November happenings!

Hello, dear readers! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and healthy. I have been working on crocheting more tree ornaments. I crochet covers (aka, "cozies") for pre-made plastic bases I buy online. I am planning on hanging the ornaments somewhere in our yard at some point in December. Last year, I did a similar installation called Holiday Cheer 2020. In fact, I may incorporate the same tree ornaments I used last year, along with the new ones I am making. I have also been making some collages and writing a bunch of poetry. I will, of course, share some more poetry eventually. Ciao! 

Green Stamp Gold Insect (collage on canvas board)

So Much Depends Upon the Bird (collage on cardstock)

two of the tree ornaments I made last week (crochet)

First Love (poem)

First Love

we view the bright afternoon sky together

in the barren winter field outside of town

darling shades of blue swirl in patterns novel and lovely

a picture I took at a local park

Happy Fall!

I hope this blog post finds you all doing well. I have been struggling with my pain and fatigue, as always. I injured my wrist last week and have not been able to crochet for a few days. What a bummer! On the plus side, I have been able to make a few collages and write a bit. I have been enjoying the cooler weather. I love to sleep with my window open. I hope you all are doing well!

My sweet baby, Callie, modeling a bandanna I crocheted

three crocheted pumpkins I made

Blue Butterfly 15 (collage)

Red Bird Ghana 500 (collage)

Black Butterfly (collage)

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I am having a rough day due to my pain, fatigue, and PTSD. I was, however, able to sit outside for a bit and make a collage. I have also been working on crocheting items for Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. If you would like to support me and my work, please consider buying something from Green Owl Crochet or commission me to crochet something fabulous for you or a loved one. Ciao!

Esteem (poem)

Esteem

hold yourself 

high and

if you need to

you can

declare war on the 

dragonflies and 

the pumpkins

but never declare 

yourself invalid

or unworthy

(a fountain near Lake George, New York)

By Passion Alone (poem)

By Passion Alone

I am a writer 

by passion and 

by passion alone.

Give me money or

leave me unpaid. 

Recognize my name or

leave me living in anonymity.

I will move forward

with my craft

and ply my trade

as zealously as 

my want and need dictates.

Me with Angelina

May 2021

desks, studios, hope

     Despite my pain, fatigue, and headache, I was able to pull out my art supplies and make some art today. I'm beyond happy that I was able to have an art-making session! I must say, I'm proud of myself. 

     My current studio space is problematic. I simply use a desk to make art. This desk is in my bedroom. In addition to being an art studio space, it is a craft studio, a writing space, and an office. I have to do a whole lot of preparation to be able to make art. I also have terrible lighting in my bedroom and my chair is uncomfortable. 

     I consider it a chore to have to pull out all of my art supplies, clear off my desk, and set up my supplies on said desk. In fact, I consider it such a chore that it has become prohibitive to my artistic practice. Often, I will settle on just taking out a few collage supplies and go from there. That is, I will settle on working with a glue stick, some ephemera, and some supports (which are usually postcards and canvas boards). This is not necessarily a bad thing, per say. However, as an artist, I feel it's unfortunate to be limited like this. 

      This, of course, leads me to explore what I can do to prevent myself from being burdened with these preparatory tasks. I know that I need to have a better studio set up for myself. I have, in fact, known this from early on in my art career. My dad has suggested in the past that I put a desk in the basement of our home. 

      In the past, I deemed myself unworthy of having a better studio set up. I thought that it was unnecessary and perhaps selfish to take up more space for this little hobby of mine. Now, I believe that I have finally reached a place in my life where I am no longer ashamed to ask for a better studio space.

     I will talk to my dad about setting up a studio in the basement tomorrow. If all goes well, he can help me get a desk, a chair, and some good lighting there. I'm hopeful that having a dedicated, functional studio will help me expand my art practice.

     I would love to hear all about your art studios, past and present, in the comments below.

     

addressing the Inner Critic

Hello, all! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and healthy. I was able to make fifteen collages in the past week or so. According to my friend and fellow artist, De Villo Sloan, I've had a creative breakthrough. It has been fun being able to make some art! I made most of the collages while sitting up in bed and watching TV. I find that watching TV while I make art helps block my Inner Critic. Another thing I do to try to avoid my Inner Critic is work quickly. I enjoy gluing things down with wild abandon and only briefly stopping to plan and critique. Plus, I have always felt that it is better to make bad art than to not make art at all. What are some tips you all have that help you overcome your Inner Critic?

watercolor class and crocheting my heart out

      My public library hosted an online watercolor class last week. The class was taught by Swetha Shenoy of The Paisley Corner. The class was a lot of fun! We started out with practicing some brush skills. Then, we made shapes like flowers and leaves. We concluded the class with a final project. The final project was a freehand-style bouquet of flowers and leaves. I did not like the way my final project came out. However, I will share a picture of me doing the preliminary work (such as the brush skills). It was a delightful class. I highly recommend Swetha's classes.

     Of course, I've been keeping up with crocheting. I made a bunch of hats and scarves that I mailed to my friend Kai back at the end of December. Kai lives in Rochester, NY and distributed the hats and scarves to folks in need. Below you can see a picture of me crocheting a scarf while I watch YouTube on my laptop. Also, I have been crocheting more hats and scarves, and slowly but surely been working on a yarn bomb. Below is a picture of some yarn scraps from the yarn bombing project I am working on. As always, if you would like to support me and my work, please peruse my Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. I also accept crochet commissions! 

Make Blackout Poetry by John Carroll (review)

      I originally heard of blackout poetry a few years ago, back around 2015. I heard about it through the author Austin Kleon, in his book Steal Like an Artist. That book is not exclusively about blackout poetry, but Kleon mentions it a few times, as he himself has published a book, Newspaper Blackout, of his blackout poems. When I first heard of blackout poetry, my reaction was something like, "That's so cool! Why didn't I think of that?" 

     My first time actually making blackout poetry came in 2017. A local library, which hosted take-home art projects, gave patrons the supplies necessary to make a blackout poem. The kit even included a frame in which to put your final product. Sweet! I made the following poem,

     Shortly after making the above poem, I ordered the book Make Blackout Poetry by John Carroll from an online bookseller. I enjoyed the concept and process of blackout poetry so much that I could not resist buying the book. Make Blackout Poetry contains various texts, like fairy tale excerpts and dictionary entries, which you then use to make your poems. The paper the book is made of is thick enough to take the abuse of a black permanent marker without bleeding through to the next page. 

     Here is an example of a page I have turned into a blackout poem. The text is an excerpt from Victor Hugo's The Works of Victor Hugo.

     Although I also encourage you to buy used books or bundles of book pages from, say, Ebay or Etsy, I truly think that Make Blackout Poetry is a solid investment for folks looking to start a blackout poetry practice. Furthermore, the book would be fun to bring on a trip, and especially a creative writing retreat. Blackout poetry is a great "warm up" to get your creative juices flowing. If, however, you do not consider yourself a writer, I still think that you could benefit from trying out some blackout poetry. It is fun! Trust me!

a haiku for you

Preoccupied

writing a novel

I should not be dallying 

siren lure of books

Erica with a spell jar, late December 2020

Fun Things You Can Do for 30 Dollars and Under

Fun Things You Can Do for 30 Dollars and Under

1.) Get a craft kit and/or other craft supplies.

Some stores, such as Five Below, offer craft kits for cheap! I have seen craft kits for macrame, finger knitting, and more. If you do not live near a store that offers craft kits and you would rather buy craft supplies in person, I recommend going to a store that sells what you need. For example, you could visit a local yarn store if you would like to learn to knit or crochet. To start knitting or crocheting, you need yarn (preferably a smooth, worsted weight yarn in a light color), needles or hooks in the right size for the yarn, a yarn needle and a sharp pair of scissors. You also need access to YouTube or another website for knitting and/or crochet tutorials. A guide book may be helpful, too, so check your local library to see if they have any. 

2.) Pamper yourself.

Bath supplies like bath bombs and bath salts are awesome for those of us who enjoy taking baths. If, however, you do not have a bath tub, you can still buy other fun goodies like face masks, shower gel, and conditioning masks for your hair. Some stores like Ulta will have a discounted section with products that are still perfectly good, but may have been discontinued by the company. You can also try discount stores like TJMaxx, Marshall's, and Five Below. If all else fails, try Amazon. You deserve good things that make you happy!

3.) Bake cookies, brownies, and more.

It is always nice to be able to bake some treats for yourself and your loved ones. Some baking supplies are more expensive than others. You will, of course, need some kitchen supplies like an 8" x 8" baking pan, a whisk, and such. You can buy these at stores like TJMaxx and Marshall's for cheaper than Bed Bath and Beyond. I enjoy baking brownies using a pre-made mix from, say, Betty Crocker, because I find it tastes just as delicious as made-from-scratch brownies and is much more convenient. However, I  make cookies, banana bread, muffins, and granola bars from scratch. I caution you against using more exotic ingredients, like almond extract or dried goji berries, before you first see if you enjoy baking in the first place. Do not forget that there are many free recipes online and your local library probably has some cook books with recipes.

4.) Invest in some art supplies.

As you know, I am an artist. I therefore already have a solid stash of art supplies. If you are looking to experiment with making art, I highly recommend you choose a medium (photography, watercolors, etc) that is appealing to you. Collage is a fun, interesting, and fairly cheap medium with which to start. To begin with collage art, I recommend that you go to Etsy and buy a few packs of collage papers (sometimes called ephemera packs). You will also need a glue stick and a substrate onto which you will collage. I recommend buying a pack of blank postcards and/or a small sketchbook. Buy what appeals to you! You can also ask your friends and family for their old magazines. 

5.) Purchase used books, CDs, and DVDs. 

Let yourself be entertained! There are many online and in-person stores where you can buy books, CDs, and DVDs. You will get the most bang for your buck if you buy these items used. Before the pandemic, I used to love to go to GoodWill (a thrift store) to buy books, CDs, and DVDs. Unfortunately, my GoodWill is not open during the pandemic. I still, however, shop for these items in the Sale Annex of my local Barnes & Noble. Besides the Sale Annex of Barnes & Noble, there are both in-person and online used bookstores. You can even buy books used via Amazon.

6.) Take an online class.

I love learning! There are many places online where you can enjoy free college-level classes on a variety of topics. My favorite place for these classes is Coursera. You can take non-academic classes on other websites, like Udemy and Skillshare. These classes are enriching and are usually no more than 20 dollars. Do not forget to Google to see if there are any coupons for the platform at which you are looking. For example, if I want to take a class on Skillshare, I would go to Google and enter "skillshare coupon". 

7.) Donate money.

Self-care is vital to your health and wellness and to the well-being of society in general. However, some people may find themselves with extra money. In lieu of buying something, how about giving 30 dollars to a mutual aid fund, a friend in need, or a local organization like an animal shelter? I recently gave ten dollars to the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (RBARI). I used to volunteer there extensively in high school and I now crochet cat bedding for them. I can vouch that RBARI will use your money carefully.

A picture of my parrot, Picasso