Hallows Eve

Shrine to my son Cristobal (Christopher) There are days when I want to make make make things. I have too many ideas that never come to fruition and I keep forgetting to write them down. Right now it's the sewing mood. Winter always finds me knitting or sewing. .Although I've been trying to draw a little a day, practicing those faces and bodies, not easy when you've never been a drawer. Reading tons too. I just finished "My Antonia" and began "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" two classics (both really worth it) I missed reading in school and have "Alice in Wonderland" just in case I can't find the one I'm reading.

Carved the pumpkin today at the last minute since I have been in bed most of the week kicking the cold. Soon the knock kncoking will start and I'll get to see all the neighborhood munchkins in their fantasy costumes. www.flickr.com/photos/ruthbruin2002/283147320/

Challenges

Two weeks of challenges have brought out creative results in me that I didn't know I had. I have never been a glitter or bling person yet Mamma's Challenge on Flickr really pushed me to explore and luckily I had received a package from a swap in Australia which had all the right stuff.

The creative "block" happens to most of us, thus these ideas by others have really helped in avoiding stagnation.

I have committed to a few more before the end of the year, the Playing Deck ATC swap on ZNE, the leaf making for a collective and a Secret Sister Swap for X-mas. I cannot commit further since I get all mixed up as the deadlines and the shipping addresses and fear the wrong items will be mailed to the worng recipients.

Believe it or not, this is what the sky looked like from the back terreace today. It seems like it wants to rain but it's waiting till Halloween is over so the kids don't miss out again like last year.

Bedridden

First cold of the season and I was hit. I've been bedridden for three days now, shivers, itchy throat and ears tingling. So I've had to keep myself busy with the little odds and ends I could manage to fit on my bed.

I started this fabric collage in ecrus and whites that I had envisioned a long time ago with all the little found objects I have collected over the years. Reminds me of the time, way back in the late 70's when I handsewed an 8x10 collage of only tags from clothing. I've always been one to see art in the oddest things. People must think I've lost it when I feel I've actually been found.

I also started a poetry book a few days ago with a paper mache book I aged. It is hollowed out and illustrated poems will be added as I remember my favorites. This lead me to think of a great community project where I will hit the streets as "The Culture Vulture" and paste all sorts of odds and ends around town. Camarillo is a very bland insipid little town with so much potential. It has the best restaurants of any small town I have ever lived in and is designed so that everything is conveniently distanced from the residential areas. Then we have the ocean close by and mountains and equidistances to Ventura and Thousand Oaks. So all in all, all it's missing is a burst of culture.

Momentum

I hadn't been creating anything for the online shop so decided I could try my hand at a few small handcrafted possible presents to list for the upcoming giving season. This Christmas will probably not be too good but we can always swap these things later if they don't sell or donate them to Tatiana's school for the Bazaar. I really enjoyed altering this paper mache box with an ATC and a mini cab on the side. I am working on a papier mache book too filled with hand printed poems and artwork which I will share tomorrow.

Cortando Papelitos

Me encantan los desafios. Me inscribi en un grupo basado en Inglaterra en que nos piden que creamos una mini obra de no mas de 3.5 x 2.5 dado un tema una vez a la semana. Esta semana el tema era simplemente blanco y negro y esta es la locurita con que termine. Claro que la hice pasada la una de la manana con mas de una cerveza atacando la cabeza. Pero la verdad es que me encanto.

Spanglish

Esto de tener doble nacionalidad..... se siente como una doble personalidad. Sobretodo que es lo Sajon mezclado con lo Latino. No seria tan marcada la diferencia si fuera una mezcla Europea o solo de sangre latina; vivo entre dos mundos y se nota. Hay dias que soy netamente inglesa, coleccionando tacitas de te, inventando un jardin salvaje, otras me suelto como una loca apasionada y bailo hasta el amanecer, escuchando canciones romanticas o leyendo poesias intensas de Gonzalo Rojas.

Amo esos dos mundos por igual; la sutileza del ingles y el desenfreno del latino en un mismo cuerpo balanceandose como un pendulo sobre la llama.

Having dual citizenship feels like a split personality. Especially since it is an Anglo Saxon and Latin mix. The split wouldn't be as marked if it were a mix of only European heritage or a blend of Latin; I live between two worlds and it is noticeable. There are days when I am eminently English, collecting tea cups and inventing my wild garden, others I let down my hair, hang loose and dance like a fool until the break of dawn, listening to romantic songs or reading intense poetry by Gonzalo Rojas.

I love those two worlds equally; the subtlety of the English and the total Latin abandon all in one body swinging like a pendulum above the flame.

This has become my Sanctuary

In the beginning it was my diaries. Then small annotations in leather notebooks, quotes, lists of things to do, goals, clippings from magazines, a sort of scrapbook. Then just poems copied meticulously in my pretty handwriting, one for them and one for us. Then a few years of silence, working hard, the e-bay store, etsy, Flickr. Today this is my sanctuary, a corner where I can retreat and talk to myself, sort things out, look back, begin anew. Here I can rage and rant, whisper sweet nothings, go in circles and let it all out. And, in a way, leave a written record of the "happenings" in my life and the family.

Very few of my earlier writings have survived over the years. The one thing I regret loosing the most is the diary I made starting when I was around 14. I still remember how I treasured that thick messy notebook and all the drawings I pencilled in. It had a whole section on the coup in Chile and the first days after Pinochet. I hope it surfaces one day and someone has the dignity to return it to me. I have a feeling it got lost at the flooding of the house in La Reina.

Hopefully no satellite meltdown will occur because all these blogs will be time capsule memories for those who find them when we are gone. I've often wondered how that would be. What would the archeologists of the future find of ours. Lots and lots of trash for starters, the kind that will not biodegrade. And such odd looking things. Will they end up in a museum like the relics we have found from previous civilizations? We are the generation of excess and accumulation so a lot of sorting. What kind of picture will they come up with?

Los heraldos negros

Hay golpes en la vida tan fuertes . . . ¡Yo no se!Golpes como del odio de Dios; como si ante ellos;la resaca de todo lo sufrido se empozara en el alma¡Yo no se! Son pocos; pero son . . . abren zanjas oscuras en el rostro mas fiero y en el lomo mas fuerte,Serán tal vez los potros de bárbaros atilas;o los heraldos negros que nos manda la Muerte Son las caídas hondas de los Cristos del alma,de alguna adorable que el Destino Blasfema,Esos golpes sangrientos son las crepitaciones de algún pan que en la puerta del horno se nos quema Y el hombre....pobre...¡pobre!Vuelve los ojos,como cuando por sobre el hombro nos llama una palmada;vuelve los ojos locos,y todo lo vivido se empoza, como charco de culpa,en la mirada. Hay golpes en la vida, tan fuertes . . . ¡Yo no se! Cesar Vallejo

And Sunday

Some weekends are perfect and these two days were exactly that. Mid October and we still have the most gorgeous weather I can recall in the last few years. So we took off, the whole family, minus Jon and Tatiana who always have the misfortune of having to work weekends, to Topanga to visit Martin and Andrea. Loaded with salmon and lox, salame and Rondele cheese and Pita crackers, lots of drinking water, lemon and chocolate cake and jam, cantaloupe, honedew melons and strawberries we created a feast and had a country luncheon all gathered outside in Andrea's garden. Max swung on the tree rope swing entertaining us the whole while as we chatted about our earliest childhood memory. Richard was such a charm, wearing his straw hat and looking The Godfather at the head of the table.

Going to Topanga is really getting away from it all. I love it up there and love Andrea more and more as I get to know her better. She is warm and earthy and intelligent and is really making my brother and Tyler happy.

After lunch, we took a hike up the road and crossed a fence to climb all the way to the top of the Santa Monica mountains. Miracle that I was able to make it. The climb itself was spectacular, but the summit was breathtaking especially because of the time of day we got there. The sun was hitting the hills at the perfect time, bringing out all the colors of Nature.

Happy Saturday Morn

Morning broke out with a crisp breeze, and surprises from Chile (Andres called on Skype) and Santa Paula (Bill called from the mountain) and home (Richard called from his laptop). Different. All different.

I should be out walking or riding my bike, the day is so gorgeous to be indoors but I had been wanting to change my banner so here I am doodling on the computer. It's done, maybe need to play around a little more with what I want the images to be but for now I am content.

Have been sewing my fingers to the bone. Making that nap blanket all by hand with woolen fabrics and applique of all the things I haven't sold. Thought they would make a nice reminder of all the things I sewed one year or two. Last night I embroidered the blue and white owl which will be sewn to the blanket later this evening.

I have re-thinking my Flickr uploads too, pondering whether to delete most of the photos and leave only those I really feel proud off and archive the rest. When I look back on some of my creations I can sometimes be so self-critical and say to myself "what was I thinking" or I went too fast on that one, especially the journal. I think I just wanted to get it done fast, when I could have made it an ongoing project. I have thought of starting another, but the last one really took a lot out of me so maybe I will just stick to a new idea which is a poetry book with illustraions and paintings.

Now off for that walk with my camera to find more faces.

The Elections

What are we electing come November 4th? A THAT seems appropiate after all. So far removed are we from them; they haven't a clue what we really feel, aliens really. We remain the common folk. Oh no, not debt and how we got here, but what we were searching for. These elections are a joke. We cannot trust them anymore. We are far removed from the Higher Eschelons, we are simple people, seeking simple needs, we are too busy within our small sub worlds to require more than our immediate needs from you. Sophistication is for those who seek a Power that is evasive.

POR EL (POR ELLA) de Cocciante

No se por que tanta melancolia, tanta nostalgia por mis raices
Cambia, todo cambia
pero no cambia mi amor
por mas lejos que me encuentre
ni el recuerdo ni el dolor
de mi pueblo y de mi gente

o,por ejemplo: Cocciante a reventar Cocciante

aqui la letra
Le hare un Verano en Noviembre para que ella ya no tiemble
Pondre palabras al silencio , palabras tiernas y calientes
Aprendere a vivir distinto, Pensando en Ella y no en la Gente
Buscando siempre lo imposible , llegando al fin de lo infinito
Por Ella , Por Ella , Por Ella,
Ire hasta el fondo de sus sueños mientras que duerme a ver si alcanzo , aquellos intimos deseos que nos haran decir sus labios
Escapare de la costumbre , de la rutina y de las dudas destruire la incertidumbre y la amargura
Por Ella, Por Ella , Por Ella, Por Ella
Ire rozando lo Invisible , para el amor todo es posible , me olvidare de lo vivido para latir con sus latidos.
Hare que arda mi pasado , por un futuro de los dos ,
Quizas tan solo para amarnos , quizas por no morir jamas.
Por Ella, Por Ella, Por Ella, Por Ella
Ire rozando lo invisible , para el amor todo es posible me olvidare de lo vivido , para latir con sus latidos y no habra nada indispensable
Excepto el hecho de adorarle ,
Por Ella
Hare que el tiempo se detenga para que no nos olvidemos de las caricias que hoy tenemos que al fin perdemos.
Por Ella, Por Ella, Por Ella .....

A Gift for the Spirit DAWN by Carlos Nunez

How someone can trigger creativity

My Dreams Deferred
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

What a great invention the Yahoo Mosaic Maker is. Pictures look so much prettier this way and are brought so much more to life by being next to other people's, like a connected world. I have tons of these over the last two years and just keep forgetting to make a habit out of uploading them to my journal/blog/bitacora. Hopefully I'll get into the habit.

Yesterday I discovered this amazing photographer from Chile www.elrostrodelascosas.blogspot.com who takes photos of all the faces she sees in things. Which has me seeing faces everywhere now and carrying my camera all around the house looking for images.

Tomorrow I'll venture out into the street to see what I find and share.

Time to Light the Fireplace

It suddenly got cold here in California. Really cold. And windy; the Santa Anas are back and as I look over at the Santa Monica mountains I could tell there was already a wildfire brewing. So sad.

This is the season that I turn once again to sewing. I pulled out all my wool fabric scraps and began a nap blanket. More like a crazy quilt nap blanket. I love these textures and embroidering over them, adding applique and little embellishments that tell a story.

I have to pull out my denim one too which needs finishing around the edges but is so heavy for a bed; I think I'll trim the borders a bit and make it into a large wall hanging.

A few little creations

Still thinking of what my next abstract painting will be so in order not to lose practice with my paintbrushes I continue making the little ones.

I've become a night owl, something I never expected since I love light. But the day brings so much noise and turmoil and distractions due to responsibilities that I can only create at night now when all is silence.

During the day I continue decorating the house and gardening, reading "My Antonia" and re-reading "The House of the Spirits" which I love all over again and watching Masterpiece Theatre. I must get "Miss Potter", Oh how I loved that movie. I could easily be her, live in that cottage she was able to buy with her earnings from the books she illustrated and wrote.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

With all eyes focused on the global gloom brought on by that ever pervading evil =MONEY, I weave my cocoon ever tighter and surround myself with what is important, which, although, cliche has always been free. My inner sanctum is, so far, unscathed. I look out my bedroom window and see the light coming down on my garden, I tune into the birds welcoming me to a new day and that is enough to make my heart leap with joy.

And then the banana shake my son brings into me out of the blue made with so much love. What could surpass these NOWS?

WHY HAS AMERICA and most of the world lost it's soul? To stash green bills in the bank for the future? A future that never really comes because they have missed the NOW. To not understand that the Yellow Brick Road leads to disappointment and illusions evaporating into nothingness is beyond me. How can we teach people to really see, to really listen, to really feel, to really care?

I truly believe what is happening is a Karma coming back to haunt us. We have to rewind and return to the starting point and begin the lessons anew until we get it right. And we can get it right. We all know deep down inside what is right; it's so simple really. It's just a matter of being consequential with true love for people and the world we live in, to treat things with gentleness and respect.

This tightening of our belts will hopefully bring us quality time playing cards, making jigsaw puzzles, walking with our families along the beach, picking up seashells, watching sunsets again, writing letters, and ofcourse making art.

Taking a Step Away

Black, White and Red Folk Art Paper Dolls
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

Just a little note to say:

I love my paints and paintbrushes
Richard was right about drawing and doodling more
Wish I had more time (maybe I could have lunch and dinner delivered for a week so I didn't have to cut off the momentum)
Proof once more that I want to tap into my inner child 24/7

My language

I feel so fortunate to be able to do the things I like the most; to have discovered that passion that evades so many. Although I sometimes think too much about the meaning of it all, where it is taking me, what I've come to conclude is that it is my language period.

Ofcourse sometimes the language can by jibberish, sometimes it can be a chant, others it will be speaking in tongues, others it will be poetry, and yet others it will linger like a song.

The wonderful thing is that is a common language; there is a nation of us who speak it alike with certain accents appearing here and there.

Mixed Media Fabric Collage by Cathy Cullisthe maiden soft with shadows in her midst replenishes her stream of Hope with subtle gifts of burnished threads and folded treasured cloths outcasting all her woes on Us the kindred ghosts rustling beside her


Painting by anne-lauredjaballah

Dolls by Firuzan in Turkey (angelsinmysecretgarden)

Painting faces is the hardest

Juliet FOLK ART NAIVE Painting on wood
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

Worked a little more today on painting portraits. I have to admit that the faces are the hardest, although after hours you can get them right. Layers and layers of gesso and acylics mixed together plus softening with pastels ends up giving the right skin tones and blemishes.

This portrait of Juliet is my initial try for the "Romeo and Juliet" ALtered Art challenge. I was chosen to pick the theme since I won the last challenge both with first and third prizes. I couldn't believe it. I've never won anything, not even a raffle and winning this was so much more rewarding.

I am still searching. I have tried a bit of folk art to no avail, the subject matter is a little limited although it would give me alot of practice with the faces. I might paint a few dolls from the pioneer days after I finish Romeo in this series.