A Clean and Neat Living Space...

...is the sign of a seriously disturbed mind. Although my living space has a long way to go before I can be considered seriously disturbed, today I finally finished giving my studio/bedroom the major cleaning and organizing it deserves. It took me all day today and part of yesterday. Of course in the process, I uncovered a dozen or more projects that need to be completed. So I have something to look forward to tomorrow. :)

At The Arts Festival

I decided to take my time with this post because it will be my first time posting an image. Yesterday I went with my best friend to an arts festival in Gloucester City. He knew an artist there and we went to see her work, as she was doing a painting of the Walt Whitman Bridge on site. While we were there, I came across the stall of an artist who draws comic book characters. I bought a print from the "Poison Ivy" folder, and it certainly looked like her, but after I went on the artist's website I found out it was actually entitled "Original Sin." I think the characterization fills both titles perfectly. I love her use of vivid colors. Check out her work at www.lauraguzzoart.com.

A Weed By Any Other Name...

I love all my jobs, but there is something special about my gardening job. So far, it is the only job that gets me outside. It's good to get outside to feel some sun and breathe some fresh (or fresh-ish) air. I like to have my hands in the dirt and there is a real satisfaction in clearing the weeds away from the plants they are choking the life out of. Which brings me to today's conundrum. How exactly does one classify a weed? Until I took this job, I didn't consider clover to be a weed but my boss wants it gone so I have to pull it. In her defense it can get pretty tall, a good 6 inches or so when left un-mowed. Today I came across a low-lying weed that looked a little like clover with tiny yellow flowers and it covered the ground like a carpet. I started to pull it but it seemed too nice of a ground cover to get rid of. I pulled the taller, more choking weeds from these smaller weeds and went to my boss to ask her if I could continue to cultivate them. She said yes! I guess a weed is a plant that you don't want to stay where it happens to be growing.

Posting a little late tonight because of art class. A little background on my latest project, quickly. I have a fascination with Tarot cards. I love the different artistic views shown in different decks, as well as the way the images symbolize deeper meanings. I have three decks, but only one that I really love and feel connected to. That one, in case anyone is curious, is the Robin Wood Tarot Deck. I have toyed with the idea of creating my own deck off and on since I was in college, but for some reason I only just came up with the idea of painting the images early this year. I am painting them in oils on 5x7 canvases. So far I have painted "The Fool." "The Magician," "The Hirophant," and "The Hermit." I'm not doing them in any specific order, just as inspiration strikes. Tonight I worked on the angel for "The Lovers," and the wolves on "The Hanged Man." The angel is looking a little sickly, but the icon image I'm using as a guide looks sickly too so I guess that's ok. Anyone familiar with Tarot might be wondering why I am painting wolves on "The Hanged Man." Well, instead of a man who may or may not be representing Odin, I am painting Odin hanging from the World Ash, as he does in the myth about how he obtained the runes and their wisdom. In the image that I have of Odin, he is pictured with two wolves in addition to the two ravens that sit on his shoulders so they are all being included in my painting. Since he is hanging upside-down, the wolves sit on either side of the tree while the ravens perch in its branches. As I finish each painting, I will post it to my flickr account. When I have painted all 78 cards I hope to make them into a deck.

Welcome To My Nest!

Hello World,

This is my very first personal blog. Actually it's my very first blog ever. I did a lot of reading before I decided to publish a blog, and it seems the number one rule of blogging is to be consistently interesting. Well, from my point of view, to have a consistently interesting blog requires one to have a consistently interesting life. Now these aren't words that I would usually use to describe my life, but I am not letting that get me down. In fact, I am seeing it as a wake-up call that I am wasting my time every day I don't spend doing things that interest me enough to write about. So starting with this blog, my goal is to find something interesting to do, or at least something interesting to think about, every day so that I can share it with you, the world, the internet, whoever you happen to be. So without further ado, let's start this wild ride!

Love,

Aimee