A new blog home!

It's up and running! A totally new blog for a new beginning! From now on ALL posting will be done at the
Wild Raven Arts blog. I'll be deleting this blog once I finish transferring the posts I wish to keep. If you want to keep following me, and I hope you do, please join me over on Wild Raven Arts!

I've already set up a place to sign up for the weekly newsletter, set my posting schedule (Mondays and Thursdays), and done two new blog posts.

Hope to see you there!

Kristin

Blech!

This is how I feel about getting up at 630 am on a freezing Saturday morning. Blech! But, my son has Boy Scout can duty this morn, where they sort all the returnables that've been donated to the Troop to help fund camping trips. So, awake I am. The mask is a hand carved and painted one from a tribe in Peru. Even at this icky hour I can still focus on cool art!

Cooking As Art

   Art comes in many forms and I for one believe cooking is an art! Especially when it's done with love and enthusiasm, the way all things in life should be done.   My son loves to cook and is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen.

    This Monkey Bread, which isn't your run of the mill, easy to make type of Monkey Bread, we made together. It was a great way to keep our minds off of Jimmy, the love of my life, being in the ER while we waited to find out what was wrong. Waiting's never easy, but that type of waiting's torture!

   Anyhow, always remember to make life's moments count. Something as simple as making Monkey Bread can be a "moment" when it's done with love and enthusiasm.

Therapy....

The bills are piling up. My pain is through the roof. Things are looking bleak. So what's the cure? BUY ART BOOKS!!! Yes, a little retail therapy in the form of art books or art supplies is always a wise cure. I don't understand the logic, but do know it always works. Happy, happy again!

Faces

This week I've been practicing drawing faces. My son and I watched Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's  All About Faces video, purchased from the Cloth, Paper, Scissors shop, earlier in the week and have been practicing our drawing ever since. I love sharing Art Time with my Little Man! His drawing of a purple haired gal is none other than yours truly. I'm thinking it just has to be my new profile pic on Facebook!

Musings

  A transformer at the end of our street blew so our power is out again. I actually enjoy the quiet and the soft light of candles. At the moment I have so many lit the place resembles Dracula's castle. Especially since a lot of my candleabra have skulls or gargoyles on them!

  This cluster is one of the few without the 'Dark Shadows' overtone. I thought it looked pretty so thought I'd share.

Monday Musings

  The journal I started making during the power outage last weekend is all painted, collaged and bound. I don't usually fully collage one before working in it, but I wanted to spiral bind it with the Zutter so having it filled with images before hand was the way to go. I wanted the collage to come all the way to the left edge on many of the pages and there was simply no way to do that if I bound it first!  It is rather nice to have a full journal all set for pen work and writing that I can grab any time I'm walking out the door.
  The entire time I was working on creating this journal the words "personal and potent" kept running through my head. now I'm referring to this as my personal and potent journal. I tend not to name a journal because then it feels like I need to stick with a theme, but this one obviously demanded naming!
  This is a skinny journal, only 4.5" wide by 8.5" long. I find skinny pages more challenging to work on, but am always up for a challenge as I feel it causes us to be more creative. It's the same reason I limit the amount of images and supplies I have near me at any given time. If I work with a smaller a mount of images, say a decent sized Ziploc full, it forces me to dip deeper into my creative pool. Plus, I find too many supplies, be it collage fodder, stamps, tools, whatever to be creatively stifling. If you have too much around you it can be overwhelming. Better to push the creativity by working with less than sit there going "Where do I start? What do I use?"

The front cover. the back cover has the same paper on it. I've had this wrapping paper for a while now and wanted to use it for something just right.  For whatever reason, this journal was that "just right" piece.

The inside front cover. I haven't added my contact info yet, something I always do just in case a journal goes missing! I'm also going to add the words "Personal and Potent". Or maybe that will go on the outside cover. Not sure yet on that one.

I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving and planning my menu. This page has a bit of Giving Thanks in it. It also has a 60's psychedelic feel for whatever reason. I don't question what I do, I just do it!

The cool and slightly odd snail lady got me thinking about how slow moving I am thanks to pain. It also got me thinking how moving slow is often a blessing. You tend to notice a lot more when you go slow. As for the skull, well I just like skulls and add them in as much as possible!

Favorite Friday's

  Hallelujah! I can finally access the internet. The first thing I did was go in and edit the two posts I made with my phone because the formatting and some of the text is always lost when I post that way. I like this blog to look a certain way, to have some consistency in it's appearance and content, so blogging through my phone just doesn't cut it!
  OK, who is this person I have become????  Words like Consistency and Routine use to be foreign words to me. Running amok, spontaneous and wild were far more familiar terms. Hmm, I wonder if I can be routinely wild or consistently spontaneous? It's worth a shot right?

Blast from the past: Journal page from 4/4/09

  I've been super creative and busy this week,cranking out journal pages,mixed media pieces and mini books daily. The books are intended for holiday gifts. The broke artist's way of saying"I love you, but I can't afford a useless gift you don't need so I made you this stunning book for photos or musings instead. It's far better than a store bought gift, you just need to realize that..."

Blast from the past: Journal page from 1/19/09

Enough babbling. On to my Favorites for this week:

Paint The Town Exhibit at the Prints and the Potter in Worcester, MA. A great selection of works painted in Worcester. These artists really capture the essence of the city.  If you live fairly local I highly recommend stopping by to see this. Then you can pop across Highland Street to The Bean Counter for the best coffee and pastries in the city! 

Missing Missy: OK, we all know I am a sarcastic, wise ass. So is it any surprise I totally crack up over this encounter?  Part of this was in Reader's Digest recently and I'd been meaning to look up the rest online and just today got around to it. This guy definitely is a kindred spirit!

Hmm, not too many favorites this week. Actually, my real favorite was just spending so much time with my family. Life doesn't get any sweeter than that. 

Journal Pages & Musings

  Since the storm Saturday I've had internet access issues. To be honest, it's bugging me for one reason only: My inability to blog easily. Anyone that's been following me for a while will know that consistencey has always been a challenge. Now that I've found a way to blog consistently, something I wanted to do for myself more than anything, not being able to irks me. Isn't it amazing how something we tried so hard to make routine becomes something we don't want to live without? In my case, posting here on certain days has become part of my weekly rituals. Without being able to maintain that ritual throws off my groove! Does this mean I've finally been able to maintain scheduling in one area of life instead of running amok , completely schedule free, as is my norm?

I started making a new journal during the power outage. It's going to be spiral bound so I am painting and collaging all the pages ahead of time.
The banana paper is part of the inside front cover.

A few more pages in the new journal.These are skinny pages, something I find challenging to work on, but like the size because it makes the journal so portable.

I actually have two new journals in progress. The top page here is from the larger of the two. You can see a skinny page below it so you have an idea of the size difference. I like working in all different size journals.
 It keeps me from getting bored!

Nor'Easter

  Thanks to an early season Nor'Easter our power was knocked out for over 24 hours. We're actually lucky to have it back since most of the town & the surrounding towns are still out. Saturday night I was making art by candlelight. Nothing can stop a creative soul when the Muse comes calling!

The Gargoyle's white hat is getting taller.

What's on my art table? The cat mostly. He is convinced I can't possibly create without him adding his energy, and paw prints, to the mix!

This cat is my biggest critic. He's always pouring over my works in progress, especially the journals, and doesn't hesitate to shred what he deems unworthy.

Halloween Greetings from Voldemort. 

The Miniature Menace showing her true nature. Don't let the big eyes fool you.
She is the Devil incarnate!

I seriously need a shirt like this!

First Snow

    It snowed last night. The heavy, branch breaking snow that we usually don't get as a first snow. Today the Jack O Lantern and Guardian Gargoyle wear hats of white.

Even though I am not ready for the deep, months long cold and snow, I have no choice in the matter so will just accept it for the beauty it offers. The snow did make a delightfully crunchy sound when walking on it. My late lettuce greens and radishes probably don't appreciate that sound though. In fact, they looked cold! I made a quick, make shift cold frame out of bent maple branches and heavy plastic. Better late than never....

Last 10 songs the i-Pod randomly played: 

Black Hole Sun--Stone Temple Pilots

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy--Bette Midler

Bodies--Drowning Pool

Domino--Van Morrison

Dead and Bloated--Stone Temple Pilots

Dance Hall Days--Wang Chung

Dirty Deeds--AC/DC

Black Betty--Ram Jam

Animals--Nickleback

I Don't Like Mondays--Boomtown Rats

Can we say eclectic?

Journal Pages 10/18/11

  I'm counting the days until my new great-nephew arrives. He's due to make his first appearance in the world on November 10, but babies arriving on a specific date is like herding cats. There are no guarantees they'll do what you expect them to. 

  I'm still in cleansing and purging mode. The back of the truck is getting full of clothes, shoes, household goods and books to donate. Tomorrow I'll probably make the drive to the Salvation Army and drop off. I'll try to resist going in to see what vintage coats need rescuing, but as with babies and herding cats, there are no guarantees!

Done while sitting at Vincent's listening to the music.
Collage, Sparkling H2O's, Gellyroll pen, ink jet transfer

Done at Vincent's.
Collage and Gellyroll pen

Journal Pages

  Today is going to be a babbling day. If you prefer to skip the babbling and go straight to the art, go right ahead. I'll never know....  
    It's been a busy week for me. For whatever reason, late autumn is the time I feel most compelled to clean and clear. For three days now I've been going through closets, drawers and cabinets cleaning them out and amassing piles of things to donate. Clothes and shoes mostly. Or rather boots. The women in my family seem to have a hoarding issue when it comes to boots. Especially black boots. I'm not sure what it is about boots, black boots in particular, that we love so much. This love, and hoarding issue, carries over to coats too. I in particular have a weakness for vintage wool coats that I find at the Salvation Army. Something in me cannot possibly leave a vintage 1950's red wool coat with black cuffs and collar or a 1947 full length black wool pea coat to languish, unappreciated, at the thrift store. So I, of course, buy them, usually for less than $10.00, give them a good cleaning and wear them with pride. And love. Lots and lots of love. But I digress...
    What is it about late autumn that makes me want to get every nook and cranny of the house in order? I believe it's an instinctual knowing from deep inside. I know that the cold, dark days and nights are upon us and my time will focus on indoors. Somewhere inside I know indoors needs to be tidied up, swept free of summer's energy and made cozy for the long months ahead. For me, all this must be done before Samhain, October 31. As a pagan, Samhain is one of my most sacred and important seasonal celebrations. It's the time we say good bye to the harvest, give thanks for the abundance of summer, welcome back our ancestors and focus our hearts, minds and spirits on the darkness ahead. It's really a time of renewal and reflection for me and others who dance the spiral of nature based beliefs. Which completely explains why every year I am compelled to cleanse, purge and release that which is no longer needed.

Tiny journal pages, 4.5" x 7".
The one on the left was created using Neocolor II crayons on 9/30/11
The one on the right was created with collage and Gellyroll pens on 4/29/11

Another tiny journal page created with collage and Gellyroll pen on 10/9/11

Page created with collage, ink jet transfer, Sparkling H2O's, and Gellyroll pen
on 10/10/11

Missing Post & Mini Book

  Hmmmm, I have no idea what happened to my Friday post! It seems to have gone off into the ether and never found its way here. Ah well. It happens. 

  My niece was married yesterday and I've made her a mini book\photo album as part of her gift. I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it. 

  This was the first time I used my Zutter binding system and am quite pleased with the results! I'm planning to make a bunch of spiral bound books to give as holiday gifts. To me, a gift of creativity is the best of all. 

I had this paper for ages now and thought a wedding book was the perfect use for it.
Not to mention my niece is quite the Princess. But in a good way...

The cover and a tag I clipped to the side telling them to fill the book with photos and memories. Just in case they have no clue what it's for!

Top view of the book. I used all different papers, added some distressing and inking to the edges and then bound it with the Zutter.

Yummy Mail

  It was a good mail day. One of my favorite catalogs, Sacred Source, and my Flock Shop order arrived. Yummy fibers & a cool stencil from Flock Shop and soul stirring Goddess images in Sacred Source. The best of both worlds! And, is it me or is Flock Shop totally dangerous? Just what we need, art supplies on a time limit so we feel even more compelled to yell 'I must have that!'

Food As Art

Tonight's dinner, made by my son. Homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella. Yum! Another one in the oven, with sliced Roma tomato from the garden. Now that's art!

Favorite Friday's

It's been a busy week, full of inspiration and fun moments. Seems like every time I turned around there was something new to discover or something old to see in a new way. A few of my favorites I share with you.


1) By far my favorite moment of the week was my son and I getting to meet Steven Cotler, author of the delightful children's book, 'Cheesie Mack is not a Genius or Anything' . Mr Cotler spent a few days in our town, meeting with the middle school kids and taping a segment of the town's Celebrity Readers program for our local access channel. My son's class spent one class period with him on Monday, which thrilled him to no end. On Tuesday we attended the show taping at the library and I had a chance to meet Mr Cotler. He is a really nice guy, easy to talk to and has lead quite the interesting life. He also had some very nice things to say about my boy which obviously made me like him even more!

2) Tuesday nights I usually take my art journal and go sit at this out of the way, hole in the wall bar called  Vincent's. From the location, a seedy part of Worcester, and the exterior you'd never guess what lurks inside. One of the funkiest, feel right at home places with the best acoustic music in town. This past Tuesday I was at my usual table (And yes. It IS mine. People move away from it when they see me walk in, art bag in hand.) listening to the acoustic duo of Scott Ricciuti (who happens to be a good friend) and John Donovan. Scott and John are two thirds of The Friday Farewells. The other third, Michael Thibodeau, was missing that night. They did some great classics by the Beatles and Who along with a bunch of originals. Between the atmosphere, the music and the eclectic photographs and various weird decorations (giant tarantula under glass anyone?) this is definitely an inspiring place for any artist.

3)  The art of Niki de Saint Phalle has always intrigued me. Especially her Tarot garden. It inspired me yet again this week when I stumbled upon her web site while looking for something else entirely. Alas, she passed in 2002 so no more unbelievable sculptural works in the future. But at least I have those from the past to continue to inspire and intrigue. If you aren't familiar with her work do check it out! It's amazing!!!

Journal Pages

   When I work in my journal, which is every single day, I don't necessarily work in order. I jump around from front to back, to middle to front and even from journal to journal. Whichever journal is handy when I feel like working is the one I grab. I also vary what type of journal work I'm doing on any particular day. Some days it's painting pages, others collage and then there are the days I just sit and journal page after page after page.  It may not sound like a method, but it's my method and it works for me.
  If you look through my journals you'll see there is no chronological order in them date wise. But you can pick out themes. Certain things show up in them over and over again.  Today's post showcases three pages that have a theme to them, whether it was intentional or not. Usually it's not. Whatever happens to fall out of my head while I am writing is what ends up on the page.  But by looking at the pages you can clearly see certain things are on my mind a lot.
  In the case of these pages what's on my mind is poverty. Every day I try to remember that 1.4 billion people live below the poverty level of $1.25 per day.  Which makes me ask myself, do I really need that cool, binding system I saw in a magazine? Or to go out to eat instead of cooking tonight? The answer is always no. How can I justify spending money when so many have so little? This keeps me humble, and thrifty and driven to do more. I may not have much money wise or even material wise compared to some. But Icertainly have a whole lot more than the 1.4 billion who have nothing. Think about that the next time you shell out $4 for a cup of coffee (which I refuse to do, ever!). Maybe you'll decide that $4 can be put to better use.

  

Mixed-Media Monday's

  I decided Monday's will be the day to share the mixed-media pieces I started over the past week. Or at least as many of them I can capture with my camera phone (note to self: MUST get new digital camera!)  I am really prolific when it comes to creating so it isn't unusual for me to have 20 or more pieces begun in a week's time. and I tend to leap around a lot, from working on substrate to altering objects, to working in paper mache to....  Well, you get the drift.  I'm convinced I have some sort of ADD that only artists have.


  I've been working on backgrounds for a series of paintings. The substrate size & type varies, but they share a color theme & subject matter. There was a chapter heading in an old book I was tearing text out of that caught my imagination (The good strange and the bad strange) so it's being used in each piece. Being quite strange myself, how could I possibly resist?

Favorite Friday's

  I've decided to showcase my favorite blogs, web sites, books, etc each Friday in what I'm calling Favorite Friday's. Each Friday I'll post the people, places, things and events that I found to be interesting, inspirational and note worthy during the past week.  I hope those of you who take the time to stop by and read my posts will find these things worth hearing about as well!  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you enjoyed my first Favorite Fridays post!


1) A blog I started reading this week Printmaking without a Press has given me much inspiration! Her work is full of color, texture and life.  The artist, Linda Germain, has some classes coming up on printmaking that I am hoping to attend. Just need to check the funds first and see if they, and my schedule, will allow me to go.  Do check her out even if you aren't a print maker. Her work is fabulous eye-candy!


2) Paris Daily Photo: I've been following this blog for a few years now. What can I say? I love Paris. Especially the patisseries and the Luxembourg Gardens, where you can hear the bells of Notre Dame ringing so sweet and clear while strolling past the amazing trees and original statue of Liberty. Amazing.

3) The Willard Clock Museum in North Grafton, MA is less than 10 minutes from my house. The grounds are peaceful, beautiful and a great place to sit with my art journal and let my thoughts flow. Inside is an amazing collection of early clocks. yes, clocks. They are created with attention to detail, outstanding craftsmanship that use to be standard in manufacturing anything and are a feast for the eyes. If you ever get out to Central Mass,this is a must see. In the meantime, peruse the web site! On a side note, my Mom use to work for descendants of the Willard family. they had an original Willard clock in their home. Mom says it was beautiful and the family was darned nice too!

4) I had to take my son to the doctor's yesterday. His pediatrician is located in what is called Med City. Inside there is the most beautiful atrium, with flowing waterfalls, sloped ramps for walking, bright light from the tinted glass ceilings and abundant windows, and plants (both real and fake, but decent fake ones) that give a gentle, relaxed atmosphere. We always take time to stroll around, throwing coins into the pools below the falls, either before or after his appointment.One of these days I'm going to take my art journal, grab a cup of Joe from the Dunkin Donuts and just sit, listening to the falls and let inspiration wash over me. As far as medical centers go, they built this one right.