The Other Side of Somewhere

Changes

As I've mentioned,

Art & Soul this year was a deep and meaningful experience for me.  The classes I took and the people I met clarified a few things about both my public and private creative work.  These little epiphanies, combined with my aim to make authentic choices means there's a new way of doing business around here. 

 

I've made a small but meaningful change to my blog.  When I launched this blog in 2006, its purpose was to support an article I had written for Somerset Studio magazine.  I picked a blog name and it was fine but it wasn't all that; it was what I came up with on the spot.  I've kept the name all this time because I had some irons in the fire and it seemed important to other people that I remain consistent. A couple of years ago, I launched a second blog, a writing-oriented blog, with a name I loved from a poem I'd been composing.  After a short time I decided to close that second blog because really, who has time to keep a blog for every interest?  I was not happy breaking myself into pieces and compartmentalizing myself.  I've taken the name of that second blog, The Other Side of Somewhere, and applied it here.  {art*play*possibility} was nice and served its original purpose, but I've not been happy with it for a very long time.  It just doesn't fit me anymore.

 

Maybe someday I'll write a post about the meaning of the new name, or share the actual poem (still tweaking it).  For now it is a name that fits me and a name I'm madly in love with. It is not a strict definition of content you might find here and offers wide open spaces for all of my creative interests to roam about.

 

If you link here, I am beyond honored.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  If you wish to continue linking here you can update your link to reflect the name change, use my real name, or leave things as you have them.  The url for the blog remains: http://jperegrineart.typepad.com.

 

As for my artistic work, I've decided to step back from selling and a general sense of striving.  Oh, my etsy shop is still open and I'll continue offering work there occasionally, but I need to take the money component out of my creativity.  It confuses me.  It clogs it up.  It puts pressure on me to produce, produce, produce. The soul of my creativity is in playing, experimenting, happy accidents, and discovery, things that money doesn't have time for.  I've been asking my creative work to do things for me it isn't meant to do, at least at this particular point in time.

 

My experiences over the last few years have taught me a great deal; I've had quite the education.  I know too much to go back to working in a vacuum, but I don't want to continue the way I have been.  For now I'm just going to "be", enjoy the journey, and see what happens. 

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

You have reached the blog formerly known as {art*play*possibility}.  ♥

Art Dolls and Discounts

This book ...

... is stunning.

My friend Sandy has a doll featured in this book (page 43!) and she let me paw through her contributor copy.  Wowza!  The array of materials used to create these dolls is vast (everything from paper, cloth, and beads to cultural and traditional materials such as fish skins).  The styles cover everything from highly realistic to whimsical, creepy, and everything in between.  Truly a book to return to and savor.

I mostly work flat on paper and fabric and I always will because that is what makes me happiest, but looking at the work in this book makes me want to experiment with the doll form. 

* * *

A couple of blogging milestones are in the near future - my second year anniversary and the rapid approach of the 500th comment.  I believe there will be some sort of something to commemorate that 500th comment so don't be shy - hee hee! These milestones combined with the kick-off of the Christmas season leads me to offer my blog readers a discount they don't have to trample their fellow citizens to receive:

For friends in the U.S.: free shipping on anything in the Boodzoo Studio shop.

For International friends: 1/2 off shipping anything in the Boodzoo Studio shop.

This offer is good for one week only, through December 1st. 

To get the discount, please follow these instructions:

1. Purchase the item you wish to purchase in etsy.  Then leave etsy.

2. If you're using PayPal, login to your PayPal account, and click on "Send Money".

3. Simply send the total (price of item less shipping fee) to my paypal address, which is: boodzoo at gmail dot com (without the spaces and including the @ sign, of course).

4. If you'd rather send a check or money order (US only), please email me for the mailing address and to let me know your order has been placed.

5. If you have any questions, please email me **before** paying. 

I will be adding a few new things to the shop over the next couple of days, so do check back.

Hitting the Open Road

I wanted to kick off my first post for NaBloPoMo with something thought-provoking and profound.  I wanted to provide some kind of shape for these 30 posts I've committed to; a theme, perhaps. I've been sitting here for the better part of an hour trying to come up with something thought-provoking, and profound, and maybe even clever (and oh, can we throw in funny too?) and coming up short.

Maybe through the course of this process, a theme or direction will reveal itself, but to begin, I just need to start.

I was talking about road trips with a 75-year-old friend yesterday and he told me he prefers to travel without an itinerary; he likes to drive as long as he wants and stop when he's tired.  He doesn't like to book a reservation at a specific motel because he might arrive too early or too late. 

There is a lesson in his story for this blogging project ... maybe it's better NOT to have a rigid itinerary. Maybe I just need to let the ribbon of road stretch out in front of me, giving me space and time to adapt to the road conditions, soak up the scenery, and veer off sightseeing if I like.

I think that'll work just fine.

Day One: NaBloPoMo

NaBloPoMo

One of the things on my project list for after Handmade Parade and after Mr. P.'s departure, is overhauling my blog which will include a new name and a new aesthetic (but will still reside at this same address).  All of that will take a chunk of time I don't have at the moment. In order to help things along and get in the habit of posting more often (and more authentically), I've taken a cue from Violet's Ink and signed on with NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month).  That is one blog post every day in November, folks!

I've been blogging here for most of almost two years now and I still have not achieved what I envisioned for this space.  Blogging to me is self publishing and freedom of expression at its very best (it blows my mind that I can write whatever I like here and don't have to go through a formal publishing channel).  Despite all that heady freedom, I hold myself back.  I'd like to change that.

In the meantime, I'm busy crafting and creating.  Here's a sneak peek at one of the items that will be available at Handmade Parade, a fabric collage featuring one of my cupcake doodles.  These fabric collages can be framed or they can be used by the buyer as a tool for their own art - sewing it into a purse, for example.

The quote reads: "Just think of all those women on the Titanic who said, "No, thank you", to dessert that night.  And for what!" (Erma Bombeck)

My stash for Handmade Parade is shaping up.  It's exciting to see it all come together!  I'll have original collages on canvas and fabric and in rusted mint tins, as well as collages made on recycled cereal boxes which can be framed or mailed, and buttons and magnets featuring my illustrations, collages, and even a few Blythe photographs!  Whew! I'll share more sneak peeks as we get closer to November 10th.  I've also got two new prints in the shop.

Happy Weekend!  I'll see you here November 1st (if not before).