Inspiration

It's been a little over a month since I've visited my blog, just spent the afternoon catching up on all the blogs I follow which is rather inspiring. I love reading about other people's creative process or what they may be feeling passionate about at the time whether it's their work, their thrift store finds or their favorite place to escape to. It reminds me not to get so stuck in the day to day boring aspects of life and to remember to seek out the small details that can transform my day.

If all goes well I’ll be taking a trip up North next week. I’m going to make it my goal to find new things to be inspired by, new ideas to come home and translate into my work. I do have some new areas I want to move in so hopefully I can combine the two ideas and broaden my work…

Speaking of things that inspire I ran accross this Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UndeadEd

With such wonderful items as:http://www.etsy.com/listing/41690283/rottot-abigail-gustav

or

                            http://www.etsy.com/listing/40881849/rot-tot-tabatha-the-thumb-sucking-zombie

                                                  And this wonderful piece
                  http://www.etsy.com/listing/40406543/my-demon-pony-shaun-zombie-pony-ooak-my

His work is amazing and for further enjoyment you have to read his bio page!

                             

Pushing through the creativity abyss

Even though I've been uninspired I've made myself sit down to work on existing projects I've begun.  I actually started to get some of my creative groove back and I managed to finish one piece.  I have another one mostly done but I need to get some supplies to finish it up. 

I know that part of my problem is my heart is somewhere else these days, making it difficult to concentrate on my work.  I need to refocus and start putting my energy into creating rather than pining. 

Here's some pics of the completed project and of a wip.

So far I've painted the body and face and removed the hair and clothing.  I need to replace the hair but I want a different color and style so I need to find the right look and I need to either dye the clothing she came with or make a new outfit I'm trying to decide which will be easier. 

Bella Lili June giveaway

If you aren't following Bella Lili's blog check it out Bella Lili Blog she is running a contest right now and you can win a very cool necklace.  If you aren't familiar with her jewlery you need to check out her Etsy store she has some amazing pieces listed. http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellalili 

New Projects and Vague Ramblings

I’ve been neglecting my blog in favor of my paper journal. Not sure why I can’t do both at once since I use them so differently. But that’s me get started on one thing then jump to something else which explains the three projects I’ve had waiting to finish for at least a month now I keep bumping them for new ideas. And that also explains why I haven’t written any poetry or fiction in so long I put that aside when I started making these pieces. I need to learn to find the balance and not just keep jumping ahead to the next thing. I have finished a few projects. I did a wall art/shadow box piece featuring the parlor of a spiritualist. It’s a bit vintage gothic, a theme I’m heavily into right now. I love vintage photos and I recently downloaded Paint.net so I can start manipulating the photos I have. I’m trying to learn to layer photos. I also finished another wall art / shadow box piece that is themed The Wolf Man and the Gypsies. I wanted to capture that classic horror movie feel with the mix of vintage gypsy photos I found. The first version I finished and posted on Etsy but then I realized it wasn’t working for me. I redid the background of the collage and added some different elements to pull it together and like it a lot more now. Here’re a few photos.

I wish I could say that all this work is paying off in sales but sadly that’s not the case. I make these pieces because I love to do it and the ideas plague me till I do something about them but it’s a bit disheartening when I see the pile growing ever larger. But the ideas keep coming so I continue to create.

Cancelled trips and new projects

I was supposed to be going up North this weekend to visit the boy but apparently his original surgeon who fixed his broken ankle did quite a shoddy job and allowed him to start walking too soon and his hardware has broken and his ankle is busted again!  So now it will mean a halo around his ankle and 3 months no walking.  Hopefully I will get to go up there soon.  Looks like I'll be spending my Memorial Day with the family doing the BBQ thing.  Which is not a bad thing.  Mom and I grill up some very tasty veggies. :)

I have been busy working on new projects. I tried a mixed media collage for the first time I want to try more in that form. I went to the craft supply store today and bought gel medium to do the next one on a canvas. I also finished my first altered doll. It was fun and a learning experience. I painted the body with gesso and dyed the hair purple but to keep the color more intense I didn't rinse it out. Well of course once I let the hair down the body turned purple. So I had to sand the doll down, rinse out the hair and repaint the body. But I did it and now she is in a shadow box as a Demon Snake Charmer who ran away to join the freak show. And I completed another shadow box that was less about the goth and more personal I was inspired by one of my poems.  Here's some pictures of completed projects:

Lady Death

I posted a couple of new things including this little shrine to Lady Death. I was trying to capture that duality of death and life with the figure of death and skull next to the "blooming" rose and the back drop of a wild and lush garden.

I also got to explore a gorgeous garden this past weekend.  My cousins and I took our Moms for a picnic at http://www.rancholoscerritos.org/  We had an amazing time walking through the garden and taking pictures as well as the tour through the house.  Here are some of the flowers I took pictures of.

My beautiful family, Mom's in the middle. :)

Fortune Teller, Graveyard and New Projects

I'm working on a custom jewelery box this week. It's not my usual stuff as it's more punk than goth but it's a fun project. It feels weird not being crazed trying to get stuff done now that the show is over. I have some really cool ideas for new projects that I can't wait to get working on. I found these great frames that are shadowbox style at the thrift store. They have small items glued down and tagged kind of like specimens. I think I'm going to take a skeleton and break it down on one of them and keep the tags. Not sure what I'll be doing with the other one yet.



I have all kinds of new pieces to post to my shop in the next couple of weeks. Here are two that I posted this week.