Monday, December 21, 2015

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

This is all very train of thought, so deal with it. or click on a different link.

I haven't posted in awhile, because of this damned dog that's taken over my life, which I've also been meaning to write a post about - but I'm all Star Wars distracted. I've been Star Wars distracted, and I'll continue to be Star Wars distracted for quite some time to come.
You see, before I knew Fandoms was a thing, Star Wars was my first fandom.

I don't think I saw Star wars until High School, and I'm pretty sure I saw a bit of it on TV, got super curious because of this thing I was going through with dealing with my issues, and we probably rented it from Blockbuster, back when that was a thing you could do. Because my mom raised me right, and she read me The Hobbit when I was in elementary school, and gave me A Wrinkle in Time in Middle School, and introduced me to Dune my freshman year of High School and where was my door in the wardrobe to Narnia?

But there was Star Wars which I had desperately avoided because of a cousin who always did the Darth Vader voice when we were playing with legos when I was a wee tot - and that voice scared the hell out of me. And I made myself watch Star Wars and it was over.

I poured through all of the books - ALL OF THE BOOKS - that were released until '99, begged for a THX copy of the VHS for my birthday, wrote fan fiction, and tried to build my own lightsaber.
But then the prequels came out, and I went to college where I had no time for anything anyhow, and I discovered others things.

And now The Force Awakens, and I love it. I love the variety of characters, I love their flaws (though Poe may not have any), I love that there's a really strong female lead who not only doens't need saving (a'la Leia) but is also our new Bassass Jedi Savior, and I love that the old cast is involved and how they're involved. I love the look and the shots and the music, and the creepy apricot face alien Maz Kanata and can I have a BB-8 of my own already?

I know that the story is not 100% original, but I don't really care; in part because it's a story I enjoy, and also the characters, and also the whole "repeating the mistakes of our elders" thing... And I get that there are old school fans who don't like this or that character for "insert here" reason, or will find this or that flaw and this or that reason to bitch about whatever and you know what?  I DO NOT CARE.
I just don't.
Because you love what you love, and you don't love what you don't love (to paraphase John Hodgeman) and it's noone's job to convince you otherwise, unless you're in it to be convinced.

So welcome to a Galaxy without Guard rails far far away where space elves teach teenagers how to move rocks, and lasers make sound in space. And yes, a third death star - because that worked so well every other time.
And also, take your gripes with you on your way out - there's a door right over there.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

.notebook ramble.

My friends will be the first to tell you that I have a notebook problem. In particular, a pocket notebook problem. So when the new Colors Fieldnotes was announced on Tuesday, I was beside myself with impatience - and since subscribers are supposed to get their mailed out first (and from that receive their first) - it was a daily race home to check my mailbox for these delightful new treasures.
Because they're so green!

I think because I don't have any, I get really excited about the green and red Field Notes editions. Didn't have any, I should say - because Shenandoah, and also I just traded an old Blackwing 602 pencil and a pack on Night Sky for a Sorta Jade single and a pack of Red Blooded.

And also, these are beautiful. And they came the same day as the Secret Garden notebooks I ordered - quite a nice Friday mail day all in all.
I'm not quite ready to start writing in the Sweet Birch - I'm only halfway through the restyled Kraft I popped open Monday, but very soon.



Saturday, September 12, 2015

.field notes.

I spent this afternoon customizing some more of my craft paper Field Notes. Ink and watercolor this time, with bleed proof white.
These will probably end up on my etsy shop later this week. The fern is graph paper, the red flower with bee is lined, and the blue flowers is blank.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

.tuesday.

Sometimes my sleep schedule gets all out of whack, especially after a holiday weekend. And I have to go to work anyway. My brain gets all bibbelty, and I start pondering...things...

And then it gets weird.

And then it becomes a sales pitch.



I'm fine, by the way. This wasn't inspired by a specific event - except for maybe the series of specific events conversations I've had over the last 12+ years of art making for profit.
Because pocket lint is the new black.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

.pigment+palette.

Like everyone else everywhere, I've gotten into subscriptions boxes - fist with one I provided items for, then LootCrate for my Other, and NerdBlox for me. 

I've been side glancing the various art supply subscription boxes out there for a bit, checking out [ast boxes and reviews, and Pigment+Palette seemed the way to go. Artist themed boxes, and most of the past boxes looked like they had a decent amount of quality items, and the box they come it looked fun and useful - black with a magnetic closure.

I received my first box yesterday (the 21st Edition) and .... disappointment.

The first thing, the box. Not as advertised.

Inside the box, two colored pencils, a woodless graphite pencil, a paint stick, and three samples of a new paper from Fabriano. 
The postcard has a print of a oil painting by Alex Krigbaum on it - so I suppose there's a connection to the paint stick there?

 

All in all, I'm kind of disappointed. Mostly because of the container - or if there'd been one or two items in there.
  • The Krink K-80 Permanent Paint Marker on DickBlick is $8.79; though P+P has it's price listed at $11.00
  • The Cretacolor Monolith Woodless Pencils on DB are $1.58 P+P prices them at $2.30
  • The Creatocolor Studio Artist Color Pencils on DB cannot be bought individually, but you can get a Studio Set of 72 for $36.05, which breaks down to about 50 cents a pencil.
  • A full sheet of the Fabriano Unica is listed by P+P at $2.30 each, and Fabriano paper usually comes in 22" x 30" sheets - my three samples are postcard size, 4"x6" - so you can cut 25 of these from a single sheet.
As far as I can tell, I received $13.22 in art supplies, for 18$ with shipping included. Throw in manpower, printing, shipping, and packaging - it probably works out even, but I wouldn't call it a deal by any means. The Paint Marker might be cool - I haven't played with it yet, but I'm drowning in color pencils, as I think everyone else who suffered through high school AP Art is as well. If you're wanting to try out new things it might be worth your dollars, but I'd personally be more interested if the things included were more unusual or if the box had been nicer.  I know I keep harping on about this box, but I'm always looking for storage for all of my nichey little bits I use in collage work - the box I received I'll re-purpose for shipping etsy orders but nothing more. 

I'll probably cancel.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

.curious things.

I've been doing a lot of perfuming work lately. In the midst of prepping everything for Noir, I did a lot of thinking, and repricing, and restructuring how I wanted to sell my smells.

First up - three new scents!
In the Monster Hunter line, King of Hell and Chuck.
 
Chuck
Any good writer becomes buried in their work. Our Chuck is no different, immersed in a earthy blend of coffee, white cognac, tobacco, and a touch of ambergris.

King of Hell
Black pepper and honeysuckle are blended with spikenard and birch tar. This fairly masculine fragrance is dark and smokey with a hint of spice, and the light touch of midsummer evenings at the crossroads.


In the 221B line, I introduce Watson.

Green tea and ginger grass, a soothing and refreshing breath of fresh air, with the faint trace of gun smoke and an undercurrent of roman chamomile.




All three of the new scents are available in in small individual boxes in limited quantities, which brings me to the first big change. With the exception of new scents, I will no longer be selling single sample sizes. All scents will still be available in small boxes in quantities of 3 or 4, and combo boxes are available for the SuperWhoLock fans who wants one or two scents from several different fandoms. Also - the price has gone down! The three sample boxes have been reduced to 8$, for the previous price of 12$. The four sample boxes are a mere 10$.

There are also no more single 5/8, or dram options.
The 5/8 drams are available in 3 or 4 packs, and the drams are available in 2 packs. For those wanting a larger quantity of a single scent - the 5ml euro bottles are still available on their own.


I'll be putting more sizing options in the shop as I get my photography in order. I have 10ml roll on bottles, perfume pendants, and larger 1oz bottles that will be available as soon as I can make them.

Also, if you're in the Kansas City/Lawrence KS area, I'll be vending at the Season 11 Premiere Watch Party on October 7th. It is free to attend,though you must RSVP. There are VIP bags you can purchase (and they look pretty cool), and all of the proceeds go to support The Willow Domestic Violence Center; and I think anyone with a heart can support that.


Thursday, August 6, 2015

.come see me.

You can come and see me!
Or at least, you can come and see my scents and smell them in person.
Yesterday I dropped off a bunch of beautiful things at Noir, my new favorite Kansas City shop. They'll be carrying 12 of my scents, including a Noir Signature Perfume that I cooked up just for them - Musk, peach, and amber.


Noir is located at 1609 W 39th St
Kansas City, MO  64111

Store Hours:
Monday - Closed
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - By Appointment
Thursday - 12p-6p
Friday - 11a-6p
Saturday - 12p-6p
Sunday - 12p-5p

Thursday, July 30, 2015

.field notes.

I first came across Field Notebooks in July of 2013 when I was looking for a pocket size dance journal, despite the fact that none of my dance practice pants had pockets. But I wanted something portable and a little flexible and lightweight.
these are prettier on the back

I found Field Notes.

This was when the Nigh Sky Edition was out, and being a Science Groupie with a love of Astronomy, I immediately bought 3 packs (the "legal" limit) and began using them immediately. The use of them quickly expanded from dance journaling into note taking on everything that was going on in my life - grocery lists, to do lists, quotes from the radio, notes on ideas and projects, and on and on. It's a bit of a problem, now that I'm going through a notebook every 2-3 weeks, except that I can look back to any week in the last year and know exactly what I was doing on a given day - which is weird and also kind of neat.

I finally gave up all pretense just before the Two Rivers edition came out this past spring and got a subscription. Now, I'm not exclusive with Field Notes - in my stock of notebooks ready to be used I have Baron Fig, Scout Books, and a few other smaller brands that I've picked up on whims and also a dash of hoarding-type compulsion. (My partner tolerates me to hoarding 2 things - plants and books, and these are kind of books, and also very small.)

I have the graph paper all the way on the left, not that you can tell.
Along with my first subscription came a few of the staple Kraft notebooks that I have never been interested in (because the covers are boring) but I put them away in my stash figuring they were good for Modifications, if nothing else.

And then I came across this wine with this beautiful paper sleeve, and because I love my notebooks, and I love my wine, and the modification took shape in my brain.


Scissors and spray glue and another wrapper from a white, and a press test from my work, and voila!

Curious Beasts, Fushia White, & a press test
I used medical tape to secure the wrap, because Reasons.

...and I need more wine.
Much better now. I've been wanting a red field notebook for ages. Now I have the best one ever. And it's covered with monsters and skeletons!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

.aerial.

On Monday I went to my second of three in a series of 7 beginning aerial dance classes.

Ok, that got away from me.

I signed up for 7 classes. Went to the first one, which was amazing and hard and emotional. I missed the second class - well, I went but quickly discovered that the arm/back injury I'd done to myself over the weekend was much much worse than I had thought, and was self-forced to leave because if you are physically unable to pull yourself up, there's not much you can do but sit and watch everyone else do the work.

This past Monday I finally got back to class. It was hard, but not quite as hard as week 1 by a smidgen. And today I'm not hurting nearly as much as I was this same time two weeks ago. I managed a double foot lock, and worked through cheater hip keys on both sides with much better results. I still need All The Work on my triceps and lats though.

In any case - I've missed aerial. I danced with her briefly several years ago, and dropped it to better work on my arm and back strength because I was struggling so much with that one aspect; except I didn't work on my arm and back strength - and really my best motivator to work on this outside of class is going to be doing better in class. Aerial is hard. Harder than maybe anything else I've ever been this interested in doing, and I think the hard-ness of it is part of why I love it so much. It does not come naturally to me. There's a fear aspect to conquer too - not performance fear, this is straight out "I'm going to fall on my face" fear.
And that studio is one of the emotionally safest places in the world for me.

So onward...

Monday, July 27, 2015

.after show.

Raqs Bohéme on Friday was spectacular, as promised.  Talks have already begun for both a reprise, and also a special expansion project that may or may not get off the ground.
Also this happened:


Friday, July 24, 2015

.show day.

I spent three hours last night searching my house for the Science Fair medals I was going to use as the Costume Contest awards at the show tonight. I did not find them, though I know I've seen them in the last month, and I'm pretty sure there in with a pile of things I thought would be good for costuming. Now that I have replacements (which are coincidentally much more fun) they will definitely appear in The Most Obvious Location sometime Sunday afternoon.

Tonight's Third Place "Medal"
Bella, who can't dance in the show after all due to a half torn off toenail, is donating one of her piece props - a giant life size print of Captain Kirk - as a prize as well. So with the venue needing us out by 8, everything should be fine. My plunger is painted silver. I definitely know at least one of my pieces. And I've found all the parts of both costumes ahead of time, so that I won't be running around like a headless chicken when I rush home after work to put together my Show Bags.

I am not exhausted. I just need to drink a bit more tea.

This is as good a time as any to announce the date for the next show - the Last Raqs Bohéme at RecordBar (at least, this incarnation of RecordBar) as they are changing locations after the first of this year, and the new location is yet to be located.

Time will tell.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

.finished.

30" x 48", oil on canvas

Apologies for the glare.
But now that that is done and finished and Out Of My House, on to the next project...