A Bit of Silliness

I admit it. I'm a relentlessly au courant type. If it's new, I have to have it. Gadgets, gizmos, iPhones, whatever, I'm always up to date and in style.

This is blatent (and probably not very funny) sarcasm. In reality I am an aspiring troglodyte, and I tell people in all seriousness that if I had any faith in my bean-growing skills I would totally pull a Thoreau. In a heartbeat.

So, it won't surprise you then to learn that I have a land-line phone. One of which, in fact, is not only permanently affixed to the wall but even has a dial. I don't watch TV; the computer I have is a centuries-old Mac, I lean towards the simple and straightforward in my blog and website design, and don't even like to post videos since that tends to muck stuff up.

So I'm not exactly up-to-date with things. So then when I say I am one of the shrinking number of people who play the Sims old school (meaning not Sims 2 or Sims 3) you are not shocked, correct? And when I say I have a new site dedicated to things I've made (and am making) for an old game, you will think, Yeah, that's about right.

I mean, it's a hobby, you know. But I've been having way too much fun making little things and outfits for what is basically a virtual way of playing with dolls. Mostly ancient cultures, though there are a few fantasy sorts of things. And mostly Minoan stuff, so that I can play with creating a perfect matriarchy in the Labyrinth.

That's right, MA-TRI-AR-CHY. Take that, patriarchy!

Anyway, it's called Magnolia Sims. Enjoy!

Labrys

And another in the Minoan series, this time based on a nearly anthropomorphic labrys or double axe on a jug from I think Knossos. I've been trying to get a move on this Minoan stuff (mostly that means the Minoan Sims stuff). The reason for giving myself a deadline, for once? My library books are due next week, and I've run out of renewals!

Minoan Designs Up at Cat and Cauldron

Here's the link. I've uploaded all five (so far) of the new Minoan designs onto journals, tile products, prints, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and a whole lot more I know I'm not remembering. (I sat down the other night trying to figure out how many products I carry in my store, by multiplying the number of designs times the number of products, and came up with nearly a thousand. Except, as it was shortly pointed out to me, I did the math wrong and forgot to carry a zero: actually, it's around ten thousand products. Eeek! And no wonder it's taking me a while to organize!)

Anyway, enjoy! They look really good, especially on the journals, if I do say so myself.

Minoans Four And Five

Well here are my last couple entries for Art Every Day Month, two more in the Minoan style. I like the bottom one, of stylised ivy, better than the top one, I think, which is a little too heavy on the narrative, as I'm leaning a little more towards the abstract on these, which is uncharacteristic of me, and probably A Good Sign. That second one looks fairly Dr. Seussian, with the red-and-black stripey bits and the eyeball-on-a-stalk, don't you think?

I had meant to do them the first week of December, but I was away for a few days, and when I got back the Cat needed attention (she is fine now, no worries), so I'm just getting to it now.

I really like these; I'd be interested to see just how far I can go with such a limited palette. And I have to say, conventional wisdom is correct, at least in this experience, when they say it takes three weeks to break (or make) a habit; for I seem to have gotten the hang of making some art, if not every day, at least more frequently than I used to. So for that I am profoundly grateful. Thank you, Leah.

Minoan Three

Another one in the series, this one of I think a palm tree surrounded by seaweed, which I guess makes it underwater. Not something one might normally assume to find in nature, until, that is, one considers that palm wood does not float.

Though it's the last day of the month I won't be done with Art Every Day Month until next week, as I started late and would like to do it for thirty days. So I'll keep on keepin' on, I guess.

Minoan Two

Another in the same style, this time taking a few different elements from various Minoan jars and combining them. I'm really liking the colors.

Labyrinth Four

I've been on a bit of a Minoan/Mykenaean kick lately, and have been working my way through my local library's copies of Arthur Evan's The Palace of Minos at Knossos, which is in like a million volumes; I'm on the second one (part two). So I have been looking at these really lovely, crisp pen-and-ink drawings of artifacts, as well as the artifacts themselves a lot lately. This design, the bull's head and double axe, is straight from a Late Minoan jar. I rather like it, and the colors, which I chose in imitation of Minoan frescoes; though next time I think I'll use different paper. It's this matboard I have that is fine for watercolor or colored pencil, but a little too fibrous and linty for pen and ink, which scratches up the surface a bit too much.

In the process of doing this I had to clean out my pens, and for a while there could not find the special ink that goes in them; but in looking, I found a whole bunch of little teeny canvases I bought once upon a time, and pulled them out. Seriously, they're itty-bitty, four by five inches (though not as small as that drawing above, the original of which is two by three inches).

But I'm not that happy with what I came up with:

I think the proper word is meh. It started out quite promising, but the more I worked on it the less I liked it, and ended up painting over it with some white.

So though I liked that first one, altogether I'd say it was kind of a frustrating experience. I'm in some kind of transitional phase, art-wise, I think right now; and though I know the old way of doing things isn't really serving me anymore, I've no idea what the new way will be like, and I really feel like I am blundering about in the dark. More reason, I suppose, to keep at the Labyrinth imagery.

Also, and I hadn't applied this to my situation, both labrys (double axe) and bull's head are symbols of rebirth.