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currently in bloom one of my favorite orchids "Cherry Frazier"
not to be confused with the song Sherry Frazer by Marcy Playground
this plant has two blooming spikes with over 50 flowers to each spike
a red so deep that it is almost brown
Next to paper, orchids are right up there at the top of the list of my favorite things.
more journal pages that are in "the works"
not much has been going on and not much to write about
finding myself in a journal slump
but can always motivate myself to make some pages that are ready when this lull ends
colors, patterns and a look to these pages that are a bit out of my comfort zone
but working outside what is familiar is always a good way to try and end a creative void.
at least that is what I tell myself
now if I could just shake the polka dot thing
I have had a facination with polka dots all my life. My grandmother told me I went through a phase when I was around five that the only clothes I would wear had to have polka dots and pictures of that era confirms it. I clearly remember taking a black marker to a plain bright red blouse and adding dots all over it but then I also remember the lady bug teasing afterwards.
some new journal pages
bits and pieces of scrap
The four pigs is a piece from a Victorian era scrapbook that was tattered and disintegrating. The pages were crumbling right out of the book and that's just the way I love it. This little chunk of page had four cute little porkers and for some reason they reminded me of the four pigs in the book "Animal Farm" 
and the beginnings of another page but I didn't have time today to do any more work on it.
The paper with the writing was in a huge box filled with dusty dirty documents, ledgers and record books that was found when we pulled the old barn down. I have no idea where this paper was stored because I had never seen it in the barn before. Three boxes magically appeared as the barn was being pulled down. I suppose they were tucked in some wall. They date from 1956 all the way back to 1912 recording all the breeding and other information about the cattle. Far too dirty to bring in the house so I keep them in the potting shed and grab a single piece of paper as I need it. Once it covered with sealer, they are fit to use.
"in school, they were good children but at home they were bad...very very bad"
back in a few days...happy halloween
**digital collage**
One of my favorite Halloween activities has always been attending horror film festivals. Since there appears to be nothing happening in the area I live in, I decided to host my own personal movie marathon.
Here is what will be playing at the River Bend Ranch Halloween Film Festival...
Possession (Isabelle Adjani)
is a totally unique film; the performances have the stylized emotional hysteria of a Ken Russell movie (characters are prone to seizures and self-mutilation, when they get too upset), but constrained within the formal rigor of a Roman Polanski. A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspect a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizaared incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.
Spider Baby
Lon Chaney, Jr. plays the caretaker for a family who is inflicted with a unique genetic disorder--one that causes them to regress mentally to a state of savagery and cannibalism. When distant cousins arrive with the intention of "taking over," an utterly bizarre night of horror follows.
Onibaba
One of Japan's all-time greatest horror features, Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba plunges us to the depths of despair in war-torn feudalist Japan. In a barren rural landscape, an old peasant woman and her daughter-in-law eke out a meager existence by ambushing samurai and stripping them of their armor and goods. When a brutal mercenary imposes himself on their scheme, the women turn violently on one another. Jealousy, rage, and the haunted mask of a dead warrior transform the mother into a vengeful demon.
Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley is a twisted ride from the start in its depiction of the ugly side of carnival life. This movie is, hands down, Tyrone Power's finest hour in his acting career! He plays a heel with gritty realism as his character embarks upon his rise and fall, using everyone to further his own ambitions. 
Haxan
One of the most famous cult/horror films from the silent era, Benjamin Christensen's "Häxan" is at its devilish best.
Creature with the Atom Brain
Think of it as The Godfather meets Dr. Strangelove in Frankenstein's castle: an exiled American gangster bent on revenge hires a maniacal ex-Nazi scientist to create radio-controlled killer zombies. Soon, the police, the army and the kitchen sink show up to battle it out in a climax your nightmares will take notes from.
Eyes Without A Face
(also known as Les Yeux San Visage) is an excellent and brilliant movie from it's time. Made in 1959 in Italy with French actors, the movie details the life of how deep a father's love for his daughter parallels the depth of his ongoing madness for redemption, forgiveness and hypocrisy.
Descent
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators. The Descent has chills. There's high suspense. It goes without saying that there are good old fashioned jump-out-of-the-dark scares (they are in a cave!). No special effects needed here to generate excitement. The creatures are well designed and scary.
.....Now I am off to get a weekend supply of popcorn, junior mints and soda.
the past few days, I have been staying busy cutting some new stencils.
with the cooler weather, I have been able to get outside and get some good time in spray painting.
Several days now a red tailed hawk has been hanging around my studio. This morning when I looked out the window he was sitting on the fence watching me work in my visual journal. The hawk hung around for about an hour enjoying the morning sun. It didn't even occur to me to get my camera as I was catch in the moment of being able to observe the hawk at such a close distance.
a journal page ready for text and maybe a few bits of paper. I like to have pages in various stages and come back and add stuff as I work through the visual journal.
Ralph the dog modeling his new sweater
What I am listening to on my iPod
I am the first to admit that I have never liked The Beatles (insert collective GASP here)
from the first time I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show and through all the years following, I just never got it. My taste in music was more in lines with Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.
But that said, I love the songs when they are preformed by other artists. I had been anxiously waiting for "Across the Universe" to be released yesterday and I can say this is a must have. I love every thing on it and it is brilliant. (I have the Amazon link here but I found my on iTunes, I just don't know how to do an iTunes link)
only enough time today to show a few new journal pages
still in love with vintage wallpaper
this page made using a photo taken a couple of months ago on a trip to Galveston, more wallpaper scraps and an old photo
Due to many requests, I have now opened the Tuscan Rose Etsy shop.
I have received many emails from those of you wanting to purchase single collage sheets
check out the new Etsy shop here
the newest collage sheet of Christmas Inchies has just been added to both the Etsy shop and the Tuscan Rose web site.
Last week, I finished my daily journal and I have turned the studio upside down looking for another desk calendar book. This is my favorite type of book to use for the daily journal. This is the journal that is just a paste and cut where I like to jot down books I have read and unimportant stuff like weather, to do lists and other observations.
a couple of weeks ago, I bought this Kliban cat journal for my desk next year but I absconded it for my altered daily journal.
a few pages that are glued and ready for notes and other things to paste down. Usually I cover up the art work that is already in the calendar but I decided to leave some of the cats (for now anyway)
These daily journals are good for pasting junk mail and I like to paste bits from magazines that catch my interest.
going through some old journals
these two pages are from three years ago
Check out this book, it is a must have if you like graphic arts
Fingerprint by Chen Design Associates
how can you pass up a book with a forward page like this one
this is one of those book that you can spend hours with taking in all the details of the art.
for the past couple of weeks when I have been working in the garden, I keep seeing something run along the wall by these bushes. Just barely catching something out of the corner of my eye. So yesterday when the UPS man asked what was living back there behind the plants, I knew it wasn't just me losing my mind.
I picked up a live trap from animal control. Setting up the trap was like a magnet for all the little boys who live close by. Many of them were speculating what animal it could possibly be. One of the younger boys in the group said "I sure hope it's a monkey". Don't you just love that!!!
so here is my list of what I think it might be going from most desirable to least
*bunny - cute and fuzzy is good
*ferrel cat - most likely
*skunk - animal control can come get their trap
*rattlesnake - already did this a few times this year
*coyote - too close to the house for one
*chupacabra - of course they don't exist or do they
but there is always hope for a monkey
with all the hot weather, it is nearly impossible to think that it's getting to be that time of the year.
time to put away the flip flops and polish the boots
my second most favorite pair of boots
how can you not love pointy toe cowgirl boots with tiny white stars, purple leather with teal stitching (the other boot has trails...aka my happy trails boots)
time to think about ornaments.
This year I think I will do a junk and found object Christmas tree
this is one I made from a cool red painted bolt, some glass pieces off a chandelier, beads and a photo charm
and an ornament made from pieces of broken china with soldered edges
time to say goodbye
to Cifford the red stuffed animal head that Ralph the dog has hauled around the yard all summer.
something disturbing about looking in the backyard and seeing a Clifford head in the yard. Yes, it's time to make the Clifford head disappear.
