culture, we encourage you guys to bring any old clothing, fabric, magazines, et cetera you no longer want that you can use as materials for this project. The idea is that we're nurturing everyone's sense of regional, cultural identity, but doing it within this (literal and figurative) vehicle which will travel all over the country to different artists' communities and therefore it will reinforce a sense of national artistic community.

Get it?

Please come out if you can. It's going to be a really lovely event. If you can't, please stay tuned to the 'blog for more updates (pictures soon!) on the progress of the Caravan, our ribbon-cutting ceremony, and how you can donate your art.

Thanks for reading, ladies and germs. We adore you.

Jane-Claire Artemis

Oh, and P.S. Sorry that the "Buy Now" button is broken on the previous post. I'm not sure how to make it work. If you're reading this, and you're interested in purchasing Olivia's armpit hair, (and why wouldn't you be), just send an email to patchworkcaravan@gmail.com. Thanks!

An update unrelated to our progress...

As much as you are all curious about the cool new corrugated plastic wall the caravan is going to have, and our awesome new UV ray-blocking transparent roofing, I thought it was most important to update you on the removal of my body hair.

For a few months, I stopped shaving my armpits. It was great. I could see everyday how my body was changing. Then, visibly, it stopped, so this very morning, I decided it was time to share the wealth with others.

In fact, I'd so much like to share with you all the excitement of growth and change, that I am auctioning off a pretty Ziplock bag full of it.




Now, I know $10.00 seems pretty steep for a container full of something you could grow yourself, but, keep in mind, this bag contains my very own DNA.
You can't really find that in your own armpits.

Also, this money will go toward our new set of tires, so we can get on the road!

HELP US OUT! SUPPORT GROWTH AND CHANGE!

(Or keep in mind that you can always make donations at our Myspace )

But wait!

Good evening, blogosphere!

We haven't officially met, though I've heard a lot about you. I'm Jane and I'm one of those blurry girls in the pictures below and one of the members of this little gang we've started. You'll probably be hearing a lot from me throughout this adventure.

There's much to be said about last night's comedy of errors, (and I snuck some pictures with my phone inside the 'Depot!), but I don't want to bore you, dear readers. The Home Depot motto is a comfort, though. "You can do it! We can help."

Instead! Instead, I'll show you this. It's our MySpace page and while it may not seem like the most exciting thing in the world, it does have a button which allows you - yes, even you! - to donate those pesky quarters you hate that are rattlin' around in your pocket to our little venture. Any little tiny bit helps us out, so if the Spirit moves you, be moved. (The button says "Donate". It's pretty self-explanatory.) Or why not be our MySpace friend? Friendship helps, too!

Finally, I leave you with this image:

Imagine Maggie, Moira, Olivia and I are all about the size of salt shakers. In that crazy far-out world, this is the caravan! That is to say, this is Maggie's A+ model of our summer made of cardboard and blue tape. Aren't you excited for the real deal?

We are!

Love forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and even after that,
Jane-Claire

Patience

Late last evening, driven by the force of some God-sent motivation, the members of the Patchwork Caravan embarked upon a rather hectic journey to the land of The Home Depot. There, our tasks were simple, or so we thought.

Needing to purchase some crucial trailer-building materials such as plywood, 4x4s, hinges, and more, we ran into major complications when the Home Depot electric saw began to malfunction. Having arrived at The Home Depot in two small cars (driven by two of our wonderful friends,) we had a limited amount of space, for, despite the fact that we are clearly tough, construction-working girls, we do not drive tough, construction worker cars...

AND THE WOOD DID NOT FIT!


We were forced to hold off on our 4x4s, and to work the magic of the stars to fit our plywood into the cars.
Our dear friend Allison helped us to tape her trunk shut, once the boards got comfortable in the rear.



So, here are some pictures from our trip.
As much as we would have liked to document the exploration of the materials within The Home Depot, I was warned, very seriously by the security guard, that there were hundreds of video cameras mounted in the establishment, and I would be prosecuted should I try to take any pictures.



AND HEY, thanks again Noah and Allison! Where would we be without you?




Our arrival.


Problems. Noah's trunk. Too small and full of cords, Sun Chips, miscellaneous articles of clothing.


Here we are shoving our big wood into Allison's wide trunk.


GAFF TAPE SAVES THE DAY!



Back at school. Safe and sound, equipped with coffee.

A mystery...

Due to the conditions under which the members of the Patchwork Caravan operate, (from home bases separated by a LENGTHY, TREACHEROUS fifteen minute walk through blustering wind and other weather conditions reminding us of our mortality), during the evening, communication between members will occasionally exist with a brevity atypical to each member.
But, have it be known, that deep into yesterevening, an internet comment sparking great excitement was recieved by our own Jane Quigley from our own Maggie Wong.

A surprise behind the Sarah Lawrence art building?


WHAT could it be?

Friends, brace yourselves.



(And enjoy your morning!)

plans!

This is basically what is inside our heads at the moment. The trailer is being delivered to us soon and when it comes there will be a building extravoganza! Cross your fingers none of us saw off a finger.

!!!!Patchwork Caravan!!!!

This is all very exciting! Internet space that we can use at our full disposal!
This our project, our baby, our one and only true love. Here we will be chronicling its development of the patchwork caravan, from beginning to end. You will witness us build a miraculous medicine-truck of a vehicle, throw tons of events that you should come to, and then travel across the country spreading much love and craftiness to all whom we meet.
this is lovely.