The Graveyard Book

Sorry, no Neil. This is ~my~ graveyard book!

This is a book I made for a swap-bots swap. The requirements were to swap 3 4X6 photos of a graveyard. Well, I couldn't just give photos!

So I made a little book. And once I got started it didn't make any sense to only include 3 photos. I'm rather happy with how the book turned out. But I mailed it 9 days ago and haven't been rated yet. I even included a mail tracker so I know it's been received. Still, no rating. ~signs~

Sorry for the glare on the photos. I liked a satin finish on my photo paper. It looks rather nice in person but unfortunately, doesn't photograph all that well.

I took all these photos at a local cemetery originally called Old Soule's Methodist Church. Here is what I wrote about the place:

These photos were taken at the cemetery for the church formerly known as Old Soule's Methodist Church (now called Word of Faith Tabernacle) The "Soule" referrers to Rev. Joshua Soule (1781 - 1867), a greatly esteemed leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Lumpkin county church was founded in 1810.

This cemetery also includes many slot & tab tombs. To find out more about slot & tab tombs, read this.

The cemetery contains a mix of professionally carved and hand-carved stones. But I tried to highlight the folk-art nature of those from this area of north Georgia so I only included the hand carved stones.

photo canvas's

I love adding copies of old family photos to painted canvas's. As the Official Family Historian and Keeper of the Photos, I often use copies of these old photos in family presents. Over the years I've made mini-family history books, painted canvas's, greeting cards, what-have-you. I've also been working to get every photo scanned so the whole family has a copy of all of them.

I made canvas's similar to the ones below for my Dad. He said he though my Uncle Bruce would also like them. The colors are slightly different from the ones I made Dad. I just can't do the same thing twice.

This is my Papa, Eben Stowe Smith. Or so we thought! People always wanted to call him Ebenezer and he always said that wasn't his name. His name was Eben. Well turns out he was telling us a story. lol He just didn't like Ebenezer so I guess he disowned it. Papa was very musical. I have lots of pictures of him with the church choir. But the photo above is the only one I've seen of him with an instrument. It's a french horn.

This photo was taken at Ocean City Beach, Maine. I think it must be taken around 1944. My Dad was born in 1934 and he looks about 10 in that photo. He's the one in the front row on the left, wearing the sailor hat. His brother, Bruce is on the right... making a face. That's my Uncle Bruce for ya! The backrow has my Dad's Uncle, Malcolm Babbs. Next to him is my Dad's grandfather, my great-grandfather, William Smith. My Papa is next to him and on the left is my Dads cousin, Malcolm Babbs jr. I'm rather fond of the colors in this canvas. When I painted one for my Dad, I primarily worked in blues. For this one I branched out a little more.

I'm mailing both of these to my Aunt and Uncle tomorrow. They don't own a computer so I'm not worried they might get a sneak preview.

Pink

My new pink fuzzy hat

New + Fuzzy + Pink = LOVE

the fruits of our snow storm

file or blog? file or blog? hmmm.... decisions, decisions. ;-)

As i blogged about last week, Georgia is deep in the middle of a Winter Wonderland!!! Ok, ok, relatively speaking, we are. But it's cooollllddd! i swear! We've been in the teens for almost 2 weeks! And we've had ONE WHOLE INCH of snow!!! ONE INCH! Can you believe that???

Georgia + Snow = a total stand-still

There is good reason for it. We don't have the infrastructure to handle it. No salt trucks. No one has chains or snowtires. Plus, we live in the mountains and way down a rural road. It takes days for our roads to be clear enough for life to venture off the mountain.

Not that I'm complaining! I got a lot accomplished during the 1st few days of The Blizzard (as I shall now be referring to it!)

I finished what is now my new favorite painting:

I just love her. The painting is called Love Comes In All Shapes And Sizes. I'm thinking of submitting it for a publication project a fellow artist is working on (and calling for submissions for). I love her that much!!!

I also decided the following two paintings are complete. I wasn't sure about either for a while. I decided to live with them and see how I felt. So over The Blizzard I pulled them both out to see if I wanted to do anything else.

I didn't. They are complete. So both were signed and varnished. That is my signal to myself that no further paint and/or embellishments can be added.

This is a portrait of Edward Gorey. He's TEH AWESOME.

This is a portrait of Robert Johnson. Also, TEH AWESOME.

And then I worked on 2 other paintings. The first one, I started last summer when I painted #LOFNOTC. The background was so involved I didn't want to do only one. So I painted both backgrounds together and color-blocked my figure. that is as far as I got on this one (though in my mind, I knew EXACTLY what he'd look like!) He's getting close to my initial vision. But much more work to go.

This one is at the very beginning. I painted the background on vacation this past September. But I never knew what I was going to paint as the subject. During The Blizzard I studied the canvas long and hard. I finally decided that the orange background was crying out for saffron robes.



This has a long way to go but I like His direction. I have more ideas for the background as well. It'll come.

In time.

I'm very patient.

The forecast in Erosion Bundle land...

snow... lots of it!Welcome!!! Enjoy the snow!!!

The water garden is now an ice garden.
Snow on the bundle...
Thank you for feeding us!!!!!!!
What's that shiny thing next to our dinner table?

the lululemon manifesto

A friend of mine just introduced me to Lululemon and The Lululemon manifesto. It's too great not to share. (thank you friend!!!)

the lululemon manifesto
~ Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins from your body and keeps your brain sharp.
~ A daily hit of athletic-induced endorphins gives you the power to make better decisions, helps you be at peace with yourself, and offsets stress.
~ Do one thing a day that scares you.
~ Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.
~ Write down your short and long-term GOALS four times a year. Two personal, two business and two health goals for the next 1, 5 and 10 years. Goal setting triggers your subconscious computer.
~ Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.
~ Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.
~ That which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least.
~ Stress is related to 99% of all illness.
~ Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.
~ The world is changing at such a rapid rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you 2 steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!
~ Friends are more important than money.
~ Breathe deeply and appreciate the moment. Living in the moment could be the meaning of life.
~ Take various vitamins. You never know what small mineral can eliminate the bottleneck to everlasting health.
~ Don’t trust that an old age pension will be sufficient.
~ Visualize your eventual demise. It can have an amazing effect on how you live for the moment.
~ The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.
~ Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water, Vancouver will do nicely.
~ Observe a plant before and after watering and relate these benefits to your body and brain.
~ Practice yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age.
~ Dance, sing, floss and travel.
~ Children are the orgasm of life. Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them.
~ Successful people replace the words “wish”, “should” and “try” with “I will”.
~ Creativity is maximized when you’re living in the moment.
~ Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. ~ Mediocre is as close to the bottom as it is to the top, and will give you a lousy life.
~ lululemon athletica creates components for people to live longer, healthier and more fun lives. ~ If we can produce products to keep people active and stress-free, we believe the world will become a much better place.
~ Do not use cleaning chemicals on your kitchen counters. Someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.
~ SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin.
~ Communication is COMPLICATED. We are all raised in a different family with slightly different definitions of every word. An agreement is an agreement only if each party knows the conditions for satisfaction and a time is set for satisfaction to occur.
~ What we do to the earth we do to ourselves.
~ The pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness.

The Erosion Bundle Project

I decided to take part in the 2010 Erosion Bundle Project.

First, the important dates:

January 1, 2010 - place bundle in nature

In between = share thoughts and photos

April 15, 2010 - retrieve bundle from nature

August 1, 2010 - finish art piece using your eroded stuff and rejoice

Below are photos of the items I've included in my bundle. Some of these items are twine, copper foil, gilded leaf, a drawing from my sketch pad, a sliver from a 2X4, a paperclay heart wrapped in wire, watch parts, old magazine pages and assorted pictures.

I then wrapped my bundle in the old magazine pages. These pages were so brittle they started to break before I was even finished. I tied everything together with my twine and realized this bundle wouldn't last the night.
So then I wrapped that bundle in a piece of copper mesh and tied it off with red wire. I love this copper mesh and use it often in my mixed media pieces. I'm excited to see how it weathers.
The bundle is hung outside my kitchen window on a sheppard's crook. I'll be able to observe it every morning when I'm making our coffee.

November is the month of W-I-Ps... December is the month of ....?

It never fails. November is always a highly productive month for me... for starting projects. As is always the case, I start more than I can finish. This doesn't truly bother me. I know they'll be finished eventually, when the time is right.

But here's my problem. November is highly productive... and December? Well everything comes to a screeching halt for the month of December. All my creative efforts have to be shifted to items which will be gifted. The paintings and/or sculptures that haunted me until I started them are stacked out of the way until the holidays are over with.

Here's a quick peak at what's waiting for me in January:

And that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Don't even ask about the paint and sculpting ideas in my sketchbook!!!

Erosion Bundles in 2010

This time of year I'm always on the lookout for art projects that will keep me busy (or at least keep my mind occupied) for a good part of the year. For 2010 I think I found that project with Erosion Bundles.

This is from the blog post: The idea is simple: create an artistic bundle made from materials of their own choosing and “hang, bury, submerge, or just place” the bundle in the elements. This collaboration is to be with the ultimate partner…Mother Nature herself!

Here is the time-frame of the project:
January 1, 2010 - place bundle in nature
In between = share thoughts and photos
April 15, 2010 - retrieve bundle from nature
August 1, 2010 - finish art piece using your eroded stuff and rejoice

I've already started gathering items. I made a quick clay heart (paint & wire still to come). I have a little slice of wood, some photocopies of vintage pictures. I'm going to add a few different colored, decorative papers, some fiber, some metal mesh. Not sure what else yet. Then I'll fold it all together and tie up with a combination of hemp and steel wire. I plan on hanging either on the Sheppards Crook or in the Rose of Sharon, both right outside the kitchen window so I can easily document any changes.

It needs to be hanging by January 1st. More posts to come.

linking help

For the life of me, I can't get a link to show up as a hyperlink on my blog. I can do it on my livejournal but not here. Does anyone have any helpful hints?

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!