Karen's Muse and Musings

Reflections over Spilt Coffee

My day didn't start out that well. First, my coffee pot decided to pour the coffee all over the countertop instead of into the pot. I cleaned the mess up, and thinking it was just some sort of fluke, made another pot. Well, it happened again, but at least I was standing right there and acted quickly to avoid another huge mess.

Then I come up to my studio/office to check e-mail. I discovered that my external hard drive that holds scans or photos of all my art wasn't working. A moment of panic set in. Luckily, I had backed up some of the scans recently, and eventually I was able to get the external hard drive going. I thought, "Oh, this is going to be a terrible day."

I thought about that for a moment, and it occurred to me that these small inconveniences were nothing at all. I have friends battling cancer or grieving because of losing a precious pet or a family member. It turned my day around as I realized how lucky I am.

Thanks to the internet, I have made so many friends. The world has become much smaller as my world has expanded with friends all over the country and even the globe. I can send a message to Sue in England or to Judy in Australia, and if they are at their computer, I'll receive a reply within minutes or even seconds. When I was a child, it was quite common to have a pen pal in another state or another country. The idea was to share experience and cultures. To me, this new phenomenon of online friends met through Yahoo groups or blogging is like having a pen pal; well, in my case a hundred or so pen pals. Perhaps this is too simplistic, and I always have been an optimist, but I believe if we had more online conversations between people all around the world we would see that we're not that different and maybe we actually could attain world peace. I prefer to think anything is possible.

Here is a piece I made for Kathy's book for the pock-et-FULL round robin. I have been experimenting with crackle techniques lately, and I thought the background on this ended up looking like wood, but it's actually paper.

Finally, aren't these little spools of twine cute? I found them at Michael's. They are part of the Martha Stewart craft line, and she calls them baker's twine. I just think they look cool.

Go send an e-mail to someone on the other side of the world. Ciao!

Much cooler now, thank you!

Aaah! It has been such a pleasant day — inside. Outside the temperature soared to around 100 degrees. Thank goodness our air conditioning is now fixed. I actually was able to stay in my studio today and create this piece I'm calling "Dolly."

As I was driving around the other day, I was reflecting on art and creativity, and I came up with this thought I'd like to leave with you. Aim not for perfection, but for the joy of creating.

Ciao!

How Hot Is It?

I haven't blogged in several days. I haven't created any art in several days. Why? Because temps in my top floor studio hovered around 90+ degrees. We had a thunderstorm last week, and while the rain was pouring down, I was elated to be getting some rain since we haven't had any in a month. Then our power went off, came back on, went off, came on, went off for several minutes, came on finally. However, our air conditioning unit did not come back on. I began to panic. Lately, I am hot all the time. In addition to having the AC going full blast, I have a fan in every room where I spend any time. So, after I reset all the breakers, I did the most logical thing I could think of. I went outside and kicked the unit several times. It didn't help the unit, but it relieved some of my frustration. It has been hovering close to 100 degrees here, unusual for Atlanta, and I knew it would probably take a few days to get an AC technician out. Bolstering myself for the bad news, I picked up the phone and called our home warranty company.

"This is Mrs. Smith. May I have your policy number?"

I dutifully read the number to her.

"Mrs. Owen, how may I help you today?"

"Our air conditioner has stopped working, and it's very hot here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Let's see how soon we can get someone out there."

I say, "I hope it is soon, because I'm sizzling here."

"Let me ask you a personal question." (I start wondering what is she going to ask. How much money do I have for a bribe?)

Instead she asked, "Does anyone in your home have asthma?"

"No."

"Are there any small children in the home?"

"No, just a very grouchy woman in menopause who just engaged in a kick boxing match with her air conditioner. Does that qualify us for emergency status?"

Unfortunately, it didn't. Personally, I can't think of a better reason to get emergency status myself. I'm sure my husband would agree. He's had to go through 5 days enduring not only the heat but his very uncomfortable and crabby wife. Just start calling him St. Warren.

The AC was fixed a couple of hours ago, and the temperature is dropping. It's now 83 degrees in my studio — still warm but endurable. Hope it's not too warm yet for my muse. I'm itching to create something!

Ciao!

Haunted

Just as life will take sudden twists and turns, so does art. Well, I know my art does anyway. I began this piece 6 or 7 days ago by making a background of muslin and torn playing cards. I intended to write a little something about living in a house of cards, but that plan fell apart. I couldn't make the idea work, but when at first you don't succeed, let your muse have her way. So here is my muse-directed piece, a booklet called "Haunted." As I post the pages, I'll type the text underneath to make it easier for you to read. [My husband intensely dislikes it when I curve or twist my words around the page. Sorry, dear, I like it that way!]

A ghost lives in my house

a shadow that follows me as I move from room to room
i hear her low moaning voice calling me

i turn around and see her clearly
her gown is woven from my tears

and her hair is plaited with my lost dreams

Judy Wilkenfeld has nominated me with an Inspirational Blogger Award. Thank you, Judy. It's a great honor since I idolize your work. I'm going to have to give it some thought as to who I will nominate. There are so many incredibly wonderful and inspiring bloggers out there. Ciao!

Guess what?

I've been nominated as a Rockin' Girl Blogger by my sweet friend, Kathy Wasilewski. What an honor! Thank you, Kathy! Of course, it is a mixed blessing because now I have to nominate 5 other bloggers for the award. This is a tough choice because there are many awesome girl bloggers out there. But ... if I miss someone eventually they will be nominated by one of my picks, and that makes me feel better. So ... I nominate Joyce Vance, Shirley McCutcheon, Joanne Thieme Huffman, Kim Logan and Aileen Roberts.

Whew! That's done. As I was making my choices, I saw that one of my people had already been nominated. Eventually we'll all be nominated, so who cares?

Back to art — I have so many ideas and inklings of ideas in my head right now. I guess that's good. Better than being all out of ideas, right? Yesterday I spent the entire day creating more backgrounds such as the ones I used in "The Girl Within" and "Bird Lover".

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see some of my favorite products that I generally use for these backgrounds. I have to give Color Mists a plug not only because they are made by my good friend, Aileen, but because they are awesome. Color Mists are spray-on watercolors that will blend beautifully on the paper, but they are viscous enough to stay in place if that's what you want. Best of all, there are metallic Color Mists. Copper Kettle and Bronzite Brass are my favorites.

Now that I have my backgrounds done, I just have to decide on my next project. Another book, a canvas, an assemblage? Isn't it great to have so many choices? Is this a great country or what?

Ciao!

The Girl Within

Have you ever been totally absorbed by an art project? If so, you'll know how I have lived for the past 3 days — completely, utterly swept along by this new piece, "The Girl Within." I have been making these lovely backgrounds with paper and muslin, the same technique I used for "Bird Lover." Sunday I was admiring the latest backgrounds, thinking what to do with them. Suddenly the idea popped into my head to do a book or an altered book. That's the last thing I remember for 3 days! Well, not quite, but you get the idea.

The original book was a child's board book that someone gave me, all ready sanded and ready to use. The very last page had a built-in frame around what would have held a small jigsaw puzzle. I chose a PaperWhimsy image for my central piece, and I was struck by the intense, possibly sad look of this girl. I began to write short poems or phrases that reflected how I have felt at different times as a grown woman. As we grow older, the heartbreaks, disappointments and losses shape us — yes, they do make us stronger, but we often lose our inner girl voice, our dreams. After each spread, I'll type my words so you can read them.

The girl within herself is mostly quiet now but every now & then the girl voice comes in a faint but clear whisper

The dreamer lies awake
where have the dreams gone?
only whispers and the
thinnest of veils remain

past lovers come in dreams
ah! sweet memories
but then the masks drop
not a dream but a nightmare

(This is the same spread but with the panel lifted on the right side.)

voices all around me
yet I hear nothing
the emptiness is heavy within

She walks alongside the river there is no destination just the walking along the water's edge a mist rises and she sees her destination

This was a long post, but I hope you have enjoyed the journey. Ciao!