Day 300: Chillin' like villains

I spent a brief time chilling with my homeboy. Charles Dickens, that is. I picked up a paperback copy of Hard Times, and on the inside was a mighty fine portrait of the author. He is definitely one of my favourites.

In other news, I made delicious smoothie shakes for myself and my husband. They consist of frozen fruit (a mix of berries), vanilla ice cream, milk, and just a tad bit of orange cognac. They turned out quite nice, and very flavorful. I've got to say- having a heavy duty and super awesome blender... It's wonderful. I've been able to make us lots of smoothies and it's really nice. Delicious.

Day 299: Oh my goth

My husband and I had a goth evening. My assemblage was inspired by Wednesday Mourning and Lydia Deetz. I took a while to decide on a good outfit, but I'm happy with the result. For good balance, here is a photo edit.

Day 298: Space Invaders

Today was a relatively laid back and incredibly lazy day. We got up at 8:30, had breakfast, and then finished assembling our furniture, including a new couch. Our couch is lovely, and it's so nice to have somewhere comfortable to sit. We did our recycling, made a late lunch, and then ended up napping on said couch for about half an hour. Just a bit of tiredness.

The later bit of the afternoon was even lazier, and I ended up playing Space Invaders for a bit. I got up to a little over 13,000 points at one point, which is pretty good. 

My main facial reaction to playing Space Invaders (those stupid Space Invaders... destroying my city!).

In other news, school starts again tomorrow. Fourth (and final) year, here I come! With a great deal of reluctance. I'm nervous because I have no idea what I want to do, at least not with certainty. Ultimately, I want to further Grimm Fabrications and establish it more, and learn more things to make my craftsmanship skills sharper and make my wares more interesting. However... I go to art school. Everything has to be concept based, and whenever I try to do something that I think is the path that I want to take... Not so good. My art is like a beach ball. It looks good and is relatively interesting, but it's empty and has nothing on the inside. (I accredit that simile to Vince Noir... and my approach to art to Andy Warhol).

This year should be interesting... but I'll be glad to be finished. I just want to make sell-able wares and do conventions and have a grand old time making and selling to eager and happy individuals. As far as art students who have stuck it out to the bitter end... I'm probably the worst. I don't even have anything to bring to the beginning of school. All I've been doing is drawing. Maybe drawing is all that I should do. It would probably be better that way.

But, once again, I'd have to deal with the pain in my neck that is conceptual art. Ugghhh... I just want to grab my BFA and run.

*frantically draws in sketchbook*

Day 297: Temporary fixes and other adventures

Behold, my quick and temporary pant fix, after the button on my favourite pair of jeans popped off, and I am currently unable to find my superglue or anything to fix it with.

It is fixed with some twine from Ikea, which I "helped myself to" while watching a friend's car in the loading dock. I had made a bracelet, but then my button kept breaking on my pants, so I had to give up and tie my pants shut. Embarrassing, because I had to subtly do it while in Chapters. Totally MacGyvered that business.

Later, I found a cool sketchbook. It is a book full of photographs of blank surfaces (walls, skies, planes, shoes, ground, et cetera) and it invites you to write and draw anywhere and everyone on it. It's thrilling, really. Here is the first one that I did.

I also found 'The Definitive Edition' of Anne Frank's diary. The Diary of Anne Frank is one of my favourite books, as it is so honest and true, and definitely one of the best accounts that we have of the Second World War, at least in terms of what it was like for the Jews in hiding. Anne just seems like an intelligent and heartfelt young woman, and it's always struck me as so fascinating to feel so connected to someone my age (at least, at the time of the first time that I read it) who went through those trials, was in that time, and everything that one encounters when reading the diary. Now, the Diary of Anne Frank that is commonly read is thoroughly edited, because, well, she was a teenage girl. She was discovering her sexuality, had strong opinions of what and whom she did and didn't like, and, well, everything that teenage girls encounter and have encountered in any time period, and in any walk of life. Naturally, these parts are removed because it was never really acceptable, given the times in which it was first published. However, the original diary, original 'literary' alterations made by Anne, and edits made by her father, still remain. The definitive edition is the combination of versions 'a' and 'b' (the original diary and Anne's alternations and re-writes and additional notes, respectively), which has all of the content that Anne wrote. Ultimately, the way it should be, because it gives the truest sense of Anne as a human, as well as a young girl, and as well as a record of hiding during the Second World War. The Diary of Anne Frank is an amazing thing to read... Though it's heartbreaking. I recommend that anyone (and everyone) read it. 

Last, but not least, in my day of making and creative thinking, we started building the last bits of furniture that we bought. We bought four sets of shelves, a couch, and the couch cover. 

Now we have places to put our big ol' reference and photography books, as well as my husband's huge collection of DVD's. Our home is coming together, and it's wonderful. We even watched a movie on "our" TV while assembling the furniture. (It's not really our TV, but our landlords didn't want to carry it upstairs, so they're letting us keep it while we rent. Which works for us!).

We also saw The World's End. Which was pretty awesome, and definitely worth watching. I mean, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost together again? Classic, and entertaining. 

Day 296: Nesting

Another busy day of organizing our new home, and making trips to places to buy furniture and things like brooms and garbage bins and such. Today we made a trip to Ikea. Ikea is awesome, and we found some fine furniture. Other than that... Nothing terribly exciting happened.

I did have a bit of a 1970s day, where I wore a Vietnam-era army jacket, my combat boots, and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, and my husband and I listened to a lot of 1970s music (including the very iconic 'Fortunate Son' by Credence Clearwater Revival). I forgot to take photos of my awesome outfit. Nonetheless... it was grand.

Days 288 to 295: A week away...

Okay, so... This is a week's worth of posts, all rolled into one. Mostly because I'm seriously out of the groove of blogging every day, and this is the best way (for me) to get started again. A lot happened, and I don't really have a clue what I did from day to day. Not much in the creativity realm, but inspiration, adoration, and all in all, a wonderful and joy-filled week. 

First of all... I got married! I am now a happy wife to my best friend and favourite person on the planet, my beloved Jeff. Our wedding day was amazing, and everything we could have hoped for. We're so thankful for all of the generosity and help from all of our wonderful friends and family. Everyone made it so special, and it was comfortable and relaxed and just beautiful. The events and everything leading up to the wedding were just insane, but thanks to all of the people that we know, it worked out, and we were able to have one of the best days of our lives. Lots of tea, delicious food, and the best company that we could have asked for. 

After the wedding, we had a mix up with our hotel, and got it sorted, and then were finally able to relax and unwind in Banff. It was marvelous, and such a nice break from all of the previous chaos. 

We built a fire in our hotel fire place.

We adventured through Banff, including the Cave and Basin National Historic Site (it smelled really bad, but was very fascinating).

We rode a gondola up a mountain, enjoyed the sights and the weather tower built in 1903, ate bison burgers, and then felt really faint from being at a +7000 feet altitude. Afterwards we went to the hot springs and enjoyed the naturally warm water (it was delightful).

 

We experienced the finest of quality dining. We enjoyed high tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs (including eating cake with edible gold leaf), and we had a fondue and hot rock experience at the Grizzly House. We ate exotic meats including ostrich, bison, venison, shark, alligator, rattlesnake, and frog (my favourite was alligator- seriously delicious).

We did some amateur ghost hunting at the Fairmont. This meant going to the staircase where the bride died (and allegedly haunts) and going to the 8th floor. The Fairmont has numerous hauntings, the most famous of which center around Room 873 and the Staircase where the bride haunts. Until recently, both were closed off. Now room 873 (which does not have a door and for all intents and purposes does not exist) is part of room 875 (which... if it was that haunted because of grizzly murders, you'd think that they wouldn't make it part of another room, because ghosts don't adhere strictly to a room number...). We viewed both places. I had terrible feelings around the staircase the first time we went to it, so we left, and later we returned and the terrible feelings were mostly gone (after the Prince House occurrence at Heritage Park, I'm trusting my intuition more, but still not fully believing... though I become more anxious around allegedly haunted places because I can't tell the difference from if I'm being influenced by legends or if what I'm feeling is real). We went to the 8th floor, and, well, frankly, that was like going through a maze. In two of the shorter hallways, I felt extremely anxious and nervous. We managed to find the elusive missing Room 873, and one person working at the hotel told us about room 846. It was in one hallway with three rooms (one of the hallways where I felt most anxious). There is no room 846. There is room 844, and 848, but in the middle there is a blank wall, sealed over. To make things creepier... It is the only suite in the Fairmont that has shutters on the window. In the photo above you can see that the window beneath the tower is darker, and that is because of the black, slanted, window shutters that cover the glass. Even creepier... No one in the world seems to know about this missing room. No one has written about it on the internet. Is Room 873 simply a red herring to deflect attention away from the room that is truly boarded up and hidden away? Eerie... Make eerier by the hotel staff member who was in the hall when we were trying to find 846, and he said (in a very ominous way) "Room 846? No... we don't have a room 846."

We saw the infamous and mysterious Merman, who resides at the Indian Trading Post (one of my favourite places ever... So many furs and tails and such glorious taxidermy).

And taxidermy. Lots and lots and a buncha buncha cruncha taxidermy. Banff is one of my new favourite places, strictly because of the amount of fur and taxidermy everywhere. I just like the combination of dead things and mountains. I found so many wonderful crystals, and I found a beautiful coyote pelt. I didn't believe my friend when he told me, but coyote is actually softer than fox. The tails are more matted and coarser, but the main fur is so soft. I might be condemned for liking fur so much, but it's truly a totem thing, and a desire to be immersed in the spirit. Hard to explain. I have weird credos. 

After Banff, we took part in the SC Entertainment 30th Anniversary Festival. I attempted to play one song... 

But, naturally, I got too nervous because I haven't really played for a while, so I forgot all of the lyrics to the second half of my song. Embuhrrassing. The festival was really fun, though. I like the SC Entertainment folk. They're some of the most interesting and talented people I know, and it was fun to hang out in a basement, watching movies and listening to bands.

Oh, and Wendel had a blast.

Now I will formally introduce Wendel. He is Wendel the Skeleton, our backseat companion. He has a Facebook page, which tells of his adventures and his skeleton-related puns. 

Say 'Hello!' to Wendel!

Now we are settling into our new place, organizing and buying things to continue organizing. We got pretty much every single box unpacked in two days! It actually looks like we have a living room now! Instead of the weird labyrinth-like four-foot wall of boxes that we had going on that took up the majority of our living space. Everything is coming up Jeff and Emmelia! 

Now I will be able to go back to my usual routine of daily blogs. Back to schedule!

Day 287: Say hello to Wendall, and now we'll go on a week-long hiatus.

Meet Wendall. He's our five foot skeleton who is going to live in our car for a while, and now has his own Facebook page. In the above photo he is saying 'Hey guys. Whaddup?'.

In other news, my life looks like this:

Our wedding is so close, and we're actually excited now. I'm past the exhausted-from-being-at-work-all-day-and-then-coming-home-to-be-bombarded-with-tiny-issues-that-add-up-to-a-giant-meltdown stage, and I've had a couple of days to be calmed down by my fiancee and just... be. We've gotten a lot done, and plans feel like they're more underway. Tomorrow morning is going to be a whirlwind (well, the entire day will be, really) but it will be fine. The next day is our wedding and then we will be out of the city. So...

This will be my last post until... let's say Sunday, just to be sure. I'll still be keeping notes as to what goes on in my creative life, but it won't be posted about until Sunday. At that point, we will be unpacking everything in our new apartment, settling down, and starting a beautiful and productive life together. 

I'm excited.

And I'm excited to have a break from life.

See you soon!

Day 286: Thrift and dye success

My tie-dying experiment was a complete success! I plan to do more. Maybe combine some bleaching techniques. 

In other news, I got a start on my Halloween costumes. I found the perfect dress for a Lizzie Borden inspired Victorian axe murderer costume. The dress fits perfectly, and it was such a great find! Here are some photographs inspired by the inspiration.

 

Day 285: Tie-Dying

Behold! Five tie-dyed tank tops... In plastic bags to keep them damp while the dye sets. Or... whatever it is that dye... does. I did it while watching Submarine. And playing around with dead animal parts.

I always enjoy when I get my Etsy orders. Especially when they are supplies with which to complete my brilliant ideas. Or... something to that effect.

Otherwise... I'm bored to death. I guess I ought to go to bed soon.

Day 284: Chief Sitting Bull

I drew this. I actually spent time on it, and I'm so pleased! I borrowed a technique of drawing from my friend. It's so effective, and it looks amazing. It is a drawing of Chief Sitting Bull, chief of the Sioux people. He was there at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and was friends with James Morrow Walsh, the officer in charge at Fort Walsh (a North West Mounted Police post in Saskatchewan). Is it recognizable as Sitting Bull?

I also draw this sketch of Grav3yardgirl, my favourite YouTuber and icon. Not quite as good as Sitting Bull, and definitely not historical, but I'm still happy with it.

Day 283: So commences the craziest week of my life.

The following images sum up my life.

That's right, everyone. Spinning down a rabbit hole of gypsy punk madness with some wedding stuff tossed in.

For the record, I made the second image. Well, edited into a meme.

Day 282: Gogol Bordello

Post Gogol Bordello:

 

Gogol Bordello continues to be the best concert in my books. It's loud, insane, chaotic, and just wonderful. Tonight I experienced my second GB concert with my fiancee (one week before our wedding... Good way to blow off steam and spend time together). I'm pretty sure that my uber-sweaty clothing will never dry out. The concert was just so good. Once again, we managed to get right up to the barrier, just feet away from the stage. At the end, we touched hands with pretty much all members of the band, and I shared a brief moment of magical hand holding with Eugene Hutz, and we gazed into each other's eyes. I'm pretty sure that if I ever met Pan (yes, the Greek Pan) it would be a similarly chaotic and magical moment, where many secrets of the universe are surely revealed. Sometimes my life is simply... made.

I am now thoroughly bruised, achy and tired. Time for a happy sleep... and a long day of being a bit more tired than usual. 

Day 281: Food

 

 

I was cooking food all day. It was fantastic. It makes me feel really accomplished. Especially when I'm making supper and I time it so that it's pretty much ready the moment my fiancee comes through the door after he's been working all day. Makes me feel like I'm doing my job as a fiancee/wife-to-be (especially since he does same for me when I've been working all day and he's been home). 

I'll explain the photos in clockwise order, starting in the top left corner.

1. I wanted to make something summer-y and light. It consists of stir-fry beef (cooked with olive oil and a bit of balsalmic vinegar), iceberg lettuce, and parmesan tomatoes. I also made salad dressing.

2. For Christmas, my siblings and I were given our own salad spinners, and they're pretty much the greatest ever. They have a crank turner instead of the turner-handle-thing that is on top of the lid. Does this make sense? Either way, it's so easy and man. It gets your lettuce spun good and dry. Also, they came with salad dressing mixers. I used mine today. I mixed lemon juice, olive oil, a bit of balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. It made for a nice and light tasting, and very zesty. Mixed all together... Delicious.

3. Gluten-free cookies. I replaced the flour in a recipe with gluten-free so that our roommate could eat some. They're really tasty... but pretty much the most crumbly thing ever.

4. Double chocolate spicy cookies.  Seriously delicious. They start off nice and dark because of the cocoa, and then the cayenne pepper hits you with this warmth of spiciness. I highly recommend the recipe. 

Productivity and creativity in the way of meals... And I started at about 8 or 9 in the morning.

Day 280: Tumblr

Recently I discovered Tumblr. I mean, I've known about Tumblr for a while ago, but now I'm using it as a tool to post about really specific themes. One Tumblr blog I started is Horror Shoppe, which is various paranormal, supernatural, horror and spooky themed images and stories. The other one is a fashion and style blog called Curious Sensibilities. I just like blogging, and Tumblr is really good for image-based blogs. It's like Blogger meets Pinterest. Pretty cool.

I also drew a pastel goth inspired girl using coloured pens...

And felt like writing out a Fight Club quote in a fancy way...

Day 279: L'il Hellraiser

My little cenobites. Not really committed enough to ink them... and I apologize for the terrible photograph. I decided to attempt drawing chibi versions of the cenobites fro Hellraiser. Cos... Not sure why.

Day 278: I let the cat out of the bag

...I literally let the cat out of the bag.

I laughed myself silly.

I am silly.

Silly...

Day 277: Wilgefortis II- Historically Accurate Crucifixion

My drawing of Wilgefortis from yesterday was given a lot of flack for not being accurate in terms of how a crucifixion works. I decided to do research. 

I drew this based on three hours of research.

1. Romans used any shape of crucifix. The most common was probably 'crux simplex', which was an upright post with no crossbeam. They would use other types of crosses, but based on a practical reuse of nails and wood, they would use what they had. This would often mean a crucifix with less wood, and recycled nails.
2. Crucifixions were reserved for slaves and traitors. Because of this, they didn't care. If they hammered through the metacarpals, sure it was less strong, but they would tie you up. They would probably speed up the death any ways.
3. According to Seneca the Younger, people who were crucified would be crucified in all kinds of ways. Upside down, nails through the genitalia, whatever.
4. Clothing would be divided among the executioners and guards. Cloaks and outer clothing were particularly valuable, so those would be gambled for.

Bonus: Jesus was probably crucified on a crux commissa (Capital T shape). This is based on the fact that a X cross is called St. Andrew's cross. It has that name because St. Andrew didn't want to be crucified on the same crucifix as Jesus.

Based on all of this, I drew St. Wilgefortis (we remember her story from yesterday) on a crux simplex, without clothing, showing signs of blood loss, infection, and weight loss. She is also naked, as her clothing would have been removed. Nails through the radius and ulna.

A great deal of this is based on one of the only archaeological finds of a person killed by crucifixion. This was would have lived in Jerusalem during the first century. They believe that he, too, was crucified on a crux commissa. Still, Wilgefortis would likely have been on a crux simplex in order to save resources.

Day 276: Wilgefortis

Fun historical character- Wilgefortis. Or rather, Saint Wilgefortis. The story goes that her father had arranged for her to marry a Pagan king. She was very upset at this idea, and prayed that she would become repulsive so that no one would want to marry her, and so that she would remain a virgin forever. Her prayers were answered, and she grew a nice long beard. Her father was angered by his newly bearded daughter, and had her crucified. Wilgefortis was later made the patron saint of women trying to escape abusive husbands.

The story of Wilgefortist fascinates me. Thus, I drew her. I'd have liked if I had had a gold pen to give her a gold crown, but silver works too.

Day 275: An Elegant Lady

Among many other things, I am strongly inspired by 19th century sideshow. I am enamored with the freaks and geeks, and am in awe of them. Just as I am drawn to the dark and macabre, I am attracted to the misshapen beauties who have long been reveled by all. I decided to draw a bearded lady, as they inspire me. They are so bold and brave, and I have the deepest respect for them. They also have the most beautiful beards.

Josephine Clofullia

Annie Jones

There are many, many, more... but I'm starting to doze off, so I think I best go to sleep. It is raining outside and the sound makes me happy.

Day 274: Crystal Points

Today, art materials were bought, and I actually made some things! A few days ago I received some fantastic drilled crystal pendants in the mail. With these I had the specific purpose of making neat nature-inspired crystal necklaces. I'm quite pleased with them! I have a couple of points that don't have chain yet, but nonetheless. I have made three with one point, and two with three points. My favourite is the quartz three-point necklace in the above photograph (looking pretty swell against my Pantera t-shirt).