We all have a double somwhere

Notes From the Voodoo Cafe: In Which I Interview “Ricë” About Her New Book
It looks like Rice was able to find her double in - of all places - a bookstore on Halloween. Just like Rice, she also wrote a book. Rice had the chance to interview her.

Found in Clara's Closet

Miss Clara is wishing you all a safe and Happy Halloween

A New Blog to Check out

I am lucky enough to meet sympatico minds on Facebook from time to time, and one of them is Pen. She the proud owner of several beautiful felines but by far the most unique one is Cha-Cha. Cha-Cha has a strange habit of bringing back odd things and placing in the "proud spot" that most cats have to show their owners how much they love them. While my Russian Blue, Ali Baba, will give me everything from half-eaten bunnies to voles to live frogs, Cha-Cha just brings back the most eclectic mix I have ever seen. Pen originally posted some of her odder finds on her Facebook page, but I encouraged her to post a continuing blog of whatever her curious kitty brings back. Cha-Cha does not descriminate in what she gives as gifts. Pieces of plastic wrappers, napkins, bubble gum wrappers, sticks, hunks of bark are all presented to Pen in the same "proud spot." The organic and the inorganic are all subject to Cha-Cha's gifting. What attracts her initially to a particular item is a mystery.

To further add to the wonderful photographs of kitty curiosities are Pen's musings over what Cha-Cha means by presenting her with such odd presents. An empty bubblegum wrapper - did Cha-Cha eat the gum? A hunk of bark - what is the meaning of it? An empty cigarette pack - has Cha-Cha taken to smoking in secret?

Cha-Cha's gifts and Pen's comments make a wonderful narrative in an ever continuing story. So for all of us who love our furry friends, be they canines, felines, reptile or rodent, who periodically present us with oddities that defy explanation, I present the new blog, Cha-Cha's Gifts.

Books and blogs to check out

The art experiments haven't been too successful lately. I figure I'd opine on some of the blog links and some of my favorite books instead. I am currently reading a wonderful book authored by Rice Freeman-Zachary titled "Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Art." If you are like me and have been trying to make room in your head and your living space for your creativity, then this is the book for you. Trying to be an artist, parent, homemaker, etc., is difficult enough in this world. There are no instructions on how to juggle all of your life's interests and pursuits. But this book comes really close to giving you actual instructions on how to accomplish it! In fact, if there are two must have books in your library, this book and Rice's other book, "Living the Creative Life" are the ones you should purchase.

In case you want more information about Rice Freeman-Zarchary books, art, life and a look at the awesome woman herself, check out her blog, Notes from The Voodoo Cafe. This is a woman who lives life out loud and creatively. You should also check out her interviews of other artists in the magazine, Somerset Studio. They are insightful and constructive.

Love those macro shots

Happy Autumn

The 3 R's

Do you believe in the three R's? No, not reading, writing and 'rithmatic. The real important three Rs are Rescue, Rehabilitate, and Rehome. That's imporant when it comes to pets. My mother's dog, Pickles, is one who went through the three Rs. She was found wandering the streets because someone no longer wanted her. She's an active dog, who loves to play ball. But she does get skittish sometimes. She just loves to be told what a good dog she is. It makes her tail wag.

So now you can do something for a rescue like Pickles. You can vote for her. Pickles has been entered into the Cutest Dog Competition. If you look through the gallery, you will see photos of puppies, people who have dressed up their dogs, and people who have named their dogs something to curry votes, such as Steven Colbert. But Pickles is just a WYSIWYG dog (What You See Is What You Get.) She is just happy to be around people.

Plus, it will make my Mom happy.

So click this link - Pickles in Cutest Dog Competition - and vote everyday.

Okay, so it doesn't always work out

The gelatin pour film transfer experiment did not work out like I planned. First of all, the film still is not dry. Second, I did not leave the transfer on long enough (it should have been three minutes - no one) so the colors were not dark enough. Third, I HAD to play with the film and try to remove it off the substrate before it was dry, so it tore and all the polymer medium is now sitting like a thin film on the tempered glass that I used.

Does this mean I will give up? HELL, NO!

I am just one of those people who has to keep throwing themselves at the wall until I see that it is, indeed, truly a wall. So I need to take my mistakes and learn from them. The first thing will be to set up a fan so the film will dry quicker. I also need to bump up the color on the transfer sheet, and then leave the film on for at least three minutes (like it was recommended. I will switch the substrate to a piece of polyethelyne-line wood. It will be easy enough to ge a piece of 1/4 plywood from a lumber yard, have it cut down into 12x12 inches, and then stretch and staple some polyethelyne sheeting over it. It doesn't need to be thick sheeting, it just needs to be taut. I do know how to stretch a canvas.

And finally, I should not touch the darn thing until it is thoroughly dry.

Today's shoot

I got up early enough to get to a friend's yard sale. I purchased some children's books there. All the better for future collage projects.

I then went to Bowman's Tower Wildflower preserve. They have preserved and named local species of wildflowers and native plants. There are easily accessed trails that meander through meadows, woods, and streams. A great place to shoot some nature pics. Unfortunately, the birds were not cooperating and the butterflies were being elusive. All the rain this summer has made it pretty difficult for butterflies.

Luckily I did manage to capture one butterfly who was willing to pose.