And another opportunity to take those pics along the Inner Drive... probably gone. Who knows how much more decent weather we'll have.

Along Chicago's Inner Drive, along Lake Michigan on the north side, there are a number of wonderful old buildings with fabulous grotesques. I used a point/shoot film camera many years ago to capture some of them, but now I have a better camera, access to a zoom lens, and I want to do it again. Unfortunately, I am also wiser and know better than to turn my back (and my attention) away from my surroundings, while holding an expensive camera. Fifteen years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to do this without a "spotter" - after all, I did the first set alone. But now I know it's just not wise. *sigh*

Third time's a charm, I hope - after two previous attempted and cancelled flights, Mom and I are finally going to shepherd my daughter to California. I'll be loaded as I was for Maui, cameras in hand. With a little luck, two weeks from today I'll have a ton of pics to weed through, and will post some here.

I got a new camera (DSLR - whee!), and flower season is here, which means that it's nearly time for me to pounce on my garden. There are buds on the clematis, poppy and coneflower, but the pinks are beginning to pop now. The yarrow, lavender, hyssop and daylilies have yet to bud, but the daffodils and hyacinths are long finished.

I've added a finch feeder to the shepherd's crook, and have already gotten some lovely photos of my avian visitors: goldfinches, purple finches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, sparrows, brown-headed cowbirds, mourning doves and more. I think I even had an indigo bunting, but all I saw was the flash of blue before it was gone.

So far 2008 has been amazingly stressful. Won't get into detail, because frankly I'm sick of thinking about all the shit that's happened, particularly in the last couple months. I'm looking forward to burying myself in photos and art, and pretending that nothing at all is the matter...

(No, no, not that kind of homeless... StMarc & I are fine!)

When the admin of my artist trading card home (ATCards.com) announced the site was shutting down, fear, confusion, rage and sadness followed. The two-weeks' grace we were promised has evaporated (dunno why), but with 10 days left of the month, no one is able to access anything, unless they Google it and look at cached pages. The past week has been completely bipolar with the manic ups and downs the members have all experienced. There is light at the end of the tunnel....

Some of the computer-minded members *immediately* set about creating a new home for us. The latest word is that it will be ready for us to essentially be beta testers in 24 hours. There will be bugs to work out; of course! they've only had a week to do this. My hat's off to them. People have been working 'round the clock to ensure that the community did not fragment. They even made sure that everyone's feedback is carried over to the new site, attached to the same username. They had one request of us: Get the word out! So, even though my blog isn't exactly CuteOverload! with millions of visitors, I'll happily post on the off chance that someone reads that is interested.

Without further ado, I am pleased to announce the newest site for the trading of artist trading cards (and other mail art) -- ATCsforALL: [link]!

*Away From Camera

I haven't done much interesting with my camera lately, other than some shots of my daughter (not Art) and some catalog shots for a client's website. I've been involved with doing ATCs in various media from paper collage to paint to dried flowers. I didn't mean to... it just happened. I was reading about altered books, and suddenly involved with making and trading cards all over the Western Hemisphere (OK- slight exaggeration: England, Canada and the US are in the West-Hem, but there's a lot more to it than that.)

Anyway, I'm trying to find my way to getting started in an altered book. I'm not sure where to begin (and the advice "just do it" doesn't work for me), I'm not entirely certain what I want to DO with it, and I have a whole book to do it in. I started a practice book to play in, but that actually feels a little pointless. Huh, go figure.

The book, when it's finished, is supposed to be a combination of homage and art journal with the subject of belly dance. I just printed out 13 pages of 10-pt type quotations from belly dancers and others about dance, with a 4-in margin to the right so I can make notations when one jumps out at me. I can then turn that into art on a page. I hope. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, only that I am compelled to do this. It's not as tho I'm any kind of artist whose works will become famous upon my death, it's not as tho I have some pain that I must overcome thru art-as-therapy. So I'll plan something that's supposed to be organic, read books about it before I get started for real, and generally make myself nutz about it until I get started. Because that's what I do...

So that's what I'm up to. I'll be back. Eventually.