SUMMER VACATION

Songbird Cafe will be on a "Summer Vacation" during this wonderfully, warm (HOT) weather. I will miss seeing all the family and friends of the cafe on a daily basis! Please enjoy yourselves this summer!

Summer's almost here!

Kyla Strid : Ceramics

Please join us this Friday at 7pm for Kyla Strid's art opening at the cafe. Her work will be on display from May 8th until the beginning of June.

Kyla (our own Alaskan Native) is a ceramic artist who has been working in Kansas City, Kansas since the fall. Before Kansas City, she studied in Lincoln at the University of Nebraska (home to Pete Pinnell) and this upcoming fall she'll participate in a residency in Montana.

Warning - this is not a smoker...

A couple of great customers gifted us a COMPOSTER - Just in time for Earth Day!

It has been a conscious goal of mine to start composting food waste from the cafe. Thanks to Bane and Susan for helping make that goal a reality! Although, I'm not looking forward to populating the bin with "red wigglers"...

Jessica Robles : Etchings

Jessica Robles is currently a Senior in the printmaking department at the Kansas City Art Institute. The work she will be displaying are hand-colored etchings.
The following is from her Artist Statement...

"All my life my artwork has been based on the idea of self and my surroundings. As I child I would make books about the events of my day and throughout school my main focus has been self portraiture. I decided to explore ways to get away from traditional portraits and focus more on the idea of self. I questioned what things made up a person other than their appearance. With camera and sketchbook in hand, I began taking snapshots and sketching important objects of my day. As I did this, I noticed that the things I found most interesting were the mundane moments that happen within a blink of an eye. Moments that most would take for granted. The simple acts of brushing my teeth or pouring a cup of coffee are equally important to my day as is the blanket that seems to travel with me around my apartment. I choose to capture stills of my life in print form in order to validate and memorialize moments that I find significant. Printmaking processes fuel the fire of the availability to the evidence of my existence through the core idea of printmaking, the multiple. The idea of the multiple allows highlights of my life available for all to experience and/or study. It is with this series of etchings that I hope to make these tiny happenings throughout my day worth investigating."

Please join us for her opening reception on Friday, April 10th at 7pm.
http://jessica-robles.blogspot.com/

Unexpected Gifts

What feels more like Christmas than Christmas itself?... UNEXPECTED GIFTS! This past week has been full of them.

For example, on Thursday afternoon around closing time three lovely people stopped by the cafe doing research for a book in progress. Jodi - a talented photographer and proprietress of Studio B in the Crossroads - snapped some photos while we chatted and I made their coffees. I love seeing the cafe through new eyes!

I'll accept the every now and then when life showers you with surprises - thank you thank you thank you.

Ginny Sims : Ceramic Artist

Ginny Sims' ceramic pieces are soft, monochromatic works that are small and functional. Some hang, some go on tables, and so on.

Her work will be on display at the cafe from the Second Friday in March through the beginning of April. The opening reception is Friday, March 13th at 7pm.

Currently Ginny lives in Minneapolis and works at the Northern Clay Center as a technician. She's lived in Kansas City for 2 years working as an artist-in-residence at Red Star studios, as well as working part time at yj's.

Cake?Crisp?Brownies?Yes!Yes!Yes!

Art Openings at the Cafe

Songbird Cafe will begin to host art shows in the cafe. The openings will line up with those of downtown KCK galleries - the 2nd Friday of the Month. It's a chance for artists to show in an intimate setting and for another reason for us to celebrate each month.

So come on join us on February 13th, 2009!

Beautiful Things

This is a photo of a pair of cake stands that are for sale on ETSY. The larger of the two was featured on a great blog - www.kylabea.com - a truly fabulous compliment! A number of customers have collected the cakes stands for entertaining, home decor etc.

My li'l Pearl

Just out of the oven - French toast casserole!

Stephane Suetos first shared this recipe with me. French toast casserole is a treat! It's almost as sweet as Steph!

Girl's afternoon