did anyone else ~

get up too early this morning? argh! my son and i got up, started the a.m. ritual and then i realized that it was only 5:14!  i leave some clocks set to the old time for a bit, to remind me that when people start acting cranky it may be because their stomachs don't know we chose to change our clocks & they are hungry, or tired, etc... 

'i am always doing that which i cannot do,

in order that i may learn how to do it.'

~ pablo picasso

a big thanks to heather at humblebeads for firing up a lot of imaginations with her 5 challenges... i have now completed four of them and the fifth is firming up in my head... 

'fun with focals' day 4 - assignment - chain up your focal... 

i was feeling like constructing... started thinking of calder mobiles... 

einstein's ideas about relativity came to mind as i worked ~ beginning with 14 ga. copper wire seemed substantial, but then the wire wrapping, chain, and additions of dangles made the focal feel like a miniature ... pond leaf was created by mellisa at chinook jewelry design... the sterling flower tag from cathy dailey... and the copper peace tag was made by cindy at cindy's art & soul... then the piece tinkled as i worked on it, so i thought of wind chimes too... 

'pacifistic calder chime'

'fun with focals' day 2 - assignment - to use ribbon, thread or leather as a bail...

last weekend there was an open studio tour among a good number of ceramic artists... it was wonderful - complete with discounts, giveaways, peaks inside the studios ... i was a giveaway winner at pam's indian creek studios and received some wonderful pieces... when i saw the hand charm i knew it was the focal for this challenge... the perfect oxymoron - hard stoneware, and a glaze that makes it appear so very soft... and, afterall, it did raise its hand to ask, ever so politely!

the hand, to me, harkened back to ancient times... something that could be unearthed in a cave where the floor was covered with the debris of ages - leaves, twigs, stones... and so i used wool yarn, cotton yarn and embroidery floss together, pulled it through the pendant and then wrapped it around a copper bar... over that i used brass wire to wrap on stone, semi-precious stones, a twig, clay beads from kristie at artisan clay... i thought of the copper age... wo/man using simple tools of stone or copper... so i hammered out a couple of long copper links as well... also including some leather and spiral forms which are ancient symbols...

 'relic of the copper age'

and now, some mom guilt... for the first time, my middle child decided to go out with his friends for halloween... our family loves this holiday so he had a hard time, but it was nice for him... so i didn't get a picture of him on my camera because he cut out while i was finishing up on the other kids...

the zombie

and a battling gladiator

used all of the tips and observations i picked up at the zombie walk!

and for those who may have been wondering - zombies do like candy after dragging around the neighborhood!

have a creative day! and check your clocks - all of them! (even the ones that have the signal image that tell you they are correcting from the keeper of the 'real' time!)

remember - it's all fake ! :0)

'the job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.'

- sir francis bacon 

mission accomplished!

so as i mentioned yesterday, the nj zombie walk was held in asbury park... a city very near and dear to my heart that is experiencing a cultural revival...

base camp was in the old carousel house where at the city's lowest point the full sized horses were auctioned off...  early in the day they had tony mandile, a professional demonstration & brian keene who writes for marvel and dc... this is what emily wants to do for a living - prosthetic make up... so she was there for all of it... i brought the little one around 3 (yes, the little one, because as anyone knows the little ones worship the big ones) to get his makeup done... i paid for professional make up so i could see it for myself and duplicate at halloween... 

the artists were full out ready and each represented their interpretation of what a zombie looks like...

 

 

i am not a horror movie person, i did my time with that as a teen and early twenty something... for emily i have seen 'sweeney todd' because we love tim burton and the actors he works with and 'zombieland' ... i was wondering yesterday how many people went to the movies that night in costume!

 

this is the old casino where at 5pm the zombies all gathered...

these are my zombies!

 

 

they guess-timated that there were 1000 participants...

my 'celebrity' moment - these guys are one the front page of the website... 

i was so excited - they look so real, don't they?

the zombies walked down the boardwalk and then

out into the town... 

 

tired zombies! and hungry - but not for brains! :0)

october is my favorite month, halloween my favorite holiday - there are no expectations except to  have fun... and so it begins ~

zombies

the new jersey zombie walk will take place today in asbury park... my daughter wants to be a prosthetic make up artist & so she is already there, watching a professional create undead effects... they are at the old carousel house... the 11-yr-old is going later... and to kick off the weekend, she and i saw 'zombieland' last night... if you can stand zombie effects, it really is funny...

i am going to take lots of pics later - but the plan is, at 5pm, the legions will gather in the old casino and spill out onto the boardwalk... dragging around town together during the city's first saturday night monthly celebration... this is the asbury park of bruce springsteen where madame marie's booth still stands - though she has passed - & the stone pony... where the morro castle beached, where rum runners came ashore...


this town is a bit like a phoenix... presidents went on holiday here in its heyday... and i grew up on these boards... for almost 2 decades the decline was severe... but it's coming back... with a real artistic edge... artists of all sorts... writers in the stephen crane house, visual art, theatrical... i have mentioned in the past that my daughter interned at a glass blowing studio on the boardwalk here this summer ... & while the rides are gone, there is a cultural center that is rich and creates excitement... i admire the dedication of those working so hard to make this happen... and so we participate however we can...

so if you are in nj - you may want to drop in... but watch out for zombies!