Ekphrasis

NaPoWrIMo 2017 #10

All I have left is the painting:
A life sized, black and white rectangle, a mirror.
I always start on the right side,
Where it's flat and easy to navigate
And the face is half hidden in shadows.
Here it's a photograph, half-heartedly embellished
And mass produced, easy to collect and counterfeit.
When boredom sets in I move toward the light;
The face grows into glowing mountains,
Inspirational and idyllic with tears and hidden rainbows.
Every time I adjust the light
A sense of peace rises wider over the landscape.

Sugar Skulls: Part 3

Paul and I had to allow our dog, Isis, to be put to sleep over the summer. She got into a fight and her injuries were too serious for her to be able to continue to live a healthy and happy life.

We, of course, were devastated. Isis was a sweet and loving dog who brought so much joy to our lives. This sugar skull is dedicated to her:

Unfortunately I couldn't get the whole piece into the scanner. Her floppy ears and part of her tongue were cut off at the top and bottom.

We took Isis on a walk one day as the sun was setting. We walked by a group of children and one of them squinted into the glare of the sun and exclaimed, "Is that a pig?!" I guess he was confused by her ears...or maybe the fact that she was a little overweight. Isis loved to eat and had a stomach of steel. She once stole an entire bar of dark chocolate off the kitchen table and lived to tell the tale.

I drew arrows pointing to Isis' nose to represent her most noticeable feature. The first time I met Isis she was wearing one of those cones on her head designed to keep her from pulling out stitches. Isis tried to poke me with her nose to get my attention but the cone got in the way and she just continued to bonk me with the cone. 

The nose poking never stopped. Isis' favorite past time was shoving her big wet nose under peoples' hands and convincing them to pet her. 

I gave Isis a big smile because she was such a happy and friendly dog. The water drops on either side of her mouth represent the slobber she left behind whenever she poked someone to get their attention. 

I was never really a "dog person" until I met Paul's dogs Isis and Floscia. Isis became my little buddy and I miss her terribly.

Sugar Skulls: Part 2

This is the second part of a series sugar skulls made to honor loved ones who have passed away recently. For more information on sugar skulls and what they represent see my first post here.

I met Devin Kusse during my freshman year of college. He lived in the same dorm as the guy I was dating at that time and was regularly the instigator of hijinks. Devin was not only talented at making people smile he was a good listener and thoughtful friend. He was killed in an accident this summer when he was riding his motorcycle home from work.

Devin's death was hard to process because he was young, we hadn't spoken in a year or so, and I couldn't go to the funeral. Designing a sugar skull in his honor helped me to reflect on my friendship with Devin and gain a little bit of closure.

There's a lot of symbolism around the eyes. The flower in the middle symbolizes Devin's wife, Emily. The cross is because he was a faithful Christian. The circles and arch represent Devin's enjoyment of his motorcycle. 

I added bright, sparkly spirals to to show Devin's energetic and sometimes crazy personality. For example, Devin used to enjoy causing a ruckus in the men's dorm by walking around naked with a single object covering what the other guys clearly did not want to see. One day he came out with just a checkerboard in front of himself and asked my boyfriend if he wanted to play checkers. That story is remembered fondly with the black and white checkered squares.

The mouth is simply another representation of Devin's bright personality. I have a picture where Devin has spiky, bleached blonde hair and is wearing a sweater the color of orange traffic cones. That's how I will always remember him.

Devin enjoyed music. He played guitar and was trying to convince me to learn The Devil Went Down to Georgia on my violin.

Even though I didn't have much contact with Devin anymore his death leaves a hole in my life. I wish I could have been at the funeral to reminisce with his friends and pay my respects. I hope that making art in Devin's honor will help to make up for what I missed.

Save the Post Office!

Has anyone else been paying attention lately to the plight of the U.S. Postal Service? It's a bleak picture, folks: they're looking at default!

I legitimately feel sad hearing this news. I love mail! I know sending letters isn't that popular these days but I've been involved in several little projects to keep my the mail people busy.

Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook has probably seen my occasional offers to send out "fun" mail. I love to create postcards, stationary and cards of all kinds to send to friends and family. Here's the latest batch:

Anyone who loves getting mail is welcome to send me their address to get some awesome mail in the future!

Then there's www.postcrossing.com. This site is simple but so much fun. You can send up to 6 postcards at a time and when the receiver registers that they've received your card you start getting cards in return. Here are a couple of the fun ones I've received from all over the world:

www.swap-bot.com takes Postcrossing's idea a step farther and includes opportunities to send art and packages. I made and sent this little book to someone in March:

I get excited at the end of the day when I come home from work to find something other than bills in my mail box and I know the recipients of my creations do as well. Sending letters might take longer than e-mail but it's nice to be able to hold a tangible greeting and know that someone took the time to step away from their computer and send it. I think we'd lose a valuable service if the post office closes.

I know that sending more mail won't solve the postal service's budget problem but I'd like to at least increase the trend of sending hand written greetings. Check out Post Crossing and Swap Bot, write a letter to a friend, or visit some of these other websites for mail opportunities:

Letter Writers Alliance
Save NYC Libraries!
Make A Child Smile
The Letter Exchange
Hugs and Hope
Post Pals