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Electric Blanket (then):
I was making art every day, writing poetry for the first time since I was a teenager, taking photos with my Mamiya. I was immersing myself in flamenco classes, museum days and nights at the ballet. I was reading and writing letters on paper to my brother who was in college. I had an amazing day job, but I was growing impatient with the 9-5 and yearned to keep my hands working. I took some time to go to Portland and make art with my brother, and one morning we decided we'd make a zine. We'd name it after his poem he had just read: Will You Be My Electric Blanket.
The zine was in our heads for maybe a few days before I knew it was time to quit the comfort of my career and open a vintage shop and art gallery, and I'd call it Electric Blanket. It would be a place where I could workshop ideas and art and creative events. There would be coffee and a big table and people would be encouraged to build on installations that would evolve with the space. Within six months I signed a lease and opened the space surrounded by gorgeous friends and new faces who would become some of the most important people to me six years later.
In practice, it was many things. It was a dream come true and more. It was received with the most stellar press, including Best of the Bay for Style. I imagined I'd do it forever, though the reality soon settled in: running a space meant I had less and less time for the art I set out to make, and less and less time or energy to see ideas come to life. In retrospect, it was a huge project to undertake without a team dedicated to supporting it all in a neighborhood that wasn’t safe. I learned a lot, and I'm beyond grateful that I had the chance to both open and close the project of my dreams.
Electric Blanket (NOW):
Electric Blanket is back for zine #2, The Breakup, set to print in the Spring of 2020. Our hope is to go back to the original intention of Electric Blanket- “letting the insides out”- and to reignite the beautiful community that grew around our big table. Current goals include special collaborations and projects, installations and artwork. I have no idea what the future holds, but I know that what matters is that we create and iterate. So, this is Electric Blanket Now.
