Getting Ready For Grave Rubbings

 Some of the headstones in Stonington, CT.

I have been researching interesting grave sites in New Jersey. I got the idea, oddly enough, while I was in Stonington, CT. There was a small graveyard there with beautifully engraved headstones. Later that same week, there was a lecture about the history of the graveyard and the people buried in it. These engravings interested me so much that I started thinking about doing grave rubbings. The stones in Stonington were too delicate for me to try on them, but I thought about doing ones in New Jersey because we have some pretty interesting people buried here and it might be more fun for me to explore the graveyards of my home state. I will be charting how my progress goes, and I will be selling the grave rubbings at Smithville's Artwalk on September 8th this year.

BRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNS!!!!

As my friend at Silver Cicada Designs reminds me, it's not too early to start preparing for Halloween. That goes double for me because this year I'm making Halloween products in preparation for Smithville's second annual Zombie Walk which is run by my friends at Underground.

Sewn Back Together Wrong

This wacky shirt is called "Sewn Back Together Wrong" inspired by the first Metalacolypse episode in which the band members of Dethklock (totally fictional and brutal to the point of absurdity) try to bring back their cook by sewing his dismembered pieces back together - wrong - and write a song based on it which plays during the closing credits.

To make this shirt, I cut the shirt from the middle of one shoulder seam to just under the opposite armhole then I twisted this top part to put the armhole where the neck hole should be and the neck where the armhole should be. Then I punched small holes along the cut edges and sewed them back together with strips cut from another tee shirt that I stretched into cords. I cut off and reattached the opposite sleeve in the same way.

This is the shirt I will be wearing, but you can see more as I make them at my Facebook page, and please come visit me at the Zombie Walk on Sunday, October 28th. Learn more about the Zombie Walk on their Facebook page.

Repenning Fine Arts 22nd Annual Student Show

Yesterday my family and I went to the Repenning Fine Arts Student show in Audubon, NJ. My mom and I each had a painting in the show. I don't remember how long my mom has been taking lessons there, but I have been going there since I was eight years old. As usual, the show was like a big party. Lots of great food, talented live musicians, and swarms of people. Even as crowded as it was, it was a lot of fun to go and see all of the artwork - from a child's first acrylic to the oil of a commissioned artist. Best of all...free admission! Check out Repenning Fine Arts on Facebook.

Local Music Review: Chris Westfall

In addition to showing art that I pick up from local artists, I'd like to start showcasing local musicians. I'm starting with the Chris Westfall concert I worked at last night.

Me with Chris Westfall after the concert. See his website at www.chriswestfall.com

Chris Westfall is a folk singer and musician local to South Jersey. He has performed as far north as upstate New York, as far south as North Carolina, and while he only typically goes as far west as Colorado, he has performed in California (wish it had been while I was there). He even goes to Nashville to record his albums, which I know from my own traveling experience is a grueling trip from New Jersey.

Chris plays six- and twelve-string guitars as well as the piano. When you listen to him, you can tell his original compositions are inspired from some unfathomable musical source. My favorite of these is "Gandhi, Buddha" which ranks right up there with John Denver's "Annie's Song" for exactly how you should feel about someone you are in a healthy loving relationship with. I also love "Down This Road" because it's so realistic and self-aware, and "We'll Be There By Morning" because it's so hopeful and uplifting. He also covers classic tunes from other artists. My favorite's of these are John Denver's "Eagles and Horses" and "Calypso" because they make me feel like I'm flying, and Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" because it makes me feel like dancing and because I am a brown-eyed girl myself.

Chris is really an experience to see in concert. He has so much passion for what he does, he sometimes stomps his foot on the stage in rhythm to what he is singing and playing. He is inside the music at these times, soaring with it like an eagle, and you are right there along with him.

Last night, only about 40 people showed up at the concert, but you would have thought it was twice that number by the sheer volume of applause. I know because I could hear it out in the lobby where I was selling tickets. (I clapped too, but I don't think anyone could hear me.)

A little before the intermission, I was able to move my ticket table close enough to the room to hear the rest of the concert. The first song I heard when I got there was "North to Alaska," a song Chris was inspired to write during an Alaskan cruise. He did a cover of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" that I think was better than the original. It's amazing how much a slight decrease in tempo and a single guitar accompaniment can improve an already great song. In between songs, Chris tells interesting and often amusing stories, sometimes about his music career and the songwriting process, sometimes about his daily life. All of them are worth hearing. After the intermission, he played his catchiest original, "Heading to the Mountains," along with some covers, including John Denver's "Country Roads" which had everyone singing along. He also sang a touching original composition, "I'm Coming Home," for National Armed Forces Day, and "Running River," a song written for him by one of his musical friends. I personally think "Running River" must be his favorite song. All the times that I have seen Chris Westfall in concert, he has consistently put more of himself into this one song, every single time, than he has for any other song I have ever seen him perform. He just rises to a whole other level of awesomeness.

I fell asleep at a Livingston Taylor Concert once. His voice was so soothing and his musical style so comforting that I felt perfectly safe, as though I was wrapped up in a blanket. That is how I felt at Chris Westfall's concert last night, except I didn't fall asleep. I attribute this to Chris' ability to offset his soothing, melodious songs with peppy tunes that have you dancing in your seat or singing along - or both!

If given the chance to go to a Chris Westfall concert, you absolutely should not pass it up. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll sing - even if you don't think you can.

For more information, music samples, and concert dates, visit Chris on his website.

May The Forth Be With You

This post is late. Very late. Because when you find out there is a National Star Wars Day it takes a little while to recover. On Friday, Underground - my favorite store in Smithville - had a Dr. Sketchy's event. There were two models and lightsabers and a Darth Vader helmet, and it was awesome. Someone even made stickers of the event and gave them out. We spent several hours sketching the models and listening to a mix of songs about  Star Wars. There were the obligatory Weird Al ones, but also many I had never heard before like "Star Wars Cantina" which is sung to the tune of "Coca Cabana." Check out what Dr. Sketchy is all about at www.drsketchy.com. Afterwards, I slept a lot, got absorbed int reading a lot, and did prep work for THE PROJECT. More on that later.

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.