Category: Art

Art, Ladybusiness

Comet

Shelly

Comet
gel pen on paper, 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches

On August 20, 1853, Celinda Hines wrote, “Saw a commet very plain in the SW.” And again, on the 23rd, “The commet shown very brilliantly in the evening.”

Three days later, Celinda Hines’ father died crossing the Snake River. He was thrown from his horse and drowned. His body was never recovered. In her journal, Celinda wrote, “I will not attempt to describe our distress & sorrow for our great Bereavement.” And indeed, she did not. She tells the story of his death almost matter-of-factly, but her grief is even more palpable for her terseness. The next day she wrote, “Our camp was in a very pretty place but all was sadness to me.”

[Excerpts taken from Shipley, Celinda Elvira Hines, 1826-1905, Diary of Celinda Elvira Hines Shipley, August, 1853, in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries & Letters from the Western Trails, vol. 6: 1853-1854. Holmes, Kenneth L., ed. & comp. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1995, pages 113, 114, 116.]

Art, Crankypantsing, Doodles

Staff Meeting Doodle

Shelly

Staff Meeting Doodle
gel pen in composition notebook
4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches

After spending the majority of the weekend uploading photos to Findagrave, I got up this morning to an email from someone who either has absolutely no people skills or who has a giant rude streak. I can’t tell which, and I don’t really care. The name on one of the headstones I photographed apparently used the woman’s middle name in place of her first name. Presumably she went by her middle name, which is not unheard of. But how the hell should I know it was her middle name? I just have what’s in front of me to go by.

The email had a list (I kid you not!) of reasons why I should delete my record, including the fact that the person was a family member. Okay, but I don’t need a list, like I’m some sort of mentally challenged three year old. Duplicate records happen with fair frequency, and a simple, “This is a duplicate, can you please remove it?” is all that’s needed. Really. It’s that simple. No lecture wanted or required, pleaseandthanks.

The best part, though? She instructed me to upload my headstone photo to her record, with not a word of thanks for having taken and shared the photo in the first place. WTF?! So no, I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I happily go out of my way to take photos for people who have the good sense to ask nicely, but I’m not too motivated to share them with people who lecture me like I’m a child.

Altered Poems, Art, Artist Books, Collage, Poetry

Y-Z

Shelly

As promised, a day late, but finally and truly finished at last. The full set can be found here. All the text was taken from Wallace Bruce’s Wanderers, a book of very, very, very bad Victorian poetry.

Y

You smile at the story,
you call it absurd —
That far-away evening in June
disturbed
Carved deep in the stone
like a rune
I have heard,
True to the letter, and every word.

Z

Zodiacal light lingering bright,
Up which the white-winged angels fly
Mercy and hope in the starlit sky.

Art, My Garden, Photography

Tiny Harvest

Shelly

2IMG_1183

I picked four ripe little romas this morning. I haven’t had a chance to taste them yet, but I think supper is going to include a tomato sandwich.

In other news, I finished the page for “X” and am half finished with “Y.” I need to start thinking about what I’m going to do with the front and back covers, because they’re bare Davey board at this point. That clearly won’t do.