not waiting for snow

Nearly 2am, and I'm awake, having fallen out too early last night.

Word has it that snow is on the way, and I always seem to be awake on nights when snow is expected. I'm usually waiting for it, but not tonight. Tonight I'm just awake.

I did a figurative sculpture of a woman a few days ago. Unfortunately, I had already decided that she wasn't a particularly good piece by the time I got to the hands and feet, so I just slopped my way through that. Ends up I like her pretty much, except for her deliberately rushed extremities.

It was my patience that got the better of me while I was sculpting her. I didn't have it in me to focus on the fine details necessary, and I had already convinced myself that it wasn't going to turn out well, overall.

The critic is a nasty thing when it comes to creating, and mine has a very loud voice.
What do you do to silence the critic?

mother earth

The Icon Doll Challenge has now been posted on the WildArtDolls yahoo group site, so I'm able to show it here. I did this a couple of months ago; it's my depiction of "Mother Earth". She is 16" tall. The materials I used are:Yarrow sticks Hawk, Pheasant, and Cardinal feathers,Cave egg (white stone),semi precious,gemstones,buffalo hair,chamois leather,half of a seed pod, and a stone bead.

 

 

 

prosperity doll

Prosperity doll (click on pic to see larger view)

The prosperity doll has copper bracelets hanging from her arms, which hold USD (cash & coins) and Euro's. The states and countries depicted on the coins reflect my love of travel. I chose the US quarters at random, and the states depicted are: California, Oregon, West Virginia and North Dakota, to symbolize travel through the United States. The Euros have the symbols of Italy and Finland on them, to signify European travel. I would like to get more coins from other countries.

She is holding a book which represents reading/learning/writing/book-keeping.
Under one arm she has a rolled up fortune from a fortune cookie, which say: "You will begin a successful new busniness venture."

She has a Herkimer diamond attached to her 3rd eye (hard to see it in the picture).
She is 9 inches high.

Thanks to Stefania Morgante for giving me the inspiration to create a prosperity doll for the new year.

prosperity : the condition of being successful or thriving ; especially : economic well-being

materials used: gourd, polymer clay, paper clay, coins/dollars (USD & Euro), trimmings, paper, Suze Weinberg's Bedazzles, silver leafing, copper wire, cone-shaped thread spool, face mold, fortune cookie fortune, a double terminated Herkimer diamond

a doll

Whether it is one you play with
or one you covet behind glass or
display upon pedestals ~~ a doll is

the one who knows you

Your light side, your shadows
the places you've traveled
within and without

Your secrets , your hopes.

Sewn with dreams, sculpted with visions,
welded and wired and painted and stuffed
with myriad worlds of your imagination

All the parts of you that need to live
to express
to weep and to howl, to dance with sheer joy

Are there, in a doll
created

***

© Valianti

outside in

Looking out the window on this pale pink morning, I miss the luxury of being able to step outside without stepping into the world. The wide wood terrace in Roveniemi, Finland; the French doors, opening to the backyard, in National City, California. These two come right to mind.






Living six stories up, I am close enough to the street to hear all the traffic, but high enough to overlook many other apartments and houses, and see the sky. The sky is my terrace. It's no Montana, I'll tell you that much!

Today it's a soft light powdery blue, going whiter down by the river. The sun is behind me, so I can't see it, but it's reflecting off the roof structures in a soft yellow white.
I know the air is chilled, but it's going to about 40° today, which is quite mild for this time of year.

I'm working on the prosperity doll. She is losing much of her simplicity, but the idea was to build her up with symbols of prosperity. I'll probably get a pic with my friend's camera later on today. There's more she needs, but I'm trying to find available objects around the house. Maybe an old blouse with a fabric I can use. I'll have to go on a mission for this stuff. There must be some trinkets and stones just waiting to adorn her.

welcome 2009

It's new year's day (evening now). I just wanted to drop in and write a line or two, since keeping up with this log is among the things I want to be more diligent about this year.

I have that kind of tired that comes at the end of doing something big... a sort of relief that the holidays are over.

My Little Guy cat wants to give me some lovin', since I was gone all day.

Be it ever so humble.

May the year be as you wish.

prosperity

 

2009 Prosperity doll, in progress.

ring a bell

An angel comes ever so gently, nudging the air beside me. Are you ready, are you ready? And the only answer is Yes, I am ready to dance again, and sing my song. Ready to teach through my hands. To mark places up ahead, where it's safe to take your creative spirit right to the edge, and

JUMP

Bring freedom to those you meet. Do not tangle them. Don't let them tangle you. The smallest warmth is a moment of joy. Treasure this.

Angels rejoice when we notice them.

light

 

The truth of dreams and visions comes through like light peeking out from under a doorway. It is good to heed these things.

So it is that each day I must find more light, and become lighter myself.
Sometimes it's necessary to slough off the opinions of others, and see them as just that... opinions. I won't be lessened by these things. Little by little, I let go of my attachment to approval. Hard for anyone, I suppose... but hand in hand goes the attachment to disapproval, and I don't need anyone's stinkin' disapproval! I will not be lessened. Such is my lesson, :~).

I work on the creative a bit more every day. Adding pieces to a figurative sculpture, or starting one anew, making small decorative items or jewelry, reading, writing, rearranging my environment, taking mind pictures until I get my digital camera... of course I'll continue taking mind pictures even then.

Photography is among the most "present" of the visual arts. It requires that the vision be seen before it is created. Sometimes the photographer has time. The sun, quite appropriately, will often be the indicator of just how much time she has, or how much time she needs... before the shadows are just right, when she clicks the shutter.

It's necessary to look at everything with new eyes. The subtle changes in the sun everyday, and the spot where it sets, the clouds that join it... and then there are rain drenched streets at midnight... the trails of a truck's tail lights, when the truck is already gone, the reflection of lamplights and neon signs. The light is everything.

peace

The Winter Solsitce has passed, and I could feel the year turning. Light lingers a second longer in the sky, and the earth hardens.

I have decided to let my light linger a bit longer each day, too.

Thank you to all who come visit here. I am honored to share some time with you.

A Merry Christmas to all.