Voodoo, Mojo & Mr. Johnson ...

Spent more time in the studio this weekend and the Voodoo art journal is ready to send on its journey! Hard to see this one go - really enjoyed creating the Robert Johnson shrine - but happy it's going to Deb (sure hope she likes it).

The music selection for the last phase of the journal moved into some current material, but still with a strong blues influence ... and an edge.

Conjured up the seedy underbelly with Nick Cave and 'Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!' Catch a bit of their own hoodoo on the Nick Cave & The Badseeds site -- Mojo voted this the best new album of 2008.
Next up, Detroit rockers, The White Stripes with "Icky Thump"
Finally, wrapping things up with Joe Strummer delivering his influences on 'The Future Is Unwritten'

So now to the Voodoo journal. As I thought about Voodoo and Mojo, I thought about the story of Robert Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads ... the inspiration for the spread.




The words are from an article I found at the Mudcat Cafe ...

"If you want to learn how to make songs yourself, you take your guitar and your go to where the road crosses that way, where a crossroads is. Get there be sure to get there just a little ' fore 12 that night so you know you'll be there. You have your guitar and be playing a piece there by yourself…A big black man will walk up there and take your guitar and he'll tune it. And then he'll play a piece and hand it back to you. That's the way I learned to play anything I want." ~ Tommy Johnson

The rusty bits started out as toys. The larger of the dolls is from Hannah Grey Curiosities & Drygoods and the smaller doll is a mardi gras baby -- one of a handful I bought some time ago.


In addition to paints n' patinas, I also used my vise and dremel on this journal. Something satisfying about drilling a hole into the tiny fist (1/32" drill bit). I ordered the vise & dremel from The Artists Nook ... sure, you could go to the local Home Depot but better to support artist-run businesses (besides, it's the vise that Michael deMeng recommends so you know you're off to a good start with your tools)



The snakes are from the local party supply store ...




Might try to grab a few more pics before shipping this off ...

Forget to Learn ...

On Saturday, I went to an "Intro to Voice-Over & Acting" class in SF. I've been wanting to do VO work for years and, in fact, have done some off-n-on, here-n-there, mostly for friends and at various companies I worked for. You see, I was a radio broadcasting major and I intended on working in radio but, as many of my friends have heard the story patiently over and over, the talk radio station I was working at just before graduation went bust -- the owner came in and fired everyone except for one engineer to keep the station running on satelite feed -- and, to make the story short, I ended up going the 'practial' route and got a job in tech.

So, hear I am years later and the urge to really pursue the VO path has finally pushed me to sign up for some classes at a local studio. This first session was an overview of the business but there was a point where everyone had a chance to be 'on mic' and read some short copy to see how they liked it. I know I like doing this but found the nerves kicked in when I got in front of the room and suddenly I couldn't stop over-thinking the delivery. The result, besides a stiff read, was the realization that just like when I work on an art project, a writing project, or any other creative endeavor, I need to get out of my head, get out of my way and just go with the process. If I think it through too much, the end product doesn't work.

Moving forward, I need to forget everything I learned in my years of broadcast training and open up to all the new information to be learned about voice-acting. I think it's going to be a fun ride.

More Voodoo ...

Spent some more time over the weekend working on the Voodoo art journal. I was immersed in making things old and weathered - so much so that didn't really think about blogging the effort. Between the art process and the music, not much else came into play.

The music? Been pulling out several CDs that I haven't listened to in awhile to provide the backdrop for this art journal.

Reverend Gary Davis, in particular the album 'Harlem Street Singer'

Next up, some Muddy Waters, from the fab compiliation: The Chess Box.

And, most recently, Lazy Lester, songs from the '50s and '60s collected on 'I Hear You Knockin'! The Excello Singles'

The art bits that happened while listening to these albums? More rusty toys and prepping of a few pins ...




More to do this weekend ...

Voodoo In Progress ...

I've slipped behind on the art journal project (late sending the current journal in my posession off to the next artist) but last weekend I made some headway. The theme for this particular journal is Voodoo - so it wasn't so much a lack of ideas as picking a place to start. Once I decided I wanted to create a bit of a shrine within the spread, things started to move.

I started by creating some structure ...




Then it was time to start playing with toys ... I love the Modern Masters paints (learned about them when I took a class from Jane Wynn)




Of course I wasn't about to stop with just one baby doll ...


In between painting the layers and patina on the toys, I worked on altering a laser print photo of Robert Johnson ...


More ideas cooking. More time in the studio needed this weekend.

Candy Cigs

Candy Cigs
Originally uploaded by k-dj

Wonder if El Charro would carry a pack ...

Diptych ATCs ...

I was reading the Spring issue of Artful Blogging recently and one of the blogs featured was Think Monday - Think ATCs, a blog featuring weekly ATC challenges. Here are the ATCs I made for this week's challenge: Diptych.


"Change is to give up what we are to become what we could be" ...

"It's the little things that matter" ...

The image is an old family photo ...

Garage Find ...

Some people plow through a box of cookies, a tub of ice cream, a bag of chips. Me? I occasionally go on CD shopping binges. Last big spend in a record store was at Waterloo in Austin in March. So, it was time.

After seeing 'Young @ Heart' on Saturday I was craving some new music. Luckily, Rasputin is just down the street from the theater. One hour and 15 CDs later, I was ready to start listening.
The first play from my new stash was a surprise find. I knew I wanted to pick up the Foxboro Hot Tubs release so Garage was on my mind. Flipping through the bins, I spotted 'You Got Yours!: East Bay Garage 1965 - 1967.' The parentals grew up in Albany (CA not NY) -- I was born in Berkeley -- a CD of East Bay garage bands was a must purchase.

I was not disappointed! The CD opens with 'Waiting For You' by The Baytovens (featured on the front cover and my favorite band name on the disc). A couple of the tracks would be great additions to a '60s for Kids compilation -- notably 'Humpty Dumpty' by The Epics and Dynosaur by The Flintrocks.

In addition to 24 tracks of East Bay rock, there are also detailed liner notes from Alec Palao, El Cerrito, CA. Definitely worth checking out.

Young @ Heart ...

Part of my plan to kick off the 3-day weekend was see "Young @ Heart" on Saturday but the show was SOLD OUT. So, today, I set the alarm, grabbed a Peet's double latte and headed to the theater early for the morning matinee. Fantastic!

It was a great experience even before the movie started.
The elderly lady sitting next to me had also tried to see Saturday's show (sold out) so we chatted a bit about how we really wanted to see "Yount @ Heart" on the big screen and that led to other movie talk - both of us loved "Iron Man" and thought Tony Stark was the role Robert Downey Jr. was meant to play. But back to "Young @ Heart" ...

As I sat in a theater full of people - most at least 60 and many probably 80 - all to see a film about octogenarians singing Sonic Youth, The Clash and others, I started to smile. Music is universal.

I'm no film critic so not going to attempt a review. Let's just say, you must see this movie.



Note: I did notice a few key differences with the audience: no text messaging during the movie, no talking during show and, following the film, the line for the restroom formed quickly. Ah, things to look forward to.

(post addition) I should also mention, during this movie was the first time I enjoyed a Cold Play song.

Like A Prayer ...

Catching up on some blog reading today and saw John Wesley Harding's post that there's now a video for his cover of Madonna's 'Like A Prayer.' (read Howie Klein's post about Seymour Stein, Wes and the song here) Imagine my surprise to see one of my photos in the video!

Here's my pic from The Freight & Salvage in 2004 ...


Watch for it in the video for 'Like A Prayer' ...



Nice to know in some way my photo's helpin' to spread the word.

John Wesley Harding, musician
Wesley Stace, author

The Art Journal Project Continues ...

The last few months have been stupidly busy. I wish I could say I've been busy with lots of fun and creative things and, while there has been some of that, there's also been a lot fo day-job hoo-haw gettin' in the way. But, that said, I finally managed to finish working in the 3rd journal I received as part of a rotating Art Journal project!

Each Journal was started by a different artist - they creat the cover & choose the theme - this journal was all about Travel. While most of my recent travel has been business trips (no, I am not going to create a journal page with that focus), I did have a wonderful trip to Oaxaca last October (and also in 1999) that I used for inspiration.


The bits of newspaper used throughout the journal are from the newspapers used to wrap items I bought in Oaxaca.


The inside started with very bright colors: hot pink of the papel picado, bright yellow paint, the original colors of the Catarina image and my photographs. But, while there is a lot of color in Mexico, most of it is knocked back a bit with layers of earth -- so I hit everything with washes to tone the color down. The handwritten text says "Celebración de la Vida en la Tierra de Tres Valles."


The metal objects in the journal all started as brightly painted or plain tin. Using techniques I learned from Michael deMeng during the Oaxaca trip, I altered each with layers of paint. (I also used Michael's painting techniques on the 'burned paper' edges.)



To give you an idea of where this journal started ...


So, that's the spread.


And now it's time for me to work on the next journal. It arrived in April but I held off opening the box until this one was completed. Hmmm ... maybe I'll get to use bones in the next book ...

Rare Mexican Cuts from the Sixties!

Any music junkie I've ever met has it - their holy grail - the album they heard about or maybe once had that is the recording they now search for in every record store they enter. With the Internet comes the search on Amazon, Amazon UK and eBay (tho' I would say these searches are not nearly as enjoyable as flipping through the bins).

My holy grail of recent years: Rare Mexican Cuts from the Sixties. I once had the album and then *poof* gone. I don't know if it went out on loan to someone who disappeared from my life or if it vanished in a move -- all I know is that when I go to my wall of CDs, it's not there. Of course, as soon as the CD went missing, all I wanted to hear were Mexican garage bands from the '60s covering The Rolling Stones, The Doors and others.

I came close to recovering this lost gem a few times including almost locating it through Waterloo Records in Austin ... but, ultimately, no Rare Mexican Cuts. Although, I did often stumble upon other musical treats because of my search including Los York's Los York's 68.

Tonight, thanks to garage60s.blogspot.com, I'm now listening to Bajate De Mi Nube - translation Get Off of My Cloud. Sure, I'll still search for the CD so that it's back in my collection where it belongs but, until then, I've got the songs!

Rare Mexican Cuts from the Sixties

Sam Interviews E!

Wahoo ... my friend, Erin, of Namastemofo.com captured on video by Sam Page.

The Blog ...

So thinkin' my blog needs a look, a design ... some sort of pizzaz. Maybe a new name? Hey, then maybe I'd post more.

Gettin' Ready to Create ...

I'm off to Artfest tomorrow. Once again, the time between registration in September and my flight to Seattle raced by and I find I'm completely unprepared. I had grand visions of creating something for the gallery, finishing lots of inchies, charms and other goodies to swap, and finding the perfect art elements for my class projects. As it is, I'll be lucky to finish a few keyhole charms for my housemates. After a final run to Home Depot on Sunday, I now have all the tools required ... still have to pack tonight.

As hectic as things have been, so looking forward to 3 days of art classes and no discussion of computers, technologies, strategies, dependencies and all the other joy that comes with the day job. This year, I'll be taking 2 classes with Linda & Opie O'Brien (Who's Your DADA and Flat to Stacked) and a class with The Ashmans (Necklace Journal) ... it's all about metal this year.

A New Decade ...

Happy Birthday to me. March is always a bit crazy with my annual trip to Austin for SXSW ... this year was a bit nuttier than usual thanks to an unexpected business trip to London than ran directly into my Texas travels. So, now, it's my birthday and I'm taking a moment to capture some of the the things I've observed, experienced or noted over the past few weeks.

• Everyone should fly business class at least once before turning 40.
  (warm nuts, Port, and a clean pair of socks ...)
  
• When shopping at independent record stores, always ask the person behind the counter what they're listening to - and buy whatever at least one item they recommend. It's a great way to discover new music.
  (I'm now listening to Jeffrey Lewis '12 Crass Songs' thanks to the guy working at Sister Ray records in SOHO, London)
  
• When photographing concerts, always be polite and don't interfere with the photographers who are there to earn a living and the fans who are there to enjoy the show.
  
• Always tip the waitstaff and tip the waitresses who card you really, really well.
  (thanks to the waitress at The Boiling Pot who carded me at lunch when I ordered a Shiner)
  
• Eat breakfast for dinner; french toast at night will make you smile.
  
• You're never old when you're with your friends.

And with that, I'm off to wrap up my birthday with a slice of lemon bunt cake and a viewing of 'The Breakfast Club' ...

Reading in 2008 ...

Reading. A good way to start the new year. Last year was such a blur I might have found my way through a couple books. Here it is still January and I've finished 2 books that have been on my books-to-read stack for awhile.

The first book I finished reading this year was Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman. Why didn't I read this book sooner?! A fantastic read that brought back plenty o' memories as well as provided some great music commentary. I wasn't into metal - went more the the punk, goth, alt route - but had plenty of friends who were and fondly remember watching back-to-back videos full of spandex and big hair on MTV before going to class. Moving Chuck's other books up on my to-read stack.

After Fargo Rock City I moved on to By George by Wesley Stace. While it might seem an odd segue, there is a connection ... one book written about music, the next written by a musician (some of you may know Stace by the name John Wesley Harding).

I started By George last year - having picked up the book immediately upon release - but, due to my own series of unfortune events, I was distracted from finishing the book. Returning to the pages this year, I found myself drawn in by the characters and the connections between the two boys George. I continue to think about the people, the family, the connections ... and am looking forward to both JWH's next album and Stace's next novel.

Hmmm ... what to grab next from the reading stack ...

Catching Up ...Moving Forward ...

I had good intentions of multiple posts about the Oaxaca trip ... tho' was too busy experiencing Oaxaca to post while there and various negative events occupied my brain and energy once I returned so focus was on getting to the holidays and saying good-bye to 2007.

One thing I realized after meeting all the great artists who attended the workshop in Oaxaca - and something that I'm carrying with me into the new year -- is that I'm not the only one workin' a day job. Ok, sure, this may seem obvious to the rest of you - but it was a pleasant reminder to me. It is indeed possible to work and still create. That said, focus for the new year is on making the necessary changes and finding the right balance so I can spend more time and energy in creative environments and creating my own things ... whatever those may be.

So, here's to 2008. On the list, put the final touches on the piece I started in Oaxaca ... just looking for the right word.

Today's Quote ...

"Why is there a frozen zombie on the TV?"

- heard after Tivo had been paused for an hour.

Random Report ...

Returning to 'play all' on the Zune, I was offered this surprise of a segue yesterday ...

'Red Hot & Blue Love' from Working Class Dog by Rick Springfield

followed by ...

'Leilani' from Stoneage Romeos by The Hoodoo Gurus

Really, it worked.

Peliculas de Las Calaveras ...

After all the talk of "El Charro de las Calaveras" while in Oaxaca, had to set Tivo to see if I might be able to see the film for myself. No such luck yet, but did watch "Las Calaveras del Terror" tonight. '

Must watch more of the Mexican Western/Adventure/Mystery/Horror genre! Oh, yeah, need to post some more Oaxaca tales, too.