Dreams and Symbols

Something traumatic happened yesterday...when i got to the shop and hopped out of the van I noticed a little bird in our lot, didn't really think much of it...I was just running into the shop and then quickly back into the van to continue with morning errands, yet on my walk to the van the little bird was still on the ground, and it was very close to me. I walked right up to it, had I bent down I would have touched it, but I didn't, I just stared at it, and it stared back at me.

I called to keith telling him that I thought the birds was hurt, he said it was fine, and for me to get in the van as we had to go...normally I am not really a fan of birds, but I was touched by this little creature, when we got back from running pur pre-comic book day errands, the bird was still there, I walked up to it again, so close...just staring at each other. Keith was yelling for me to not touch it, that it was probably just sick and that I should let "nature take it's coarse". Now at first I though that was mean...but I know he's right, I just wish I had never seen it, never had to look at it. I think it was me having that thought that made me feel worst of all.

I had birds on the brain I guess, so last night I did a painting called "Her Beauty Had Wings" you can see more of it in my etsy store.

On a totally unrelated note...I had this dream last night that I was at a comic convention (lame...I know) and in the dream I was waiting in a very long line to get someone's autograph...I was in one line (for Carrie "Princess leia" Fisher) and Keith was in another line right next to me. Once I realized who's line he was in, I freaked out and joined him, because low and behold, he was standing in line to get Jackie O's autograph, she was still alive and young and beautiful.

You have to understand...I love Jackie O, I love theKennedy's (I'm from New England, it's mandatory), I even go so far as to call Ted Kennedy "Uncle Teddy"... in the dream, I finally made it up to the front of the line, and there sitting next to the finest fashion icon the world will ever know...was JFK, I started to cry, reacting to him as if he were a rockstar...telling him that when I was little my parents had a picture of him hanging up right next to a picture of the Pope...that's all I remember...also for those of you who don't "know" me...I was not alive when Kennedy was president, or when Bobby ran, or when dear sweet drunk Uncle Teddy drowned that girl...I am not sure where the obsession stems from. I do know I cried for 3 days when John John died (I only cried for less than a day when he got married).


what can this dream mean? I am open to anyone's theories on this...

mystery

First off, gotta get this out of the way. I went to the Post Office this morning, and when I left the building...a group of geese were marching right towards me, all mean.
Then, I went with Keith to meet the UPS guy, and there were a bunch of geese there too.

If they show up at our shop, I am going to freak out, so badly that I will most likely need to be hospitalized and give all sorts of fun happy time medication.

that concludes my goose update...

was not very productive over the past few days, too tired...I think I know I have a lot I need to get done, so I just keep going to sleep instead...

I did finish a piece I did in conjunction with an Etsy Creative Challenge, I love the way it turned out. The colors are so seductive and mysterious, it reminded me of a part in the Book/Movie of Henry and June, where Anias Nin is seduced, mentally and physically by someone in a costume, she believes it to be a stranger, and has sex with him, during the act she rips off the person's mask...and it is her husband. He thought she knew it was him...she was disappointed that it was...
Something about this, made me remember, maybe it's the mask, or the Paris theme, or maybe it's just the mood I am in...maybe it's a mystery...

the piece is called "Masquerade in Paris" and it is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Memories

I know, I know, I keep going on about autumn, mentioning Halloween and the like. I can't help it, it's the time of the year, the end of summer, combined with back to school stuff...it always get's me a little.

Not that it's a bad thing at all, but there is something in the air, something about the very beginning of fall that makes me feel entirely bittersweet, makes me long for something, makes me anxious, and curious all at the same time.

Perhaps these are left over emotions from childhood, dreaming of the first day back at school, thinking every year that "this year will be different"...and then they never are.

Could it be lingering memories from my very first real broken heart...I was 16, and felt the world would come to an end becasue I was in pain...late night teary phone calls and a boy who left me...I could taste myself aging in the autumn air. (14 years later, I am back together with this forst big heartbreak man...but something about fall still makes me miss him, even when he is asleep next to me).

I even married my now ex-husband in early fall...and even that doesn't ruin my love for this time of year.

I am longing for the leaves to fall, for the sky to be tinted with orange, for mornings when I can see my breath, just the slightest...I am longing for long skinny scarves and the smell of Keith's pipe that he smokes because it makes him feel like he's home.

I am longing for hot cider, spiked with whiskey that I drink while I eat pumpkin bread...

I am longing for all these things, and right now it is humid and disgusting, the weather in this fine metropolis is not cooperating with my fantasies...there were tornado sirens all last night, and I hoped that perhaps the twister would come, and whist me to a land of year long autum, where I would dream in golden tones...

I miss so many things, how can life, time, a person even, be this beautiful and sad all at the same time?

I have been trying with everything I create to capture that, the magic, the subtle feeling I get when I feel like I am just on the verge of something...

I have beem coming close at times, pushing things a little bit here and there... This piece will be listed in my Etsy Shop, and I have decided to call it "He Loved Me in My Youth". It doesn;t capture all of what I am feeling, but it does hint at it, and that's something, right?

Fall Fashion Vogue!!!!!!!!!!

ok, I am feeling a bit better today than I was on Friday...Nothing has really changed, the weekend was a tough one with the little peanut....the money situation is still awful, I need 2 of my medicines in less than 10 days, and all the bills are due...

So, why do I feel better, is it because when I was walking to work there were no geese to be seen anywhere???? Ok, I did have to walk through a torrential downpour but still...

Is it because I got to watch a Marilyn Monroe movie (Niagara) last night....

or perhaps it is because after way too long without being in touch, I am now back in contact with 2 of my most favorite people in the world...my dear friend Weird Aaron of Funky Carter Blog Fame and my friend Lisa the wonderful artist and designer behind the Oona Coco line of Couture handbags...

Those are great reasons, don't get me wrong....some of the best, but the truth is, I think I am in a good mood because Vougue's fall fashion issue finally arrived in my Post Office Box this weekend!! YAY!!!

I wait for this damn magazine all year, ever since I was little and I would beg my mom for money to buy Vogue and Elle at the CVS, ever since I would spend hours and hours flipping through the pages and cutting out my favorite photos and putting them in albums and dare I say the dreaded words...scrapbooks. I love Vogue, for some reason everytime I get it I get those little butterflies in my belly like I did as a kid.

Fall fashion Vogue to me...it an almost religious experience, I savor it, have a ritual...I flip through very quickly, with catty remarks, oh...Kate Moss looks so Old....or Michael Kors has let Project Runway go to his head, I though Linda Evangelista was dead....you know (while I di this Keith ususally falls into a semi-comatose state, it's his way of protecting his brain). After this portion of the ritual, the next phase is to go through again, slowly, I DO NOT READ ANY THING YET!!! Then I make more thoughtsul comments like, I am so glad Kate Moss is back, Oh, those Michael Kors shoes are like pieces of art, Linda Evangelista is what all models should be...(Keith, still unconcious). The next phase takes a very long time, it's the reading, no more comments, just loving the whole damn thing.

Those phases take a week or so, depending on how busy I am (it's like 800 pages afterall). Then the final phase, is when I rip up, cut out, and try to "organize" all the images I want out of it...this doesn't happen for a very long time, it for some reason takes a while to part with Fall Fashion Vogue, it's like letting go of a piece of my childhood, everytime.

So, in honor of this, I made this art card, with an image taken from a Vogue gone by (years ago)

I call this piece "Escape of the Young Queen" (Marie Antionette is so hot right now...) it is an ACEO and it is available for sale in my ETSY shop.

ok, so far I have one suggestion for my Halloween costume...thanks Heather! Anyone else...?

So far I'm thinking that I should be Rulah Jungle Goddess but I'm open to whatever...

Running Away

Today, no, this week has just been so tough...I just want to run away, from everything. Hop on a train and leave mountains of debt, bad health, ex-spouses...leave it all behind, well, I would take Keith of course...and hope the change of scenery would help his mood too.

I am feeling so fragile lately... like if someone was too nice to me I would break down crying. This morning when I was walking in to work (more on geese later) my neighbor stopped and offered me a ride to work, there was just something so wonderfully genuine about her at that moment that I almost just broke down and cried right there...all I could think was that she probably heard me crying last night, our wall are pretty thin afterall...maybe I am just being paranoid. People can just be nice sometimes, right?

ok, goose update...Today there were no geese at all, no where in the park, no groundhogs either. It was quiet, too quiet. Though I noticed while I was walking that right on my normal path, ther was a dead bird...where did this come from? Did the geese do this? Was this some kind of horse's head/mobster game they were playing...

ok, the piece featured today is keeping with my running away theme, it is called "Running Away with the Circus" and it is available in my etsy shop.

Wish us all luck...it is a weekend with the peanut, and it's going to be over 90 degrees on saturday...

Oh, and something to think about...I need ideas on what I should be for Halloween...

Challenges

Today has been a day of challenges...

first challenge, 1a- got up way too early for me...so I could work on some stuff I started last night, I finished the piece I did for this weeks Creative Challenge on etsy.

Everyweek my lovely friend Aimee at jewelstreet runs challenges so we can all get out of our creative ruts. I did the piece called "Steel Beauty". I really liked it, I loved the image, her dark eyes, very 1920's, like a cool Russel Patterson illustration...loved it. I really want to remember to use these colors and this type of feel again...I always forget when I say I am going to do something, hopefully by writing it down, I will remember...I listed the piece in my shop

Challenge 1b- WORK OUT!!!! ok 22 minutes of cardio...done...

Second Challenge- My walk to work...ok, the damn geese have taken over, they were all over the trail in the park, they don't even move for me...bastards, with the beaks and taunting ways. I wasn't even looking, just walking with my head down, defensive, I looked up and they were all around me, I screamed, somewhere between a screech and a yelp...they didn'e even move, just honked and goose-stepped. I hate them,they scare me, and I hate the children who are feeding them, making them linger, the children scare me too.

Third Challenge- my dear friends over at Funky Carter (W. Aaron) challenged their readers to figure out who wouldplay them in a movie...ok, so I wanted to say Angleina Jolie...but I didn't, instead I said Sarah Jessica Parker...more Square Pegs less Sex and the City...though I wish it were the other way around.

Fourth Challenge- stay upbeat and in a good mood, though things are way tense on the home and work front due to financial drama and the like...

but on a plus side...one of our customers/friends left us a few boxes of Hostess, cupcakes...ho-ho's and Suzie-Q's...awesome. Already had 1 cupcake but it's "lite" so it barelky counts

Blogging by Proxy

Today is a rare treat, my darling bf Keith has written a blog entry that I will be entering here...personal secretary style...oh, yeah, that sounds so sexy...lol. He was inspired to write this because everyday I tell him my "goose and groundhog park update".

so, this is his entry, his words...my mad bad typing skillz (and a little creative editing...it's my blog after all).

Park Update - Foreign Correspondant (Keith)

So here I am, sitting idle in the "family vehicle" lovingly referred to as ..."The Devil's Toaster" (white mini-van). I'm waiting behind some local businesses, alongside a park to meet the UPS driver and pick up the comic order...Jenn and I do this every week in order to pick up our comics early so we can get the funny books into the hands of the ravenous comic junkies, that are our customers and friends...but I digress...

This is not a tale of comics or UPS, this is a Goose/Park update. As you loyal readers know, Jenn has been keeping a record of the Goose takeover of our park that she passes on her daily walk to work.

Well, I fear the geese are stalking my wife to be...

No sooner did I park the van did I notice the feathered intruders in the large field to my right (editors note- this is a park...not my park that I usually walk by).

A look of recognition crossed the multitude of billed (I think he means scary...) faces staring in my direction. A chorus of goose honks erupted, and they marched like an army toward the pavement and parking spot.

(editors note- this part reminded me of the march of the penguins in Batman 2, the first time I saw this movie, I was 16 and Keith and I made out during most of it...the 2nd time we saw it he told me I should wear a Catwoman outfit...he had a thing for her...I was irrational like many 16 year olds...and cried...)

I swear, it was creepy, as the 30 or more dirty birds made a b-line for the van and then circled it honking and goose-stepping in a rage.

They however, never paid heed to myself, or the drivers side of the vehicle at all, they seemed on a mission, complete focus on the passenger side...they seemed to be looking for something....no, they were looking for someone...

then it hit me...

Jenn is usually here with me, we have coffee and chat...but today she chose to go to the shop early and update her etsy shop with a new piece she did last night.

Do the geese know this, do they know our pattern, do they know her pattern (editors note - am I watching the geese, or are they watching me?).

I pray my fears are unwarranted, that they are the crazy ramblings of an over active imagination...but I can't shake it, my girl is being stalked by a gang, a dirty, loud, a wandering gypsy clan if you will...I pray I'm wrong.

-keith, fiance and blog correspondant

(the photo featured in this blog is the painting was so determined to list today....I'm glad I did, now I fear that it is personal between me and those damn filty geese...like that crappy Jaws movie (IV- The Revenge).

The Worst Day

So after the perfect day, the most beautiful un-birthday a girl of 31 can have...yesterday went to hell, Car died...so poor K. had to walk to work this morning, over 4 miles...and it's going to cost us $400 too.
Of course, right before I need my medicine in a couple weeks too...I feel like Charlie Brown...if he was a starving artist and comic creator living in blissful love in Columbus.
I got up early, and painted because I did nothing last night...too much stress!!!
I even managed to work out for like 20 minutes before I walked to work...ok, it's not great I know but it's a little something.

I managed to create this piece, an ACEO called "A Beautiful Myth", I wanted to do something that was just pure beauty, the antithesis of what yesterday was. Plus I am still reading the Tennyson, so I am obsessed with Ancient Myths at the moment...lol. It's always something right.

oh, and this morning when I was walking past the park, there were no geese, or groundhogs, but I did hear a couple little girls screaming....I've been watching the news too much, all I could think was JonBenet...but when I looked they were just screaming for the sake of screaming...

I don't think I ever did that...did I

The Perfect Day

It has been beautiful the past few days, I am totally in the autumn frame of mind and trying like crazy not to think of the fact that this weekend when we have the munchkin it will be hot as hell and she will be cranky-er than usual.
Yesterday K and I had one of those rare days that it was just the two of us, we went into downtown westerville and just wandered through the little antique shops- I ended up getting a great copy of the complete works of Tennyson from 1918....I spent part of the afternoon reading and re-reading the Lady of Shalott which has been my favorite since I was about 7 and found my moms copy of a Tennyson book...one of the many things that didn't make it when I made the big move to the mid-west....so it was a lovely moment.
We had lunch at the mexican place...which is our place, all dark and cozy with bad soap operas playing all day and night...or as I refer to them as "The News", not sure why but it's funny to me.
Painted a bit this weekend, tried not to stress....it was time to take a bit of a break, so I was not as productive as I usually am, but did create this piece "Stage Beauty" It will be listed in my shop in a little while.
I was missing being on stage a little I guess...it was 3 years ago that I last performed, playing Winslow Homer's muse in a play called "The Sharpshooter"...I don't miss the applause, just miss getting lost in the fantasy I guess.
My eye was bothing me again this weekend, and again now, which makes it hard to see and then the headaches...hard to paint, hard to type, hard to read Tennyson or comics....wish it made it harder to see my gray hairs. I was going to dye my hair this weekend but forgot...
I want to be red haired and beautiful like the Lady of Shalott....

This is what it means

Every once in a while you have those moments, or at leats I do, when you realize what it is that you are doing as an artist, what it means to create a piece of art.
Art is more than creating soemthing pretty, to be enjoyed, looked at, and then forgotten. I have never been one to adore paintings of pretty little landscapes, of covered bridges...now I understand that people who do these things are very talented, but pieces like that don't say anything to me...I hope that they are saying soemthing at least to the very people who have created them.
Are is more than just beauty, sometimes art needs to be ugly, scary, thought provoking and offensive, that is what art is. I am not trying to create just things that are pretty or the ever elusive "interesting" there are reasons behind evrything I do...

This morninng K had to leave early to go to work, so I was up a little past 6:00 and was already painting, the air felt good on my skin, it makes me wonder I consider morning evil...

I finished this painting, and I'm calling it "At This Moment I knew"...when it was done I had to take a minute, look at it, take in the story, know that the woman in the painting though not physically me...was me nonetheless.

Every once in a while, there is a piece that captures a moment so perfectly...that exact moment that I knew where my life was going, the mistakes I had made...the road not taken screaming for me...

I am proud of this work, when and if this piece sells out of my etsy shop I will know that the person who owns it will understand the meaning, that it will speak to them as the paint spoke to me when I created it, they will all at once be calmed by it, haunted by it, and comforted at the very thought that the person who created it understands them...

thanks for reading...

Fall is in the air

Yes, finally, the mornings are starting to be cool as I walk to work- there are still geese in the park...it must be fall.
That means many things to me...
1- Ragweed season, yet another of my allergies, I am left to question when I will be placed in a palstic bubble.
2- Time to start working out again so I can fit into a Halloween costume, like every year, I want to be Batgirl, or Bettie Page or some sort of Jungle Woman
3- Fall Fashion Vogue is on it's way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over 1000 pages of yummy couture goodness.

So last night I was in bed with the bf- he was reading a Superman Archive, and I was reading Fall Fashion Elle (which is basically Low-Brow Vogue, but tasty nonetheless).

He would periodically tell me about what bitch-tastic thing Lois did to Clark Kent, while I would tell him that "skinny jeans" and ribbon necklaces were what was needed for me to get through the upcoming autumn season....though as I said this I did come to the full understanding that I do not have the body type for "skinny" jeans...

While reading, I came to an article about classic art, and how it is inspiring the current trends- they showed beautiful clothes, ripped straight from Pre-Raphealite paintings, models that looked like Waterhouse's Lady Of Shalott....I started to squeal, I've been in such a pre-raphaelite place lately...

I've even done some collage paintings inspired by that same art, I am right on the very pulse of what is hot- I am as cool as I pretend to be...

So I proceed to tell K. about this, showing him the images in the magazine, talking about the Pre-Raphealite movement, what it meant then, what it means now, and howit's connected to fashion, clothes, and art of today- I was met with juts a blank look...

"I don't know what you're talking about"...

what, how can that be, I was talking about this very concept the other day too...it's just now I had concrete proof that it was hot again...

"oh, yeah, well I wasn't paying attention the other day either...at first I thought you were talking about the Ninja Turtle...Raphael, but you weren't, so I stopped listening"

this, is why I love him...strange huh?

oh, and he gave me my purse, as an early present- a celebration of my un-birthday.

The Devils Wears What...?

ok, Tuesday nights Keith and I have our little ritual before the madness that is comic book day...we go to our favorite dollar store in one of the seedier parts of Columbus...also there is a brilliant Somalian Shop in the area, that I absolutely adore...they have everything one would ever need, and by anything I mean the most beautiful high end black market handbags you have ever seen!!!!
On our first visit, they did n't know what to make of us, I was foaming at the mouth over the purses, and frankly we were probably the only American's they had seen in a while...so anyway, our first visit was nice, I left with a beautiful black Coach bag, um...LOVE IT!!!

Our second visit they were much nicer, and they remembered me, so they were pulling out bags to look at, they had an amazing Prada...yes, Prada. It was as if I died and went to handbag heaven!!! Obviously, I don't have Prada money, but I did have a birthday coming up...so I looked at Keith, with big, big eyes...

I left with no Prada, but I did get a beautiful Black Crocodile bag- it looks like Chanel!!!

So last night, we went, and as we entered the store I heard the most beautiful grouping of words I have ever heard in my life..."You must be here for the Prada"

I left with the Prada, I'm not allowed to even touch it until my birthday, Keith has hidden it from me.

I think this was part birthday present, and part an I'm sorry present, because when we went to see "The Devil Wears Prada" he fell asleep, he didn't snore, but he did sleep.

So, we got home and I was still on a handbag high...so I watched a bad old horror movie (Carnivale of Souls) ans painted, made another little pocket journal, then went to sleep, dreaming in Prada bags.

I at least have one reason to look forward to Sunday now- that bag make's me look about 25!!!

Am I too young for a mid-life crisis?

ok, If I am lucky enough to live until I am 62 years old, than on Sunday...it will be half way through my life...it would be, my "mid-life" if you will.
So with that thought, how the f do I make myself feel younger...ok, maybe I should start by actually working out again, instead of using my exercise bike to hang the pants that don't fit me anymore...or maybe I should get some of that at home chemical peel stuff my mom tells me I should use.
Will that work?
Oh, and I have NO MONEY so I can't go out and buy new clothes and drown my sorrows in a pile of shoes and even more black shirts...oh, but I can dream right...I can focus on what I am trying to feel, what am I trying to acheive.
ok, it's simple, I'm vain. I want to be hot...even though I'm 31 (ok, the new 21) I still want Keith to look at me the way he did when he first saw me...ok, I know I was 16 when we first met, but still...
oh, see what I did, I swore to myself that I wouldn't go on and on about personal stuff in my blog, that I was doing this to promote my shop, but now I've gone and f-ed the whole thing.

Hi, I'm Jenn, and I blog, also at this very moment I'm lonely and feeling bad that I ate 3 oatmeal pies today...

Stayed up late last night to paint, the house was quiet, no loud crazy rednecks screaming profanities and racial slurs at passers by...it was a quiet night in the city...and for a few minutes, nothing else mattered.

Also, this morning, the park next door was filled with geese again, fall is in the air!!! I'm going to dye my hair a brilliant red, and I will look like Mary Jane Watson from the Spidey comics...yes, that's what I am going to do.

Was it too soon?

ok, so I might be suffering from my first case of sellers remorse...I won't say which piece it was as I don't want anyone to feel strange about it...
When I worked at the gallery I would often hear artists talking about pieces of theirs, adn they would say that they were not ready to sell it yet, and I guess I never understood...at least until now.
I have been so caught up with creating which is great, I've also started to sell some stuff, which is also great, I've been listing everything I have created on my etsy shop . I have done this with no hesitation, but for the first time, one of the pieces I sold in the past week makes me feel at a sort of loss. So strange...when I removed the piece from the wall there was an emptiness there.
What is all this selling going to do to the artist in me?
So this is the new deal, if I think I might not want to part with something...I won't. I won't list it, it's that simple.
I know, I know, I need the money and all that stuff, but don't I need myself more? So, no more selling stuff just to sell stuff, everything I sell will be because I want to.
I am babbling, I know, it was a tough weekend, so much stress, and there seems to be tension in the air, or maybe it's just my upcoming birthday.
Who knows...
Did manage to have a little time to paint this weekend. This is a new piece called "He Gazed at Her From Across the Room.

If only I could sleep...

It is abnormally quiet here at the shop today...sort of strange. I feel like Edna Millay, and have been burning the candle at both ends...all day here, go home paint until late, sleep a bit, up early and paint some more...

I don't know hoe Keith does everything he does, how does he have the strength to get out of bed in the morning...

We are getting the peanut this weekend so that means I will be unable to do anything creativly until she leaves on Sunday night- maybe that's a good thing, give my brain a rest a bit. I fear I am getting obsessive, the way I do.

Will I be able to remember what it is like to not have to work? I am babbling...lack of sleep, lack of communication with the outside world- my only link sometimes is the computer...

The small painting that is shown is called "Sleeping Ophelia" - I struggled with this painting, at one point ripping off everything and starting over- I am happier now with it, it also fits my mood...I've been in a very Shakesperean mood as of late...wonder why...

Yesterday

So I think I am starting to come down after yesterday...it was a big day for me as a person and as an artist- I hot the 200 sale mark on my Etsy Shop which is a huge deal. I finally got up the courage to start showing and sharing my artwork with the world this past April at the Pittsburgh Comic Convention, it was within the the week after that they I set up shop on Etsy... the rest has been a blur.
It's strange, I've never been more creative in my life, which is an incredible high that I hope doesn;t go away...I feel a little more comfortable with what I am doing artistically and thanks to getting some commssion work I am forced to branch out from my safety zone.
My big fear is that it will all go away- or that I will start to think of art as work...I don't want to ever feel like I have to force myself to create...
I mean, I am human, and to be honest who wouldn't rather be sleeping or getting drunk or just lazing about with someone...
But I love what I do, and just the thought that someone else might love it too, well that's almost too much to handle!

This is a small piece I have up for sale in my shop it's called Castle and the Raven
it is a real different piece than what I usually do- I like it a lot- I hope I can hold onto that feeling and work with other pieces like this!

Also just found out that I will be doing some small commission cards for Dani at BellaJean
That has made this very quiet Thursday get a little brighter- she also said I could use one of her beautiful Sunflower photos in a piece too- that is a real compliment!

Later peeps!

Fashionista

I was cleaning out my bookcase last night (I know I know, I should have been working) and I came across a book I love so so much "The Bombshell Manual of Style" ...this is a how to book for evryone like me....
people who would rather be seen without their clothes than without eyeliner...lol.
Really, it's a fun read with really sassy fashion illustrations to go along with all the quips- I'll write more about it in future blog entries, but for all of you out there reading this, you must own this book.
Not too much time today- it's Wednesday and it's comic day and it's the one and only day we're busy busy at our shop...

The photo is of one of my art card ACEO's it is available at my etsy shop http://stilettoheights.etsy.com it features the famous portrait of Coco Chanel...

until next time darlings

Somethings Happening...

oh, totally forgot to say that I was accepted into the Craftin Outlaws jurried show- it's on Saturday September 23rd.
Apparently they had twice as many applications as last year, so it's a big deal thqat I got in. This will be my first show like that...needless to say I am a little nervous, luckily it's at a bar so I will be able to drink the nerves away...lol.
What will suck is that I won't be able to have Keith with me...he'll be at work or home with the peanut.
Ever since moving to Columbus I've sort of lost my confidance in myself- I feel like I am just now starting to get is back...
So much has changed compared to what my life used to be like. Art is the only constant- so I am so glad I am back to being creative again after a 2 year slump...though I was busy with other things during that time.
Most of all I was pretty lonely, I have Keith which is the best, but for so long I didn't really have anyone else out here, that is slowly starting to change for me.
Also now that I am active on etsy that has made a lot of the lonliness fade away, my shop is doing well ( http://stilettoheights.etsy.com ) but I have also made some good friends!
One is Aimee at jewelstreet designs ( http://jewelstreet.etsy.com ) we have even collaborated on a jewelry line together, called "The Glitterati Collection".
She's been such a great inspiration to me-
The photo is of her piece titled "Style Abounds" it features on of my pendants!! How cool is that!!!
I also included another collage of mine titled "Bound" this is available at my etsy store!!

Sexy and Scary

Such a productive weekend...I'm feeling a little spent...

Good thing was, that K. and I could spend a little time together on Sunday as it was a child-free weekend...so we spent the day hanging out- went out and bought tons of art supplies and other collage materials. It was good to just be with him, we use to spend 24 hours a day together when we were both running the shop- and now we're lucky to get any time together-

24 hours a day...how could we have not killed each other- that's usually what everyone asks, but it just worked, maybe because we spent 12 years away form each other- we just wanted to soak each other in as much as we can...

Saturday I spent the day painting like crazy- worked on the first part of the poetry paintings for Giles, and also did a lot of Halloween theme ACEO...cool vintage Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera pieces-

on the opposite end of the spectrum I did some great sexy pieces too- another great Corset ACEO that is pretty hot...love doing these, the sexy bobmshell stuff is really where my heart and my head are at-along with the fashion studies as well...I could work like that forever! I;m always a little sad for a moment when something sells...for years I kept everything...I'm still so new to the selling aspect- it's still strange, but I love it, it's like sharing a secret with someone, or a riddle- it's all about seeing if they can crack the code...not really sure if I'm making any sense or not...lol.

Things have been going well with my etsy shop ( http://stilettoheights.etsy.com ) so if your interested in anything or just want to see more of what I obsess over...just go there!!

Thinking about Marilyn...

As many of you know, my Marilyn Monroe obsession started when I was a little girl, there was something about her that I just adored, funny, sexy, sweet and very very sad...
My aunt who passed away when I was 10 years old looked just like her, even acted a bit like her when she was drunk...lol.
Maybe that's it?
Maybe it's becasue even as a little girl I was intoxicated with beauty, clothes, movies...not much has really changed. It's those things I hold onto and explore in my artwork, in my comic that I write. I'm a girly girl, I always have been.
So why today, why the mrilyn talk today...it seemed fitting, as today is the anniversary of her death.
The ACEO (art card) is one I did several weeks ago, it depicts Marilyn and her husband at the time Arthur Miller Dancing...I thought it seemed so natural, so beautiful and just so moving.
I used the green colors because it was the color of envy and jealousy, which was one of the many factors in the downfall of their marriage- so sad.
Maybe I'll write more later- but for now...here's Marilyn.

The card is for sale along with a host of other things at my etsy shop http://stilettoheights.etsy.com

Brand New Day

Today marks a new day and a new blog- my old blog- which I rarely used was all ghetto and resides at myspace...lol.
I'm hoping that this will inspire me to write more.

I spent last night in the horrible heat trying like a crazy person to create- have you ever tried painting in the heat? The stuff just doesn't dry, and seeing as I am so impatient I was driving myself crazy!!

I ended up being incredibly productive- I made a halloween ACEO for my friend Aimee at http://jewelstreet.etsy.com as well as a Wizard of Oz painting for Heather at http://heatherly.etsy.com it always feels good to be creating something with someone specific in mind.

I also worked on a a painting for the Creative Challenge that Aimee at Jewelstreet runs. It's a 12x12 mixed media piece on canvas and it is titled "Fragments of Self", it's up for sale in my Etsy shop http://stilettoheights.etsy.com

I also had some great news, Seth the artist for my comic who had gone MIA for a while- re-appeared and he had the majority of issue #3 done. (if you want issue's 1 & 2 they are available at my etsy store too)

I have to say- this issue is going to be a killer- great stuff, his artwork is fantastic and it is the thing I am most proud of writing! Maybe my book isn't cursed after all...I can only hope.

Till next time.

Jenn
http://stilettoheights.etsy.com