Anyway. A few months ago, I put a deposit down on an egg. This egg would rebirth the most terrible creature EVER. A menace upon Mordavia so sinister and evil that even the shadows themselves tremble in fear! Somewhere, Erana is grimacing.
In reality, I received my 7 week old Abbott’s Okeetees corn snake. He seems to be a very curious reptile, and I did manage to get a few pictures of him after he arrived without much of a problem. In fact, he seemed more interested in playing around on my hands than he did hiding away. This is my first hatchling snake, so I’m very curious to see how he grows. His pattern is just gorgeous and I am extremely pleased.
I, being the insane Quest for Glory fan that I am, named him Avoozl. The Okeetees pattern is kind of visually intimidating, and while Avoozl isn’t technically snake-like, I found it a fitting homage. Plus, it’s a fun word to say. Avoozl!
So, I turn 30 today. Well, I guess that I already DID turn 30. Okay, sweet. Anyway.. so I planned a little “thing” for myself today. It’s not really exciting, honestly, but I enjoyed it.
First, a little back story…
Thirty years ago, my parents were handed a newborn baby that apparently wasn’t sure she wanted to make it. I spent two weeks in the hospital after birth because my liver was not functioning properly… or much at all, from what I was told. I’m sure that this was very distressing to new parents. Moments after I was taken from the hospital I had a very serious reaction to the Penicillin that they had given me prior to my discharge. Again, very distressing. My parents soldiered on through this rough start and managed to keep me alive for 20 years.
I’ve managed to keep myself alive and relatively sane for 10 years, now. As much as I hate knowing that I’m getting older… today I spent about an hour ritualistically reminding myself of one important life lesson; when Life hands you lemons… you make Limoncello.
So, here we go! Excuse the pictures, they suck, I’m lazy, and my camera battery was like “BZUH?”.
My first polymer clay project is done. I’m not completely happy with the results, but I can’t be too annoyed as it was my first time with this stuff. I knew that if I concentrated on perfection, I’d just take forever to finish it and be more displeased. So, I accept the imperfections. (also, Christ, my hand is unsteady these days)
I’m so picky!
There… a semi-unofficial nuka cola bottle. It’s supposed to resemble the one sent out to e3 last year. It was built as practice with clay AND serve a purpose; as a hide for my snake. It’s hollow and he can curl up in/slither through it. I need to finish the, er finish, probably with some matte sealer.
Not much has been goin’ on. So I thought I’d take a big break and not post for a while. Blah blah blah. Let’s face it, I’m dull.
Working on a commission - may or may not share it. Dunno. Not my usual thing. Puttering around with an update for Second Life. Otherwise I’ve been babysitting my ‘Tiel with a broken foot. Poor thing. :
Today I decided to tackle a tangible project. I won’t reveal anything more until it’s finished, here’s the preview of the basic model; Sculpey on aluminum armature. Fairly happy with it. I haven’t really worked with polymer clay before, just pottery clay, so this was fun and different. I think I’m in love already.
Welp, my first foray in sorta-kinda-speed painting is finished. I’m mostly happy with it, but could have made more improvements. Yaaaay painting, yaaay.
I have more photos to add sometime this week. Snake photos. Concert photos. Etc.
The Unknown Hinson concert was great! He’s freakin’ amazing; with the guitar; with his persona; with fan service. I managed to get a picture with him this time! I saw him at D*Con 2007, just didn’t get a picture. Anyway.
Working on a new piece, another experimental one. It will be a “3 hour” painting. Meaning I won’t spend more than 3 hours on it total. Sorta like speed-painting. I call it “Crop Life”, and it has its own progression page here.
More than one person has approached me regarding my latest painting I refer to as “Folly”, which I have finished today(yay!). I suppose they were curious about the nature of it since it is kind of gory.
With that in mind, I’m going to reflect on what kind of artist I am and how my ideas come about. Firstly, I can say, without a doubt, that my life experiences influence my art. That’s kind of the point. However, most of what I actually do artistically is imagery that appears in my mind; sometimes instantly, sometimes it grows as I think about it. I don’t consciously sit down and try to express “my feelings”. That is very rare for me to do. I can probably count with one hand how many times I’ve actually approached art in that particular way.
Secondly, while my art is influenced by my experiences or feelings, it’s also a creation on its own with its own feelings. That is what makes creating so wonderful; feeding yourself into something new and something singular. I believe that that is why I continue to be an artist.
Folly(or “Feeding Folly”) is a piece loosely based on a previous idea I had some years ago when I was in a different place. That was codenamed “Velvet”. As you can see, there are a lot of similarites between the two. Black hair, bust figure, the color red, an ominous attitude, etc, etc. Folly is a re-imagining of this older piece. With Folly, beyond trying to express my current feelings, I’ve tried to present a dual meaning; a piece in which blood is flowing upwards and downwards, essentially feeding off one another. If you want to be a sentimental person, you could say that the heart signifies something that we long to feed and nourish and is a big part of us, but at the same time can cause us pain and anguish(the slit throat). Voluntary or not. Healthy or not. There is no blood LOSS here, just a shifting.
I don’t often ramble on about what art I do create, but I thought I would discuss this one a bit more considering that it’s probably my most visually disturbing piece. But. It’s just art; a creature on its own.
My usual FedEx guy dropped by early this morning.. it was cute. He handed me a little box and said “There’s nothing in it!” and giggled. I bet he had no idea what was inside…
The hatch date looks to be in July - so he’s a 2008 baby from Mr. Soderberg’s “herpery”. Thanks Don!
Voila! Look at that. Isn’t he adorable? This here is a Butter Motley Cornsnake. He’s all “Yeah, me and this container are DONE.” He still has his hatchling colors(as far as I can tell) and it’ll be interesting to see how he turns out as an adult.
Shortly afterwards, slithering around on my hands. He was extremely adamant about exploring my shirt and wouldn’t stop trying to come towards me. Pictures were almost impossible as he was serious about hiding in my clothes and not being still. Thankfully I didn’t get bitten! He was preparing to strike when he first came out but soon calmed down.
I’d never handled a snake before, but it went pretty well. He’s in his “viv” now, hiding under the substrate. I just have to go get the bugger some mice. Oh, and decide on a name. Cool.
To give you an idea of just how easily amused I can be:
I watched Battlestar Galactica on Friday night. Yes, I love me some BSG. Anyway, this episode and the last are Gaeta heavy episodes. So, I’m seeing Alessandro Juliani on screen a lot. During a commercial break, I turn and say.. “You know, he[Gaeta] sounds like L… I think it’s him!”
I look it up yesterday out of curiosity and find that Alessandro Juliani does in fact voice L. So, being an obsessive voice-over geek, I’m totally amused that I noticed this. God, I love voice actors. UNF!
I. am. so. dumb. But ya know what? That’s okay.
Another update… I really enjoyed today’s work despite being in an angry mood. I likely won’t post again until it’s finished. I’m babbling too much lately.
I altered the theme for http://www.thallos.net ’cause… well.. I hated that banner. Totally redundant for me. So there.
Today is a severe down swing for me. I can’t pinpoint why exactly, but that’s that. Tried to occupy myself so I wouldn’t just go sleep it off and somewhat succeeded. It was nice to go through two Dead Can Dance albums at least. Been a while since I really sat down and listened to those. Cantara still remains to be one of my favorite songs by DCD.
So, I got my Driver’s License on Monday of this week. Our DMV was closed, we found out, when we drove over.. Way to go Clarksville! Right on! Then we found out Springfield’s DMV was open. We go there instead. Once we found it, yep sure enough they were open. Small little DMV that practically INVITED me in; they were really relaxed and didn’t hassle me about 400 forms of identification. Whatever. I filled out all my paperwork, handed in my Haha-I-Don’t-Have-To-Take-Your-Stupid-Tests paperwork, paid my fee, got my awful photo taken, and walked out with a DL. It’s still pretty damned shocking. I mean, really, I had just resolved that I’d go the rest of my life without having one.
Haha.
I drove home, about a 45 minute drive, and down the Interstate. It was scary as hell. Still is, but I’m driving off and on… trying to get used to it. Thinking about going downtown to visit the museum and/or art gallery. Oh and I’ve always wanted to go to our Roxy Theatre. Macbeth is coming up in March, might be fun. I’m still sad I missed their production of “A Picture of Dorian Grey”. Maybe they’ll do it next year, again.
I’m rambling. Speaking of art… another Folly update.
However, I can finally say that I’ve confronted one of my worst fears ever.
Yes, I am THAT lame. But damnit - I’ll have my license next weekish. HEEE. Tests taken and passed with flying colors. Now to get ready for a horrid DL photo.
All this running around, well it’s getting me down
Just give me a pain that I’m used to
I don’t need to believe all the dreams you conceive
You just need to achieve something that rings true
