My online tour, 4th time around!

This is what my world revolves around right now:  the spreadsheet for the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat that I host.  The artists have sent in their photos and descriptions and I'm busily putting their "studio" pages together, keeping track of who sent what on my trusty (yes) hand-written sheet.  (I've smudged out the names so those artists who are LATE won't be overly embarrassed.)

  The art is AWESOME!!!  The artists are all so sweet, and creative and happy about the tour, but it is a ton of work and I'm creaking under the pressure a bit...  Organizing, finding and getting artists to join, advertising, and now putting the pages together... it's a constant, ongoing affair and August and September are complete write-offs.  This is the fourth year and I've decided that next year I will take a break.  I had so many plans for my own entrees for the tour and didn't find the time (make the time?) to get any of them finished, which is woefully sad since I knew I would be needing them since November 1st, 2011.  The witch shoe on wheels being pulled by demons, the mini skull magnets, the assortment of bat-head brooches... all still just dream-stuff.  Ah well...   

So 2013 will be mine to catch up with MY art, and rejuvenate for a glorious 2014 tour revival!

Getting in the mood...

Facebook may be good for something...  Check out this incredible Hallowe'en costume!!  The corset and all the finery were brought together by Glamtastik in New Jersey.  Thank you, Sarah, for posting this on Facebook!  And as you said, Sarah, sadly legs are not included!!!  But I'd wear it anyway!

 And then there's this lovely, atmospheric Hallowe'en dining set-up! I hope to achieve something as inviting for the Post-Mortem party (after Monster Month).  This image is also off of Facebook, visit "The Pumpkin Season - When Witches Fly" for more treats!

 

True colors

Here's a perfect poster, I wish it was easier to do without resorting to a chainsaw, shovel and an isolated graveyard... sigh.

In print and in process!

So the tombstones are coming along... slowly.  Where does the time go!?

 

I'm using markers to color in the lettering and designs, it's the simpliest and the ink is supposed to be waterproof.  Hopefully we won't be finding out!

 

And imagine how thrilled we were to read this article in the Gorge Film and Art September issue.  Wow, thank you Julie! 

bats and kids

From Bat World Sanctuary I thought to share this great leaflet:  on one side you can learn what to do if you find a bat, on the other side is a snappy rap for children to remember what to do if they should come across a bat. 

Lazy days...

One week in an air-conditioned cabin a 5-minute drive from the Pinery Provincial Park... this was our set-up for a lazy week of walking on the dog beach, hiking trails, sitting by the fire and enjoying the art of slowing it down. 

 

Mom built some incredible camp fires; lucky for us there was enough rain that the fire-ban was lifted.  While we were mesmerized by the dancing flames, we also took time to notice the bats flying overhead, although there were very few.  Also, we needed hard-hats:  oak trees have nuts and squirrels were hurling them down at sunset!  That's Willow looking up wondering where the bombs are coming from!

 For food, we brought along all easy-to-prepare things, and made-at-home salads.  Of course, this was supplemented with Pinery sweet potato fries and ice cream!

Relaxing... it really is an art.  I felt sorry for the people with their cell-phones and computers in the Park.     

On our last day we had a lovely sunset, and a gentleman stood in the water playing his bagpipes to the sinking sun!  What a sweet end to our vacation!

What is art?

"Passionate debate keeps the question "What is art?" healthily alive, but for our purpose, I offer the following response to it:  art is an embodied form of energy.  Energy fuels the process of art's inspiration and creation, and in turn, art acts as a carrier for an idea, the vehicle for energy from the etheric to the physical realms.  Without energy, we merely have gesture, phrase or line without meaning or resonance.  Art begins and ends with energy -- it's energy that ignites the first small spark of a concept within its maker and energy which resonates with lasting reverberations in those who experience the work.  It's the captured energy in art that can spur an emotional reaction:  our personal vibration aligns with that of the piece and viola!  We have contact.  We are affected, moved.  We have been changed, in some major or small way."  --  p.19  Kick-Ass Creativity by Mary Beth Maziarz

 When I read this, at the beginning of the passage I was skeptical, thinking "where is she going with this"? But the end bit makes complete sense:  why does some art immediately register within you while other pieces simply don't leave an impression?  There's some sort of connectivity, some sort of matching up taking place, whether it's with a good book, an incredible sculpture or an awesome photograph.  There's something uniquely similar, replicated in that art that makes it feel like it's part of you and you want to hang on to it, continue to experience it. 

(As you can see I've made it to page 19... three weeks and that's as far as I got...)