Balancing Acts

How typical am I right now? A new cafe opened down the street from my house two weekends ago, so this morning I dragged myself here with my computer and notebook to enjoy a cup of coffee and free wi-fi in the hopes I would be less distracted and get more done. So far, it's going well. I feel comfortable here, probably because not only do I know the guy who opened Buzz Cafe, my co-worker Rachel is now employed here as well as Cafe La Maude. So far - excellent coffee, great looking menu, tasty treats, and a nice atmosphere. And this neighborhood desperately needs businesses like this, so if you live around here please come and support it.

I'm happy to report that I will be performing once again this year at PEX's annual Valentines Day bash, Heartburn 6. ("Dr. Carlos Allende's Lost Caravan of Love" - the rest of the official title.) The party is going to be once again at an ultra-secret location somewhere in Center City in Philadelphia, on Friday February 10th. I am also one of the few lucky artists asked to display work in the official gallery space at the party. I'll be spinning fire as part of my bellydance brigade, Lux Arati, as well as performing inside. I'm still working on what I'll be doing for the inside portion - it will likely include my fabulous red feather fans. This also means that I will be planning for at least three costume changes - outdoor fire performance, indoor burlesque/bellydance performance, and just something else to wear for the rest of the night.

I will also be performing again at this years Addy Awards here in Philadelphia! That was the best paying gig of my performance career, so I am definitely psyched to be part of the show again. Hopefully this year it will not be pouring down rain and we can really show off what we do for these folks.

I feel like I just started working on real art again (meaning paintings) after spending the month before and 2 weeks after the holidays working on gifts for my family. (Not to mention friends... you guys are going to have to wait.) It's been a slow process, unfortunately, and I'm thankful to be busy enough that my time for all of my activities is limited. What with work, rehearsals, my art and god forbid I relax once in awhile... it's no wonder I only manage to post in my blog once or twice a month. Happiness is often a delicate balancing act, I suppose, where we try and survive with some kind of job while still trying to focus on and dedicate time to the things we love until we can find a way for them to sustain us.

Luckily, there are some interesting projects in the works right now, and now that I've finally recovered from terrible cubicle depression and moved on to a happier place I think I can work on adjusting my jobs so I spend more time making art and performing and less time behind a counter (and running up and down stairs a million times a day and serving food.)

The Honeycomb Merkaba on my easel in my "studio space",
aka the corner of the kitchen.

This is the latest masterpiece, a still-in-progress (but nearing a finished state!) commission which I'm calling "The Honeycomb Merkaba." So, so many colored triangles. I've added things, taken them away, adjusted colors of teeny little parts ever so slightly over and over again... it's been a year now, and my thankfully patient patrons will be receiving their finished original Xtina painting in the near future. This, actually, is one of my "jobs", considering I need to finish this to get paid. I've already devoted so much time to working on this - it is definitely my "baby" and it may be hard to see it go. (Though it is going to friends and I will probably be able to see it whenever I want.) If I sold this to anyone else, I would probably charge 3 times the amount I'm doing it for, and that was actually a conscious decision. We still need to get paid for what we do, but friends get discounts (especially these friends.) Hey, at least I'm not giving away my art all the time anymore. I should have at least tried to take decent photos of everything first. :)

Gotta love a blurry self-portrait every now and again.

Speaking of self-portraits, it's probably about that time again. Every year or so I try and paint one, so in 20 years maybe, I can put them all on the same wall next to one another and examine how I aged, how I perceived my own self image over time, how I reflected what was going on in my life through my work... a retrospective. I should probably worry about that later, but it is time to investigate some new images for this years painting.

Hello please. Attempting to channel some cheesy pop gestures,
all I get is bellydance hands and a creepy stare.

The photo above is from when I was messing around trying to photograph myself with this awesome vintage feather hat (that belonged to my grandmother), that my mom sent me for Christmas this year. Don't ask me what my hand is doing. I'm not sure what effect, exactly, I was going for but obviously it didn't work.

Puerto Rico, #1 (working title)
oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

The first painting in a series inspired by my "honeymoon" trip to Puerto Rico a few years ago. I took many pictures. It's not quite finished yet, but getting there. It's oil and only about 18"x 24", and this one in particular got started one of the days I needed to take a break from the Honeycomb piece. Similar colors, as you may notice - and the exact opposite style of painting. I needed something freeing and loose to paint to recover after making myself insane with fine lines and near perfect symmetry.

Tree of Life
acrylic on wood, 19" x 11.5"

And speaking of perfect symmetry, this is a newer acrylic painting on wood that I created in the same color harmonies as the sought-after "A Night in Wyman Park (Bamboo)" painting. Much smaller, much more affordable. Love it? Want it? Make me an offer.

Until I get some better photos of new work and get through this week (and weekend - Heartburn is almost here!) this post will have to do. Springtime is coming, and that means more fire, more festivals, and hopefully another art show, if I can manage to find a good space that wants to hang my work. ( Please, send any my way if you have a tip. ) In the meantime, we will work on our balancing acts and ultimate goal of making art, our home, our life that much better.

Belated Gifts & Delayed Holidays - Xmas Crafts by Alex & Xtina

Being married can get complicated during the holidays, especially when you're not wealthy enough to travel without booking your holiday-time flights 6 months in advance. I for one am rarely able to plan that far ahead. This year was supposed to be our year to visit my family in sunny gorgeous Florida, but due to financial constrains and massively expensive plane tickets, we spent the holidays with Alex's family in Baltimore. Since we crafted nearly all our gifts this year and started a little late, I didn't get any good photos of the gifts we made for his family. (Fortunately, such photos can be easily obtained.)

We started making linoleum prints a few years ago, together, as our gifts for friends and family for the holidays. This has expanded into a whole extensive line of husband and wife crafting projects, which this year included sets of blank cards with our lino cut designs on the front and a custom AleXtina stamp on the back, jewelry, hair pieces, and more.

My family received their holiday gifts about three weeks into January, so I had plenty of time to photograph their hand-crafted presents. Here are some of them.

Alex's design on the right, or front of the blank cards
of a tree and it's roots, with an interesting play on the negative and
positive blank spaces. Our custom stamp on the back.

Close up of our custom stamp, made with 2 lino blocks layered
on top of one another. First we printed the infinity symbol in a turquoise blue,
then lined up and layered the "AleXtina" type over top.

A shot of our workstation, mid printing.

This is the feather hairpiece I crafted for my sister, using
hot glue to attach the feathers to the base cardboard covered in fabric.

A shot of the same hairpiece and a pair of feather earrings I crafted for what
ultimately turned out to be for myself. My mom revealed to me half way through
the crafting process that she wasn't really interested in anything
containing feathers, so I made her a necklace instead.

This is the necklace I made for my mom.

Don't tell anyone, but I was inspired to make this after checking out a bunch of craft projects on Martha Stewart's website. (I must admit, some of them were actually pretty cool.) This was my spin on a "beaded bib necklace" - I basically loosely went with the pattern suggested on her site and added my own twists and flair to make it my design. Thank god, my mom loved it.

A close-up shot of the same necklace.

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

(At Burning Man.)

If you know me or have been yourself to the magical desert world that is Burning Man, you will probably appreciate and possibly LOVE this video as much as I did. It combines footage from this past year of all the colorful beautiful people reciting lines from Dr. Seuss's last book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"

My personal work has taken a back seat, temporarily (though it's almost over) to other projects and I am behind in posting pictures of said projects (... because they are still going on.) I saw this video today, and for what a rough start this year has had, it made me happy to the point that I got, admittedly, a little teary-eyed and wistful for that special far-away place and from the simple wisdom that was Dr. Seuss. I also sent it immediately to my mom, since she is a preschool teacher and was the most relaxed and unsurprised of both our sets of parents when my husband and I announced in 2010 that we were trekking out to the desert for the burn. (I think her exact words were... "Burning Man? Of course you are. You both belong there." Something like that.)

We are just getting started, this year and I, so expect great things soon. I promise. If a silly video showing a bunch of costumed dusty hippies reciting Dr. Seuss can make my crappy week better, I have high hopes for the rest. <3

The World Will Not End in 2012

Instead I hope for what has been predicted as a global shift in consciousness (for the better.) Something has to change.

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and safe NYE. And holidays, because I missed posting anything then. We were too busy crafting gifts, and still are finishing up the last homemade presents for friends and family. Pictures will be posted after the last ones are given and shipped out. The hubby and I outdid ourselves this year, making prints, jewelry, constructions and other hand made awesomeness.

Till next year, I bid you all adieu.

Fumé Noir/"Dripping in Gold"/Steampunk installations

Guess who got to play dress up?

I guess it's time for me to admit it - in order to keep things interesting and honest, I really only have time to write in here once a month.

Better than once every two months, or twice a year, or those irritating bloggers that have nothing better to do than post every DAY. I can't imagine what on earth I'd be writing about in here (that would be art-related, especially) every single day. I'd start talking about work ; ( "And then this customer did this, or that, and it was so irritating!" Repeat.) And that would get boring.

Art is an extremely broad term in general, and I've always had a tendency to want to color outside the lines with my work. In college I found myself frequently turning in abstract, time-based fine art videos for my painting classes and overlapping themes from different courses. A character I developed for my first creative writing class short story, "Elysha", became a dress in my fashion show thesis project, the model starred in my video based on the short story. The video portion was only made after I had created a 6 minute conceptual soundtrack for my Sound Design class the previous semester.

On the left, a photo of my model, Holly, wearing the dress
created for the character, "Elysha." On the right, two stills
from the video featuring Holly playing the same character.

Why is this relevant? I like to consider every "creative" thing I'm involved in under the same blanket. (See; "Everything is the blanket," pg. 206378.) My paintings, my photographs, my burlesque alter-ego, my bellydance and fire performance are all my art. And therefore, all of these subjects officially belong in this blog.

Fumé Noir

This past Saturday night, I was in a fashion show for the 4th time of my life, and for the 2nd time I was not the one making the clothes. My dear friends and dance partners Michelle and Jexi collaborated on a line of clothes and accessories called Fumé Noir, a mashup of burlesque/burner/bellydancer/tribal/ethereal/post-apocalyptic fashion for both sexes. Eleven (or so) of us participated in a performance runway spectacle that reminded me of my past work. The performances by each person complimented their skills and characters, and each piece from the line boasted impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail. Some of the outfits were a bit more mainstream, for those of us accustomed to seeing playa/burner wear at parties and festivals, but in a good way. Attractive, coveted styling, marketable to the right crowd. The majority were pure Shelly/Jexi-fusion genius, infusing daring accessories, unusual cuts, and impeccable detail, right down to the hardware. (I spent an evening a few weeks ago helping them out by punching grommets into one of the guy's pants, and this is how I know this.) My circus burlesque-inspired bloomers and halter top were both extremely comfortable, and I couldn't help but reconcile that it would be perfect for both performing (bellydance and/or burlesque) and comfortable enough for all-day/night festival or Playa-gear. Anyone who finds themselves frequently in similar activities as these knows how important it is for your sexy clothes to be just as comfortable.


So November 26th, Saturday night, we all spent a good 3-5 hours prepping ourselves at the DoubleTree Hotel in Center City for the monthly steampunk-themed event thrown by Dorian's Parlor. As usual, I do my own makeup (and then help anyone else, which is usually needed.) I had little time to practice with my prop - the icing on the cute little burlesque cupcake was my single feather fan. A smaller version of the red ones I have for Penny Treats, this one was delicately and precisely crafted by Jexi using an array of muted natural colored feathers - gorgeous light and deep browns, creams, and tans, with hints of subtle green and red undertones. It matched my hair, which was styled by the fabulous Shari Sigafoos and looked MORE AWESOME THAN IT HAS EVER LOOKED BEFORE. Ever.

Photo of me onstage by Pix|elation Photography.

Here are some more pictures and video (the video I've included is just part 1, here is the link to see part 2, which features the second half of the show including my husband, Alex, who was a surprisingly fierce and professional model on the runway, complete with Mohawk-weave-ponytail hair and just the right amount of makeup. And a whip as his prop.

Video for the Fumé Noir fashion show (part 1) at Dorian's Parlor,
held at the Doubletree Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia.

I know I can walk like a model and I know I can perform, but it was interestingly difficult to try and mix the two together for this show. Based on my pictures, I knew I had a few good poses, but as soon as the show was over I wondered to myself if I couldn't have done better. (This is normal. Even if I might feel good about how the performance went, until you see it on video you always wonder how the hell you looked. Then, once you watch it you pick apart all the little tiny details of your mistakes even though no one else will notice.) After viewing the video, I gave myself a 7.5/10. Considering I spent a good 45 minutes before the show listening to the song on repeat, practicing in a mirror outside the dressing room and I'd only heard the final version of music the night before, I did pretty well (7.5) but could have done better.

"Dripping in Gold"

The finale was three excellent hoopers, each performance feeling like it was trying to upstage the previous one. I'm best with a fan in each hand and I had to make only one look as interesting as possible, yet try and turn off the bellydance (which is what I had been practicing, as of late, with my feather fans) and turn on the cha-cha of "Coco." ("Coco" is 1/2 of my burlesque noms de plume, while 2/2 I am still searching for. I'm hoping it will come to me when the time is right.) I should have had another drink before I went on, I think - at least I can see my nervousness come through in the video, though I am probably the only one.

Photo by Pix|elation Photography.

On a whole, I think the entire crew did an excellent job. Jexi and Michelle on the clothes and accessories (those feathers! My word!) and every single model looked professional, beautiful and pretty darn badass. The music was intentionally fitting for each segment, starting out with an ethereal goddess, female beauty celebration... moving into brassy, sassy Beat's Antique and Balkan techno jazz for the burlesque/tribal section, introducing the men finally with a snippet from PLF's Mr. Conway Jennings, and ending with this mix of Flight Facilities "Crave You" for the silver/gold goddess-ethereal hoopers.

Steampunk installations @ Dark Matters

I was supposed to take pictures of the Dark Matters show before I took it down. That never happened, but it's been two months nearly and frankly, I'm done with it. The real amazing part of that show was the experience of that night (despite death metal bands and a handful of people hanging their work literally after guests had started to arrive) and that included, for me at least, the gorgeous installations by two of my dear friends, Drew Rodkey and Fumé Noir's Jexime Icon.

KALEIDOSCOPES/Drew Rodkey:

Drew had crafted and installed probably about a dozen kaleidoscopes, of different shapes and sizes, some with glass jars on the viewing end filled with colored glass, semi-precious stones, gold leaf flakes and more suspended in oil. The casings were copper, various shapes and dimensions, varieties of imperfections in the metal tubing and wire only complimenting the aesthetic. As evident with the notion of the monthly event above (Dorian's Parlor) dedicated to the subculture, "Steampunk" has entered the dictionary as of late, gaining popularity across the country. His first kaleidoscope exhibition was, in its essential form, extremely Steampunk in nature without actually looking forced or overdone, perhaps even purposeful. And that's why I liked it so much - because it seemed natural and effortless to craft them in this way, because that's Drew's style. That's how he makes things. They were gorgeous objects to interact with, from the carefully collected particles inside the glass jars right down to the hand-written tags (not without a few corrections here and there - but it worked.)

Drew is currently on an adventure, so I have a few of his kaleidoscopes here at the house.

Just a few of Drew's kaleidoscopes that we're hanging on to for him.

While I took a few pictures, it doesn't really do them justice. During the show they were suspended from the ceiling by wire and string, allowing passersby to touch, examine, and experience each object rather intimately. While a few of the ones he displayed that night were NFS, having already had an owner (including me, though tragically mine plunged to the ground the Saturday after the show with no one in the bar even near the installation), I am happy to report that he sold several pieces. Thank you Drew, for your participation. You make beautiful things.

Close-up shots of Drew's handiwork.

Leathers and feathers/Jeximé Icon:

By day an event and floral designer, by night a performer, chic accessory craftsperson... Jexi's installation for Dark Matters was a little bit of all her manners of expertise rolled into one. She had a corner table, branches affixed to the wall above, and a Victorian-inspired table with fabric, feather hairpieces displayed inside an open suitcase, a natural colored feather fan, flowers and complimenting folliage. There were more items, but these had the most lasting impact. I was wearing one of her feather hairpieces that night as well, one that she had made for me earlier in the summer for the PEX Festival performances. As mentioned above, Jexi is one half of Fumé Noir and was responsible for the fashion show I was in last weekend.

Shot of Jexi and I from the fashion show.
The feather fan I'm holding was the one I performed with, and it was
also featured as part of her installation for Dark Matters.

Both installations were temporary and neither we kept up past the weekend of October 7th. Hopefully I can find some pictures of their work at the show from the artists to add to my review.

I don't know just what's next at the moment. I'm very close to but not completely finished with my epic commissioned painting (which was on display in progress for the show) and I've started a half dozen things in the meantime. Right now the holidays are looming and I'm attempting to make as many gifts as I can, which I of course just started. On that note, this is long enough, and I have some crafting to do. Till next month, if not sooner.

(First and last photo: All rights reserved by steve@earthtosteve.com)

Road Trip Tokens: featuring animal parts, flowers and more

I happen to be smack in the middle of several unfinished paintings so this will not be an art post. It's also just about time to take down the show at O'Reillys, so I'm hoping to snag a few pics of the setup to post here before I take it down. Instead, for your viewing pleasure, I have photos... pictures of carnage, flowers, and inspiring objects that will soon become sculptures/costumes/headpieces and more. And at the very least, they are strange and interesting.

I recently took a trip down to Miami, Florida (where my parents live and where I am from) to purchase their old car and drive it back. We flew down, hung out for a few days, and drove the beast of a car back to Philly, going from summer weather to full-on winter in 20+ hours of driving. I took a strange collection of pictures along the way.

View from the plane landing into Ft. Lauderdale of a lake covered in algae

Flowers in my parents backyard. I always take pictures of whatever is blooming
for painting references and general mid-winter cheering up.

We made a brief trip over to the beach on the bay at Key Biscayne, just to see the ocean, smell the salt air, enjoy a little beautiful scenery before we left back to the grey concrete jungle we call home. We got out of the car and walked over to the shore, where we discovered carnage of epic proportions. (If you are disturbed by pictures of dead things, please fast forward.)

~~~~~~

Wait.
What..?

Feathers strewn everywhere. Bones, chicken feet, and various animal carcasses (including something furry.) My first thought?

Santería...

The word is Spanish and loosely translates as "worship of the saints." Santería is a religion with roots in West Africa and the Carribbean, a blend of the Yoruba religion (practiced by the Yoruba peoples in Nigeria and West Africa, brought to the America's and islands during the slave trade) and Roman Catholicism. The ancient deities worshipped in Yoruba belief systems - Orishas - were disguised as Catholic saints, and in Cuba and Santeria, the words and figures became interchangeable. Like Voodoo, it is regarded as mystical, fascinating and also frightening to Westerners, especially thanks to their tendencies in rituals, magic, and animal sacrifices.

According to Wikipedia, Santería evolved from those transplanted beliefs in Cuba, although similar religions (with the same origins) are practiced in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, among others. Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants brought Santería to the United States, and given Miami's massive Cuban population, seeing remnants of a Santería animal sacrifice on the beach there is not so far-fetched of an idea. Thanks to a court case there in 1993 (Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah), animal sacrifices done in the name of Santería are legal.

The research I did leading up to this post did not have me convinced what we stumbled upon was indeed the remains of some kind of Santeria ceremony, but I like to think so. For all we knew, it could have very well been a cock fight- (another equally controversial but less exciting reason for there to be dead chicken parts strewn about the beach.)

But... if this was a cock fight, why was there something that resembled a large furry mammal? With hooves? (There were also several random rose petals, and none of the animal carcass heads seemed to be anywhere in the wreckage/carnage.) Religious ceremony, gambling match, or predators dinner table, it's remnants were out of place, and I was excited to have stumbled upon such a scene with my crappy point and shoot in hand.

~~~~~~

I'm still not sure what that was, but it was arguably the most interesting point of our 48 hours in Miami last weekend. I gathered the most beautiful feathers I could find (without getting totally grossed out) and took them home with me. I'll let you know if anything I make from them seems to be cursed one way or another.

Another exciting find from our brief road trip was a pair of deer antler I picked up somewhere at a road stop in northern Florida.


And, funny enough, they were exactly the kind of weird find at a road stop that I was looking for. Literally. I needed antlers so they could go with my ram horns, which I picked up during a late summer road trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.


Total, both pairs cost me just over $20, which was the best part. First of all, I am undeniably attracted to weird natural collectables. This includes rocks (& "crystals", ahemHIPPIEahem), feathers, interesting pieces of wood, dead flowers, dried leaves/other plant material, shells, bones, etc. (I realize this is possibly why I found the Santería scene above so fascinating, come to think of it.) Second of all, The Penny Treats have just been brainstorming for their next performance number, and the costumes are going to include elaborate, decorative animal/hybrid headdresses as a main feature. And these headdresses are now going to include these beautiful horns that I managed to find. And I am terrifically excited to work with them, take pictures of them, draw them, and develop these new costumes around them.

We also found this thing on the beach (a different area than the carnage & feathers) and although we are not 100% sure where it came from or it's purpose, we thought it was cool enough to take home with us. It's half of a hollow shell, like a giant nut of some kind, though is nothing I recognize as being part of the local foliage. It also already came with these markings on part of it, and a little crack on one side. If you turned it over, it would be a bowl - but I think we should make it into a mask of some kind and continue decorating it with wood burning tools, painting or cutting. Like a good piece of driftwood or an intact seashell, I couldn't resist taking it home with me.

These and numerous plastic bins (of high school yearbooks, sketchbooks and childhood photos my parents finally made me take out of their house) accompanied us on the road trip back. I didn't take very many exciting pictures of anything else. There are a couple of silly shots of Alex or I driving, the temperature in the car with no heat we just bought and some random others. I'm going to leave you with a shot of the Fort McHenry Tunnel that we took passing through Baltimore. I lived there for 6 years and Alex is from there, so it's appropriate that it was the only place we felt nostalgic about passing through together.

And just a few hours later, we were back home in Philly. The ocean and the beach (and animal parts) when it was 80 degrees outside were a distant memory.

Thank you to everyone who came out!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the artists that participated in Dark Matters: A Halloween-Inspired Art Show. We had over a dozen artists showing paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, installations and more. Several artists sold pieces that night, including Miss Kristin Scholz, so congratulations to all of you.

THANK YOU also to everyone that came out that night (despite the unexpected double-booked metal show going on at the same time.) It was a fantastic turnout, even though at times we couldn't tell who was there for what event.

If anyone took any pictures that night, please get in touch with me, I'd love to post them.