Illustration Friday: Sink

In a past life I was a mermaid who fell in love with an ancient mariner. 

I pulled him into the sea to be my husband. 

I didn't know he couldn't breathe underwater.

Illustration Friday: Seperated

Draw Things: Owls

Hey look! It's a blockprint!

.more.cake.please.

I have inadvertently turned December into Take Care of my Self month. It's awesome, and it makes me question a little why I don't do this more often, because my stress levels have dropped significantly, despite hating the weather (18˚ when I left for work this morning) and being on overtime at a job I severely dislike.

Last night I attended my first Irish Ceili class, and it was Amazing!
Ceili is a group folk dance, so there's lots of invasion of space, lots of spacial set ups, lots of things to remember; but so far, it's mostly footwork, which I desperately need to work on anyway. I have exercises and stretches to do at home until next week - lovely lovely homework!
Another thing that was really nice about the class was the lack of Fashion Show.

It's something that I've noticed in bellydance classes - both regular weekly classes and workshops - the need to dress up, look the part - be the fanciest most in-style dancer in class, as if that will make your dancing better. I'm guilty of it myself. It was part of my dance education when I started teaching - look the part, sell the image and the dream. But the thing is - looking like a professional bellydancer doesn't make you a professional bellydancer. It doesn't make your dancing better, or your timing, or your musicality, or your expression. It's just icing. And what you need is cake. It's actually the same problem I've had with a lot of performances over the years - I see a dancer or a troupe enter a performance space, and they look fantastic, and I get really excited about seeing a stellar performance, but then it quickly becomes obvious that all that time they spent on their costumes would have been better spent practicing.
Because no amount of icing is going to make your cake taste better. In point of fact, more icing is probably going to make your lack of cake more obvious, more obnoxious, more unpalatable.
And like most audience members, I'd must rather see a stellar performance is a mediocre costume, than a stellar costume covering for a mediocre performance.

But I am way off track.
I took a Ceili class and it was awesome. And I wore junk for comfort, and that was awesome too.
Thursday night I'm taking a yoga class, and Sunday afternoon is a Persian Dance class.
And this is my cake - cake for my body and my brain.

More cake please.

.falling.upward.

24" X 36"
Acrylic on Canvas $450

.exploding.

I'm excited.

I'm really really excited.

And eventually the excitement is going to wear off and the nervous nausea is going to kick in, but for the moment...

I found out today that I'll be teaching as Waking Persephone, a super incredible looking workshop extravaganza in Providence, Rhode Island, hosted by the ever inspiring Tempest. Hopefully while I'm there I'll be able to take a workshop with my host, since I can't take the workshop she's teaching in St. Louis in January for scheduling conflicts. Other instructors include Anaar, Celeste, Asharah, and Ami Amore.

But for now, it's time to go and practice...

.sketchbook.project.3.

Two more spreads closer to finished...

The 2012 Sketchbook Project has been announced - Limited Edition. I'm so very very tempted, but it's outside of my budget at the moment. Perhaps after the New Year, after this book is finished and submitted, if there's still space in the project I'll join in.

...sail....again.

...perhaps for the last time...

.weekend.goals.

Next weekend, by some fortuitous nock of chance, I have a lovely five day weekend. I would like to spend at least 70% of my waking time with friends, or Finally playing Skyrim. The other 30% of my time will be spent cooking food for Thanksgiving Feast Day!

So I have to get a bunch of stuff done this weekend, mostly things I've been avoiding for the last two weeks....
• Unpack three suitcases - 2 from FaerieCon, 1 from East Meets West
• Finish 2 paintings
• Make a bunch of bindi and other extraneous jewelry
•' Clean the House (which my lovely fiance will be assisting me with)

I like goals.

.elaboration.fin.

.semi.expansion.

Was I going to expand on this weekend?
Maybe.

It was amazingly fun. I met some truly wonderful ladies, and reconnected with people I really wish I could see more often. I wish I could have seen more the show show Saturday night - there were a few performances I missed that I really really wanted to see. But this happens, and hopefully YouTube can catch me up on some of what I missed.
I also discovered, despite the frequency of my trips to St. Louis, that I hate driving in St. Louis - I'm fairly certain the highway system was designed by a roller coaster engineer. The city looks normal on a map - but driving around is just....wow. So much so that, rather than stopping to finally see the Arch on our way out on Sunday morning, I vetoed the plan; it was much easier to get on the highway and get out of the city. So, I still have not seen the Arch, or stopped at it. It's hard to miss if you're just driving around, but still...

On the way home Mitti and I found many treasures at one of the antique malls we stopped at - hopefully I can integrate some of them into jewelry projects soon.

I also finished my Baby Jelly painting. Yet to be titled, and only a blurry photo at the moment...

It might go on the "Not to be Sold" list - though I have nowhere to hang it.

.east.meets.west.

 

this is what 6:30am looks like

 

classes and vending at Lotus Arts Studio

 

Sunset over St. Louis

 

the St. Louis Arch, and Ami Amore dancing at the Urban Cabaret

 

note to the hotel staff...

 

foreward of a book we found at an Antique Mall on the way home...

Elaborations, paintings, and video to come later....

Also!

If you're going to be anywhere near the St. Louis area tomorrow - I'll be teaching an arms focused bellydance workshop for Exotic Rhythms Bellydance, alongside Ami Amore teaching "Meat & Potatoes". The classes start at 10:30am, so you can snooze in a bit, and I believe there might be one or two class spots left. Or, if you're less dance inclined but still in the mood for voyeurism, come to the show in the evening. I'll be performing along with a few darling St. Louis locals - and the show line up looks to be excellent.

Information is here. 

And show information is here!

art, science, and nature

My favorite artist of all time has to be Andy Goldsworthy. A British artist who specializes in collaborations with nature, I first saw his work in an article in Discover magazine way back in the 90's when I was in high school. His work transcends reality - primarily because he exclusively uses natural materials in the area where he found them - that his art quickly reverts back to nature just makes it more beautiful to me. From his own webpage:

At its most successful, my ‘touch’ looks into the heart of nature; most days I don’t even get close. These things are all part of the transient process that I cannot understand unless my touch is also transient—only in this way can the cycle remain unbroken and the process complete. I cannot explain the importance to me of being part of the place, its seasons and changes. Fourteen years ago I made a line of stones in Morecambe Bay. It is still there, buried under the sand, unseen. All my work still exists in some form.

There is an excellent documentary about Mr. Goldsworth, title Rivers and Tides, during which you can watch him constructing an ice sculpture not entirely dissimilar to the one pictured above.

Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to a How Stuff Works: Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast (which I highly recommend) titled This is Your Brain on Art. The podcast was primarily about the relationship between art and neuroscience, but one of the examples that was brought up during the podcast was the curious Courting rituals of the Bowerbirds. I'd heard of Bowerbirds before (who hasn't?) and heard about the Bowers that the males construct to attract females, but listening to the podcast, and being in front of Google, I was finally motivated to look up these constructions.
And they are gorgeous. The birds themselves are gorgeous, particularly the Satin Bowerbird, which has the most amazing blue eyes (a bird with blue eyes - who knew?), but the bowers they construct, without the use of hands or thumbs - I was floored.

from the Birds in Backyards website - of a female Satin Bowerbird

photo by Barry Hatton, via Elmtwig

i

image from ARKive

But these constructions - and you really should look them up and read more (the Satin Bowerbirds actually paint the inside of their bowers with chewed up berries and charcoal), remind me quite a bit of Andy Goldsworthy's work.

If I ever get back into sculpture - this is the kind of work I'd like to do. Now if only creating the kind of art you loved to look at was a guaranteed thing...

.more.paintings.

"nebula 2"

9" X 12" - acrylic, glitter on canvas, 50$

 

"volvox 1"

12" X 12", acrylic, glitter on canvas, 75$

I was dismayed to realize this morning that I only actually have 9 paintings finished...so I'm brainstorming a list of things to round out what I'm doing: diatoms, baby jellyfish, cyanobacteria, pulsars, black holes....

If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Of course, like the Volvox painting above (which is sort of a rough draft for a larger multi-volvox piece I have in mind) these things do not often turn out as exact reproductions of what it is I'm painting - it's much more "inspired by..."

FAERIECON!

For the second year running, I joined up with a bunch of friends on the East Coast for FaerieCon 2011 in Hunt Valley Maryland - an annual Convention of Awesomness that is not to be missed if you can help it. You don't need to believe in faeries to go; you do need to be willing to let go of convention for a few days and have fun.
Otherwise what's the point?

Oh! And a costume. Or two....or more. Trust me. And bring your own ears. And glitter. And.....
....no. That should be good.

On to pictures!

 

Getting ready to leave - better remember where you parked your car at the airport.

Apparently people have a problem with this.

 

Plane to Baltimore!

 

Emily accepting Faery Alter Offerings at the Good Faeries Ball...

 

My Blue Faery costume - photo by the Gorgeous Ken Morrill of Yenra

 

Hanging out with trolls at the Bad Faeries Ball

I don't know who took this one - I cite the case of the Monkeys - after all, it was my camera.

 

 

Oh wait...did Emily and I accept more Faerie Offerings?

photo by Cayti Kyle Abbott

For more on why I'm really not allowed to eat food, particularly apples, in public, go read my old blog post: When food is an inappropriate activity in public...

And if you want to see more pictures, go check out the FaerieCon website, or the FaerieCon facebook page.

Or go yourself next time, because SRSLY!

Meanwhile, while I was adventuring, I probably missed the only earthquake that will probably ever be felt in Missouri. How disappointing! But not really...

.paintings.

I got a notion in my head last weekend to work on a bunch of small paintings to accompany the larger Microcosm/Macrososm series, not only as tie in between the various paintings, but also because smaller paintings are way more affordable (though they don't seem to take any less time when compensating for size) so I can make art for people with less disposable income, like me!

 

"radiolaria 1"

12" X 12", acrylic on canvas, 80$

 

"radiolaria 1" - detail

"volvox 1" - in progress

I think some baby jellyfish might be upcoming on the menu...

Sketchbook Challenge Day 7

My sketchbook is missing, so I had to find an alternative.

Tonight I carve my pumpkin!

Sketchbook Challenge Day 6

Forgot to photo and post yesterday...

Sketchbook Challenge Day 5

Sketchbook Challenge Day 4

Sketchbook Challenge Day 3

I have FaerieCon on the brain.
And my paintings.

And a massive headache.

Sketchbook Challenge Day 2+

Unrelated to sketching...
Years ago I fell in love with a CD called Sequencia, you can read about it here.
Now a friend has informed me of the existence of Your DNA Song, and I could about explode with excitement. I'd dance, but I stepped on a porcupine quill twice last night, and won't be dancing to anything for a while.
No, seriously. I stepped on a porcupine quill twice last night.
It hurts.

First time in ages I was glad I didn't have any dance performances for a two week stretch.

Sketchbook Challenge Day 1

I am challenging myself to draw in my sketchbook every day for a week, the results of which I'll be posting here. It doesn't have to be good, I just need to do it.

.nebula.

I now have nine finished paintings, but I'm realizing that they belong in three different series, which throws my plans for them back a bit in a tizzy of delay. And expense. Because canvas isn't cheap, and what I'm doing now cannot be done on particle board.
And so despite my grand master plan, I may have to come up with a new plan, involving selling off pieces, if I can find buyers, before I can enact my plan....
...oh trouble.

But at least I have thoroughly researched how to properly varnish and mail my work.
Sometimes I severely regret not having gotten an actual fine arts degree...then I would know all of this already. Maybe

.in.progress.

Sketchbook Project

My 2011 Sketchbook Project, titled "unfinished", and which I sent in super SUPER late is finally scanned and available for viewing.
RIGHT HERE: http://www.arthousecoop.com/library/5773

Now just to decide whether Project 2012 #1 should be digitized, and to finish Project #2.
Better get on it...

lllustration Friday: Scattered

.tragedy.

No, not really a tragedy, but you know...

Club Bellydance was really lovely. I realize that I use that word repetitively, but it tends to be appropriate. One of my few regrets about the experience is that the BDSS came through Kansas City on a Tuesday night. Friday, Saturday, even a Thursday evening would have been much better for a show of that quality. Plus on any of those days we might have been able to do a workshop to go along with the show.
But some thing are beyond control.

Still, as sponsor, it went ok. No giant big disasters - the tech ran smoothly, the show itself ran smoothly, the audience was enthusiastic which is really the biggest blessing. And to top it off, the Foundry in Westport serves food until 1:30 in the morning, so Dharma, myself and some of the BDSS were able to get delicious noms and drinks afterwards.

And I learned something, so if I'm in this position again, I have a much much better idea of what to do, what questions to ask, who to turn to for assistance, and what to ask of people.
But I'm still sad the the camera ran out of memory.

Club Bellydance

Tonight is Club Bellydance in Kansas City - specifically at the Uptown.

From the Club Bellydance Facebook site:

This exciting show will feature Bellydance Superstar dancers Sabah, Moria, Sabrina Fox, Stefanya and Victoria.
This new show will give the BDSS dancers an opportunity to try out new ideas and choreography not possible in the full theatre show while at the same time enabling them to enjoy watching their fellow bellydancers perform across the continent. In each city, the local bellydance community ...will provide the first half of the show and the BDSS dancers the second half. Workshops will be set up wherever possible and of course the tour will carry the BDSS traveling store with a wide range of bellydance products at great prices. The tour runs from September through October. We look forward to spreading the word on this dance phenomenon across America and beyond! Come join CLUB BELLYDANCE!

More information is here.

It's going to be a pretty fantastic show - between the BDSS and local talent (specifically myself, Troupe Duende, Melody Gabrielle and Troupe Zahira); and if I'm not too pooped afterwards perhaps Dharma and I can hit up Ali Baba's for hookah afterwards.

Unfortunately, you can only take pictures during the first half of the show - meaning the local dancers. It's the rulz.  So keep it in mind. I know Moria is hot and all, but no photos!

.in.progress.

And now it's time for lunch. And ibuprofen. And a nap.

.gallery.madness.

Last night was Impromptu Date Night, and my beau and I popped by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to see what was there to see, having discovered that they are open late on Thursday and Friday nights.
We saw some lovely sculptures by Rodin, and there were a few new pieces in the Egyptian wing, and while we were wandering we got into a discussion about the Nature of Art.

I live in a fairly dichotomous world with my art - there's the physical art, and there's my dance. Probably because I dance, and because dance is so fleeting an art form, I very strongly believe that what is or isn't art is completely determined by the viewer. My beau, on the other hand, believes that what is and isn't art is determined by the creator.

I don't really know that either of us is completely right or completely wrong. But with dance there is the moment in which you are dancing, and then there is a memory of that dance with the audience. And that's it. There is no physical thing when the piece is done to show that anything was done at all. There is nothing there to examine when years past for critics to continue to review and discus. Mata Hari is a perfect example of this - Spy, ConArtist, Dancer - known worldwide for her performances, and yet there is nothing left of them, not even video. The beau brought up a famous choreographer, long dead, whose dances are still being performed, but that seems removed a step, because in his case, his company of dancers was his medium, not necessarily the dancing itself.

There's an assemblage of sticks hanging in our living room wall - something he found on the side of the road, liked the arrangement of, and has clung to for years. To me, and whoever threw it out, it's a pile of sticks. To him, it's art. I can put an empty bottle of water on a pedestal and call it art, but to anyone passing by, it's going to look like trash.*  And after I die, as we all do eventually, some of my paintings might survive while my dancing will not.**

I'm going to see more galleries with a friend this evening.
Perhaps I can re-read the Courage to Create this weekend as well...


*On second thought, if I put an artist's statement next to my empty water bottle claiming that its placement is a commentary about the wastefulness of the human species and how early man would have revered such an object for it's usefulness and appearance, someone might call it art. But then it the bottle art, or the concept? And would there have been a better more thoughtful way to execute the same piece?

**And as old things tend to get destroyed, my old paintings would have much more value than they ever could today....and some historian would probably try to shove a lot of existential meaning onto it that the piece was never meant to have....and if my journals survived on top of all of that...
And this is how art is made.

Illustration Friday: Contraption

to re-start the human heart

.updates.and.rambling.

The workshop this past weekend was an excellent experience - I had a blast with the ladies of Project Vagabond, met so many nice dancers...it was lovely. My class went really well, though I may have a tad too much material for a 2 hour long workshop - three hours might be better to cover everything that I wanted to cover. I missed a few talking points, and we never got around to push-ups, sit-ups, or the second combo.
But there is always next time.

And you ladies, who were in my class on Saturday - you owe me push-ups.

Because I've gotten requests for it, below is a list of songs that I like to use during practice, particularly drills and combo practice:

• Sordid - Amon Tobin
• Always - Amon Tobin
• At the End of the Day - Amon Tobin
• Ark - Fridge
• Spondee - Matmos
• Burn it Down (Interpartysystem Remix) - AWOLNATION
• The Clock - Thom Yorke
• Sema - Acid Queen
• Fir Bolg - Kila
• Wax On - Kodo
• Battle - Beats Antique
• Let the Wind Erase Me - Assemblage 23

This week I have to find music for the next Bellydance United show, and prep for Club Bellydance at the Uptown. And I'm dancing at the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. And I started jogging.
And then there's art to finish...and FaerieCon costumes to construct.
I also got a new crop of Springbok Hair Sticks finished, and will hopefully be able to post them up to etsy some time later today...

Hips Noir 6

(the short barely photo-blogged version)

 Talking to my mom while attempting to leave Kansas City for the third time.

(I actually left on the forth attempt.)

It was dark while I was driving.

You can't see it, but the sign for the Golden Coral says "It's Flowing Chocolate Up In Here."

Welcome Dinner!

The workshop, during Naima's class.

 I was vending...

And then there was dancing!

Coffee and breakfast with Mouse and Melissa (not pictured) and Melissa's mom (not pictured) the morning after.

A neat lake/river/swamp area under a bridge I crossed on my way home, when I could see, because it wasn't dark.

The other side of the bridge...

My cranky face from having to drive when there's nothing good on the radio...
Thank goodness for my iPod - Thankyou Steve Jobs!!!