ABC

A while back I fell upon the ABC's of Me Art Journal Prompt. It's a site that on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, gives a letter prompt. I imagine it started at the beginning of this calendar year as I discovered it at the letter "j", the word prompt being "just". I didn't do anything with it except cogitate, then before I knew it "k" and "karma" were up. Again, I got busy with other stuff. Then "l" came along with "look" and I felt a twinge. I rather like this one. I had a piece of watercolor paper that was a miserable mess so I turned it over and worked the back. It's an odd size - 7 x 9 1/2 - odd because I was looking to frame something else I did on another piece of paper from the same block and there is nothing standard about the size. But it appeals to me, quite possibly because it is odd. Have I blithered on enough?

I was experimenting with diluted bleach on photographs, at the same time inspired by the Queen of Arts self portraits. This is truly mixed media, I think there is everything on this one.

Q24 & Q25

I have now caught up (so a new question can be posted later today) with *e*'s 24th and 25th questions. Phew! Q24 was, "Name something you don't understand, but you want to..." Well, I thought about that one for almost two weeks. I thought I might go deep and esoteric, pondering the big questions in and about life but it didn't feel right. So I went for the funny bone, the cornball, but it's sincere. I really don't understand this. Here it is, front and back:

The back reads: Nothing quite says acne like "Clearasil", does it? I would like to understand why, at 48, I can get just as vicious acne as I did at 14. Haven't I paid my dues? WTF?! Who knew you could wake up with fresh wrinkles and pimples on the same day on the same face!

The Clearasil logo photoshopped, the back is simply scrapbook paper but I thought it kind of looked like whiteheads!

The Q25 was, "Have you had a hug today?" I went for the cornball again, but all I could think of was teddy bears and my son. Scrapbook paper and embellishments, ink.

The back reads: It is hard, if not impossible, to live in a house with a small child and NOT get hugs even before you get out of bed and multiple times throughout the day. YES! I've had a hug today!

Perspective

I was just reading Mary's last post over at Holy Mackerel, about the important things in life, after two icons of our time lost their lives last week. I had had recent, similar thoughts but she has put it oh-so-succinctly. As a female growing up in the 70's, every girl my age and older and younger wanted, if not to be her, wanted Farrah Fawcett's hair. She was beautiful, sexy, longed for by the male population we wanted to be longed for by. (horrible grammar, sorry about that). She was married to the six-million dollar man, for goodness sake. Then when hearing about her health problems I thought, how interesting that now, no woman would want to be her. To go from one to the other must be hard, but more importantly in my mind, it made me realize how happy I am to be me, living my life, warts and all.

Slide

From last Wednesday's St. Jean festivities over at the park with the inflatables - one of the giant slides. I can't believe how big my boy is looking, kind of all elbows and knees gangly. I love him.

Scat By Any Other Name

We put off going to the cottage yesterday because of some nasty weather. Instead we went to see "Up". We saw the 3-D version which I wasn't sure Riley would sit through because of the glasses and the effect, but with some toilet paper shoved in his ears to dull the jacked up sound, he made it through with just a handful of moments hiding in my lap. A terrific, terrific film full of metaphors and visually lovely. It's the kind of film you want to buy after you've see it, and that coming from me who doesn't much see the value of owning a film you've already watched.

But this morning after a little dithering, we packed up the car and headed north. I'm happy to report that with the exception of a few droppings here and there, the bulk of which were in Riley's room (drats! going to have to find the hole they are creeping through to get in there), it was a varmint free house. The only other wildlife was your standard lot of houseflies, which had all died of natural causes, so within a couple of hours the house was cleaned down and we are now ready for the next block of time when we can go and just have fun. There were a couple of mysterious piles of scat on the main deck, though, which puzzled us to no end. While cleaning it up, we were analyzing the details, trying to figure out what on earth could have left the deposits. You know, bigger than a breadbox but smaller than a car. There were a couple of standard piles and another couple that had been left up on a stack of logs. I was wracking my brain, thinking what kind of animal would bother to climb up to take care of business as most wild ones usually just drop as they go. These were deliberate collections. I didn't think to whip out my camera for some reason but I'm gathering you are all grateful that I didn't. When my handyman came by we talked about it and showed him the evidence and he pronounced it porcupine poo. B-I-G porcupine. Now I need to find a natural deterrent for porcupines as one of my dogs will certainly be getting a snoot full of quills unless we can relocate it. Right now I need to go and nurse the 18 blackfly bites I have on my neck. They went for the jugular.

Friday Haiku

Bequeathed an Award
An Uber Amazing Blog
What can I say?....Thanks!

This award came from my friend and fellow blogger, Snap. At the risk of repeating myself, what can I say, but Thanks! It touches me to know that what I'm putting out there makes a difference in other people's lives, even one other life. I will try to live up to it.

Snap and Brenda, another fellow blogger also gave me other awards recently which I have, up until now, neglected to mention and thank them for. This all happened at a time when my life got very suddenly frantic and I dropped a few threads. So sorry about that but I do love the sentiment. And in this case, I'm on it!

Early tomorrow morning I'm doing something foolish - I'm dropping some more threads, leaving so much unattended here at home to run up to my cottage to "open" it up for the summer, chase out any wild life that moved in over the winter, fingers crossed that the water pump will be working (if not it will mean hauling pails from the lake for washing up the droppings), get the pedal boat in the water, make sure the dock didn't float away once the ice broke on the lake and so on and so forth. I also have my fingers crossed that the blackflies have died off. It will be a short trip, just to bring things up to snuff for the rest of the summer but it will be computer-less. I only have dial-up and am looking forward to a two or three day email repose. Lots to come once I'm back, I promise!

In The Garden

A little something I've been tinkering with. Inspired by the spring/summer and the surge of green growth. I love this time of year. Collage, pencil, ink & distress ink, acrylic and masks on 4 x 6 140lb. watercolor paper.

Missing

Missing, front and center. Oh, how I've dreaded this moment. The "look" is now changed forever. Soon one big horse-sized tooth will grow in and the smile I've adored for so long will be different. Oh, I'll still love him to bits. And he is over the moon. *sigh*

Books

I recently finished both my fiction and non-fiction book. I usually have one of each going, with the fiction one mostly reading faster. Gail McMeekin's, "The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women," I had mixed feelings about. I'm glad I read it but it did seem a little lofty at times. It comes with very interesting references which I will check out. I have already posted about the chapter on priorities, me coming away thinking there is no way I can dedicate enough of my time to my art since one of my most important priorities is hand raising my son. The following chapter was about our personal saboteurs and I felt a little relieved after that one. I haven't done all the homework in the book yet and one thing I did find interesting was that although she interviewed and included many fascinating women, she admitted there were a number of women she approached that declined to be included in the book because it was gender slanted. I will be the first to admit that we do still live in a patriarchal society, even in 2009, but more and more women are gaining ground as equals, not as "better". To repeat myself, I'm glad I read it.


The fiction book I just finished was recommended by Sherry Lee and what a surprise, the author turns out to be a neighbor of one of my other fellow bloggers, Snap. "The Bright Side of Disaster," by Katherine Center was fun. It was light but intelligently written. A tad predictable, perhaps, but still great vacation reading or perfect for when you've just inundated yourself with more intense material to unwind with and just plain enjoy the pleasure of reading. I will be looking for more of her books at the library.

Sara's Give-Away

Sara is having a give-away over at Locuasia. Go and see the pretties she is offering up, but hurry because she is closing the gates on Sunday night!

Wordless Wednesday

Wreck This Journal, Week 3

Here it is, my second vlog, week 3 of the wreck. I didn't do so well this week, but I did learn a lot about how I hold back during the creation process, how my fear of mucking it up is so strong. So that's a good thing. I'll be much more aware of that as I head into this studio this week. I might even do some real damage to the book.




And, still life with compost, after a few spins around the drum:

Credit

Yes, there is a new look over here, with more to come. Coding is the bane of my existence, though...I would love to take credit for the lovely design but it's a download from Lena (her link is at the bottom of my blog). I was in need of three columns with a new thing coming on soon, I wanted to separate it from my other lists. But in the switch over I lost my book list and the list of blogs I frequent. I'll get it back, slowly but not all today as it's my last free day in the studio for an unforeseen period of time. Tomorrow is Riley's last day of school so I'll have some feet under mine for a couple of months. Can't wait! I love that kid! Happy Monday!

Colours?

Last weekend I bought an orange coloured cauliflower. In the past I have bought all the different designer colours purple, green and goes-with-everything-white. I have been noticing all week while cutting it up that it has these rings of orange colour down the stems and I have been wondering what in the heck "they" colour it with. Does anybody know? Do they water it with food colouring while it's growing? Do they inject it with food colouring shortly before sending it to market? What other colours have they tried to produce, but failed? Did red turn into a grotesque pink? Did they ever try to make a gothic (black) one? I am curious and a little perturbed. But I might stick with the classic white from now on.

3 Columns Question

I'm throwing a question out there - I'm trying to edit my template to make three columns instead of two. I have found a few online sources but whenever I do a "preview" all my existing right column ends up on the bottom. Does any one have a sight that spells how to do this simply? Muchas gracias.

Book

I stayed up last night to finish, "Let Loose the Dogs," by Maureen Jennings. This is a book I've had for a couple of years, found in the discount bin at Chapters shortly after my friend Christine told me about her friend (the author) and another book she wrote called, "The Map of the Mind" which was all about creativity. Lately I have been trying to read up the pile of books I was given or I had bought because I thought it was a good idea at the time, most of them dating back a few years. This is a historical murder mystery with Jennings popular detective character, William Murdoch. It was a fun book, an easy read, with most of the story taking place in the late 1800's Toronto. There is not much more to say about it but it was complete, didn't disappoint or leaving me wondering why or how. The language was in keeping with the time period it was written about and if you like historical murder mysteries then I would recommend it. Now, after catching up with my own rather historical pile, I'm free to move on to those wonderful library books I picked up this week.

Photo Tag

My fellow blogger, Beth, has a challenge up on her blog and I have been tagged. Take the first folder from your photos, choose the tenth picture in that photo, post it and tell the story behind it. Mine is kind of boring as I have an awful lot of stock of Riley, but here goes:


The odds that it would be a photo of Riley were pretty high. And I only have photos on my computer starting from last December, the rest are stored on my MyBook so it's not even an old one PLUS to validate my retentiveness, the folders are alphabetical . From December 2008, probably Riley's last swimming lesson, also taken with my old camera.

Anyone else up for this little challenge - consider yourself tagged! Happy weekend!

Haiku Friday

Today's haiku is accompanied by a photo, because it frustrated me so...

The end of the floss
Shouldn't there be a warning?
Off to the drug store

Rambling

This will likely be a rambling post. After a few days away from blogging it seems I have so much to say and absolutely nothing relevant at the same time. I am not new to irony.

The photo I posted yesterday was taken when I was at the Guelph public market last month. I had stood in line to get an ounce of wheat grass juice and this delicious ropey thing was coming out the other end of the grinder. One end juice, the other end green, unusual ropey-thing. The woman making the juice grabbed a piece off and tossed it to me (I guess I was eying it rather hungrily). It looks like a martian dreadlock to me but I loved the texture and the way it would swing around in the air. I took a few shots of it before I let it go as it was rather inappropriate for me to carry it around for the rest of the day.

This afternoon at Riley's school we had the volunteers' cocktail, thanking everyone who donated time throughout the year. And we had real wine and a nice little spread. The kids present ate all the cupcakes and drank all the juice boxes and the adults ate all the shrimp and goat cheese and drank from the more potent boxes. All this at 3:15 in the afternoon. For all the bashing I give this city and its culture, I have to take my hat off to those who are up to having a tipple in the afternoon, in the school library no less.

I also went to the municipal library this morning, hoping to stock up on some summer fiction and came away with five books. One Grisham from 2005 which I don't remember reading but in 2005 Riley was two years old and any spare time I had then I chose to sleep. I also picked up the Stephanie Kallos that Beth had recently recommended, a Katherine Center book recommended by Sherry Lee and I forget what else. There is no possible way I will read all five within the three week time allotted but it's nice to have a fresh pile of fiction waiting for me.

I have been puttering in the studio too, with somewhat discouraging results. While doing some Wrecking (or rather, trying to do some Wrecking in my Wreck This Journal) I am realizing how incredibly retentive I am when it comes to creativity. I guess that is a good thing (the "recognition", not the "being") because although it has been kind of a disappointing week in the studio, I think I have learned a fair amount and found some other avenues I would like to explore. I have been trying to do gel medium transfers, my first few were dismal. No, beyond dismal they were ineffectual and turned my piece(s) into scrap. On the counsel of the Queen of Arts, I trotted off to Bureau En Gros for some sheets of acetate, but could only find projector transparencies for ink jet at an ungodly price. I ended up buying a package of 5 for about $15. I received a lovely scanner/printer for Christmas last year - the Epson 800 Artisan and today discovered that it doesn't print transparencies because it doesn't "see" them. Poo. I am glad my vintage 2002 Epson Stylus had some ink left because it does print transparencies although the colors it prints are not true to what I see on the computer screen. Double poo. I have been working on a piece for my friend Tammy for her birthday next month. She has recently gone through a difficult separation and has two very young children and a needy schnauzer, not to mention a day job and a full mortgage. I wanted to make something special and for some reason I thought it would involve a transfer. After two tries (complete with sanding in between each transfer) here is a detail of today's adventures:

I transferred more than I wanted, in the way of text surrounding the dragonfly and less than I wanted in other detail and am just feeling like Bill the Cat, AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK! (Reference to Opus earlier this week). But I think it is still salvageable, might even turn out nice enough to not hide away in her bedroom.

On the positive side I have had a lot of fun and experimentation with photography, not that I have anything concrete to show for it beside the tag I posted on Monday. But if anyone has any helpful hints about gel medium transfers, I'm all ears - what you print on, the length of time you let the ink sit, how much gel medium you use and how long you leave the image on to transfer, I would love to hear from you, anything that has worked for you in the past, even if it hasn't been consistent.

A special thank you to all the teachers out there who are winding down their year and saying good bye, with joy or reluctance and a few pangs, to their students. Hurray for teachers! You will never know the difference you make in so many lives.

Wordless Wednesday