At the Kitty Kat Party

My children and I used to sing a song that goes something like this: At the kitty cat party all the kittens will be there, they'll be dressed up in their sunday best with flowers in their hair....wearing red and yellow ribbons and a tiny tinkerbell, they'll be kittens from the city and the countryside as well: Come on little little little kitty cat! Get yourself a partner - let's dance! When it's time to eat "Meow Meow" cans of tuna piled up to the sky, everybody has their little bowl of milk, and for dessert their is catnip pie! With their little bellies full and a smile upon their face they will curl up in the corner near a cozy fireplace, just a purring and a purring and no one makes a peep, and before you even know, the kitty cats are fast asleep.

45

45 March 28, 2007 Originally uploaded by TwoDresses.

A very talented artist (Meg) viewing my Flickr site today, reminded me of the collage I had done a long while ago about how many Canadians had died in Afghanistan. It prompted me to very sadly, in fact, with tears in my eyes, create another piece. Since the last time I posted, 3 more men have died, bringing the total to 45. I can't imagine what it must be like to be an American citizen, since the number of casualties in Iraq are now 3244...more tears. To all the American women I have corresponded with or traded art with over the past several months, my heart goes out to each of you for your losses.

Floral Beauty Cards - ARTChix Studio

Left to Right: Emily - Claire, Esther

(we were required to name the cards)

Another fun project done! Here are my 5 entries....I think it would be wonderful to have a card chosen for the fifteen Helga will publish! Gee, I could then relate to what it is like being a baseball giant :0) The women in the first 3 are all images from ARTChix.

Why Two Dresses ???? What's up with that?

I promised when I had time, I would answer this question that comes up more and more frequently these days. Ten years ago, I was sitting in a favorite restaurant (Jack's Grill) in Edmonton, Alberta sharing a bottle of vintage Châteauneuf du Pape (a rare occasion) with a person who I was to learn encapsulated a soul as deep as the night is dark. We had recently met and were sharing our 'stories' when The Question arose. "What would be your Perfect Life?" What? No one had ever asked this question and so even if I had had an answer, I'd certainly never verbalized it. What followed next was as though someone else was answering for me. "I want Two Dresses. One to wear while I launder the other. I will be living in a warmer climate, next to a body of water. I will be able to see the water from my studio where I will be working as an artist full time. I will make enough money from my artwork combined with the fish I catch each day to support my simple life in a tiny cabin.

So - I have the Two Dresses, the Time to Create and the Dream. I eat fish. I'd say I am half way there!

Worth Rereading From Time to Time

DeSiDeraDa "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly;and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; They too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons;they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble;It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs ,for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; Many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the council of the years, Gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a healthy discipline, Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here, and whether or not it is clear to you,no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, Whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

zeTTiDesiDeraDa - Front pAgE anD Back PaGes

Back

Finally, I have the image I want completed! Only took me a week and a half....now comes the part of creating 12 more and adding some pizazz with embellishments.

Front

My love - the kindest person I know.

ATC for Gaby with handmade stamp at bottom right

Update - Collaborative Art Project: One Hundred Inches in One Hundred Days

I've reached my goal of recruiting 11 other artists to participate in each creating 100 1 inch art squares in 100 days! What is more exciting is that this collaborative art project will have very talented artists from seven different countries participating: South Africa (1) Ireland (1) United Kingdom (1) The Netherlands (1) USA (4) Canada (3) Spain (1) Our project begins April 1 and will conclude on July 8th, 2007 at which time we will have 1440 art squares to create a mosaic.

My FIRST Juried Exhibit: AMP Echo Chamber Art Exhibit - March 24th - Los Angeles

HiM - on display March 24th, 2007 as part of the

Echo Chamber

"HiM" 8 x 10 inch Digital Collage/Mixed Media on Canvas Artist: Trudi Sissons

Interpretation of a Wallace Stevens' poem - "Hymn from a Watermelon Pavilion"

In Hymn from a Watermelon Pavilion, Wallace Stevens addressed the relationship between the world and the mind and the beauty or experience of nature as an end in itself. It is said he aimed to compose poems that captured the essence or inner life of the experience, believing everything 'we' perceive is fiction and that reality is an invention of the mind.

HiM attempts to resolve Hymn's dualities of thought and reality, night and day, nature and fantasy, dream state and consciousness by merging them into one piece of art. (two eyes-one mind; or echoes of imagination versus reality, Van Gogh's imaginary night sky that castS shadows simultaneously with a bright ray of light; rooster in the moon; color with black and white; asleep and awake; dream/imagination and reality.) The process of creating therefore becomes the experience he sought, along with the subject simultaneously, which in "Hymn," Stevens compels us to hail.

The irony of HiM as an echo piece reenacts these dualities and is a tribute to the poet who even more paradoxically was fulfilled by seeing his imagination becoming the light in the minds of others. Whilst creating this piece the artist hummed "The secret to life is enjoying the passing of time.." by James Taylor.

To read Hymn for a Watermelon Pavilion - please see my blog dated March 5, 2007 below.

Things my parents never told me.....

Quote by Jack Handy

"One thing vampire children have to learn early on is don't run with a wooden stake."

Two Dresses - posted by Noble Collins This dress is in mourning, the black dress, and you do not come to me now out of respect, Manuel. But I hear you. You are playing the Flamenco in a cantina where cantina girls dance. You are drinking tequila and laughing while the chickens fight. Yes, I hear you still. But I must wear the black dress, the one that mourns, and I will also mourn, and I will also yearn. Yearn to be played like your guitar, like the strings which vibrate to your touch, sweet music dancing inside me, while my heart beats like the castanet. Even now, my heart wears the red dress. I wear roses in my hair and not the silver combs. I send the maids away, and dance the Flamenco with my mirror. But I must wear the other one for a while, the black one that mourns, until the music plays again.

e.e. cummings: "once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight,or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

Sometime back in January - Hermine Koster

The below two ATC's (Parker Woman and Sweetie) arrived at my door this past winter from Hermine, a faraway friend....her work always reflects subtle layers, and delicious color combinations...see her blog under My Links.

This is a series of Artist Trading Cards I received from a GREAT person - Ank, from The Netherlands. She taught me how to emboss a card and has been a great pen pal since I entered the world of mixed media/collage/art.

Mona Series - inspired by Ank

And the winner is......

Tynan! For rewriting my blog so that comments could be added! Thanks Ty!

Turning the Pages of Famous Journals from the British Library

I am occasionally speechless when someone asks me what I did that day....probably because I find it impossible to sufficiently recapture details of a piece of art I am working on (hmmmm...that's why its VISUAL...) or, a succinct way to describe an outstanding website such as the one I describe below. Perhaps a solution to this would be to refer those who ask to this site.... but...that would be rude. Instead I hum and haa and most just assume I am suffering from LBS (little brain syndrome.) :0) I digress.. Today I stumbled across one of 'those' - The British Library Online Gallery. You will find the link to it under "My Links" But be forewarned. Surfing to this site may cause you to lose track of time with the likes of Lewis Carrolls'original journal of Alice, THE DIAMOND SUTRA (or the oldest book in the world!) or a Journal from William Blake.....or Jane Austen's retelling of the History of the Monarch and England - did she really say "vent my spleen?" Audio accompanies each page. I think my best response "I was meditating," may best answer why the dishes are still in the sink or why I didn't return that call.

Coppertone

THings to dO beForE i Die

Rexall Place - Edmonton, Canada

I experienced sentimentality as never before tonight, celebrating a dear friends 50th b-day while listening to Van the Man at 62, ROW 4, just left of center.

He was accompanied by three vocalists, four guitarists, a fiddler from heaven, a pianist and a very powerful yet sweet steel guitarist.

The acoustics were outstanding, and favorites like Brown Eyed Girl and GLORIA brought such warmth to my heart a floodgate of memories

open

ed as tears rolled down my cheeks. I was swept away with gratitude.

hiM (an interpretation of Wallace Steven's poem Hymn from the Watermelon Pavilion)

hymn from a watermelon pavilion

you dweller in the dark cabin, to whom the watermelon is always purple, whose garden is wind and moon, of the two dreams, night and day, what lover, what dreamer, would choose the one obscured by sleep? here is the plantain by your door and the best cock of red feather that crew before clocks. a feme may come, leaf-green, whose coming may give revel beyond revelries of sleep, yes, and the blackbird spread its tail, so that the sun may speckle, while it creaks hail. you dweller in the dark cabin, rise, since rising will not waken, and hail, cry hail, cry hail. (from Stevens, Collected Poetry & Prose, pp. 71-72)

Pharaoh Ride ATC

Cameo appearance by the author on her 4th birthday.

inchy atc

I decided to take the scraps I accumulate and make some inchies from them. These little squares seem to be very popular amongst altered art enthusiasts these days! My favorite artist amongst these individuals is Dot - a wonderful artist from Australia. She makes the most incredible fabric 1 x 1 squares with detail that surely must cross her eyes at times! See my link to her Flickr page on the right hand side of this blog.

More Digital Art...

Another image created with Microsft Digital Imaging software. The window frames are from a recent photo I took in Mexico.

thursdays child is full of grace

thursdays child is full of grace

I just purchased Microsoft Digital Suite and haven't been able to tear myself away from my computer since!!! This is 98% digital as described. I plan to add some crystals and type plus add some texture to the mat.

Wax

Wax

Oh - I just had to play around with Frida's eyebrows....actually, this is a photo of Selma and not Frida....and who doesn't love to throw a few flowers around !!!

"the number 8" - Alphabetica Lynne Perrella Series Fat Book Page Oneand Two Combined

"the number 8" - Alphabetica Lynne Perrella Series Fat Book Page One and Two Combined

Size Matters Tag Swap (Altered Art Obsession)

Favorite Flicks - Ongoing List......

Puerto Vallarta Doors

Well, my vacation here has just about come to an end. I will miss the beauty and sunshine in this magical city. Though I had hoped to take many more photos, the hazy, lazy summerish days tranquilized me and instead, I had the luxury to spend precious time with my bestfriend and partner. His warmth, integrity and kindness continues to give me 'chicken skin' whenever I consider him. But OH, how hectic our lives can become when we are at home....and life explodes.

I am so lucky I have had the past two weeks to spend catching up with him and basking in the kindness of the Mexicans.

Scattered throughout this text are a few photos - I have an affinity to doors and developed this craze when I visited Greece 15plus (yikes) years ago via backpack and with best girlfriend Catherine. The craze continues almost two decades later! I challenge myself to envision what lies beyond the doors.

Finally a wonderful candid shot of a young Mexican woman I purchased a small

beaded necklace from - isn't she sweet?

both sides now

I spent many moons in my teens musing on the lyrics of Joni Mitchell. Her style gave voice to my teenage angst. The album cover of Clouds pictured her first self-portrait and I recall trying to create my self-portrait....the garbage can in my bedroom overflowed with torn up paper that week. Identity? What's that?

The Art of 1 is a work in progress that I will continue to update as I am inspired to complete another portion of the book. It is on a recycled children's board book - Winnie the Pooh....how appropo!

Variations

This is a series of 5 ATC's I recently made primarily to experiment with variations on the same subject/background. The subject is digital collage composed of 11 different layers in an attempt to achieve the desired "ethereal " effect. Though not visible via photograph/scan, most of the ATC's also contain clear thermal embossed images which can only be seen by the naked eye...or a photograph that I am not at all talented enough to produce!

Musings about Muse

Muse (muūz) n. Greek Mythology. Any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom presided over a different art or science. muse A guiding spirit. A source of inspiration. muse A poet. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa.]

WORD HISTORY The Muse has inspired English poetry since Chaucer invoked her in 1374. Muse comes from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa. There are Greek dialect forms mōsa and moisa, and all three come from an original *montya. As to the further origins of this form, a clue is provided by the name of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and mother of the Muses. Her name is the Greek noun mnēmosunē “memory,” which comes from *mnā–, an extended form of the Greek and Indo-European root *men–, “to think.” This is the root from which we derive amnesia (from Greek), mental (from Latin), and mind (from Germanic). The reconstructed form *montya that is the ancestor of Greek Mousa could then mean something like “having mental power.”