Day Sixteen

So I decided to do something I had thought about doing for a while. You take a page from a text and then, only using words from the text in the order they appear, you create a new text. You can do it with white out and end up with a strange counter narrative. I picked one of my all time favorite books, Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott, and decided to start at the back and use the first page I came to with the word "heart" appearing on it. I started at the end cause it is all goopy there. Love me some Lousia May!

Anyway, page 344 is the end of the part where Rose and (spoiler) cousin Mac are at last acknowledging their love and how they will work to improve themselves for and with each other. These are the morals I raised myself with. I ended up creating four narratives from this page: two that I felt went directly against the story context, and two that greatly departed from the previous two. I insert them here for your perusal, in order of the last created to the first. Then you can see the pictures. Remember, if the language seems stilted, it is because I was very constrained.

A Poetic Request

My lamp is faulty. Will you come and try to make the glowing, beautiful, golden heart light and bloom?

When Greeting Cards Collide

Lift up and look well

Fly high to follow wings

Live the poetry

Celebrate your fame and be content

Be proud that inspiration comes from life

Work to make music and love

Go fervently in the sunshine, glowing with happiness

Make a folded heart bloom

Cupid’s Words

Cupid laughed in spite at the sentimental character. He said with seriousness, “It is too late. Love will have no fear. You will fly too high and my gift will no fame and inspiration work. Try to make music and leave behind fervent, glowing happiness.  Hope, and make the heart bloom.”

Gwendolen and Grandcourt

Laughing in spite he said, “Look well for it is too late. Only a faulty love I have. Fear, because I have my will. You shall be only the wife and I’ll own the life of a nobleman. O! Try to leave!”

Looking at her, he stood there glowing with purpose. He felt that the last heart lay open.

He loomed…

Here is my copy of the book and my two white out versions.

The original text should you care to squint at it. If you ever want to read this book remember to start with Eight Cousins, which is the beginning of the story of the Campbell cousins as children. I am pretty sure my maternal family was historically similar to this one. They were in the China trade as well and they liked to marry their cousins.

I only did this for the pictures but it does clarify any mistakes in word order.

This one amused me. I tried to make it mundane but the language would not cooperate.

Check out his ampersands. This was an exciting night for the true love!

Day Fifteen

Note that the actual black ink was discovered last night. Yay!

Big thanks to the true love for staging suggestion. Then I found the other two hearts....

Kitty and crochet!

You can find the heart crochet pattern here.

Day Fourteen

How bitter was I last night?? I still want to post our Dr. Horrible duet but am not allowed and I have decided I shall not embarrass myself with my solo version, so we will have something much less interesting instead. Sometime soon I will again do something cool like the book for Hunca Munca. By the way, she loves her book and opens it with her head and takes the toys out constantly. We now cannot locate the jelly chameleon or the little red lizard. Alas.

Now for a quickie project and a couple of collected pics that I liked too.

A little blurry but a recent attempt at heart buttermilk pancakes. They tasted good at least...

At lovely Sweet Adeline, where I frequently stop for a morning pastry on the way to work, they put a heart onto your latte. I love it. Awesome scones and pecan rolls too!

The true love was disciplined, even in the face of my whining about posting our song. You would love the videos we did. They rock. He may relent if he gets more than 30 minutes of practice...

Ta dah! Tangrams! Is it a cat? Or a heart? Perhaps a little of both. Is it kinda lame? I think so but will work on improving my focus.

Have I mentioned that doing something every day along with a full time job is actually challenging? I appreciate you hanging in here. I really want to change to making whatever I want (and have made other cool stuff that isn't here) but will stick with hearts for fourteen more days. I promise.

Can anyone do either part of "Heart and Soul" on the piano? Come on over and we can record it!  Over and out.

Day Thirteen

Well, though this blog is art from a day ahead, today is Valentine's Day and I wish heaps of love onto all of you. I believe this is the fourteenth Valentine's Day the true love and I have weathered. We think so but you never know.

Tonight we attempted a duet on film which the true love has vetoed posting due to vanity. It was awesomeness, and he also played guitar although he is still learning both parts (guitar and lyrics). As a protest I will post my own a capella singing tomorrow since that is my achievement of today, even though I had to start too low in order to go too high. Without guitar, of course, and only the first two parts of the song. Alas, I cannot do the duet alone, but if you want to come and do it with me please let me know. *I* am totally game. Happy V Day!

This was a group valentine for the teachers in my classroom. All three of them. It's true that I could have done better, but this art stuff takes work!

Day Twelve

I totally found this project somewhere else in blogland but as there are scones and pizza afoot I will have to continue looking for the link later. These are valentines for my class--a big departure from the usual quilled paper hearts. 

(Here it is!)

What could be easier than sewing a strange tube of felt and then cutting rotary style!

I added stapled paper strips (pink staples!) in a loop-de-loop saying they were with love from me. Hunca Munca helped as usual.

When all else fails, just do your lines. At times, there is something very satisfying in repetition. At times, there is something very satisfying in repetition.

Had to add the Zazzy cat with her heart accessory. Zazu is so very sweet but does not sit on the art table very often. She is not an investigative reporter like Hunca Munca is.

This is a give-away! I was trying to make two garlands of 28 pairs of hearts, but the bobbin thread screwed up and I merely perforated the second garland. Post a comment if you want this chain, made from the guts of the reptile book. The first person to request it will get it!

Day Eleven

Homer was a gift when I had surgery at the age of 17. He comes from Concord, Massachusetts.  He has a plastic heart pin which has been hidden by the cats so I needle felted him a new one. He is much happier now.

I stitched a little pin on the back.

I am sick today and was starting to get sick last night so I lacked energy and ambition. Still, it's cute, right?

Day Ten

Oops! We are a little late due to a busy week and onset of illness. Better late than never!

Today's offering, fresh from the broiler!

Often people use this phrase to mean angry words, but I this case, I just mean passionate.  And I can also say that I've never so enjoyed eating my words as I did on this occasion.

Mmmm, meaty hearts!  Some look a little more like pretzels, perhaps connoting the puzzling nature of the heart.