Journal Page Creations...Day 121

Journal Page Creations...Day 121: Aerial Maneuvers

Another spread from the journal of my 2009 Box Show submission.

Pole Dance Diva -- Pendant Challenge: Week 4

This oriel is actually an earlier design of mine -- from my GlamGirls series. But I had to make a new one for a client and I decided to post it because it turned out so well. This beautiful Marilyn Monroe look alike, holding onto to her diamond-studded pole, is actually Russian opera star Anna Netrebko on the set of Massenet's opera, Manon. This photo illustrates to me the inherant beauty of dancing and one of the reasons why I teach it -- it is a physical prop that can be used to accent poses, illustrate a woman's strength, and serve as a willing (and uncomplaining!) dance partner.


Pole Dance Diva can be purchased at my Kentucky Girl Etsy Shop.

Journal Page Creations...Day 120

Journal Page Creations -- Day 120: On the Trail

Ooops! I missed a day of posting! But I've been way busy, creating a journal to go with the box I am creating for this year's Gallery Route One 2009 Box Show. Each year, over 150 artists are given the same size, unfinished wooden box with the directive to let loose their inspiration and creative talent. This is my second year, and this year I really feel challenged. In a good way, because I am having to totally trust my creative spirit. I had a general idea, but it seems that the box is taking me where it wants to go. Oh my! I created a journal for the box to showcase. I created spreads around a nature theme, and whoever bids and wins my box, will be able to remove it and use it for their own journal entries. This is Spread #5 "On the Trail" in the journal. It takes the term "Tree Hugger" to a humorous level! I like the way the person's legs form a heart.

Journal Page Creations...Day 119

Journal Page Creations -- Day 119: Great Heights

Journal Page Creations...Day 118

Journal Page Creations -- Day 118: You're Getting Warmer

Journal Page Creations...Day 117

Journal Page Creations -- Day 117: Impact

I moved out to California one month after the Loma Prieta earthquake, in November 1989. I remember on October 19th standing in my living room in Boston and watching the news coverage of the earthquake's impact. Needless to say I was questioning the sanity of my move. But really, nothing could shake my resolve, not even the threat of future ground-shaking, earth-splitting natural disasters. I had heard the call of the Siren, that foot-stomping dancing beauty, and I was California bound come hell or highwater!

Journal Page Creations...Day 116

Journal Page Creations -- Day 116: I'll Have a 007

Excuse me, Sean, would you like a bite of something cool and sweet? I can't help it. I grew up on James Bond in my teen years. And his early 60's portrayal in Hitchcock's Marnie of the passionate psychologist smitten by frigid, blonde Tippi Hedrin. And the passionate, obstinate explorer who looses his head (literally) in Kipling's The Man Who Would be King. And his rapscallion aging Robin Hood to Audrey Hepburn's Maid Marion in Robin and Marion. And the unmentionable, mysoginistic, toe-curling Double O Seven. Just to name a few memorable films. A girl can't go too wrong daydreaming about this old guy, can she?

2009 Journal Cover

2009 Journal Page Creations Challenge cover for my most recent completed journal!

Getting ready to post number Day 116 in my journal page a day challenge. Just finishing up this one (journal #5 for the year), and moving on to a new one. I'm keeping to the Paperblanks This is so much fun and it's a great way to make my To Do Lists not so boring!

Sharpening the Claws or, A Downward Cat?

My little missy getting her exercise in the last half of the day...practicing the fine art of claw sharpening, or is that the beginnings of a downward dog...er, cat?

Colorblast Bouquets

Shopping for my DH's birthday party and couldn't resist an on-the-fly snapshot of these bursts of color. How beautiful this grouping of bouquets were -- you almost wonder -- are they real? Do you care? NO! They're a feast for the eyes.

Then I had to grab this shot of an arrangment just finished by the shopkeeper... the island on which they are sitting was directly under a skylight and the rays of the sun were fabulously highlighting their spiky heads...
And then, amongst a slew of Mirror, Mirror Challenge possiblities for August, I captured this blurry, Monet-inspired collage of color:

All photos were taken at my all time favorite Marin florist -- Hearts and Flowers -- in Tiburon...celebrating 30 years of providing the locals with flower candy!

Journal Page Creations...Day 115

Journal Page Creations -- Day 115: Do Come In

For some reason, this spread has the feeling of the theater for me: footlights, darkness, a feeling of starkness, moving from light nto dark and from dark into light. When I've stood in the wings, waiting to walk onto the stage, or stood on the stage in blackout waiting for the music to start, there is always an expectancy mixed with terror: will I remember my steps, will I keep on the beat, can I communicate the joy I feel when I dance? Over the years of performing, the stage fright has receded for the most part, and like a well-seasoned hoofer, I can carry on. Most of the time, unless it's an outright stumble, people can't tell if you've fudged or forgotten. So instead I focus on giving, dancing my best. And smiling. I always smile. A smile goes a long way in smoothing out the rough spots!

Journal Page Creations...Day 114

Journal Page Creations...Day 114: Staying Calm

Stay calm? Who wants to stay calm? I want to be in motion, flying with my hair on fire, leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, beating Houdini's underwater time in a sunken tank of water, galloping ponies over the Russian steppes, cartwheeling down the Champs-Elysées, shooting tin cans off the head of a curly-haired stranger, butterflying across the English Channel, performing high kick-in' hijinx in a pool hall! Whoa, baby, take a deeeep breath...stay calm...and then run back out that door!

Journal Page Creations...Day 113

Journal Page Creations -- Day 113: Touches Your Soul

If you let it, I have found that nature can touch your soul, and leave you in a different state: refreshed if you are tired; expanded if you have been feeling contracted; elated if you've been down in the dumps. Take a walk. Look at the flowers. Listen to the birds. Stand in the shade of trees. Watch the butterflies. Smell the air. Something always shifts for the better.

Journal Page Creations...Day 112

Journal Page Creations -- Day 112: Safe

So we are out of blue, into the soft grays. And things are a little foggy, a little murky, but like a heavy mist that's got you bundled up, it's kind of cozy -- it feels kind of safe. And you know you are going to roost here for a moment or two longer, you're not sure when you're going to spread your wings, but you know you will, you know you will...soon.

Journal Page Creations...Day 112

Journal Page Creations -- Day 112: Blue

Not really. But these eyes got to me, they are so...BLUE...and when you are blue the world seems not cracked up to what you think it's supposed to be! So go ahead, feel blue and know that tomorrow, or the next moment, minute, hour -- you won't feel as blue as you were -- the road will be smoother, not so rough, and you'll be gliding along that path to where you are supposed to be!

Journal Page Creations...Day111

Journal Page Creations -- Day111: Cheap Eats

This is one of those pages that I was just playing with images and colors. I really liked the idea of eating some sushi in the shape of a heart, so I tore that out of the mag. Then I put the scrap of a wooden door image in the opposite corner for balance, then got to thinking how much fun it would be feed one's lover or partner a few of these babies, then I thought of high heels and someone running late to their restaurant rendezvous....Such are the creative meanderings of an imaginative soul!

Journal Page Creations...Day 110

Journal Page Creations -- Day 110: Change Your Life

One of the few times Angelina has looked straight on at the camera. Her eyes were beautiful yellow-green. I am so fortunate to live in a beautiful area of Marin County. Our home backs up to Bay wetlands, dry during the summer months. The light is beautiful and was eceptionally so last night. We were able to sit out on our deck with friends and have a dinner filled with laughter, with the warm evening breeze rustling the oak leaves and the golden grasses waving in the fields behind us. Pure pleasure.

Journal Page Creations...Day 109

Journal Page Creations -- Day 109: Sincere Faith Touches the Very

..."heart of man" is how I want to finish this sentence. And why would I pair this phrase with these images? Haven't a clue! Maybe the Morocan-style wicker chair, and the harbor scene in the patterned scrap of border brings to mind far away places, and the need for a steady faith that all things must come pass, and that all things will work out. I wonder what other associations there might be?

Journal Page Creations...Day 108

Journal Page Creations -- Day 108: When We Knew

Oh, this is a pretty bleak one. I kept thinking I'd add color and other images to it, but the the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to leave it alone. Why be afraid of "bleak"? It's clean -- a very clean state of mind -- a honed perception that balances on the edge of a sword. It's like going to bed a little bit hungry. Maybe feeling a tiny bit sorry for yourself. Then waking up clear-headed, more committed. What's bleak about that? Clarity begets creation, creation precedes action.

I think I'll go pick some flowers in the soft California evening light.

Angelina on a Summer Evening Stroll

My white cat, Angelina Beautiquina, made an appearence in the garden this evening, sniffing various flowers, chewing a few leaves of grass, walking around the grounds with me. She moves through space like a white, fluffy powder puff, albeit one that waddles. I am often amazed at how these creatures, cats (and dogs), have chosen so willingly to live with us. I mean, why don't squirrels or birds or skunks? Cats and dogs, interact with us, listen to us, even watch TV with us. What a small miracle. Maybe a very big one!

Journal Page Creations...Day 107

Journal Page Creations -- Day 107: Explosion

Stella in the Desert -- Pendant Challenge: Week 3

This week I completed a custom Earth Angel oriel for a fellow Etsy seller, Song and Branch. Karen creates whimsical, hand-thrown miniature ceramic animals. I love them and have purchased quite a few of her creatures for my own pleasure and as gifts for animal loving friends. Karen asked me to do a pendant of one of her dogs, Stella. I create my pendants from a very intuitive place, so I often sit quite a while with my custom requests, I let the images "brew" for a while, especially with the Earth Angels. Often I feel like the animal who is being featured "speaks" to me -- and I get very strong feelings about how they want to be featured, what colors to use, which charms and beads to select. It's very interesting how each animal's pendant evolves, and it is a very enjoyable process for me (and I must admit a little anxiety producing because it all comes down to whether the customer is satisfied with my depiction, or not). Stella was very "loud" in her pendant "requests," very much wanted to be featured in the forefront on both the back and front of the oriel, and what background I should use (and stars, there must be stars!). I have to laugh -- it may be all in my imagination -- but maybe, just maybe, there is some other wavelength I'm hooking into! I look forward to getting Karen's response as to whether or not I did Stella justice!

Journal Page Creations...Day 106

Journal Page Creations -- Day 106: Heads Will Spin

To be and to remain open to discovery is a tough challenge. It demands attention to the whole, not specifics, and requires a supension of judgment. It also demands a willingness to change:

My head is spinning with possibilities.

My head is spinning with fear.

My head is spinning right off my shoulders.

Discovery lays there.

Journal Page Creations...Day 105

Journal Page Creations...Day 105: Take Off That Mask

Pink Lady Strawberry Cake

Strawberry Heaven: Looking forward to making this again!

(This photo is from Tammy's Sassafras Cafe blog -- where she discusses the ample virtues of strawberry cakes)

OK, this is one of my favorite cakes to make and eat. Only every once in a while, because it's chockful of things a health conscious girl might like to avoid. But when you want a taste of pink heaven, this is the cake for you. Lisa from Curious Girl blog got this blog post started. Her post the other day Nostalgia Rocks is about strawberry soda pop, and other things. It brought to mind a recipe that was given to me by my great-grandmother, Nana. When I got married in the 70's, my grandmother gave me a brown spiral notebook,

Nana's Recipe Book (showing a photo of her, her brownceramic squirrel,and a clipping of a "Kentucky Whiskey Cake".)

in which her mother, my Nana, had pulled together all of her treasured recipes. Although the recipe came from the Louisville newspaper, I have a hand written recipe she gave me as well. It looks so homey, what with her vintage handwriting, and the cooking stains.

Nana's Handwritten Pink Lady Strawberry Cake Recipe (with evidence of prior use!)

This is an absolutely delicious cake, although it is made with a box of straberry Jello and a box white cake mix. The interior is bright pink...

A Slice of Pink Heaven (from Amy E.'s Made in Mississippi blog)

...and the buttercream frosting has a lovely pink color from the addition of thawed frozen strawberries. For a homemade from scratch strawberry cake recipe without the in-the-box ingredients go to this post from Latest Addiction's blog.

Journal Page Creations...Day 104

Journal Page Creations -- Day 104: Transform

Journal Page Creations...Day 103

Journal Page Creations -- Day 103: In Pieces

Journal Page Creations...Day 102

Journal Page Creations -- Day 102: Animal Instincts

Go ahead -- you know you want to -- sooth the wild beast and all. Just don't eat the olives, save them for me.

Journal Page Creations...Day 102

Journal Page Creations -- Day 102: Some Live Out Their Dreams

Journal Page Creations....Day 101

Journal Page Creations -- Day 101:Travel Beauti

Journal Page Creations...Day 100

Journal Page Creations -- Day 100: Thank You

Thank you for coming to me. Thank you for showing me that there is so much more than the appearance of things. Thank you for holding me in your heart. Thank you for reminding me of what it's like to love uninhibitedly. Thank you for reminding me of my journey.

Three Earth Angels -- Pendant Challenge Week 2

I finished a custom oriel for a friend, which she is planning to give to her boss. It features her boss's three beautiful Burmese or Siamese cats. These three earth angels were a picture in themselves -- I really didn't need to do much to bring out their special qualities. My friend had asked for a green background, but I kept feeling that a light color -- sunshiney -- was needed. I kept being drawn to the center cat's gaze -- so openly bold, so wise, so centered. I was flipping through some images and found this photo of the interior of an Asian temple. It sparkled with light and you could see the face of the Buddha hanging on the wall. Somehow it seemed to be a fitting background for these Burmese companions. Were the other cats winking? I usually add sparkles or gems to my pendants, but they just didn't seem right. Instead I found a pewter mandala for the dangle and crafted an alter-style attachment for the necklace to attach to. Because one of the kitties has passed on -- I added a silver swallow to indicate the soul's release. Once completed, I pulled my hands to gether in a prayer shape and bowed to the enshrined meowsers. Purrrfect!

If you would like to learn more about my custom oriel pendants, please visit my Kentucky Girl Etsy Shop!

Journal Page Creations...Day 99

Journal Page Creations -- Day 99: Keep Open-Minded Babe

Journal Page Creations...Day 98

Journal Page Creations -- Day 98: My Idea of Happiness

Journal Page Creations...Day 98

Journal Page Creations...Day 98: An Intimate Look

A Shadow of My Mere Self

Taken at Deer Island on a hot summer day, this photo conjurs up all sort of possibilities:

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."

--Buddha

"I am your friend and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you which you have not got, But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.” -- Fra Giovanni Giocondo

“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” -- Carl Sandburg

Journal Page Creations....Day 97

Journal Page Creations -- Day 97: More to See Than Meets the Eye

Living seems to be impossible without making conclusions -- there is always another side to consider, another interpretation, another viewpoint, a different direction to go in. But I think that's the great challenge -- to live in the question, in the uncertainity, in the motion. There is a certain flow to life that way, a certain expectant quality, an evolution....

Journal Page Creations...Day 97

Journal Page Creations -- Day 97: Real Life Drama

Journal Page Creations...Day 96

Journal Page Creations -- Day 96: Serve It Up

Wow. I'm not too sure where this came from. I guess if I was to use the technique of free association it might go like this: exposed, small, youth, platter, servant, vulnerable, beauty, strength, composure, holiday, carribean, pleasure, servitude, appetizers, appetite. Whatever. I like the balance of it, the colors, the question it poses, and I will like writing on it.

A Crystalline Love -- Pendant Challenge: Week 1

This my first pendant for my Pendant a Week Challenge. This is a personal art challenge of creating a minimum of one oriel pendant a week. I created this Twilight-inspired piece in an hour. What is the fascination with vampires? I don't really know, but it has been a literary and movie subject that I have been engaged in for many years. Wierd, yes. But I am someone who was raised on Thriller, Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone. So vampiric lore is not so out of the oridnary for one such as I. And it seems to have come back full circle with the arrival of the True Blood and Twilight series. Crystalline Love is a 3-D oriel. It features Bella and Edward sharing a moment together -- the moment just after he reveals to her his sun-reflecting, crystalline skin. He thought she'd be horrified -- instead she thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The 3-D layers give the oriel a shadow box effect: the image of the lovers is merged with a redwood-edged green hill. The bottom layer is a foggy woods, sprinkled with golden strands that seem to reflect light. The glass front is bevaled. The oriel is embellished with a Swavorski crystal pendant, a small pewter heart, and diamond AB crystal beads.

Journal Page Creations...Day 95

Journal Page Creations -- Day 95: Sashaying through the Succulents

Mirror Mirror Challenge July

Calling all submissions for the July Mirror Mirror Challenge. Who is that looking back at you? Are you really who you think you are? Come visit the website and join up -- all you need is a camera, a mirror or reflective surface, and a scanner ur digital uploader!

Carousel Mane in the Wind

What a fabulous horse. I dropped by the Marin County Fair today to see and do these specific things: View the fine art entries (next year I am submitting, I swear!); view the home arts and craft exhibits; commune with the chickens and rabbits; pet the goats; look at the Clydesdale horses and mules; ride the carousel or the Ferris wheel; eat some cotton candy. I did everything except get on a ride! But I did take some pics of the carousel horses -- look how its mane is blowing in the wind!