Posts

{Tarot Equus} Come visit me at Dreamation!

Image
The Emperor, pencil sketch Hello Lovelies! It's been awhile!  I'm writing to you from my new home. I've spent my time since my last post unpacking, cleaning, working, researching, and continuing work on Tarot Equus.  In November, I completed the Empress in colored pencil.  In December, I changed up my medium a bit and re-did The Fool as an experiment.  Up to this point I have been working in a mix of colored pencil and gel pen.  For the new Fool I added an under painting in watercolor and worked on top of it in colored pencil and gel pen.  It added depth to the image and I decided to do all the cards this way.  In January, I replaced my original magician, Pooka, with the Tikbalang, a forest spirit from the Philippines.  Pooka will be making an appearance elsewhere in the deck, on a more appropriate card.  For February I've been working on the Emperor- the Hippogriff.  The under painting for this one is complete.  I'll be working over it in colored pencil in
Post a Comment
Read more

You Can't Take it With You...

Image
...I mean you could, but why would you? In the last few weeks I've started a major purge of my stuff in preparation to move to a new house, MY house, with two people I adore.  This is probably the first time I've managed to do a purge this widespread and all-encompassing. After college I moved five times in five years. New Brunswick--> Farmingdale--> Highland Park --> Farmingdale --> Bound Brook --> Stockton.  Such is apartment living when you share with roommates and/or significant others.  I've been in Stockton nearly 4 years now.  It's the only apartment I've had where I've managed to UNPACK everything, put down some roots, prune off some unhealthy ties, and live my life more or less on my terms.  I've learned a lot in my time here, but I have one more thing I need to do... let things go. I don't ONLY mean to let go of physical, tangible items.  I'm someone who tends to hang onto the past, hence why I have so many possessio
Post a Comment
Read more

DON'T PET THE POLAR BEAR

Image
Let's lighten the mood a bit, shall we? I'm an educator in a museum. I lead tours, write and teach programs, and organize family events. My office is accessed in one of our galleries. My door is usually open for visitors with questions, so I hear whatever's going on out there. I also walk the halls and galleries frequently, especially when we’re busy. I present for your amusement "Things Overheard in the Museum". I wish to note that my tally for the number of times I’ve had to say “Don’t pet the polar bear” is in the hundreds and my counter for the Justin Beaver jokes aimed at our taxidermy beaver has broken. 04/18/2018: "No, I'm not going to shock myself for your amusement." 01/22/2018: "I just had to call down the to Planetarium to tell them to use their inside voices." We are closed to the public today. O_o 01/10/2018: There's a couch with a cross-section of cushion cut away so you can see how the springs and pa
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mad That You Feel (Remember Fred)

Image
What do you do with the mad that you feel When you feel so mad you could bite? When the whole wide world seems oh, so wrong... Will you stand up for what you think right? What do you do? Do you make phone calls? Do you argue with people online? Do you round up friends to march for a cause? Or put your thoughts in a sign? Please remember our dear neighbor Fred, Remember compassion and love, The mad that you feel is a powerful tool Best used with our reason above.  We can stop the injustice We can stop the hatred We can stop, stop, stop the harm. And united remember humanity When someone raises an alarm. Know that there's something deep inside That helps us become what we can. There's no person in the whole world like you, And the people we help are all human.
1 comment
Read more

{Tarot Equus} The High Priestess

Image
Since my long-ago graduation from the Avante-Garde Uber Artsy School, I've developed an aversion to posting my post-graduation work for comment, aside from a few trusted loved ones.  I stopped drawing and painting for a while once I picked up full-time museum work, feel like I'm way behind my peers and yadda, yadda, yadda, self-deprecating bullshit excuses. I have this irritating thing I do to myself as an artist.  If you're also a creator- maybe a writer, maybe a crafter or designer, you might be familiar.  I finish a piece, then stare at it until I hate it.  I don't really show it around, I never post a photo of it.  I just sit and hate on it, then move on to the next project.  Sometimes that process takes hours, but sometimes it takes months and therein lies the problem.  I can't keep doing that and expect to ever publish a long-term project like a tarot deck.  So here I am sharing one of my cards with you Lovelies.  Constructive critique is welcome, it&#
Post a Comment
Read more

Roll Initiative

Where are my nerds, my gamers, my lovers of fantasy?  This one's for you. I love tabletop RPG's.  An evening of collaborative storytelling, acting, food, and fellowship is my favorite way to relax and have fun with friends. There are many moving parts to an RPG, and each player at the table might enjoy a different facet of the game.  A more analytical mind might love parsing out their character's stats- using math to build the best set of abilities for how they want to play and what they want to accomplish.  I'm more about the role play and story; writing a back story and personality for a character, then getting into their head space and making decisions based on that back story and personality.  I like not only giving them abilities- but reasons they're good at them. My favorite campaign to date, a home-brewed Pathfinder adventure that lasted four years, has recently come to a satisfying conclusion.  This game has seen me through some pretty crappy happen
2 comments
Read more

Welcome to my Nightmare

I think you're gonna like it.  I think you're gonna feel you belong. ~ Alice Cooper Hello my Lovelies, Welcome to my first post.  For those of you who don't know me, and for some who do, be warned I swear quite a bit. If that harms your sensibilities feel free to turn your attention elsewhere.  For everyone else, I have content warnings... because I'm really writing this for my own reasons, and whether you want to delve is your choice.  If I shout to the abyss, so be it. It is possible to find your fire again after you've been through something rough.  It’s easy to forget that when you’re going through it, when you’re burnt out and barely smoldering.  The last few years, on a personal level as well as the bigger picture, have been rub-your-face-on-a-brick-wall levels of rough.  This blog is about my personal best tools for dealing and healing, for confronting my Nightmares and Daylight Demons.  This blog is about the power of story and art. I would
Post a Comment
Read more