Cemetarys and Other Spooky Stuff

Shhhhhhhhh let me tell you a secret I love to visit graveyards.


The graves are like homes where we continue to visit our loved ones in death, just as we once visited their homes in life. Some cemeteries are so grand they truly deserve to be called a city of the dead - a necropolis. Wherever I go, I try to capture the voices suspended in marble, the dead remembered by stone, roses and tears. When I was a melancholy girl, I would make myself a picnic lunch and walk to the Weston, Idaho Cemetery almost everyday, there I would enjoy the peaceful atmosphere while munching my potted meat sandwitch..

My Grandmother Geneva taught me to be respectful and not to walk on the graves. She also taught me that graves always face East to greet the rising sun and the Resurrection.

Another time when I was a teenager my girlfriend Kim and I went to the Salt Lake City Cemetery to drink wine and horse around we were getting loud and disrespectful then something popped my big gulp cup from my hand and drenched me with wine and ice. Someones dissapproving Grandmother or Gramdfather I imagine. We both screamed and laughed hysterically while running as fast as we could go. Its rude and disrespectful to wake the dead with wild parties.

But I'm sure they will be expecting visitors on All Hallows Eve when the veil is the thinnest.

WooooOOOO00000 ARE YOU SCARED YET?!

Making a Self Portrait

Let me make this clear this painting is not finished! It is very definitely a work in progress. The painting you see took just a few hours but the completed portrait may take awhile. All great artists have painted themselves Van Gough, Rembrandt, Frida Kahlo, etc. In my case I wanted to paint a beautiful witch for Halloween. I did not have a georgeous, sexy, real live model to work with. So I decided to use myself, the idea was to light my face from underneath which is not a very flattering light, although it is dramatic and witchy,

I wanted my face to look like it was bathed in candle light. The original idea was to have her wearing a witches hat and costume and standing in a graveyard, haunted mansion, or with runes on the wall, something spooky and intriguing. Since I was using myself as the model I was less willing to depict me as to witchy, weird or wicked. This marks the first time I have ever painted myself. What stopped me was telling myself things like I’m not beautiful enough, too old, or it's self centered and narcissistic. Of course at my age I could use a mini facelift but painting me and accepting me  and the way I am today; wrinkles, eye bags, grey hair, lumps etc. is a great way to practice compassion, acceptance and love for the person I am most critical of (me). Painting a self portrait is also a great meditation for really looking at oneself  objectively. Noticing all my flaws and assets and acknowledging exactly where I am in time. It all fits together like a puzzle, gray hair, frown lines, happy lines, green eyes, bags and bumps, separate and alone under my scrutiny my flaws are obvious, but as part of the whole my portrait is complete and perfect and still a work in progress. Here is my favorite affirmation...

I am at peace with my age for me it is always now.
I came to this planet to experience every age.
I am at peace with where I am at in time.
My future is Glorious.

Call me a Diva, I Want A Staff

I need a personal assistant like Picasso, or a whole gaggle of groupies like Andy Warhol ready to do anything I tell them to do.

I've got the "do it myself syndrome" but honestly, I can't do-it-all!! Even though I try, I really try.  I've spent all day today organizing my art business and setting up a data base to track everything, getting togrther photos of my work, CRAZY. But I am so right brained that it's hard to focus on one thing at a time, besides I hate paperwork. I want all my ideas put into motion and
I WANT IT NOW..

If I had a staff of helpers my mansion would be impeccable no one would ever have just one sock, dinner would be delicious and healthy every night no frozen pizzas ever again, my personal trainer would keep me in perfect shape, my assistant would organize everything including my social life and remind me of important engagements, bring me some herbal tea, shelter me from the slings and arrows of my critics. I would retire to my studio every day requesting that I not be disturbed until lunch and paint priceless masterpieces while watching the ocean.

Really this is my favorite fantasy next to being a sexy torch singer or winning the biggest lottery ever.

So Just for today know that I can do only one thing at a time and bite by bite I can eat the whole elephant. I can't believe I ate the whole elephant. BCWYAF (be careful what you ask for)..........