Now I’m wishing I had bought a few more of these.
Sorry for the blurry photo!
Very cool!
Strangely enought, there is no way to insert your own photos into the windows - they are all glued shut. No problem for me - I’m going to redo the whole thing anyway. Embossed tin, paint, fabric, so much fun!
OK, that does it - I’m going back and buying more of these!
Here are the two works I finished today:
“El Sol” is created from an ugly dollar store frame. I used some embossing aluminum to cover the frame. The insert is a loteria card image I found online on a painted background. It was inspired by the ArtsyGringa.
El Sol
Baby Bones is based on an image supplied by the ThriftyCollageArtist. Here is the original image:
Original Image
For some odd reason, when I looked at this image, I thought of a skull, so I photoshopped it with some images of skulls using overlays, and added some texture. Here’s the completed image:
After Photoshopping
I glued the whole thing to a black backing and then added some paint to blend it into the backing. The frame was the ugliest thing you’d ever seen: each little window was originally set with a resin block containing an image of a dog - the dogs were strange colors like purple and green. The skulls are resin from a dollar store necklace and there is also broken glass, glitter glue, round mirrors and little vial.
I’m not entirely satisfied with this one, but I’m giving it a couple of days on my desk to see if it grows on me.
Baby Bones
I am on week 5 of the Artist’s Way. It started out slow, with a feeling that I wasn’t really making progress. Yesterday, however, a burst of creativity overwhelmed me. I actually have two mixed media works in progress and the idea for a third.
I’m a little worried though. I tend to get these bursts of enthusiasm over something, spend a lot of energy on it and, after a short period of time, burn out and become totally disinterested. So the question is, is this burst of creativity new or is it the same old thing which will burn away, leaving me a dried husk until the next new thing comes along?
Anyone else experience this or know how I can nurture this flame into a lifelong passion?
One of those days where I just can’t get myself motivated. I did finish this piece, which is a full 8.5×11. I’m thinking of using it as a layer in a work.
We are having a fall heat wave - temps in the 80’s before plummetting at the end of the week with a storm system - so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. Which, I guess is getting something done, right?
I caved. Each day a little more reading crept in and yesterday I finally succumbed, caught up with all of my blogs, read the news and curled up with a book in the evening. It felt wonderful!
This week I am eliminating reading from my diet. No books, magazines, blogs, feeds, friendfeed, websites, or newspapers. I made a couple of allowances, though. I had to in order to get work done. I could look up code and programming info I needed while working on projects. I could read the Creativityist posts and comments pertaining to the Artist’s Way. I expanded a bit today to allow myself to read only the most recent post of the people participating in the Artist’s Way Collective.
I made that last exception to see how others were coping with reading deprivation. For me it has been tough. I’ve discovered (as if I didn’t already know) that I’m lazy by nature. Sure, I could spend the time I usually spend reading doing something productive, like painting that wall in the living room where a cabinet stood and the former occupant just painted around it instead of moving the darn thing, so we have a big rectangle of unpainted wall and we’ve lived here for a year and a half.
Let’s see, what have I done instead? Taken naps. Gone for long drives to areas of the valley I’ve never been and almost running out of gas out in the wild hinterland, but finding a gas station after 10 miles of gas warning light, to be pleasantly surprised that the price of the gas wasn’t any more than in town. I’ve written several poems, went out and sketched Union Gap - the actual gap, the one between the hills which gives the town its name. I finished a pair of socks that have been lying around since last winter, although when I got done I realized that the patterns didn’t match, but no one will really notice, right?
My wool socks
I also came up with a great idea for the novel I’m going to write during NaNoWriMo in November. It is going to need some research, so I even brainstormed some questions I need answered and that I can research during October.
I also dried pounds and pounds of prunes and hot peppers, did the laundry and kept the kitchen clean on a daily basis.
Reading back, this actually looks like I did a lot, but in the past four days I could have read 3-4 entire books, depending on size and how hard they are. I also spent a lot of time just staring out of the window. I wonder if that is the point of this whole exercise. By regaining the time I usually spend reading I lived life much slower. I had more time to get things done and didn’t have to rush through my day. Slow living.
When Shamhat was sent
to tame the wild man,
what was her feeling?
Was it for Ishtar,
religious duty?
Respect for the King?
Maybe fear of him?
Did she go in love,
desiring all men?
Was it in cold fear
of the animal?
Before she saw him,
Enkindu, the man,
how did she prepare?
Did she pray to gods
with hands uplifted?
Was she cool and calm
planning her conquest?
Was her future clear
or clouded with mist?
Did she weep before
setting out to him?
The woman, Shamhat,
did she dream of more?
Of life outside the
temple of Ishtar?
Was the temple big
enough for her dreams
or did Shamhat long
for life beyond sex?
Pf what did she think
before she met the
wild man, Enkindu?
Whole wheat bread and plum jelly
on the square plate I got at Cost Plus.
I made the bread,
half an hour of time, flour, yeast,
salt, oil, and water.
Some people don’t add oil
but it makes a better loaf.
The plums came from the plum tree
at Betty and Bob’s place.
Steam extracted and jelled to bright pink,
nearly opaque.
Tart on the tongue with a sweet finish,
full of summer and wind.
