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OMG what a beautiful day! First of all, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my daughter Charlotte who is 16 today! 16 years ago, right about now (high noon) I gave birth to my one & only girl. ^_^ Wow...time does fly! Pictures coming of the birthday celebration (where you get to see her new cute Asian boyfriend; he looks just like anime! She's cycling through significant others at an alarming rate lately...good for her I say).
Ahem. Yes! And! I LOVE my newest masks! FireFoxes!
Isn't that the cutest fox mask ever? I mean, I just can't be modest about it...I love this mask! Available on Etsy of course.
Because it's a fantasy fox, I used metallic paints too...gold accents on the red fox:
Metallic blue and silver on the blue-gray version:
This one is the original commission.
It started as a special request for a "blue fox" on Etsy and you know...I was feeling SO uninspired. She said she wanted a fox mask along the same lines as my big StormWolf mask; a fantasy fox. I came up with the pattern by basically combining the plain fox with the big spiky wolf mask, & the pattern sat for days. I stared at it, but couldn't "see" the finished mask. Finally I just bit the bullet & got to work on it over the weekend, & as soon as I started, the design just flowed out of me onto the leather like water; it was so easy.
As an artist I find the BEST way to get yourself "unstopped" creatively is to just get to work anyway. Sometimes you'll "hit" on a design, whether by instinct or chance, & it'll pull you out of that funk faster than anything. Maybe that's a good life-lesson; it might not be easy, but just DO it anyway. Dieting, working out, writing, creating art, building a business...just DO it. Like the Nike commercial says.
My Dad loved to quote freely from "The Voice Of The Silence" Finally now I understand what he meant. He would tell us...
"If Sun thou can'st not be, then be the humble planet. Aye, if thou art debarred from flaming like the noon-day Sun upon the snow-capped mount of purity eternal, then choose, O Neophyte, a humbler course. "
And this was his favorite. He used to say it ALL the time.
"...if thou would'st Nirvana reach, or cast the prize away, let not the fruit of action and inaction be thy motive, thou of dauntless heart."
Dad has been gone for, wow...almost exactly eight years now. Yet I'm still learning from him.
...
I'm on my second cup of coffee! Time to head out for a bike ride with Kiba. It's cold as heck but the sun is shining so cheerfully that I simply have to bundle up and go. ^_^
Ahem. Yes! And! I LOVE my newest masks! FireFoxes!
Isn't that the cutest fox mask ever? I mean, I just can't be modest about it...I love this mask! Available on Etsy of course.
Because it's a fantasy fox, I used metallic paints too...gold accents on the red fox:
Metallic blue and silver on the blue-gray version:
This one is the original commission.
It started as a special request for a "blue fox" on Etsy and you know...I was feeling SO uninspired. She said she wanted a fox mask along the same lines as my big StormWolf mask; a fantasy fox. I came up with the pattern by basically combining the plain fox with the big spiky wolf mask, & the pattern sat for days. I stared at it, but couldn't "see" the finished mask. Finally I just bit the bullet & got to work on it over the weekend, & as soon as I started, the design just flowed out of me onto the leather like water; it was so easy.
As an artist I find the BEST way to get yourself "unstopped" creatively is to just get to work anyway. Sometimes you'll "hit" on a design, whether by instinct or chance, & it'll pull you out of that funk faster than anything. Maybe that's a good life-lesson; it might not be easy, but just DO it anyway. Dieting, working out, writing, creating art, building a business...just DO it. Like the Nike commercial says.
My Dad loved to quote freely from "The Voice Of The Silence" Finally now I understand what he meant. He would tell us...
"If Sun thou can'st not be, then be the humble planet. Aye, if thou art debarred from flaming like the noon-day Sun upon the snow-capped mount of purity eternal, then choose, O Neophyte, a humbler course. "
And this was his favorite. He used to say it ALL the time.
"...if thou would'st Nirvana reach, or cast the prize away, let not the fruit of action and inaction be thy motive, thou of dauntless heart."
Dad has been gone for, wow...almost exactly eight years now. Yet I'm still learning from him.
...
I'm on my second cup of coffee! Time to head out for a bike ride with Kiba. It's cold as heck but the sun is shining so cheerfully that I simply have to bundle up and go. ^_^
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Happy birthday Char! Looking forward to pictures. Hope she does something fun for herself today. :)
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Char had a nice 16th birthday. Drama during the day (boyfriend version 6.0 is cute but troublesome!) but a fun bonfire party at night with all her rugby pals, so the day was a success.
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I remember someone telling my dad not to worry if I liked alot of boys--that it wasn't time to worry until I fixed on just one!
The masks are wonderful--you keep topping yourself!
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I am actually glad Char is dating freely. For a while she was involved with a long term "serious" relationship and the drama of it all took a toll on her. I actually said "you are just a kid...you need to enjoy this time when you get to date different people & LEARN all about what you do & don't want in a relationship. It's your best & only chance to do that safely with no serious repercussions. You have your whole adult life to get serious & settle down so for crying out loud, have some fun!" & you know, she listened to me & it's cut down on the drama immensely. Kids need to behave like kids & not like jaded twenty-somethings, you know?
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Your icon is SO cute! I think I saw that cat plastered all over every toy store in Tokyo...something like "lost kitty" (I think it was anime or manga?)...can't remember.
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You can see all the subtitled episodes, starting with the first one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NecY_z-Ht0&feature=channel_page
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Happy Birthday, Char!!!
I am glad to see you happy and inspired again (I knew it would happen, but it's still great to see!) and enjoying our LOVELY weather. Yeah, it's a bit chilly, but I'm just loving the sun, and the red wing blackbirds (don't believe the Robins; they lie. But when you see a Red Wing Blackbird, you know spring is here) and the crocuses.
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I am much happier when I can make pretty things. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by responsibilities & obligations & it slows me down. I need to remember that the best way to get beyond a problem is to go straight THROUGH it...it's what I always have done. Sometimes I just forget that. ^_^
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And that's really good artistic advice. :) I've finally come to realize with things like writing that waiting till I'm in the mystical "creative zone" generally means that nothing ever gets done...but if I suck it up and just write sometimes it will trigger the zone.
The moral of the story is I should stop being lazy. ^_^;
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Yes exactly; if you keep waiting for everything to be "perfect" before you create something, you'll never get around to it. I do think that too much stress or too much drama/emotion makes it impossible to be creative, but still...waiting for perfection will keep you waiting forever.
I like to be "happy" (whatever that means) when I create...& it dawned on me that I am happiest when I'm working on something I like. The act of creating is the very thing I needed to put me in that "happy" place where I COULD create...you see?
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Meanwhile, you are so ramping the temptations to add a mask to the wall. The only problems are budget just got shot due to some pricey house repairs, and... you have WAY too many good items to choose from. I suspect I will have made a decision before the year is out.
The foxes look great!!
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Hee! Thanks...I'm glad you like my work! ^_^
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Cool, I haven't had ginkgo leaves before! I can't make anything with them immediately (probably) because I am in the early stages of a huuuuge project for Skip Beat...I am on a very small scanslation team doing the entire SB Fanbook...and it's taking every bit of energy I have right now. As soon as I can though I'll make something and take a pic and put it in my journal. :)
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Oh well. I'm glad you got them finally & I hope you can find something to do with them.
You'll have to send me a link to your SB project when it's finished! It sounds interesting. :-)