The Twin Blackbirds Have Landed, 2013 here we are

2013, you come to me like a new lover, 
promising a year full of adventure and beauty and creativity, if only I make the effort to stand up and embrace you.
Shine for me 2013, beckon me away from laziness and complacency. Kiss my cheeks and smile for me - for then I will want to show off for you, to create for your eyes and dance excitedly. I want to feel the rush of adrenalin as I hurry home to show you all I've accomplished each day. To feel your light as I wake up, ready to make the day proud... This is my wish. This is my wish for us, 2013, that we rise together and make great things.

Thank you 2013, for starting me off well, with direction. And thank you to the authors who are commissioning me for covers, the friend who showed me a path to a new job, and the university who changed their requirements, thus allowing me to teach there again.

Now all I have to do is stir up my self drive. To let my artistic and academic dreams scream louder than the comfortable couch and the glow of the computer.
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THE TWIN BLACKBIRDS HAVE LANDED 

So Yesterday I got my very first tattoo. Did I start small? Did I start with a simple image? NO! *grin* I got a fairly large and VERY SHADED piece on my lower right leg and ankle.

~See more photos of the process on facebook HERE~

 But let me start at the beginning.

Many years ago, while pondering the universe, infinity, unripe bananas, creative paths, chimeras and dreaming... I also wondered what I would do should I lose a parent. What would I do to honor them or to remember them by? I determined that if mother ever passed over to the great beyond, I would get a tattoo that would make me think of her. I determined that it would probably be a blackbird. Or a bluebird. Eventually I landed on twin blackbirds - to represent us both. And it would inspire me to be creative.

Well, in 2011, that event happened way sooner than I could have anticipated. After about a year I decided to start seriously thinking about getting the twin blackbirds. About a month ago, I get a notice that my favorite tattoo artist and one of my favorite artists would be coming through Indy. Sarah Frary. As soon as she began tattooing, I KNEW that I wanted HER to tattoo me SOMEDAY. Her mark would not only remind me to stay creative - but to hold onto the sense of adventure I crave - reading about her travels of starting a life out west and exploring the inner and outer worlds are always an inspiration to me.

So the two desires came together.
Now here's the awesome part. Sarah's best work comes when she works free-hand. Her art and energy shine. I never thought 'freehand tattoos' made much sense until I saw what she was doing. Now I know that they make the BEST sense. We met up on the 5th - and thanks to another incredibly awesome artist/tattooist Amory, we had a perfect little tattoo studio atmosphere to let the art happen.

I told her the perameters of 'twin black birds' , she performed some hot sharpie action on my leg to make sure she had a direction to work in - and that I was comfortable with the general idea. YES.
Sarah Frary Style! *breaks into dance*

 I was not quite prepared for the sensation of getting a tattoo. No one can ever know what it truly feels like until it happens. Because its not just the pain one has to imagine - it is the pain combined with the acceptance of that pain as a journey toward a beautiful destination. At times it felt like cat scratches, at times like bee stings, and around the ankle, upper foot and calf it felt like a knife or razor cuts. But I just smiled, grabbed my upper leg and stared VERY INTENTLY at the wall, or the air in front of the wall. At times I was frozen, my mind very preocupied with processing the feel. What made things smooth was the laid back creative atmosphere. Amory was also tattooing another patron and another friend of theirs was in the room. The laughter and jokes that floated in the warm room made for a very comfortable, friendly and light hearted situation.

(...Funny enough as I write this, and have all my music on RANDOM, the song that is playing right now is "Fever Ray - Dry and Dusty" - and I keep hearing - "We are capsules of energy". I could write a small novel on how this fits, but I'll just shorten it by saying that Sarah is one of the people I think of when I listen to Fever Ray.) 
 
I am very very very happy with the outcome. I am excited that I decided to let my first tattoo be a freehand expression and collaboration between my basic idea and Sarah's hand. This could not have come at a better time. A heartfelt thank you to Sarah, the universe, Amory for the use of his studio and David for his constant love and support, and thanks for all the comments and love on fb after I posted the first picture. This was an important step for me. Like, leveling up on a video game. Wheres the level up music? XD

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More Self Drive Please 

Yep, I changed the name of this blog BACK to the self drive thing. I feel it helps me keep at it.
I plan to try posting generally once a week, but my life is never on a schedule so who knows how often I'll post. January 3rd saw the first of my random art pieces.

"My Dreams are made of Gold" 9x12 mixed media on bristol paper.
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In other news today, its Daves b-day! We had sushi with friends and it was grand. My b-day gift to him happens next Saturday when we see Mummenschanz!

Memories Madness and Marvelous flavors

Where to start!

Lets start with memories. 

I have been reading about the artist Remedios Varo (wiki link here), a wonderful Spanish surrealist woman who lived in Mexico. Reading about the artist today reminded me that I would someday like to write a book about my own artist mother. I wanted to gather stories about her from other people, so I have put a call out to people who remember her to share their stories and memories - These stories can be recorded on a form I created on google docs.
If you have any memories you'd like to share about Catherine Burris, please feel free to do so!
{INSERT MEMORIES HERE} Refunds are not given on lost memories.

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FOOD...ISH.



Its here its here!! I found a company that sells Dutch candies in the USA. I ordered some Tyrkisk Peber in the hopes of making my own Salmiakki Koskenkorva (salty black licorice vodka) - According to my own authentic bottle of Koskenkorva, one can "Experience the Spirit of Finland and taste the Finnish Folklore"



(....Now, 2 bags plus shipping = about $25. Plus the vodka I need to buy. I still think I'm probably saving money seeing as how it would be quite pricy buying the alcohol from Finland, if its even POSSIBLE to send it officially. ) ...

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ALSO, we were recently given some awesome pickle seasoning by my friend Taylor, the Indy Magic Monthly producer. He makes great pickes. :)

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ARTI...ISH

Here are some recent things from my sketchbook.



FUN
I MADE a FUN video involving DOOM and a MAZE and SILLY.
{CLICK HERE for Doom and Maze and Silly}

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INSPIRATION

ITS HERE ITS HERE!!!
The DEVIL'S CARNIVAL Ringmaster Edition DVD!! 

Apparently the picture I painted is shown when they feature the fan arts.
I'm about to go find out!

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LO PAN STYLE
If you are a fan of LO PAN... you must watch this video. Love Love Love!!!
{See the awsome...}

Worked on some buttons today.
Let me share some photos.


Buttons from the finished button making session tonight


a view of what my painted button template sheets look like before I cut them out and write silly things on them.
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Also, Last night I did some giggling and composed a video from something I made this weekend.
On Saturday I was at an event that was a bit under attended. Granted, I still enjoyed myself and made a bit of profit.
But during a particularly slow stretch, I decided to create a maze on the floor.
Complete with monsters and a torture chamber. I was transported to my childhood again - only everything this time is on a larger scale: the maze, me, my madness.... etc.

here is the video:


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While I'm on the subject of videos, I am super GIDDY about this one.
Awesomely done Gangnam Style parody(James Hong even shows up!)

LO PAN STYLE

Not So CD covers and OCD photoshopping

(EDIT) - I wrote this a WHILE ago, and never published it....

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I finished a new piece tonight. (EDIT: NOT!)

Usually when I finish something, I like to play with it digitally.
With this picture, I got fed up with being serious and started slapping random images on top and going through the super cool photoshop layering effects. (checking all the layer effects becomes like a compulsion after a while. OCD photoshopping! Normal, Dissolve, Darken, multiply, color burn (yeah!), linear burn, lighten, screen, dodge, overlay, soft light, hard light (yeah!), vivid light, linear light, pin light, hard mix, difference (OOOH!), exclusion (OOooOH?), subtract, divide, hue, saturation, color, luminosity, AND BACK up through the list!! 
yeah. Who else has the photoshop layer OCD? *grin*

Anyway...
Occasionally, or rather quite often... I end up making a compilation that (at the time) screams 'CD COVER!) And then I lament that it isn't a cd cover.

Here is the latest one.

Now, if anyone would like to use this as a cd cover, that can be arranged, I'm sure!

Magnets, a portrait and it is WELL past the Witching Hour

Tonight, as usual, I procrastinated working on anything until way too late. After getting home from teaching a class (from 5:30-9) I got sucked into more True Blood episodes with D while eating a very tasty Egg Fu Yung dinner. Between episodes, I looked at this blog, some back posts, and realized I actually WAS more productive when I felt compelled to report my progress. (mostly) So... here goes!

In preparation for the next event (Paranormal Fest Returns on Saturday, Newcastle IN) (this is the link for more info) , I was working on magnets. But of course, After teaching art appreciation tonight, and watching stimulating shows, I was inspired to do ART, not production work. BUT, I am sorely in need of new magnets if I want to keep offering them, so magnets it is! (I'm already plenty RESTOCKED on my buttons thanks to the new button maker!)

ANYWAY.
After I finished, I was still inspired to do art. I got distracted with the mirror, pleased with where my hair is at the moment, and decided to do yet another portrait. (what can I say, its easier to use the mirror for a quick basic reference for a face, in any expression I want.)

SO HERE is a quick self portrait.

"I'll be back later, the COSMOS is calling..."
5" x 9" - bristol paper, prismacolor marker, sharpie, copic marker, colored pencil, acrylic

Done after getting distracted looking at my current hair style. I'm still amused by having short hair.

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And just for fun, here are pictures of the magnets.

A few stacks of my art on magnets. I still need to crop the edges (when its not 5:30 am)

A side view of the STACK-O-MAGNETS.

 What do I do with the extra strips of magnets? Sometimes I throw them away. sometimes I make art with them. Strips of scrap art and silk cut up and assembled on the leftover sticky magnet strips.

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TID-BITS

Interesting thing I learned while teaching today about
- The Witching Hour (in the context of Christianity):
While my class was looking at a painting of the Crucifixion by Lucas Cranach the Elder,

 the sky in the painting was dark and was light at the bottom - one of the students was trying to debate whether it was the sun setting or the sun rising - another student mentioned that it might be when 'the sky went dark'- and that Jesus was crucified at 3:00 pm. (I looked it up - the internet tells me it was 9:00 am, but that he died at 3:00.) - Anyway. 3:00 AM is supposed to be the Witching Hour, as it is the opposite time to 3:00 pm.

I also looked that up and here is what wikipedia says. (read the full article)

"According to the American horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the term can also refer to the period from midnight to 3am, when a character notes at "3am [is] the devil's hour, as opposed to 3pm, when Jesus was said to have been crucified".[6]"

 Also - SEE THE MUSEUM page on the piece of art if you wish. It says nothing about the darkening sky.

....
well, it looks like I missed my date with the devil, as it is way past 3 am.
....

Speaking of devil, I can't wait for my ringmaster edition dvd of "THE DEVIL's CARNIVAL" to arrive!
Apparently there is a picture of my painting in the special features, when they feature fan stuff!
See my painting of the Devil, Broken Doll, and The Gatekeeper: HERE - where they shared it on their facebook page. 

Red Face - progress pictures

Greetings.
Thought I'd share all the progress pictures of my latest piece for fun.

Trying to stretch my painting and observations muscles, mixed with a bit of fantasy,
and a bit of inspiration perhaps from reading about Remedios Varo, and watching too much True Blood.

 

Now I just need to think of a title for this little study/experiment.

6" x 9"
acrylic on bristol

Picking up momentum, building my wings

Tonight.
Am I talkative again?
Do I want to write?
Do I want to post this online?
I don't know and I shouldn't think about whether or not I want to share my thoughts until after I have written them. These are the things that block me.

Today was a day of rest. (And playing games with friends)
My commission (due for  Horrorhound) is done and despite the fact that I have another commission overdue (with friendly deadlines) I am free to create whatever I want for the upcoming convention. I can't believe my stock of works on paper actually thinned a bit.

Not that I don't believe in myself, but its nice to start seeing wheels going in the direction I've been trying to push them the last 5 years.
Another thing I can't believe. I moved to Indy in June/July 2007. I've been in this apartment for 5 years. The waitressing gig (and other odd jobs) I got in the beginning was meant to be temporary until I found teaching work, and it lasted 2 years. I did find teaching work briefly, and occasionally still do, but not exactly what I was originally going for either. I teach university/college art appreciation but I'd rather be teaching people how to draw and paint. I am so GLAD I found the appreciation jobs however, as now I have a lovely chuck of art history burned into my brain. This has increased my love of the art world and all of it's history 10 fold +++.
But my true WANT, was not to teach (I love teaching, just not as a career), but to live off my art. So, I sprang for it. I jumped off the cliff. I have truly lived by the philosophy that I should JUMP first and build my wings on the way down. It has been hard and at times I could not have done it without the support of my boyfriend David. (and many others) I am still building my wings but it seemed just before I hit rock bottom, I was able to swoop up. I feel like I am gliding now... low to the ground, there are plenty of risks and obstacles and sharp rocks, but I am still building. If I can make it this far, I can eventually learn to fly. I look around me and see that I am not alone. So many other people building wings for themselves... and so many of them are gliding like I am - ready for bigger and better things... all excited... grinning at eachother in anticipation for whats to come next.

 "The Flying Visitor"

5" x  7" mixed media on paper

one of the new pieces.