i am now posting at quixotic mama

i am moving over to my other blog
though it is a pain in the butt
i like the name better over there
trying to feel more quixotic
and less apocalyptic

(sorry for any inconvenience!)

bluejean & the moonfish

postcards & videos

when i was at zine fest, the postcards i was having printed up to sell were not ready. i freaked out a little…and then i started painting postcards as i sat at my table. some weren’t even dry as they were bought by the zine scene.

here are the rest:

 

also! for my final digital media class i had to do an “alter ego” website. i chose to do bluejean’s website. for the video i narrated my big whimsy pieces “reading rainbow” style. it was kind of rushed. i should have worked on it more, but i was down to the wire. i worked on the video a lot–but you may not be able to tell because it is so rough & needs so much more work. is this something i should do? polish this format? who thinks this is a good venue for my stuff?

(please keep in mind the story is rough & the narration is rushed–if you only have time for one, spoketh the black bear is slightly better than hilda’s dilemma)

whimsy videos:

spoketh the black bear  &  hilda’s dilemma

now the semester is over and i have to pick my own direction. should i flip a coin or spin a bottle?

 

stark raving whimsy: hilda’s dilemma

i finished my second wall piece of whimsy. i am also going to use these wall pieces for my digital media class.

i am making an “alter ego website” for that class. i am creating bluejean’s website, should she have one. which made me realize the best way to present these large pieces–video. reading rainbow style narrated videos of the story. the trickiest part so far is the background noise every time i try to record…screaming minions. also! getting the picture flat and easily recorded. i might have to do it at my drawing class, after class. i have my critique tomorrow. so i could leave it hanging, wait for everyone to leave, and then video my piece, talking to myself (aka narrating) as i do it.

also! i need to scan in a bunch of art, using the university’s big scanners. speaking of art. i did put prices for a zine package on my “STORE: prints & zines” page. i am hoping my friend is still willing to do some website work for me. then i will have a better store for anyone so dedicated that they want to buy my stuff. i did mail zines off to a couple of fans/friends….

they will arrive wrapped in plain brown wrapper–just like porn. if anyone else wants any–go to my store site. i will be notified of your paypal purchase & will promptly mail them off. just message addresses to me? my email is: emconnell@live.com…. see, i need to figure this out so it’s easier. soon…hopefully…soon.

meanwhile, the semester is almost over & everything…life, the universe, and me, are set to change–for the better!

as always, stay tuned!

paper mache is cool

i finished bluejean’s arm for my art class.

i’m pretty happy with it. i really love paper mache. the messiness of it even is fun for me. i want to keep experimenting with paper mache and related projects.

also, i have worked a lot on my second big whimsy piece (somewhat visible in the background)…i have been adding random visuals. stuff i pull out of my ass. i think my epitaph will be “she was good at pulling stuff out of her ass.” i got that from my dad. thanks, dad!

anyhoo, i am starting to like the piece better. it’s getting weirder & weirder. which is good–but i worry that i am just david-lynching it up. whenever i watch a david lynch movie i get the feeling he was thinking, “let’s throw a dwarf in right here. that would be weird.” i want my weirdness to be pertinent to the story. but i also like weird…hmmm….

so i’m having fun with my art, which is the point, right? i need to have the big whimsy piece–yet to be named–done by monday for my critique.

plus! for my digital media class, i have to make an “alter ego website.” so i am making a website for bluejean. the big whimsy pieces will be presented in a “reading rainbow” fashion via a video and my narration. argh. i hope it works!

 

next up…

i’m not sure how i feel about this one. there are some aspects of it i really like, but overall i do not care for it. i told my professor that i was just going to keep putting ink on it until i do like it. i liked “spoketh the blackbear” way better. also! i am working on taking my whimsy to another dimension…

 

and i’m pretty excited about this. originally, i was going to do face, neck, chest, shoulder, arm, & wing…but my critique is next week. so i need to get these painted and decorated for that. maybe i will add on later. i love paper mache…but i was using myself, and that was tricky–especially when misha wakes up from a nightmare when i am covered in soggy newspaper….

the semester is over in a week. i have to get busy and finish this final large narrative and finish my paper mache bluejean. then what?

more moses jones. yup. but what changes will the new episode bring…hmmm. and more whimsy, but smaller i’m sure.

plus, i am moving. leaving dusty and embracing a new future. no more fucked-up relationships. i have enough material. now i need a farm. a homestead. a room of my own.

stark raving whimsy…spoketh the black bear

i looked out my window & saw stark raving whimsy

when i noticed the utility pole out my window, i saw this image.  maybe it’s the recovering catholic in me? so i drew it. and painted it. i like it. i was happy with how the roof turned out. i’m not sure about the trees & animals though. too dr. seuss?

so now i have to finish my behemoth whimsy piece. it needs at least a couple of nights of attention.

and i need to paper mache myself. that will be tricky. dusty is betting that poppy will wake up the minute i cover myself with wet, sticky newspaper. he’s probably right. maybe he can take care of the baby while i dry out? maybe?

onward!

 

 

so much done…so much more to do

this is what i worked on last night while my children slept and gotham played on my laptop. i may have missed a few plot turns in gotham…but i got more of this project developed.

this project?
a large panel of stark raving whimsy. here is a few shots of my progress:

these large pieces take a whole lot of time! i am used to just getting a page done in one or two sittings. i have spent several hours on this already. i hope to get a second one of these done before the end of the semester. plus! i really want to do a paper mache of my face & arm & upper chest to turn into a 3D bluejean casting that i can then make to look like bluejean but also draw a story onto.

progress depends on the sleep schedules of my children.

sleep. sleep, my little lovelies….

stark raving whimsy III

here is the third panel to introduce my new storyline. bluejean is a storyteller. i’m thinking baron munchausen, the crypt keeper, and jim henson’s “story teller.” i don’t know yet if she is real or imaginary. fidgit asked me what her species was. i asked him right back. i just don’t know yet. the way my stories evolve is often independent of me. i am the hand that holds the pen. haha. i wait for inspiration. to me, this is the best way to work–and then i enjoy my stuff as if i am not the “creator” or it.

i was wondering if she exists in the psyche of the people she is influencing. i just finished reading death  by neil gaiman. it was a collection of his comics where death is the lead character–a bubbly goth girl. i had already started this story, but i was influenced still by that character. there might be a little death in bluejean.

so next i am starting a large sheet of paper onto which i will put a story she is telling. i looked through a lot of my “flash fiction.” i did this in class. one of my poems was on top of the stack, and my professor asked me if i wrote poetry. i told him, “very badly.” but then we had a conversation about bukowski and literature, etc. being a “stay at home mom” i love any opportunity to talk about life, art, writing, and literature. i will miss my drawing class when the semester ends. i will withdraw from classes & move to northern wisconsin.

i continue to read making a living without a job by barbara winter. thoughts peculate in my head. i dream/imagine getting some land where i can build an eco-friendly hobbit house out of reclaimed materials. then a barn. then get a flock of sheep. then keep building. form an art colony. form an eco-village. have a bed & breakfast for families with loud children. have a farm. sell foodstuffs. sell art. love life….

sigh.

it’s out there. now to go & get it….

stark raving whimsy

here is the first installment/draft of stark raving whimsy, my newest graphic novel project. yay! i created the character of bluejean back when i was in a watercolor class. she was a side character in my story trials of the moonfish. however, i became more interested in her than i was in the lead character (gertrude buttons). so i have been playing with her image & story ever since. with my intermediate drawing class, i get the opportunity to work on her. when my professor suggested a more encompassing story to incorporate my images into, i knew it would have to revolve around bluejean.

the storyline is still peculating within my psyche & subconscious, but i have determined that she is a pirate. and a storyteller. and that her own world is dark & fanciful–as well as her stories. but that is as far as i have gotten. i like to give stories life & then follow them to see where they go. i am very excited to see where bluejean & her stark raving whimsy take me.

meanwhile…zine fest is on saturday & i still haven’t actually made my zines. okay, that sounds really bad…but! i have all the pages in my email. i just need to get to a printer. i loitered around in the uw computer lab…but then decided to go to my neighborhood cooperative press. so i will be going to class late today in order to stop & make zines on the way. i could go before class, but that would mean taking 3 or 4 of the minions with me. okay, my brain just exploded even thinking about that. so, i have to wait for dusty to get home–he comes home in time for me to go to class–then i will go make zines. then i will go to class.

and i am very excited about zinefest. it’s on halloween and i’m all like–would i be a geek to dress up for zinefest? then i’m all like…wait, it’s zinefest. i’m already a geek. and what’s one more nail in the coffin?

i’m so cool.

zinefest!

(ps. dusty came up with the name stark raving whimsy. i was playing with calling it dark whimsy or the whimsical nightmare _________ …but fidgit & dusty vetoed both of those ideas…& when i googled them, they were already being used for other stuff by other people. then dusty suggested this when we were talking & the words were there, but not put together yet. so thank you again, dusty! the name feels perfect to me.)