New tarot cards for today’s Freaky Friday #16 presentation! In between gesso layering and waiting for drying intervals, I’ve been tinkering with more bird people tarot cards. Although I weirdly enjoy painting white paint, sometimes I need a break. And some color. And music with words. I’ve also been in a drawing mood lately which hasn’t happened for a really long time and took me by surprise. Drawing is a very meditative place for me, and I’ve really been enjoying its return. It’s kind of a feeling you get in your hand to want to draw verses paint. I have no other words to describe it really. I’m just happy it’s back. Thanks for stopping by today!

Upright Meanings:
Spiritual growth
Teacher
Wise counsel
A bridge
Inspiration
Reversed Meanings:
Stubbornness
Detachment
Withdraw
Separation
Unorthodox

Upright Meanings:
Optimism
New people
Adventure
Sense of humor
Movement
Reversed Meanings:
Impatience
Egotism
Bossiness
Disputes
Fickleness

Upright Meanings:
Sensitivity
Emotions
Counseling
The sixth sense
Empathy
Reversed Meanings:
Vanity
Indecision
Moodiness
Gossip
Hysteria

More painting white paint this week which, as I’ve mentioned before, is not Studio Closeup material. But those gesso layers aren’t going to build themselves! Seriously though, it’s been very therapeutic. I’m in a good place right now where I can start drilling diorama holes and deciding what pieces will be next. Today’s Studio Closeup is a slide of a piece I did in the early 2000’s but unfortunately a flood casualty. Rain is in the forecast this week more days in a row than I like seeing, so starting new pieces will be a good PTSD distraction. Along with a run to the storage unit, high on a mountain top four towns over, and bring some more things (finished art pieces) over there for safekeeping. You know, just because.

Speaking of collage! This is a relic from my Grandma Draves’ house that I grew up with in the 70s involving a paper bucket and old cars cut out and glued from magazines at that time. I’m not sure if it was one of my cousins who did this, or my grandma herself because she was into all kinds of little projects like that. It’s a really cool art piece on its own and I really wish I knew its backstory. I currently use it to store my concertina in because I cannot believe how perfect a size it is for that(!) The freaky friday part is, someone else in my family had the hankering for collage as well - I just don’t know who.

I’ve been spending a lot of time painting white paint in prep for new pieces but that really isn’t Studio Closeup material, so today’s closeup is a collage from one of my sketchbooks dated 2012. The black and white portion of the collage is from a 1940’s Coronet magazine not sure where I sourced the color part. It does not yet have a title. They had a lot of black and white upright still photos in Coronet magazines, so I thought I’d use those stills and try to make full page collages. Back in the days of art school times (Milwaukee, early 1990’s), I was able to collect a lot of those 1940's, 1950's Coronet magazines at a place called Renissance Bookstore downtown. Downstairs they had piles and piles and piles of old magazines. I think they were all .50C - $1.00 each, so I snatched up as many as I could afford because I don’t think that bookstore knew what kind of treasure it had down there. I also got a lot of 40’s - 50’s Woman’s Day magazines down there too. It was a really cool place, right across the street from the King And I Thai restaurant, stuffed to the gills with old books.

Everyone will be happy to know Toby (small parrot) was most excellent while recording today’s Carolaoke tune. He had to have a couple gentle reminders here and there to keep all his screams and outbursts inside his tiny orange pants while I recorded, but I didn’t need to close the door at all this time(!) He’s also been demonstrating that he’s starting to get the word “no” when I say it. I’ve noticed he doesn’t “like” to be scolded and is really sensitive about it, so I’ve amped up the positive reinforcement when he’s doing something good instead.

Today’s Carolaoke song is my scratch track version of Dido’s , “Thank You”. Please enjoy and thank you so much for stopping by today!