hello.goodbye
i did it! i managed to move this blog into my newly created wp blog / site over at six06. the integration was seamless. and apart from a couple of bumps in the road, it was soooooooo nice. now everything is organized and clean and … and … and well, you just have to see for yourself.
i won’t be using this blog anymore, so please feel free to mosey on over to the new digs. sorry for all the mess of confusion, folks, i’ll soon be adding a new feed to the lj-syn accounts and deleting this one [that is, if i can't change it], but seeing as i had problems with that to begin with, i doubt i can change it. i submitted a request to LJ … we’ll see how soon it takes effect. [you'll see my previous posts from THIS blog, because i had the posts and comments all imported, so don't be alarmed]. with any luck, this migration will require NO effort from you … except putting up with my BS.
at any rate, thanks for sticking around. i feel much more liberated as a result, and can focus on what’s important to me. again, i’ll still keep the OJ account as it’s the best way to keep in touch with you all and read your private entries. i don’t know that i’ll be making very personal entries at the site, but if i do, you may wish to subscribe, as you’ll need, from my understanding, a password to read the protected entries. [i'm still learning about open id and such]. in the meantime, come on over and take a look, tell me what you think and feel free to drop a line 
i’ll be issuing a formal announcement as soon as i set up the redirects through six06.
OH! and if anyone knows of a plug in i can install to get my images to pop up instead of you being taken to a page by itself, i’d be more than happy to know. i can’t recall how i did it last time 
, but i know using ‘rel=”thumbnail”‘ was a part of it. hmph.
peace, y’all.
OHMYHELL!
i figured i’d get crackin on getting the WP fully operated and up so i can launch the new site. i’d been whittling away at updating the galleries all the while, and had added incidental pages, including updating my resume [a pain in the buttocks, always has been]. i’d noticed in all that time that WP offered an upgrade. seeing as i was about to take on a massive one up, i figured it was best to get that out of the way … as it could resolve the issues i’ve had with tags and such. lo, guess who deleted all her files? that’s right. FUCK!
well, jiminy, back to the drawing board. maybe now’s a good time to find a template that actually works with tags properly. *sigh*
*logs into admin*
er … no, they seem to be there. hrm.
clearly this is going to have me crying within the next few frustrating hours.
ETA: well, i didn’t cry. in fact, i got a few pages up. BUT! the java that allowed my images to pop up instead of taking you to a different page is now disabled. the theme i’m using [which after spending an hour looking for something different, but was not pleased by the selection ... or rather, how it would compliment the work] does not have an update for the WP update. grr. but i suppose it’s better than nothing. for now, anyway. i will figure something out later. right now, i’m pretty braindead.
Night Bloom II – detail
i told you my OCD was at eleven. not sure what possessed me to try this, but i like the results. swirly vine tattoo markings on cool white skin.
busy busy bee
i just added this to the shop. it’s more detailed than the first one, but i’m not sure if anyone would notice the difference.
i received a special request for a giclee production of one of my pieces, which i’m waiting to arrive so i can work on. other than that, i’ve been busy working and listing these in the shop. i’m enjoying the process, as it affords me the opportunity to do different things with the reproductions that i didn’t do in the originals.
i also started another mermaid scarf. i know i said i wouldn’t for a while, but it just gnawed away at me till i couldn’t resist. i went through an entire pen already!
my OCD has been cranked up to eleven lately.
i’m also quite a mess emotionally. i’d heard the song a dozen and fifty times before, but for some reason, it only hit me yesterday …. and i started to cry. Steve Earle’s Home To Houston. could be that my brother in law will be leaving for his third tour of duty in Iraq very soon. Special Forces Unit. and my sister is heartsick about it … and will be alone in hawaii without any family for support.
Sakura – giclee
this is one of the giclees i received over the weekend but just stretched yesterday. the original painting is 6 x 12 inches, but this piece is 8 x 15. i touched up and enhanced it a bit with the skills i’ve learned since the original was created [minor tricks, really, having to do with shadow and light and anatomy ... that i'm still learning]. some things i couldn’t really fix without having to redo the entire thing, so i did what i could and am particularly pleased. the only thing left at this point is the fresh application of gold leaf then a little clean up work round the edges.
i also did a bit more work on “Eva”. i realized that i work better with the white laid out first and then working around it in payne’s gray. so i had to put away the dark and lay down the bones of white instead. the tough part is waiting for paint to dry when you’re ready to jump into something. hopefully it’ll be dry enough to work with tonight.
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inspirational
what seemingly is an unusual pairing [much like Robert Plant and Allison Krause] turns into the most natural and meant-for-each-other duet ever heard [much like the aforementioned pair]: Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin:
upon hearing the cello overlap the vocals, tears welled up in my eyes. previous recordings by other artists were usually the other way around [the cello opening with the vocals overlapping]. how incredibly beautiful these two are together. i recently ordered “Hush”, after hearing the duo’s version of Bach’s “Air from Orchestral Suit No. 3 in D Major”:
of course, this sparked in me a desire to locate a long lost compilation from when my son was just a newborn … a compilation i’d put on as i lay him down to sleep, lights dimmed, his soft breathing accompanying the tempos. every night i would play this for him, oftentimes with me reading him bedtime stories from the land of Oz, Mr. MacGregor’s garden or The Hundred Acre Wood. i don’t know that i believe all the hype about playing classical music for children to enhance their spacial thinking, but i do know that it has enhanced my memories of a very special time in my and my child’s life for me. that all associated music has left an indelible mark on my spirit, and his, and i’m grateful for his appreciation of all manners of music, especially the classics.
eva in progress
check out the rest of my flickr photos to see where i went horribly wrong and then righted myself. i can tell this is going give me much grief. so many flowers. so many ways to screw up the hair. already i’m a little disappointed in the proportion of the nose. it’s too elongated and gives the child a somewhat adult look. which is what i wanted to avoid. but, seeing as i often make this mistake in my other works, maybe i should aim for making a child’s face … maybe then i’ll get the adult proportions correct. 
hate to say it … but this really does look better in person.
one of the lucky accidents was finding that one of the strips of decorated paper lies square in the middle of her face … extending from the brow down to her neck. i want to leave as much of it exposed as i can, as it reminds me of some of my previous paintings where i actually painted that sort of thing deliberately on. talk about lucky coincidence.
colors: payne’s gray and titanium white. i don’t think there will be much more than that. the background is busy enough as it is.
silk sirens
i had been working on this silk scarf some weeks ago, but never got around to posting about it. thanks to my good friend rob, who inspired me with his fantastically original shirt painting, i was inclined to take up fabric art once again. i purchased some fine point fabric ink pens and began working on this very elaborate 9″ x 54″ 100% silk scarf. it’s been hand-dyed three times to achieve the variegated colors [butterscotch yellow, pesto green and stream blue] it’s been hand-washed several times and the ink has stood up quite well. the colors fade into one another and in some instances create unusual patterns.
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here are some shots of it before the dyes were applied:
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i had taken some photos of me wearing it, but i looked goofy as heck.
i enjoyed working on this, but boy did it take forever. not sure i’ll be tackling the other scarf i bought to work on. at least, not any time soon.
