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Friday, June 30, 2006

lights out



Again inspired by the art of David Mack's Kabuki series and the girl who modeled for him, I took some pictures of my own yesterday morning and then sketched. Today I carved and printed. I think it's coming along just fine. I can see where I'd do things differently here, but I like it a lot and I like the fact that it's being okay with me to make imperfect/amateur work. After all, I am an amateur, really! How long do I get to claim that though....maybe my human figures and perspective will always be slightly wonky (that's a possibility)(wonky as in...amateurish :^) we all know I like wonky).

I wonder if I'll ever try woodblock carving - what can you do with wood carvings that you can't on soft block, I wonder? This is about a 4x5" size, and I printed it on a piece of paper I received in a portfolio sampler from Canson. I asked them for some samples barely a week ago and a big fat envelope of beautiful paper was waiting for me when I arrived home this evening. Sweet!! And free!

I am so sleepy. I was up at 6:45 this morning, despite the fact that I could've slept about forty-five minutes longer. Hmmm....time to brush the teeths and zzzzz. Only - I think I smell cake! From downstairs! Jubenal is a cake-maker and I think he's at it again...ohhhh man...there was a lemon bundt cake at work today and I almost made the HUGE mistake of eating some but someone came along and flipped the lid over and NO it's not homemade, it's store bought and YES it contains soy oil! A big NO NO for Victoria!!!

I didn't obsess about it all day; in fact I'd quite forgotten about it. If I still want something lemony or cakey tomorrow, then I'll either make it or buy it.
Okay didn't I say I was going to brush my teeth? I am. Nighters.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

pieces of puzzles



I sketched out this ATC earlier today before work. I took some photos of myself, after being inspired again by David Mack and his Kabuki series (graphic novel). My drawing's a little more off today, but that's okay. I am still drawing and having a blast with it. I inked this one in partially on my lunch hour and then came home and finished it up. Also sketched out a portrait for another carving. I can carve or ink another ATC in that I drew this morning.

and...drumroll...I am truly going to bed early! Earlier. I gotta get up and open up shop tomorrow, early turnabout day. A good day today, it's really doing the summer thing and staying warm...I really like it. I had one wish, to fit back into some shorts this summer that I've not worn for a couple years. Then along came Mail Art and I refocused my attention, got absorbed and excited about it all...walked a lot this last winter, dropped a couple sizes and wow. My shorts fit! I wore them on my long walk to the bus stop and I gotta say, it just feels good. Not that my thighs don't rub or my belly doesn't roll but you know? My body feels better for shedding a bit. Yay!

snoozing soon!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

two fer

A couple of ATCs I drew this morning...felt good, I loved doing them and being engaged in the seeing/creating hand-eye-brain coordination mode/space. I just loooove drawing!! I can also see clearer now what could be different about these to make them stronger. But it's okay, I like the process of learning and using permanent ink, I can't erase them, just let them be what they are.





This image is drawn from a picture in a graphic novel by David Mack. It's from the Kabuki series. In the back, he includes his sketches, and also photos of conventions, and also of Connie...I forget her last name...who did a bunch of modeling for him, for his drawings. Cooool!!! I love that he includes all that! It's an amazing series too. Lucky for us, our library carries most if not all of them. But, they are ones I would own gladly. Maybe I should enter another Powell's Book Sweeps Contest or something like that.

anyway...another good day today, did art/puttering all morning long and worked in the evening. Time for snoozers. s'later!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Perry Can!



Hee hee.

If Trish hadn't made a Pelican deco and I hadn't signed up for it...I doubt very highly that I would have ever drawn, carved, and printed a pelican. So glad I did! And Trish, so glad you did - thank you!!

not so all-fired hot today, although...still purty darn warm, enough to draw out bucketloads of sweat from me for a short (20? minute) ride downtown to the post office. Went there instead of my own PO because 'downtown' (Eugene) is on the way to AJ's and AJ threw a Tea Party. Yummy cucumber sammiches, and 'surprise' sammiches too (all with the crust cut off): cream cheese and salsa...and marmalade?! Wow, surprisingly good.

My dad wrote me the greatest letter - email - that I read this morning. What a nice surprise. And we have both been eating pizza on the same day! Unbeknownst to either of us! Thanks for the letter Dad, I'll be catching up on emails soooooon.

Big honkin' mail out day to me. I overextended myself - I mailed out a dozen things. Not just postcards, but letters, care packages, decos. I need to pare it back, and do more Mail Art (as in, for Mail Art calls 'round the globe, I LOVE doing that), ATCs...I dunno...get a second job? I recoil at the mere idea - when would I ever do art? I mean, I just can't afford twenty dollars a week for postage. It's not always like that but DAMN. I didn't realize I'd signed up for so many projects and swaps. And it was all very fun but....yikes. It'll be a leaner grocery shopping trip this week. No problem. I know how to do that, and I've got grains and beans galore, so it's all good.

Oh - I like the word 'pulse' for grains. Isn't that great? I think so.

Off to sleepsville with me.

Monday, June 26, 2006

self love safe hands



This is what occupied the greater part of my evening. I think I need to step away for awhile, and then in the morning, see what I think. I really like it...a lot...and I also wonder if it's too busy. I may need to pare it back a bit. Any feedback is welcome.

This'll satisfy some swaps too...I need to use it for a few different ones in the interest of time, since there is only so much of it despite the fact that I keep thinking everyone else has more of it than I do.

Hot again today. Oh my lord yes. Too much too hot. But, I did go for a nice bike ride BEFORE it started sizzling, and I felt good all afternoon, just hot. And I stopped at the store on my way home and plunked a good sized watermelon in my pannier and brought it home to chill in the fridge. Oh yeah, that was tasty. Got a good one!

Gas dropped below three bucks a gallon, I see. I rode past on my bike, hee hee. I love summer, it's much easier getting around by bike, not so much time layering up and..it's just more pleasant, generally speaking, ya know?!

oy. time to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday, June 25, 2006

le jardin de nuit

So, here it is...nuit. And it's cooled down a bit. Whooo. Tryin' to get the air circulating in here some more.

Here is my first stab at layering gel medium transfers, and I made a small deco for a swap. The under-layer (the pinkish/greenish pattern) is from an earlier try, many weeks ago. I had saved it just in case, and I'm glad I did. It'll be fun to play around with this more and refine the process. I had happened to find a color copy inside of a magazine that made an okay transfer (glossy pages don't work). The picture is one I drew for an ATC swap. I just took a photo of myself and started drawing and for some reason (and for the first time ever in my ATC-making-career) I made photocopies of it and another on saturday. I had no designs on making transfers...but it all worked out quite nicely!









I painted a lot with my fingers today - that's why I include a shot of the backside there. Dabbling sorta day - was great.

And then a picture for a Same Image Round Robin project. I finally remembered that I probably had some bigger/fatter permanent markers. It was beginning to take way too long to do this with a fine tip. Thank god for fat permanent markers!




utt-oh...I just noticed a caution message underneath the editor window here, saying 'could not connect to Blogger.com. Saving and publishing may fail. Test connection now.' Well poo. I guess we'll see if this works.

hey. it disappeared with that last carriage return. Curiouser and curiouser!

I think me I'll hunt down a watermelon tomorrow.

(OMG! I just typed in the Title for this post and I got it nearly right without a dictionary! ::dancing around:: I had it 'le jardin de la nuit' but there needs be no de...in english: the night garden)

nighters!

sizzler

whoooo eeeeee it's finally summer! I know I say that a few times a month and then it cools down again - fake out! But this time...I think it's here to stay for a couple months.

After a good bike ride this morning and an awesome breakfast I made myself (eggs, chard - that green leafy and rainbow stuff you see a couple posts down - homemade bread/toast...hashbrowns...sprinkle pecorino over the them...mmmMMMmmmm), I hunkered down and made some stuff! You can see one of those stuffs over at Hinterlandia.

Also, I made some magnets from a couple of very small interesting cool pictures that Jessye sent me. You can gaze upon more of her work on this page. She sent these lil' tableaux along with the ATC's, and today I mounted them, spread gel acrylic on them, and stuck them on my fridge



and on the stove hood thingy



She is such an awesome artist!

And I love gel transfers!! (that's what I've been up to allll afternoon)

Also uploaded a trilogy of bus stop crow footage.

I never did remove my contacts after the bike ride...gah! Need to go and do that and then get busy on some swaps and deco pages that are due out. Talk to you all later.

Friday, June 23, 2006

in the waning of the day

I blanched those three ginormous bunches of rainbow chard, as planned...yum. Ate some just a bit ago. With quinoa (it's a grain, and it is a complete protein). And jasmine rice. And some seaweed. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Seaweed is supposed to be really good for you and a co-worker told me a miracle story about it curing her daughter in law's endometriosis so...I'm glad I like it already :^) I think it helps me and The Girls. I drizzle toasted sesame seed oil over it all and then just good ol' salt and pepper. It's soooo good. I love salt and pepper.

Also did an ATC, for a swap due at end of month. This one's called VOX. I knew I wanted another human figure, but I couldn't use myself for this particular angle, or some angles that I want - don't have a tripod and my arms aren't long enough and...anyway I found some great figures in David Mack's Kabuki graphic novel on lunch, so I sketched one out and then inked it in tonight. The bubbles evolved tonight too.



Guess I had better get serious about packing it in. I would love to draw some more but...then it gets to be 1 am and that's no good. I loathe to leave my drawing table...parting is such sweet sorrow. Oh, brother - gag. But it's only a bit hyperbolic, really. I'm totally hooked and engaged.

talkin' 'bout miracles

here is a big honkin' milagro!!

While I was on that Katamari website, listening to Dukaka do his thing, I thought I would like to see if I could record it using Audacity. As soon as I opened the application, the sound cut out.

Did I panic?

Not...a lot.

See I've been through similar snafus. I download the new MAC OS X version, and the sound cuts out, or the pictures, or something weird. I've spent HOURS and HOURS scouring for information why. And I remembered something about Hz in prefs and also about starting up Garage Band, quitting, and the sound comes back. Two little things, that took me about eight hours to find on the internet.

Bless those souls who posted information. Now I shall do the same, because starting and quitting Garage Band fixed the problem, and I can hear the sound on my videos and everything now. WHEW. The other thing you can try is to change preferences and lower the Hz to 9600 or 9800. That worked once for me too.

So I wonder if this will turn up in search engines, a list of words that may direct some other poor unfortunate soul this direction and help someone else in turn.

Mac OS X
no sound
audacity
garage band
zap PRAM
lower the hz

So let me repeat for anyone out there who may be crawing around on the web looking for answers: if there is no audio, or if there is no sound, on websites or on your home movies or no sound at all anywhere, try starting Garage Band and then quitting (don't even have to restart your computer but do it anyway if it's not working and then it might). Also try resetting preferences in any applications, for the Hz level, down to the 9600 range.

I dunno if that's gonna help but...maybe...

bounty

Hi all!

I've just got home, it's evening and golden outside. An uneventful day at work - although I did learn of a swell new (video, PlayStation2) game that I would looooove to play I think, called Katamari Damashi. The anglicized version is spelling it as 'damacy' but there is no 'cy' sound in japanese. I know that 'katamari' means big, sticky ball. I looked up damashi and nearest I can tell, it means 'spirit'. The game is all about rolling over things and gathering them up with a big sticky ball (I bet rice balls have an influence here). Check out the site! It's soooo cute (kawaii!)! And the voice you hear is by a guy named Dukaka (I am pretty sure, but I think my spelling is off). He makes music with his voice, beatbox. I really want to make some music now. I started to learn how to play didge and I can make sounds come out but there is such a range of tones and stuff you can produce, with practice...and my little doumbek drum has been much neglected....

I shopped at Kiva after work:



(view from the second floor of the library, where I work, click to englarge a bit)

and this is some of what I brought home. It's just so gorgeous, and the prices are falling again now that these veggies are more in season. Whew! I filled up various containers with my staples (millet, walnuts, quinoa) - I love doing this. I feel so fortunate. My larder is full. And I am going to blanch the chard and then do some art. Life is so good! Be talking to you all (together and individually) soon........


Thursday, June 22, 2006

thursday, simply put

wha-? What day is it? I've gone through another time warp! Thursday. Okay. Mid-work-week. I closed up shop tonight and I turn around and go in to open tomorrow so...REALLY I am going to bed at a reasonable hour.

After work on the walk to the bus stop, I passed a new dance studio. I just loooove all that wood floor. Big glass windows facing the street. And inside was just one couple waltzing (or something) around. It was two guys, older gents - that is so sweet and great! I guess that their egos aren't so big that they perish the thought of actually being that close to another guy, or of being lead around. That's cool.

I think I have another trade in the making, from a gal in Japan! Oooh fun! It's throught this relatively new site called Gimme Your Stuff. Check it out.

So even though I work late...I still was able to do some art when I got home! Yay! I've added them over this-a-way.

And I also snapped some pictures on the walk home/to the bus stop which I am about to post....over here.

And now...I am sooo heavy-lidded, I must go to bed. I will catch up with all you lovelies soon! Thanks for all your thoughts and emails and notes!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

all in a good day

Heigh ho....another glorious day here! Small miracle of the afternoon: two little window panes of special glass, one to each eye, allow me to see with 20/20 vision. To me, that is a miracle. I am so glad someone figured out how to make corrective lenses.

The massage was heaven. Sigh....my neck and shoulder is feeling so much better (and I broke down and swallowed a couple ibuprofen - it really did help).

I'm listening to Bjork - another small miracle. She's amazing. I've been given and have also downloaded many live shows. She really is angelic. And a lil' devil too. The best combo!

I dunno what is up with the bread situation. I did make banana bread this morning and took a loaf for Jamal (massage dude), and that turned out really yummers. And my regular loaf of weekly bread rose more this time than last week but..it tastes flat. Hmmmm. Still it's loaded with fiber and goodness otherwise and those are essentials, so I'm happy. Loaded with butter or cheese or jam, and it's just even dandier.

I thought I would do at least three more projects before bedtime (which I swore would be earlier tonight!!!) but I keep forgetting that I can't just 'whip out' a drawing. Well not really - there is more to drawing than drawing. But! I did draw and carve and print! And I cut up a BUNCH of card for ATCs and postcards too. I do love laying in stores!

Here's the latest Mina to Watashi (thanks to all you smart girls for various and additional meanings for 'mina'):



I really like these little creatures. I can understand a bit better how storytellers and illustrators say that the characters draw or write themselves. I mean I feel like a conduit and certain I have a hand in it but - if I step aside, they come visit me and say what they wanna say. It's so cool.

Here is my bathroom at night, and I did a small accompanying video (which...darn it!...didn't turn out so well...someday I will purchase a video camera...someday..).



Okay time to clean up and settle in for a good night's rest. No really, I must. No more projects. Well maybe I could just sketch a tiny little bit for that Round Robin....

bonnie g'morning!

The small miracle for today? Well maybe there are two..or more...but the african violet is STILL BLOOMING!! Trying to find the first post I made of that, I thought it was in April. Yeah it was because that is when my brother died, and that is when and why I was given the african violet. Wow. It's been two MONTHS that it's been gifting blossoms!!!

Another small miracle...Jamal. I've known him for years and he is also a massage therapist. I underspent my grocery budget this week so I have enough left over to go and get a massage. And insurance pays 80% (up to six visits per year, which is a pittance, but hey, it's something!!). There is some major *&%$#-ed upness going on in my neck. I slept on it wrong night before last...you know how those things just get worse as the day progresses? Well that is what happened although..hey! I think those two ibuprofen just kicked in! I'm still going for a massage. I always leave patron gifts for him, since I don't tip him monetarily (I guess some people do that? like when you go for a haircut??). So I'm making banana bread with those overripes. Food gifts are good.

I darkened up the shpongle-induced drawings I did in the wee wee hours last night and re-posted them. I like 'em better. I used crayons because it was faster to color in but I think it would have looked better with markers. Ah well, it was really fun just doodling last night and seeing what happened.

Another small miracle: I slept until a quarter to nine this morning! woo! that was much needed.

And now, I need to clean the kitchen and maybe do a doodle before marching myself off to the parlor. I mean health center :^)

small miracles

...one being that I am still awake. I refuse to look at the clock. I even have a small kerchief draped over the corner of my computer screen to block out the clock there. I don't work tomorrow, but it's a psychological thing, ya know?

The other small miracle is that I did laundry and while I was hanging it all up to dry on the back balconey, a single untorn, unshredded paper napkin was among the cleans. Wow! Must have been from work...I grab a few now and then because honestly, I refuse to buy napkins. Now you know just how much of a scrounge I am. But don't worry, if I come to visit you, your soap slivers are safe from me. So is your medicine cabinet and your leftover fruitcake...no I take that back, you better secure the fruitcake.

I did art today, but no carvings. I have quite a number of swaps to get done by month's end, decos too, so I did those and posted them over this-a-way. Mailed off a bunch of mail art, too.

I think I am done with the long long bike rides for awhile. That was fun, but I got my fill. Still went for a nice hour long one but I didn't push it too hard. I think my OCD's were kicking in (in addition to just feeling good enough and strong enough to go further and further)...not good to indulge those things so much for me.

And I took some pictures of my bathroom. Yah I know it's kinda strange. But I love my bathroom. It's roomy, especially for an apartment, and now that it's sunny again, the whole room is illuminated in the afternoons. And it's warmer these months and I leave the window open too...I just really like it.

oh I KNOW it's late...need to go zonk...

Monday, June 19, 2006

curieux



Got my fix! My Jacque, Josie, and art (making small books, carving, and printing) fix! Woo!

I discovered the art of Sam Weber through the art of Audrey Kawasaki which my friend EraserQueen also known as artPfunkintroduced me to...whew!

Six degrees of separation, y'all.

But if you look at Sam Weber's illustrations you will see how he contributed to my inspiration for the above print.

time for zzzzzz's.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

SUN! YEAH!

Two days in a row - wooo! maybe a precedent is being set, finally, for our summer! 'Tis blustery out there too.

I found this at the bus stop yesterday morning when I arrived:



How nice! Rather than your standard fare of badly-drawn graffiti or vulgar epithets.

Did a couple ATCs last night too, for some swappin'. WARNING! If you are Annie or Jessye and you don't want to have a surprise spoiled, don't follow the link to looky-loo at them! Hee.

So then it was a quarter after eleven (I went out for a couple hours on the bike after work...how could I NOT?). And I'm thinking, but - but - but I didn't do any carving today! I need my fix! So I stayed up until wee wee hours doing this, which I think is almost done, but...again I am not sure:



It's nearly ATC-sized so I am sure folks will be seeing it circulating; I can also plaster it across the Mail Art world too. See, I'm learning. Multiple applications, oh yeah!

Jacque and Josie are coming over soon. I hear that Josie is feeling very perky. I left crumbs on the kitchen floor for her, she likes to do a sweep upon entry. I should get a video of that. It's "BARK BARK BARK!" and straight for the perimeter for food leavings that have fallen. I can't believe how much of a mess I make in here, and I don't consider myself a slob by any stretch...but I am always cleaning up after myself, constantly! The floor I could do every day, but who has time?! We're gonna make some small art journals this afternoon...oooh goodie!

adieu y'all, hope it's a fine and dandy one for you too...

Friday, June 16, 2006

becoming

jolly good 'eve to you and you! all y'all! Get this: I had a Lucky Dream last night (hey, I'll take what I can get) with a guy who seemed strangely, vaguely familiar. This afternoon I'm shelving mags and GAH! It's him! I literally have not seen the guy in months. I used to work downstairs in circulation, and I saw everyone who came in and out of the building. That was last autumn; I've been upstairs for months and I can't rightly say as I've seen the dude since. Or thought of him, for that matter.

He seemed rather snobbish. Today. But I guess anything less than last night would seem so. Oh, for pete's sake. The brain. Too funny though! Shyeah!

I am listening to an amazing group of musicians, a local (Portland) band called King Black Acid. Man, I wish they'd make more music. Their last album was...ahhhh...way too long ago...five years I think. You know those achey bittersweet energizing songs? That's the way they do for me. Sigh...gah!

I sketched on lunch again today. I really like this. I love sinking down into that feeling of - focused otherspace. Yeah well it's kind of an altered mood so no wonder I like it. But it's safe. As long as I don't ignore my friends. Or sacrifice sleep or food. Too much. Anyway....this is what happened after I carved it up and printed it this evening:



I think it's done, but I'm not entirely sure. Time might tell. Didn't know that this is what was going to happen. See that is why it's like magic, it is so COOL and I get to be a part of it! Anyone can! That's the beauty! GAH!

I'd like to use it in some upcoming swaps but it's not ATC sized. But influences are Alex Grey and Samuel Casal (warning - resizes your browser big time!), I am sure, oh and also Michael Manning (CAVEAT! Manning is erotic and explicit art and definitely not up everyone's alley!! But this link takes you to an intro page that has no erotic art, just one of his illustrations that will probably give you a real good idea anyway of what his style is like). And there are some ATC swaps I have yet to really buckle down and do, for Favorite Artist Inspired, and also Black and White for themes. Hmmm....

Here are three day's worth of shavings from carving:



Which obviously I zoomed in on, but the pile looks ginormous when in fact, it would all fit nicely inside a table spoon. Amazing! Such an innocuous pile of scrap, and the scooped-out parts make designs on paper with ink! GAH!

It's like...the whole alchemical process. Take - okay, take stuffing. You got some grain, you thresh it, harvest it, grind it, make flour. Then you mix dry flour with some wet stuff, and make dough. Then you bake it and make it dry again, and then, you dry it out even further, into bread crumbs. Then you wet it again with broth and spices, or stuff it inside a bird cavity, which will make it wet, and then you bake it again, which dries it out somewhat, and then when you finally eat it it's moist - and then you make it wet again in your mouth and down it goes into Very Wet Tummy and...you get the idea, eh? Wow. To me anyway.

I am not done exploring Mina to Watashi either, though! I have another idea waiting in the wings. Etayne wrote that in german (right?) mina means love, or is an old word for love. That is soooo great - thanks Etayne! The story is becoming richer and richer and you are all a part of it. Er..everyone is....

I guess I'm not gonna catch up on all you lovelies and your emails and stuff again! It's 11pm already. But I'm waving atcha and thinking about all of you 'tis true!

Oh yes and Josie is home from the hospital, so far so good. Whew. And whew!!

s'laters and sweet dreams

Thursday, June 15, 2006

luck of a sort

It's not what you're thinking. No I didn't wear those jeans today! Oh, brother. I just roll my eyes and shake my head every time I think about that, or see the little label when I go pee or something. It's just so...funny and ridiculous and...a little part of me hopes it'll actually bring a little luck my way.

But I did have some luck today! Ya know, scrounger that I am, I found a bag in the garbage. If you read a few posts back I was shaking my head in disbelief (again, already, but for different reasons)...a girl in line ahead of me at Target bought a brown paper bag for a buck fifty. Well looky what I got for FREE and the price on the bottom says four bucks! Ha!!



Not that I'll ever really use it, ummm...it's not my thing, but....well it could be, if I tucked some grotesque (but cute) little papier-mache or sculpey figure inside and gifted someone with it.

Someone asked me today if I got my hairs cut! ha ha haaaa! No, I did not, I told her the same thing I wrote here earlier, that I've been hacking away at it on my own for months now. But ya know...if you don't wash your hair for a day or two, and fluff it with a drier, and put a bit of cheap product in it..voila! You too can go for months without paying for a haircut. Well okay maybe not, but I can. I guess I can defer another week, or two..maybe more...with a bit of luck.

Drew a bit on lunch today, then came home and finished another sketch of Mina to Watashi (everyone and I). Here is a print, I couldn't NOT make a print, it really does look spiffy-more than a stamp although stamps do still charm me.




Watashi wa...watashi wa...dang! I forgot how to say I work at the library in japanese!

Tonje pointed out today in an email to me that 'mina' is a bird in english! You're absolutely right, you are so smart. That is so cool I am so glad you said that. Wow. In japanese you pronounce it like 'me nah'. Language and habit and brains are all so amazing and cool, huh? Thanks T!

It's after eleven now, I gotta double back early day in to work tomorrow so tucking in soon. Thank you everyone for your words, comments, and lovely emails today - I will be catching up with you all very soon and I think of you all throughout my day.

Oh and while I'm thinking of thoughts and thinking...let's give Josie, my friend Jacque's shelty, some good love. She ate an entire bag of marshmallows AND THE BAG on sunday, I learned today. OMG. She's at the vets under surveillance, getting antibiotics, stuff to keep her from throwing up more but hopefully pass whatever else might be in there - out. oh geez oh geez I hope that little girl is gonna be okay.

Warm thoughts to everyone, around the globe.

la louche

....louche is squinty, shady, or ambiguous in french. That should be my name. Anyone got some cucumber slices? My poor eyes, they need 'em.

So that cornbread, while indubiously delicious, also is very not big. It's more like flat bread, see:



Had some bad dreams last night - late for work! and I finally found something that fit and it was wrinkly! later for work! It really was nightmarish. More about being thwarted than anything. Fear of being flogged, maybe? Jeez! So I ironed two pairs of pants this morning for my week, and I forgot to mention that a little while ago my friend and I trucked across the street to Value Village (a department-store-sized thrift store) and I found a great pair of pants/jeans for what ended up being $3.50.

Got to work the next day and thought to ask Charity, who is in The Know about everything fashion, 'Are Lucky jeans expensive?' She cocked her head to one side and said, 'Hmmm..yeah, well kinda, you can get a pair at Nordstrom's for about a hundred bucks'. I crowed, "Well lookit this!" She goes, oh my god you find the deals and says yeah then there's that lucky you tag and I finally get it. At first I just thought oh yeah lucky me I got a great pair of jeans. No. You see where the tag is placed.



Wednesday, June 14, 2006

the day in a nutshell

I woke up completely poofy-eyed and squinty and pretty much stayed that way all day. I wonder if I rode through some huge pollen colony yesterday? GOD I felt awful for most of the day today, kinda like when I came off that anesthesia cocktail in March, yick!

Here I am this morning, and I've been up a couple hours. I think I managed to wash my face, but it's bedhead, no doubt about that. Jeez, one of these days I'm gonna go in for a hair trimming. I've been hacking away at it myself for months now. Eeek.





I did manage to do some printing this morning, cutting up cards takes a fair bit of time! I made some bread but even it got the funky vibe. It's all..chunky and squatty. Wha-?



It had been rising beautifully for weeks now. Hummm....



I glazed the last of my little funny faces too. A frightful one, seems appropriate:



This dude, you could scoop up in a teaspoon and he'd fit with some room to gape even wider.



If you wanna, you can see the whole family in this photo album.

Wheeled myself over to the post office (under my own power, I might add) and mailed off that magnet swap (which is what the funny faces were originally all about), some decos, and prints. Went for a short ride, didn't push the pace AT ALL, was very nice and I think the blood circulating helped wring out the worst of whatever had inundated my system. Came back and hey! I made some gorgeous corn bread! I ate about five slabs of it.

It's later now, and I still look pretty drug-out, shyeah:



(and YES, I washed my hair! ...can't you tell?!)



And finally, my third in the series of tiny carvings about the friends who share (mina to watashi - japanese for 'everyone and I'...that may be a botched job, maybe Japanese folk don't say so-and-so and I so...maybe I'll change the names a bit, but it's a work in progress). I didn't print it, I just went ahead and used a regular ol' stamp pad. Too tired to cut up nice paper and/or color it. I think I may just print this one plain anyway, maybe use it for some ATCs as well, regular-sized ones, since the other three I did fulfill one swap committment.



Mmmm...I like it for the most part. It was hard to do; my drawings are becoming increasingly complex for such a miniscule format (yah remember it's a 1 x 2.5" eraser!). Ooh but we love challenges, don't we?!

That's a wrap - I'm gonna go rest me eyes.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Sharing

So yes, it was an hour's worth of carving alone to do the little stamp! Tonje asked and I guessed. The whole process...a couple hours start to finish. A good time frame for a project. Here is the finished image from tonight's brainsteam:



Oh, I wuv it! I do! I think I will do even more with these two, becoming great friends. Who knows?

Here is a step-by-step. First I sit and think though, I guess some of the groundwork is done while I'm bike riding, or doing dishes, but then I sit down and look at the paper and ask myself what do I see? Then, I sketch something:



This is using a plain ol' graphite pencil on newsprint paper. Then I turn the paper image-side onto the rubber stamp and rub it with the back of a spoon to create a transfer:



Then I carve it, and make a test print (not shown). This helps me fine tune it a bit. I do the test print with a regular stamp pad, and the prints with printing ink. Here is the stamp carved:



And then I roll on ink and try out different papers. The one at top is a piece of watercolor paper, with a watercolor wash. I made several different pages of that, with different colors. And then I tried it on a piece of printing paper (Stonehenge 100% cotton). I like them both equally for different reasons. Here's the plain/stonehenge:




I think one character's name might be 'Mina'. In japanese, mina means 'everyone'.

And did I mention how tiny these are? The eraser is 1 x 2.5" (2.5cm x 6.5cm, approx) I don't think I would have been able to do this using my previous method of exacto knife. And did I mention how nifty the Speedball carving tools are????

And oh yes, the cuppa Inka and scone: most divine. Now it's major yawn-time. I guess that bike ride really took the stuffin' outta me. Nighters!

rubber legs

(three hour bike ride today - what am I, NUTS?! No. Yes. No. YES, my OCDs must be kicking in again! let's just see if I can make it to THAT little hill over there...okay how 'bout round that bend over there.....enough already)

So here's my treat. It's called Inka, and I really do love it, even though it's a coffee-default (see I don't drink coffee anymore, not since I quit smoking - which I may add was two years and five months ago.......I love the smell of coffee, I'm sure by now if I drank any I'd be okay and not have to go buy some dutch import and roll a fag.....but what is the point? why drink coffee if I'm not going to smoke a ciggie?!). Inka is a natural grain beverage..sounds nasty, no? It's great! Really! chicory, barley, beet and some other root (don't gag, it really is good - have you ever tried grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches? okay then don't knock it 'til ya try it). I heat up almond milk (don't drink cow juice...unless it's frozen of course) and it's a sort of latte. I'm allergic to soy, that would be my first choice though.



This is what it looks like in powder form:



Where is she going with this, you might ask. Well......scroll down a bit....



This is my backup bag of Inka. I hauled it out of the freezer yesterday. What the hell happened? It's...tar.



Thank god I didn't wait until the last scoop of Inka was gone before investigating, I would've been sorely disappointed. As it is, I have enough for several more cups, and I do this ritual once a week usually. Accompanied by a scone. And I am due.

I'm also going to carve another stamp....so stay tuned, and in the meantime, if you'd like to gander at the little weirdo clay faces I sculped recently and then painted today, you can do that right here.

anon, y'all

Monday, June 12, 2006

mmfph

I should SO be in bed. I'm fading fast. Went for an extra long bike ride today...going down the stairs this evening was something my legs told me they had to work at! Was a great ride though, wasn't hot today.

So, another mini-ATC for a swap over at ATCards. Another carved stamp, whaddya know? This one evolved, as they usually do......unexpected places. I like it.



On watercolor paper, with a watercolor wash background, printed with water-soluble printing ink. 1.5 x 2.5"

oh yawn, good night.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

another fine day

I thought maybe I'd settle on the couch early and watch Monster's Ball - but I don't think that's gonna happen tonight. It being a quarter past eleven and all. Saw the picture awhile back and was stunned, seemed a good time to view it again. Maybe I'll just start it tonight.....I'm famous for that, I can watch one movie all week that way. Our library has the most amazing DVD collection. Free cinema?! How can you top that?

Went on an earlier bike ride with a couple of friends. We crossed over the Autzen Bridge, which is one of several footbridges that span the Willamette, rounded the cloverleaf and at the bottom was a woman playing her flute, with an amp any everything. It was beautiful, eerie, sad and strange but also rich and mature, so - happy is too bright a word, but......contented sounding. I went out again later for a longer ride, still felt energetic. I know that sun isn't good for your skin but...I feel good being out in it and getting a little color on me!

Tonight I lomographied some more:





Untouched photos, just point and shoot in a dark room with that handy little flashlight again.

And also, another carving, this time for a mini-ATC swap. Who knew such a thing existed? Instead of the standard 2.5 x 3.5" ATC size, these are 1.5 x 2.5". I made several different color combinations, with watercolor, and then inked up and printed them all out. This one photographed the best I think:



good night.....hope your day was as golden as mine, at least in some regard. I feel like crying, the day was so gorgeous and full.