CorinaCrooks.Etsy.Com

Playing with new designs! 

September 8th

Art Beat Writers' Society, May 3rd, Oakland

Dorky me. Filled with joy once again! Three writers from my Art Beat Writers' Society workshop are reading at the May First Friday in Oakland. Vicki Macchiavello, writes the deepest and edgiest prose I've read in years. She floors me. Laurel Kapros, is a bright star. She's working on her dream to write and create a one woman show. Very touching work. Patrick Connolly, whose commitment to writing has inspired the group, is no doubt penning the next Great-American novel. Brilliant guy. (Remember his name.) Proud just doesn't describe it for me! I've watched these three practice & perform and have been close to their writings for the last 6 months... seeing them read up on the stage is going to be a true big life moment. They are so amazing! I love them and love their passion! Please be there!

2nd book in progress...

Here is a little nibble...

(click to enlarge)

Love to Mills College!

Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake had the honor of being studied and presented at Mills College, Oakland, CA in a series titled, "The Politics of Memoir". I had a fun time as the surprise guest and got to do challenging Q & A with these brilliant writing students. It was an experience I'll always cherish!

Here the students hold up photos of their family and story along side mine. 

Fall 2012 Jewelry Designs

Moroccan tile design drop earrings
http://CoriCrooks.com

Vintage sugar skull tattoo flash cabs w/ orange enameled roses
http://CoriCrooks.com

Handmade miniature Talavera Tile drop earrings
http://CoriCrooks.com

Handmade miniature Moroccan tile, Spanish tile, and Portuguese tile bracelet by Cori Crooks
http://CoriCrooks.com

Vintage sugar skull tattoo flash cabs w/ yellow enameled roses
http://CoriCrooks.com

Moroccan tile drop earrings in copper
http://CoriCrooks.com

Mediterranean tile necklace
http://CoriCrooks.com 

Sunday, August 19th!

Writing

The Worrier's Fable

by Cori Crooks

                                                                                           Illustration by Bea Batz

Our lovely Unicorn stood pensively by the glimmering gold berry bush. “Will these berries ever ripen? What if I never have anything to eat again? Is the tree getting enough sun? Oh, I know it! I’m going starve and my horn will become dull and grey!”

She gnawed on the worry wart that grew like a blister pearl above the curve of her left knee. “How long has this been here? What if it’s mortalizing? I hope it doesn’t become infected!”

Worry, worry, worry. Our Unicorn worried all along that day. She worried about purity. She worried about grace. And when she was done worrying her virtues- she began to be concerned that she may have miscounted the number of virgins left in the world.

As night began, she took to the stars and just as her constellation appeared, (she had worried it wouldn't), a faint sound from far away grew louder and closer.

Trip, trap, trip, trap… along wobbled a troll wearing stilts made of goats bones and a smug cape of moss and black bryony vines. He opened his pitch mouth appearing to yawn, “What's the worry furry?”

Our Unicorn was startled. She had lived by her river of kindness for 100 years and had never seen a troll pass. Sure she had seen pixies and fairies, and even hid from the occasional maiden or two, but never a troll. She found him repulsively interesting.

“I see a little sparkle….” He cooed.

Our Unicorn looked at the troll with her left eye then her right, “Why troll, what brings you here to my enchanted forest?” She hoped he didn't hear her lisp.

“Why but I am a troll and trolls troll don’t we?” he said casually plucking a dangling hair that grew from the mole on his nose.

Our Unicorn gave a great snort. The troll took it as suspicion, and she worried if he thought her sneeze rude.

“Poor, poor Unicorn, with the sad silver horn! Why so forlorn?” he murmured.

“Oh don’t be concerned about me green troll. You just keep right on with your trolling and trip trapping.” She neighed.

“Why I suspect you are hungry- otherwise a marvelous creature such as yourself wouldn’t be so inhospitable to a lowly traveler such as I.” Then the toll took a bow so deep that his hatless head touched the laces of his polished Buster Browns.

“Oh, my… was I being rude?” she hemmed.

“Why yes, why yes your were!” He jumped.

“Oh, I’m so very sorry! Please have a seat by my river dear troll. I’d hate you to think me unkind!”

“No problem.”

And with that gracious invitation the troll settled in for the time being, sharing his wart healing potions and lending his green thumb to those problematic bushes that concerned our Unicorn so. And it turned out that the trolling troll had in the past taken to settling and while settled he had become quite the adventurous chef, as our Unicorn found out, making her delicious pies made from her now ripe gold berry bush. Soon her belly was full and her constitution was happy, and her horn never once faded to a dull grey.

One morning our Unicorn awoke with a skip in her gallop! She began gathering all her colors from the enchanted forest- blue from the eucalyptus leaves, red from the finches crest, yellow from the mushroom caps, orange from the coral bark maple, and green… green from the sleeping troll! Just as she leaned down to nibble a hair from his olive pit head he awoke and spoke as if he’d never been sleeping. “Why fair Unicorn friend, where are you off too?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to wake, I ah mean, bother you. I’m off to the waterfall at the end of the river. I need to replenish the rainbow.”

“Ha ha! Why my lovely beauty, don’t bother yourself with such frivolity, for I have done it for you!”

“But? I?”

"I have solved all your worries my hooved dear! All you need to do is relax by your magical river, look for your stars, and eat! Eat! Eat!"  He raised a pine needle eyebrow and asked,  "Care for another slice of the golden berry pie I have made for you?"

And so she did. And it was not long before our Unicorn became plump and content- for all of her worries were gone and her only care in the world was to eat piece after piece of the troll's buttery, flaky, golden berry pies.

No one in our village sees the Unicorn by the river anymore. Many a maiden have looked for her only to be disappointed. But yet still, many a girl has shared a tale that while laying on the forest floor and peeking up through the bush, they have spied a fat bellied fancy shoed troll- who walks on stilts made of goats bones, wearing a cape of vines and moss, and a shimmering silver unicorn hat.

-for Nancy, with sincere thanks.

Hosting a Writing Workshop!

I'm going to be hosting an amazing writing workshop that focuses on live performance! Visit the Art Beat Foundation for more details! xoxo

Jeff Mangum, Neutral Milk Hotel, Oakland

Jeff Mangum has inspired my writing and songwriting since I first heard him about 15 years back. A friend named Jason, who lived in Georgia, sent me a package.  In the package was a bullet, an Indian Chief, a painting, and a mixed tape of a band that was and that never was, Neutral Milk Hotel.

I am happy Jeff Mangum is playing again.  His lyrics paint the world in raw emotion and green grass- and last night I finally had the chance to look out and pick shapes out of the clouds. Soft and sweet.

Jeff Mangum, Neutral Milk Hotel, Fox Theater, Oakland, CA  4/10/12

Now...back to work!

The Community continues!

I'm thrilled to share I am officially coordinating the Indie Craft Pop-up for the Art Beat Foundation's Art Beat Bazaar!  It's an amazing group of talented individuals focused on growing and fostering connections for creatives in our community.  So get out of your garage and come meet like minded folks... and maybe become part of the monthly show yourself!  I wont have a table this Sunday- but I will be there supporting my fellow creatives! 

Sunday, Feb 19th, Berkeley, CA

Come and enjoy the artistic community!  I'll be hosting a table and having a beer!

Might I suggest...

"With writing that is both poignant and wry, and visuals that elevate it from just another "dear diary" to fully realized cinema on paper, this summers editor's pick, Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake engages on all fronts. When Crooks' mother stays up all night sewing, we see her stitching on the page, circling perfectly around images of buttons and hems, then cutting wildly through envelopes and black-and-white photos. We see stitches of our own lives, sometimes straight but mostly jagged and blurry.
—Nina Lary, Curve Magazine, August 2009

"Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake is, in fact, one of the more unusual memoirs to come along. Not so much in the subject matter, but in the way that writer and artist Cori Crooks has chosen to present her story about her at-times monstrous mother and Crooks' own efforts to find out which of the two men in her mother's life in late 1968 is her father…What sets Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake apart is its method: a literal collage of images and text, including old snapshots, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters, even the official results of the DNA test. It could have easily seemed like a gimmick, but it's not. For one thing, Crooks' prose often has the economy, even the flow, of poetry so that every scene seems distilled to its essence.
—James Watts, Tulsa World , January 25, 2009

"Cori Crooks’ graphic memoir about her mom (a pill-popping stripper with an endless parade of loser boyfriends) and the unknown identity of her birth father is fashioned like a scrapbook filled with faded black-and-white photos, diary entries and handwritten letters on lined notebook paper. Her six older siblings (yes, that makes the author her mother’s seventh mistake) are scattered to live in foster homes or with various birth dads, and her mother fakes cancer twice before actually dying. It’s grim stuff, but the scrapbook treatment keeps it from getting too heavy while echoing the spotty, disjointed nature of memory."
—Suzanne Van Atten, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 15, 2009

"Cori Crooks offers a quirky mediation on her mother’s life and the search for her own paternity. Instead of a relating a straightforward narrative, Crooks assembles photos and letters, essays and memorabilia. Through them, she allows readers to glimpse a flawed, fascinating woman who had 15 names, seven husbands and seven children. The identity of Crooks’ biological father, which might seem straightforward, becomes even more subtle and complex."
—Mary Colurso, The Birmingham News, January 9, 2009

"With a beautiful and intense sense of intimacy Crooks' teenage angst voice tinged with the insecurity of a reminiscing adult takes the reader along for the ride as she shifts through her recollections of preconceived notions and allows us to share her sacred thoughts of the dead, as well as her fears of forgetting and being forgotten… This is compassionate voyeurism at its best. As Crooks unflinching exposes every one of her dark secrets for all to share, she searches not only for who her family is, but who she is as well. A truly inspiring and fresh approach to a tough coming of age story and must read for anyone, regardless of age."
—Patrick O'Neil , The Sylvan Echo, January 2009

…Sweet Charlotte’s Seventh Mistake, recently published by Seal Press, is far more than just a blog transplanted to the page; it’s a chronicle of family dysfunction that is to memoir what sculpture is to Play-Doh. Crooks has pieced together a pastiche from documents, family photos, poem fragments, letters and her own memory. “It’s really the anti-scrapbook,” Crooks says, revealing that the “Charlotte” of the title is Crooks’ mother and the “seventh mistake” is Crooks herself.
—Kel Munger, Sacramento News & Review, January 8, 2009

Etsy Anniversary

October marks my 5 year anniversary on Etsy!  It's been a fun journey full of learning!  Before Etsy I had an online shop for a year with an embarrassing number of sales. My dream of having a career as an artist and writer was looking pretty dismal. Once I took a chance on opening an Etsy shop things gradually changed. On top of decent online sales, I learned a lot of valuable information about running a craft business from the forums and from Etsy articles. I learned the ins and outs of craft fairs and how to pick up wholesale accounts. Having a support system of other artists at my fingertips (via their forums) and a steady paycheck from things I'd made, made me confident about working harder and never quitting. And of course... In 2009, I got a book deal and released a full color art memoir with SEAL PRESS, titled, "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake". Brag, brag, brag. :)

I'm not sure what the future will bring with our 2nd US recession, but I'm feeling pretty confident that my business will continue to grow and the work will still be there. I sincerely think there is an art movement afoot! People want to and will buy handmade when they have the option... and our presence as working artists and dedication to our work via Etsy gives them the chance.

New in shop:

Dia de los Muertos sugar skull earrings

Mexican Talavera tile bracelet

Alhambra Islamic tile earrings

Portuguese tile cabochon drop earrings

Mexican tile cabochon drop earrings

Portuguese tile hair clip

All jewelry pieces can be found at http://ShrunkenCatHeads.etsy.com

Oakland, CA, This Sunday!

Notes and pictures from the Solano Stroll, 9/11/11

What a beautiful day and a lovely event to be a part of!  The organizers started the parade off with a touching tribute to our firefighters and police officers.  (I have to admit I got a bit choked up!)  After that... it was all Berkeley!  Woohoo! 

It was an interesting day for me.  It started with my stall not being marked on the street and some confusion and miscommunication with the street managers as to who and what and where and how the hell was I gonna fit there?  But I made it work, thanks to the genius help I got from Kim and her pals at The Details Company. (Stall 107)  I'd love to give them a link, but I can't find them online! :(  So after that fiasco turned fantastic, I set up my pop-up and watched the world's most wonderful people stroll by.  I love the East Bay.

...and then the bees came.  Yeah, bees.  And yellow jackets too!  I first noticed one hanging off of a glass bead attached to the bottom of one of my tile earrings.  I tried to catch a photo, but it buzzed me.  Through-out the day I noticed more and more wasps and honey bees flying in to get a look-see at my wears. Then I realized that some were collecting at the top of my tent!  What to do, what to do?  Denial.  Denial works.  I did my best and pretended they weren't there.  Kinda.

Then... the gust of wind thing happened!  Yeah, really.  I felt little gusts rattling my tent frame most of the day, but this one was sneaky.  In a matter of a second I found my pals from The Detail Company running to grab the corners of my tent as it lifted up and started to fly!  Hahaha!  My Eiffel Tower earring stand rose off the table and earrings flew all over the corner of Neilson and Solano!  But as quick as it happened, lovely strollers swooped in and helped me recover.  A pack of little girls collected the earrings off the ground like little birds collecting bread crumbs.  They were tweeting sweetness. People passing by picked up my business cards and arranged them back on the table. Kim and her crew helped me get secure and tie my poles down.  "Home," I thought.  "It's so good to be back home."

Me and Kayla

My dear friend Lisa and her beautiful daughter Kayla (pictured above) arrived just after and helped me sort and reorganize at least 30 pair of earrings that had become mismatched and displaced!  It would have taken me more than an hour to do alone!  I heart friends!  (New and old!)

 

The day ended with a "dream" sale.  This wonderful woman purchased from my newest line, "The Craftsman".  I designed a mahogany bezel pendant for my miniature tiles to sit in as a romantic nod to the Craftsman houses that I love so very much.  What made this sale special was she told me her husband was from Mexico and when she learned the pendant she chose was a Mexican Talavera tile design, she had to have it!  She tried the necklace on and patted her chest as she looked at herself in the mirror.  You could see the love!  Just the idea that I made something that could represent a sentiment for someone else... well that's a kick for me.  That's what art is.

You think the bees liked my hat?

All the jewelry in this post can be found at my ETSY shop.

Bobby pins!

Busy making hair pins for the Solano Stroll!

An evening with Richard Buckner, 8/17/11

Richard Buckner, Great American Music Hall, SF 8/17/11

Richard Buckner's 8/17 Great American Music Hall show w/the Crooked Jades was truly captivating- with hypnotic moments of rhythmic musical crescendos.  The vibrating low E, the harmonium and lap guitars, the maracas that fell just behind the beat- it was intimate, sincere, and often surreal.   No chair this time,  he was up and swaying... alive.  A majority of the songs new, trance state eyes, interesting orange pants, and lilting vocal highs and lows that gently crashed in that Buckner way- up and down the twisted hills of San Francisco.  Unforgettable.

Add caption

Craftaluma in Petaluma!

 

I'll be hosting a table and slinging copies of "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake" here, Sunday, 8/21.

Hanging out on Facebook...

I've been setting up a Facebook page. Come on over and gimme a "Like"! :)
Http://facebook.com/CoriCrooks