cobaltika

another new cobaltika project …

i don’t think many people visited my other treasure gallery, tesoros, and i did kind of let the ball drop with it, so i am not sure exactly *why* i am doing this thing again, but it seems a way for me to collect lovely things and share them, so i am continuing…perhaps it is my pretend gallery, until the real thing comes along?

i know there are quite a few design and style “blogs” (god i hate that term. really.) out there right now, but this site is a little different. there will not be commentary. there will probably not be things either cute or victorian there, but of course there is no telling what will appeal to me on any given day. mostly one will see current visual art, but then again, see previous statement…

sample page from altered board book : bricAbrac

sample page from altered book : the vegetableQueen

strange, but fun! there is also one more, my favorite, but it has many more pages and is taking forever to scan nicely. soon. soon…

a shed in north lawrence : diana+

this and (click image for a few more on flickr) are some shots from the last roll of film on that Diana+ i just *had* to have for my birthday last year. i *did* give it a chance, really. but i never really liked my results much, especially when i compared them with my Valiant, a diana clone camera. it would not capture the way i wished and i think the New Plastic lens is just sort of shabby. it doesn’t have that dreamy vintage quality of the Old Plastic lens. so i sold it on eBay earlier this year. i really am trying to downsize. when i go to the basement i am terrified.

i am also going to start getting rid of artStuff i have hoarded. none of it is really good enough to bother trying to sell on eBay or trade, so it will likely go into black trash bags. last night, i was looking for images and colors for a new book in progress and realized my ephemera is very very boring (to me). i must do it soon, as the Free Sale at the library is this weekend!

mostly lately i have been scanning tons of film and working on altered books. i have some of the new ones scanned and will show them soon. they are odd. i haven’t been working on small pieces to sell on etsy, but i need to. there is a certain energy of creating and selling that really dwindles when i slow down. but there is only one of me!!!

otherwise … same as it ever was.

mi cama nueva

i have been having much trouble sleeping lately. i know what part of it is about but i don’t know why i have to wake at 4am to work on it … also i tend to sleep poorly at the change of season … but i also think it is my PILLOWS. i don’t think i’ve had new pillows in YEARS. i have been trying to sleep more ergonomically, to prevent neck aches. also, i have been dwelling on the subject of dust mite feces. (is this why i cough and cough??) i promised myself that i could have new pillows, nice extra-firm ones for side sleepers, soon. but when? maybe after i paid off those fucking thieves at the IRS?

so yesterday i wrote the last check to them, paid all the current bills, transferred some $$ to savings and went to Target. yee ha! i definitely needed those pillows … and a new mattress cover is always a good idea, too … and i guess i didn’t *really* need the shabbyChic duvet cover and matching shams, especially not even on sale … but … the German flannel has been far too heavy lately, and it is too early for the batiste cover, so … i DID! what a GREAT treat. to come home and springify my nest. my nest is always so important to me. i could hardly wait to go to bed last night.

i slept so well (except for bizarre dreams).

i have not been very frisky or productive at the artTable the past couple of weeks, it seems. a new book is coming along slowly. i’ve finished abut 3 dozen handmade bizcards. um … did i work in my journal? no. finally, though, i have been making some new small pieces in the last two days. of course they are recycled photographs (will i *ever* run out of them?? all the film i wasted … shudder!). and i have been transferring bird engravings! i love them! the birds have the sweetest faces. they must be mostly european birds, because i have never seen any of these creatures. anyway, they are pleasant work.

i have been avoiding the big pale paintings.

it seems spring is finally appearing. there is even blue sky today. i have seen daffodils, hyacinth and almost-forsythia. it’s all so late. i guess there will be a HUGE blowout in a couple of weeks and cameras should be prepared.

hopefully i will be cheered by the season, because i have been glum as hell lately. almost depressed, i think. and still feeling sickish. blech. and i miss the girls like crazy lately. it is worse staying in the town they are gone from and are not to return. it is not like i ever had my own separate life here, really. just a job and a lease. i’m trying hard to stay put though, because i know that bit of retirement dough is a wise thing to keep in mind. i am saving $$ militantly, trying to be ready for escape when the time comes.

i wonder where i will go?