OniOniOniArt

Last night I lost my beloved Maceo.  I've had him since he was six weeks old and he just turned 17 on April 1st.  I miss him dearly already. Rest well sweet boy.

"Make up your own new holiday and show us how to celebrate it." Celebrants perform the Dance of Obeisance 'round the bonfire for the Mighty Soothsayer,  who views them from the Tall Shrine as tasty little dancing critters Sacred Mantis Fortune Day To be celebrated Always on the second Saturday of May. Upon waking, the celebrant(s) will tip-toe into the garden or wherever a mantid might be, and gently capture the first mantis they find, no matter how long it takes to find one. This Mantis represents the almighty Soothsayer. The Mantis is then to be pampered in the celebrant's home. Offerings of freshly caught insects will be made throughout the day; the variety of which shall be tailored to the mantid's preferences. Compliments are written down on ornately decorated cards and presented to the Mantis. Praise of the mantid's fecundity and ferocity are the most popular sentiments for these beautiful cards. At dusk, a bonfire should be lit. The Ma

"Make something while you are in the bathroom  or with the materials found in the bathroom today" So I did both. This is a bee made from hair thingies whilst in the bathroom.  And, um, the antennae might be made of twisted toilet paper.  [April 9, 2016]

"Observe a pet or watch a video of your favorite animal. Make something inspired by it" Maceo is the best cat in the world but his 17 year old cat body is now failing him. This is in memory of his fondness for playing with moths in his younger years, which always made me smile. He always let the moth get away. Good Cat. Best Friend. [April 8, 2016]

"Look in your kitchen or a grocery store for inspiration.  Work with the first fruit or vegetable to catch your eye (canned or frozen counts!)" I have been making sandwiches for my lunch with zucchini, red onion, and spinach all week  (also with hummus and cheese, but that gets messy). The shape of the zuke inspired the mantis. I have mantids on the brain. [April 7, 2016]

"What do you collect? Work with a collection of your own or borrow one." Pure Admiration It's funny, I only recently acknowledged to myself that yes, I do collect something: literature and art books from Heian-era Japan (794-1185), and here is a prompt for that. I just acquired the Choju Giga art book seen in the background (hooray!) which inspired me to recycle two projects from October 2015's CreativeSprint and use them in a different context.  The mantispid was made on CS 2015  Day 1 and the painting is a miniature print-out of a mock Choju Giga drawing I did on CS 2015  Day 8 . The easel and paintbrush are made of kraft cardstock. [April 6, 2016]

"Take a 5 minute walk with no set destination. Make something with whatever materials you can find where you've ended up. Leave it for someone else to find but don't forget to document it first!" I timed myself as I walked through my LL's backyard (which is many acres). At five minutes I came upon an area strewn with dead saw palmetto and fern leaves, probably casualties of the blustery Saturday we had. The fern leaves looked like moth antennae, and the palmetto leaves like wings, so I went from there. Those are my feet at the bottom of the photo. [April 5, 2016]

"Make something inspired by your own name." Can you see it? I think the small version is more obvious: So far, 3/4 of the prompts (I just saw #4) are the same as the last go around with CS. It is interesting to have to figure out a different solution to the same problems. [April 4, 2016]

"Author Hans Christian Anderson was born on this day in 1805. Make something inspired by a children's fable or fairy tale." Bess beetles (Passalidae) actually form family colonies and care for their young. I was inspired by the prompt to depict storytime in one such driftwood family: "Gather 'round little grubs and I will tell you the tale of Bess and the Beanstalk" This is India ink on tan paper. [April 3, 2016]

It is Creative Sprint (CS) time again! That's the same 30-day creative challenge I did last year. They (Another Limited Rebellion) send daily prompts via email guiding the creative process. Today's prompt was: "Make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only materials from your immediate environment" In my morning fog I ignored the "fits in the palm of your hand" part. But this is my smaller sketchbook. :P The materials at hand (on my messy desk): a seed catalog, sharpie markers, a micron pen, a pencil and eraser, scissors, glue sticks (yes, plural). Another note, I was a good ways into my Bug-a-Day challenge when I had to stop due to new job exhaustion and the nursing care I've had to give my 17 year old cat (he can't walk or doing anything for himself right now). I'm still tired as hell, but I wanted to see if I could pick up the thread of my 365-day Bug-A-Day challenge using the CS prompts to help. To keep trac