Journalfest

Da Bones Journal
made for use at Journalfest

October, 2009; the month of quantum acceleration in Els' creative brain.

After Glenny's Art & Soul in Portland at the beginning of the month, I wasn't quite satiated yet, but after another intense three days and nights at Teesha and Tracy Moore's Journalfest here in Port Townsend, I am done. Stick a fork in me.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED to have attended both events, and I already have plans to attend MORE next year, but for now I am full to overflowing with ideas for new work and changes to works in progress. My creative self feels much the same as my physical self does after Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. A little bloated, a little sleepy, but both with a BIG smile across my puss. And NOW is no time to go back to sleep!

Today is Not Tomorrow Journal
Made in Doris Arndt class at Journalfest

I have posted a number of photos of work done at Journalfest in the My Albums section of my website, with photos of the work done at Art & Soul to follow shortly, along with a few movies of the work made, as still shots do a sub-standard job of capturing the dimensional aspects of the pieces. I am very pleased with all that I learned, and have a clear idea of the next set of information needed on my journey.

Love Is the Key front cover

made in Stephanie Lee class at Journalfest

Now, the fog is clearing fast, so ONWARD!

Art as Life

Look at this incredibly cool video of an incredibly intricate and wonderful piece of art!

Madness Reigns

I really think the face masks add a little something to the routine, don't you?

Let's take stock of the month of October, shall we? Wednesday the 1st found me in Portland, attended the long awaited Art and Soul, or as I like to refer to it "A Gathering of The Tribe." The first couple of days are a bit of a blur, as I was sick, sick, SICK. I loaded up on heavy duty tylenol (thank you Faythe), drank grape juice fairly constantly, coughed down into my shirt, washed my hands obsessively, and did my level best to avoid contact with other people - not an easy task at an airport hotel filled with over a thousand artists from all over the globe. Yeah, well, I really did try not to infect anyone. Still, by Thursday night, I saw myself as radioactive. I seriously considered a trip to the ER that night, and ended up taking two baths in an attempt to get warm, but by Friday morning the terrible temp had broken and I felt almost human again. Almost. Enough that I actually remembered most of what was taught in my oh-so important automata class that day. I was still pretty funky by Sunday, when I boarded the train for home, and even now I am still working at getting over what I found out from my doctor after getting home was the dread Swine Flu...H1N1! The good news? I've had it, so worrying about whether or not to get the shot is off my plate.

Now here's my secret confession: I've always wanted to be Patient Zero in a plague scenario, and where better to do that than in the aforementioned crowded airport hotel! Score one and gimme that merit badge!That brings us to October 5. A week into the month. Full to bursting with renewed knowledge of my true path in life AND a map of how to get back on it, I signed up for JournalFest, another wonderful Gathering of the Tribe, but this time in my own back yard! Almost literally, as it's held at Fort Worden, and Fort Worden is two blocks from my house! How cool is THAT!? So now, before I've really fully unpacked, I'm ramping up for another set of classes with Mah Peeps.

Last night I attended a talk and demo of encaustic painting at Akamai Art Supply here in town. Very interesting, and quite possibly the process I've been looking for to use with my art dolls instead of the miserable wax dipping I've done in the past. Can hardly wait to try it out, but it will HAVE to, as I still have the following list to complete by month's end:

The Deck Project, a year-long weekly committment I haven't begun yet! Ack!
Handmade Miniature Books with Inchies This one I have well in mind, and partially begun, too. Three books are currently awaiting my find hand for stitching, etc. Lord how I love book binding!
The Mad Alchemist - an art doll that is well along in her construction, I just need to sit down with the soldering iron for a day and get her bones put together into a skeleton so I can begin constructing musculature, etc.
Photos of all of the above and more
Clean my studio from the mad press to get ready for Art and Soul, so that I can take people from JournalFest into my lair without fearing for their health.
Begin prototyping a new art doll design that incorporates automata
Finish binding an art journal that is currently sitting in multiple signature form
Create covers and design bindings for four other books that have guts but no real structure yet
Play with some of the new products and techniques learned at A&S
Get my etsy store restocked (ACK! MUST DO THIS NOW!)
Get some canvases done for the gallery's Winter Show

And I know there's more...

I need a clone, please.