The Sandman

The sandman is an interesting mythical figure in our culture. I can remember talking to Jenny about him one late night after finishing a piece of artwork. We started talking about his origins & told one another that if we found anything about him, we would be sure to share it. I love creepy claymation/animation & so, after finding this wonderfully made performance from 1992 by Paul Berry, I decided it would make a fun post & a creepy reminder that the purpose of the sandman lies as much in threat as in promise. Some tales say he spreads sand into your eyes @ bedtime to make you sleepy & according to this animation, this may not be an innocent motive. enjoy. ~Anna

Woodburning Projects (& Calendar Journal Update)

To keep my creative energy flowing and to give me a way to escape schoolwork and responsibilities, I have all sorts of crazy side projects that float in and out of my life. And this past year, I have taken up woodburning as a hobby. It's a lot of fun! And I'm glad I got into it. I have done a series of burning and staining projects for friends and family. This one here is my current project and it's a box for myself. :) This is how it looked when I bought it:

I started this project in July of last year and I'm still not done with it! I blame other projects distracting me and, of course, I also blame school. Sheesh, taking up all of my free time! Anyway, this is how it looks right now: 

The plan is to eventually finish burning the pattern all the way around the box's sides. As you can see, I have the back side half way finished. I also have the other short side to finish. Once I'm done with the woodburning, I'll stain it and it'll be done! So more photos to come!

The woodburning pen that I use is the Walnut Hollow Model: WH-750F (16.5W 120V AC 60Hz). It was sold at Michael's when I purchased it and it was only $10. I also bought the tip variety set which was another ~$8, if I remember right. This particular woodburning pen is advertised as designed for use by women. I have seen the woodburners sold at hardware stores and the one I use is definitely not as power-tool like. All in all, I like the pen and it serves my purposes well. :)

Also! I'd like to update you all on my calendar journal. I haven't gotten to work on the woodburning (Heck, I haven't even sketched a pattern on it yet). But I have been keeping up with the cards for the days and begun thinking of what I'd like to burn on it.

I have been thinking of doing a chevron stripe-type of pattern but I'm deciding on whether or not I want to commit to another filled pattern (it takes much longer to burn it to fill). I have also been thinking of sketching some illustrations of wish flowers and their seeds. I may take some inspiration from images like these:

I'm excited to finish my box and get a move on working on my calendar journal. I'm trying really hard not to start other projects until these are finished. I'm horrible at finished projects sometimes! And looking at Pinterest every day is making it harder not to start new projects - so many great ideas on there! But there'll be more updates to come as these two progress! And I hope you have success in finishing any projects that you may have in your life! Happy creating!
- Jenny -

Aquatic masks project

This week has been a little slice of adult life for my normally loose schedule. long story short between trying to drive in the snow, get to work on time & be the boss for most of the past week, I have had little time to do what I hope will become a solid career for me in the next couple of years(working on that). My art. Right now, you could say I'm  in an experimental phase with my mediums, but currently my focus has been on mask making. Part of this may stem from my strange love of all things Halloween & the fact that I could never find what I was looking for in the mask department. Another reason may just be that I watched so many monster movies growing up that I was always interested in how they MADE those monsters. Often times, in such classics as the old time Creature from the Black Lagoon , The Alien series, all sorts of werewolf films, the monsters were humans dressed up in awesome (or sometimes not so awesome) creature suits made by all sorts of people. Moving back to what I'm up to, I just sent the preliminary sketch for what may become four mask commissions for sea creatures in a school film project. There will be two fish (one red & one blue), one whale & one kraken! hooray! anyway, this is one of the multiple projects that will be eating my time(but in a good way). maybe I'll post some pics as they get finished! ~Anna