Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Back in November / December I re-arranged most of my art supplies in anticipation of my friends arrival for the holidays. The idea was to keep stuff out of sight and out of reach for a certain busy toddler and the plan worked well. In fact it is still working a little too well since I am having issues finding materials and items!
So tonight the plan is to re-arrange things back to some semblance of usability...
Maybe then I can get some printing done.

I have registered for my first henna conference!

Yes, there is such a thing, in fact there are more than a few of them every year hosted by henna artists across North America with most of them in the US. Spring Fling is a regular event in California and will run for three days. Some of my favorite artists will be in attendance presenting on different topics. I do not know at this point what all the topics will be but they can range from demonstrations of different cultural styles to business practices to learning techniques. Yes, the attendees will all be practicing on each other and I have already warned my boss that I will be returning from this trip highly decorated!

So now I am torn, do I indulge and decorate myself, or do I leave as much blank canvas as possible? Decisions, decisions...

Does anyone else find it a little creepy that you can give a donation to charity only to find the receipt in your mailbox the next day or at worst the day after? Any letter I send is definitely not getting to it's destination that quickly! It brings to mind images of Olympic calibre letter carriers, braced in the blocks and ready to sprint the instant the envelope is placed in their hand. Or maybe in their teeth like a hyped up superdog?

This happens to be one of my favorite motifs although I'm not completely sure why. It was some relaxing practice for carving the speedy cut. This stuff cuts like butter, I would not attempt this image in regular lino at this stage of the game as that stuff is much harder in comparison.

There is also the issue getting used to the ink, how much ink on the block is too much and how much is not enough. You may be surprised to find that the block looks like it has good coverage only to find out it doesn't. The resulting image can be patchy and broken up.

Haha, groan I know (at least to me since the technique is relief printmaking and I am getting some relief... I'll stop now). :)


Yesterday I bought a new brayer, not exactly in time for the christmas cards I wanted to make but it just means I will have it ready for the next round. I decided to play with a block of speedycut (or something like that) and this is what I have come up with: (pls ignore the camera flash)

And after mucking around with some pastels, this is roughly the direction I want to take it in:

It is one of my "singing gargoyles" from my trip to Toulouse a couple years ago. It has been a long time since I worked with multiple colour registration so this should be a fun project to play with. I shall keep you posted!

"Go forth and do the right thing, and embrace your invisibility cloak. Most of the best stuff you ever do won't be cited, sourced or flashed in neon. That's not the point. Living brilliantly IS!"

After a crazy three weeks of holiday festivities and entertaining the dust is finally starting to settle. The tree has been taken down, the decorations are put away for another year and Chalk has his food dish returned to it's rightful place. As he is presently reminding me that it is dinner time I can safely say that things are getting back to normal.

We had a lovely visit with our friends from overseas as well as local friends who we do not see very often. For a brief run down of events...

Tape is a wonderful thing! From wrapping presents to preventing toddlers from making long distance calls to making the microwave easier to use, tape has played a larger role than usual this year. It's a good thing I stock lots of it!

Chalk is still working out the delicate balance needed with toddlers. When is it good to stand your fuzzy ground vs. when is it good to keep your ears, tail and toes free from harm? Overall he did well and I'm happy to say there was no claws involved. Teeth? Yes, in a gentle way that did not leave a physical mark but allowed clear and definite communication.

Christmas gatherings with friends and family made up the bulk of the visit when the boyfriend and I were not working. Of course a stroll through Zoolights was in order and despite the cold the numerous fire pits and interesting people resulted in a good time had by all. We even managed to spend some time at Heritage Park for "Once Upon a Christmas".

I enjoyed a lovely production of the Nutcracker with one of my friends on Boxing Day, which I think is a much better way to spend the day then to fight the crowds at the malls. Thanks dear!