What year is it?

Friends?

Hello?

Anyone?

Ah, well, once upon a time I blogged here. But I am now a completely different person with different interests (ok, not really) so I will be posting some updates over at my new blog https://oblivionspinoccasionally.blogspot.com/

I think the focus will mostly be on the zine series I started "The Oblivionspin Occasionally" but may also cover other writing and art things happening in my life. <3

Keep procrastinating, friends!

Journal ATC's

I finally made a batch of ATC's I really like. I did some found poetry ones a few months ago, but on pretty lazy backgrounds. This is the first set that felt like ME.

The background was one large masterboard that was a diagonal rainbow done in watercolor crayons, topped by stamps, topped by embossing. I cut it down, added out of context lines from old journal entries that I typed on my typewriter and edged them with a black ink pad.

I'm in love.

This May makes 4 years since I started writing daily again. I took a break for about half a year while life was difficult, only writing here and there. Started up again last month. 

Some old entries are heartbreaking. A lot are inane. 

My confession about the peas I grew not tasting good made me laugh until I cried. Some of the things I record are so dumb.

Oddly, these 3 are the ones that have been claimed so far. I'm not on swap-bot (and don't have enough dedication to strict deadlines right now to go back yet) so I am trying to find homes on instagram- always a bit of a hit or miss. 

That's all I got for now.

Seems like a good time for a comp book

It's November 18th. On a normal year I would have written 2/3rds of a novel, started Christmas cards, planned an epic Thanksgiving, set up a handful of timely trades or commissions, filled a few more journals... 

But this isn't a normal year. So I bought a tiny chicken from Winco that I will cook this coming weekend and pretend it's a turkey, I resolved to finish my writing project even though it won't be anywhere near 50k words and I picked up an ugly as sin composition book to trick myself into journaling or drawing or doing ANYTHING again. 

A little less than a year ago I did a comp book I sent off to Lynn. All I remember was that by the end of it I had some newfound rekindled sense of purpose for writing/art. And that the entire thing was a shit show. Following the logic that it worked once, I'm doing it again. This time with the request that she returns the comp book when I'm 30. She does not know she's involved with this yet.

I even learned from my mistakes and taped the pages together before starting this time. 

Here's me in all my Sunday glory. (It's really been a good day, despite the creating blahs.)

An update

Here is a wordless play by play of some ATC's I made for last halloween and never finished blogging about. 

Informative! 

In more wordy news, I am not dead. I have not forgotten how to procrastinate, I just haven't had the time. Not so new job making circuit boards, new living situation, new place, and a NEW Met for anyone who hasn't known me long enough to know it's actually a quite old Met that's just been re-released.

Hoping to get back to it "soon". Until then- Hey Guys! What's up?

Pages & Opinions about Horses

I have been busy doing wholly uninteresting things the last little bit. I have a few bigger projects on the back burner, (cute paintings, cursed fox statuettes saved from the dump) and a whole bunch germinating in the vegetable drawer, so to speak (single page comics, poetry zines). I'm not really keeping up on a watercolor a day for 100 days, to the point numbering them is pretty pointless, but here's some more pages.

I hate horses. I hate horses significantly more after having worked in a call center for a horse wagering company on the Kentucky Derby weekend.

Buildings. What can I say.

A lot of people were thrown off by the ear and this being a little unpleasant, which gets to how sterilized a lot of my art is lately if this is a shock coming from me. I like surreal and a little unsettling juxtaposed with my cute.

I spend a lot of my spare time in the local park by the library.

Abstract swoopies after a long weekend at work.

Our back porch.

This is my life right now, art wise. This and a smashbook I just started. Which, really isn't anything to scoff at.

Too many photos documenting a creepy painting

Like it says on the tin, here's too many pictures about a painting I did.

Concept sketches plus first background layer. Pretty sure I was dry brushing with a pastry brush, but it was in my brushes so.

Background. Layers of acrylic and gloss medium and ink and alcohol ink....

Using chalk to outline the composition. Chalk is 100% my best friend for big paintings like this.

Had to take a moment and draw a rough design on myself to see how it would look with a smirk like she has. I had decided at this point that instead of painting her make-up in black, I wanted to have the original background show through to push a more ethereal look instead of just woman with spooky make-up.

When I do big mixed media paintings, I always go ahead and paint in some white acrylic where I intend to add oil later. It makes it a lot easier to see what I am doing and also usually seals in the background so it won't interfere with my oils. Usually. This time, I did layer after layer after layer and the damn alcohol inks just kept bleeding through, which was fine everywhere except where it was doing it the worst, her eye. I finally used heavy matte medium to seal in the eyes and all the skeletal spots. I also used some molding paste to texture up the hair, because at this point, why not? This is before it dried.

Eyes, in. And already I'm seeing I am miles and miles better at oil painting than I was when I made the other creepy mixed media paintings in my room. 

(It was at this point I had to take a 3 day break from painting to assist people with online gambling on the kentucky derby. I have learned so many things about horse racing, most of which being that I don't give a fuuuuck about horse racing.)

And you know on my first day off I got right back to it. Her face in progress. Taking a selfie with the make-up and smirk was so worth it, that's one of my favorite details in the entire painting.

Finishing up on her face and neck and that. The kid voted I leave her hair ghostly, but I thought there wasn't quite enough contrast. I did take his vote into consideration though and kept it lighter than I had planned.

So she ended up a pretty bleached out strawberry blonde, which is perfect.

And all done. This post is long enough so I'll save a comparison of my creepy paintings over time for another post, but I have to say I am completely over the moon with her and somewhat shocked how much I've improved in the last few years that I have been doing these.

I thought this was a mail art blog. -_-

I've really had the antisocial mail blahs lately. Mostly been job hunting my ass off, which has paid off as I have orientation for my first temp assignment tomorrow. Hopefully once I get settled in I can start working through my replies or even make something neat to mail off. But for now, I wrote my 30 poems for NaPoWriMo, I am still doing my daily watercolors, I have worked the kid through so much teen drama and all that jazz. Here's a cute picture of Fen and a few more of my dailies. 

Current mood.

Fire spider.

Doodly little excerpts from a drive back home from the Coast.

On day 25, I coincidentally turned 25. (Yes,  I know I'm a baby.) I really liked how this turned out and want to do it again with a lot more time and planning. (I think I spent an hour and a half on this dang page and it's hardly 5x5)

hmmm could this be a sketch for a painting I would rather be working on right now? Why yes, it could.

I felt like a creeper painting this, but I was sitting at a park bench and this cute little house was in view. I really, really, really, love painting buildings.

That's all I got this week.

the voice in your head doesn't have to breathe

so it can just keep screaming non-stop. Try it. The kid and I agree our internal voices sort of scream inwards when we breathe so it goes AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh with each exhale/inhale.

Anyway. Watercolor a day continues.

Monochrome, hand and prayer beads.

My usual supplies.

Quick and intuitive.

I spelled dandelions wrong, first time I tried to do the writing I called it a daffodil, so I just kinda gave up. The skin tone was actually helped by the fact I was using the last of my earl grey tea instead of water to mix/ rinse.

I spend a lot of time hanging out of my balconies right now while I wait for a call. Sometimes I paint or write. Sometimes I try to get the ferret to enjoy the great outdoors with me (he always goes flailing and chirping back into the house)

I also painted this little painting of a border collie in a shower cap. Just to get myself to do something besides wringing my hands together.

And that's my week-ish. That and poems and small batch chocolate chip cookies.