After all, tomorrow is another day

Well, life has been crazy - between work and meetings and dance recitals, we had no power for 44 hours.  Not only does it put a damper on internet use, it also puts a damper on creating...it's not much fun to come home from work and try and make something by lantern light.  God knows how the Old Masters did it (perhaps that's why they were masters!)

edith

I found this fabulous photo of Edith Wharton in her party gown, probably taken on her way outside to take tea under the wisteria hanging over the grand porch of her mansion in Massachusetts.  I remember having to read Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth for school requirements and finding her writing slow and sparse.  Perhaps it's time to revisit her; I could certainly use a gentle read - something slow-moving right now!

go wild

I photographed this card on my peony tree - I thought it was only right that max should be swinging around in a junglelike setting and I chose this photo because the shadow of the leaf looks like a monster claw.  How cool is that?  Where the Wild Things Are was both of my sons favorite book when they were little.  We read it so many times that I can still recite it by heart!

fixing...

I was terribly uninspired yesterday - it wasn't my best day ever - so I decided to start repair work on some of the cards that were badly damaged in the straightening fiasco.  Memoirs of A Geisha was one of them that I felt I could still salvage, so I played around with it a little, and I think it looks okay.

Catch me

Much to my horror, yesterday went by in a flash.  I thought I'd work on J.D. Salinger's card after I got home from work at 9pm (I got him started in the early am yesterday but ran blank) so by the time I got set to finish him, it was pitch dark and bedtime (and you know my camera by now, I never had a chance to take a shot that wasn't blurry.  So, he's a day late (kind of fitting for a hermit, anyway!)

Beam me up, Douglas

For some reason, these big sneakers reminded me of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (I know it should really be photos of towels!), one of my sister's favorite book series.  Even though he's a bit blurry, you can spot Douglas Adams sitting in the corner...darn, I forgot the mice!

more on a theme

So, I tried to flatten out some of my author cards (my husband fashioned a press of sorts for me) and when I took them out, they weren't much flatter but many were stuck together (THE HORROR!).  TC Boyle, the Reys (but mostly Curious George) and Memoirs of a Geisha took the biggest hits.  I can't decide whether to redo them or try to fix them.  Either way, it's fairly tragic.  So what is better for today than a fairly tragic story?

grapes anyone?

I first read Steinbeck in high school, required reading of course.  And thank goodness for having to read books you might not have picked up on your own...I immediately loved Of Mice and Men and read through everything I could written by John Steinbeck.  My very favorite book for years was Cannery Row, followed closely by the wonderful Grapes of Wrath.  I think it's time to revisit them.

everything that I know...I know because I love.

I had been working on this card but couldn't finish it, that is until I watched the movie The Last Station, a film about Leo Tolstoy and his wife, and their tumultuous marriage.  The film opens with this quote, and what a beautiful quote it is, from his rather huge book War and Peace.  So I made two cards today, one for missing yesterday and one for today.

John James Audubon was more of an artist of pure genius than a writer, but he did compile many books about birds and other wildlife.  It always amazes me when I see his paintings, just the technical detail, the sheer perfection of them.  There are tiny little pictures at the top of the card that I spent a long time cutting out - there's one of Audubon, sitting sternly holding a shotgun.  A shotgun!  The two don't match if you ask me; how can you be a preserver of life through paintings and a hunter of life at the same time?  PS: I cut the shotgun out of his picture, I prefer to keep this a no gun zone!



Artfully yours

 I found this Most Excellent and Tragical History of Arthur, King of Britain, front page from a Shakespeare book in this week's book review.  I came home from work feeling fairly poorly (my daughter just had finished up with the stomach flu, and it's been gurgling around my system all afternoon) so I thought I'd skip my art today.  But this little picture sparked me and I collaged a stained glass picture around King Arthur...I love the way it came out, it's like being surrounded by sea glass (and we LOVE sea glass, don't we sister?).  I think I'm going to play around with this idea more.  But for now, I think I'll get back on the couch with my ginger ale.

hooray for the yayas!

Not long ago my daughter bought home The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood from her 8th grade classroom bookshelf.  I was surprised, is this what 8th graders are reading now?  I had thought it a bit mature thematically but she loved it; she laughed out loud, she shared passages, she was touched and troubled by the events that occurred in the lives of the YaYas.  I remember feeling that was when I read the book, as if you were revisiting old friends.  And, like my daughter, was sad to see the book end. 

a canterbury tale...

I remember visiting Canterbury Cathedral and the beautiful town that surrounds it - I guess I'm on a medieval cathedral kick right now - I was walking through, marveling at the stone architecture, listening to the quiet surrounding me, loving the calmness, loving the coolness, and suddenly, my 3 year old son yells out a loud sound, not a word, not a scream, just a large sound.  I don't remember what it sounded like - what I do remember is that he LOVED hearing his voice resonate throughout the hallowed space, and he kept yelling that sound out, over and over and over, the entire time I was walking him out of the cathedral.  And it's a loooong walk out!  Not sure if I can show my face there again yet - is 20 years enough time to have passed?

pillars of the earth

I loved Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth, it was well worth the 900+ pages of reading - what a fascinatining time in history when cathedrals were built from only what the earth gave us, wood and stone.  And the stone was moved by pulleys, work animals and men. To think that these monuments were built hundreds of years ago and still stand majestcially today is just a little mind blowing, don't you think? 

are you lucky if your joyous? or joyous if you're lucky?

Let me start by saying that I love Amy Tan.  Anytime someone asks me for a book recommendation, she's always high on my list to share enthusiastically.  I have read all her novels, and I think The Hundred Secret Senses is probably my favorite, followed very closely by The Joy Luck Club.  I surrounded Amy with little mahjong tiles and a beautiful red color to celebrate the richness of her writing.

every little girl's dream

...is to be a princess.  I guess some of us have princesses on the brain lately, what with the royal wedding and all (please note the date on this card - 29 - the royal wedding day date!) which is why I chose to give Meg Cabot, prolific author of The Princess Diaries a card!  It didn't have quite the look I was thinking of when I started ... but with our time constraints it certainly celebrates being a princess well - all sparkly and pink and tiaras and ballgowns!

choices...

This week's NYT Book Review highlighted a memoir about William Styron written by his daughter.  We recently read Sophie's Choice for book group and I was taken aback at how autobiographical the character Stingo was ... and Stingo was rather foul in the story.  I think it might have tainted my memories of him after reading the book! The Styron's Connecticut home is around the corner from my house, so many afternoons I'd pass Bill Styron walking along, with or without a dog.  He was always friendly but never really looked cheerful.  In Stuart's baby book I have an envelope (that once contained a generous savings bond) welcoming "Stewart" to the world.  It was simply signed, in blue sharpie, Bill Styron.

the world thanks Rachel

As I try to find different authors for these cards (it's harder than you might think!) I found a photo of Rachel Carson and i mmediately imagined her surrounded by butterflies.  As she progressed, she gained butterfly hair which I think  looks quite fabulous!  I'd like to add a few butterflies to my hair - but if they look anything like the gorgeous hair clip my sister bought me for her wedding, I'd better pass.  (I look like a creepy 12-year old with hair clips!)  Now my sister, she could rock butterflies woven into her gorgeous mane of hair!

speaking of cappers...

When my sister and I were young, one set of grandparents was in London, the other in their little stone cottage in Cornwall.  The drive between them was long but I always knew we were getting close when my mom would point out the Jamaica Inn.  The rough, craggy Cornwall coastline was home to Daphne du Maurier's books, and although I've never read Jamaica Inn, I feel like it's been a part of my life forever.

a fairy song

My sister and I grew up with the flower fairy poems by Cicely Mary Barker.  The poems by themselves aren't much, but pair them with her exquisite fairy paintings and they become unforgettable.  We've both spent countless hours sharing these lovely works with our girls (and our boys! Thank you, Cicely for including boy fairies - they work especially well as tree fairies!)  I wrote the entire Rose Hip Fairy poem on this card and didn't like the way it looked under the gorgeous Rose Hip fairy, so I wiped over it with more paint and I actually like the depth it gives her.

remember my name

Anytime someone comes into the library and asks for The Diary of Anne Frank, I always feel a sort of melancholy.  To think of what happened to normal families like hers during WW2 still seems unfathomable today, even though we know it truly occurred. Anne was a strong young woman, and partly because of her, we'll always remember what happened to millions of people...and even though we can't remember all the names of everyone who perished, remembering hers will help us remain aware.