crystal heart painting

Day one of the crystal heart painting. So much more to do. So little energy. It would help if I could fall asleep at night sometime before 4:30 in the morning.

---

Skipped ahead to the almost finished painting. This just needs some small adjustments, and the text.

---

The text, done with my Cricut Maker. I mixed a darker shade of the background paint, and did two layers of paint through the stencil. It works fine.

---

The finished painting with the text. I still have to varnish it. I’ve switched to a satin finish varnish. I find the gloss varnish reflects too much light from the windows.

---

crystal skull, heart painting

Your heart’s made of glass, and your bones are transparent,

your dreams have no need for a bed,

your voice is a ghost in the chaos of sorrow,

but I can’t get it out of my head.

the keepers of memory #707 v:32

Started the next painting. It’s a painting of a crystal skull and a crystal heart that I own. It goes with the painting of the crystal skull for the new book, echoes in the void.

---

Most of the background is done. I still need to do the top, behind the skull and the heart. I like it so far. I see a line that needs to be corrected, but otherwise, so far so good.

---

A few more hours work. I’m keeping track of how much time this painting is taking, just for fun.

---

Three more hours work. Lots to do yet. This one is going into the new book, which is progressing slowly, but steadily. It’s not as hard as my first book. Once I figured out how to use the Word program, it got much easier. That was a long upward learning curve.

---

Finished, except for the varnish, and maybe a few touch-ups here and there. Well, it’s signed, so it must be finished. I’m going to use a satin varnish, and see what it looks like. I find the gloss varnish reflects too much light from the windows.

---

Added the text. I made a stencil with my Cricut Maker, and stenciled gold paint through it, twice. I did a layer of black paint over that, thinned with some varnish, just to knock it back a bit. It’s hard to take a good picture.

---

The original photograph. Taken at night, with a flashlight behind the skull and heart. They’re small, about two by two inches, more or less.

---

echoes in the void - the new book, now finished.

‘echoes in the void’, book cover on Amazon.ca

---

The finished crystal skull painting. The text took me two tries to stencil onto the canvas, but it worked fine the second time. The first time the transfer tape was too sticky and it wouldn’t let go of the stencil, which cut perfectly on the Cricut. I need better lighting to take a better photograph. The text reads:

Our hearts beat a mantra for love everlasting,

I miss the momentum the most,

bones are like words in the language of sorrow,

but a ghost is a ghost is a ghost.

from the poem the blood angel v:28

---

The original photo.

---

Glass skull and heart photograph for the poem ‘the blood angel’. For the new book ‘echoes in the void’.

---

Ghost and bone, assemblage. Plastic found object from the beach at Longpoint, Ont. Wooden frame, wooden letters, acrylic paint, glue. I think it’s a plastic dryer vent pipe, but it looks like a windpipe to me.

---

Almost finished. Needs a few corrections here and there, but I like it.

---

The finished painting with the text. I like the colours.

---

I’m printing the pages of the book as I do them, and I’m putting them in a binder, so I can keep track of what’s on which page. I have lots of poems, but I need images to go with them. I’m starting with all the paintings I have that didn’t make it into the last book, ‘dancing down entropy street’.

---

The binder, in progress. This is the painting for the poem ‘the keepers of memory’.

---

There’s a book-within-a-book. This is the inscription page for the poem ‘the rapture of the seraphim’. It’s an altered photograph of the top of a cake.

---

‘eye see you’ assemblage. Shadow box, text dice, jewelry, plastic hearts, plastic eye, plastic top from a bottle of something, found on the road, squished; acrylic paint.

---

For the poem ‘bones are just ghosts in a shroud’.

The world held its breath while the whole apparatus

ground to a shuddering halt,

the by-standers stood there,

with malice aforethought,

filming your deadly assault.

---

I think I’ve finished the book. I keep writing new poems that I want to include, but I have to stop somewhere, so I’m stopping now. Maybe. There’s one more poem I might want to include, I’ll have to think about it. Then I get to upload it to my Kindle page, and see what happens to the architecture when that happens. I almost always have to make corrections to the layout to get the pages to look the way I want them to look. I’m not looking forward to that, but hey, maybe I did it right this time. This is the back cover for the book ‘the book of the dead’, vol. 2.

The last poem is a haiku, called ‘Empathy equals Memory

times the Sea of Love, Twice. (E=Mc2) I wrote it in 2015. It’s a mathematical haiku.

One two three four five

six seven eight seven six

five four three two one.

(Five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables).

The book has ended up being 150 pages, which is a good number. The last one was 144. Now I can start the next one.

The basic premise for the poetry is that every syllable is a musical note, and that even when you speak, you sing. If we didn’t, we’d sound like early voice synthesizers from the 70’s, so all speech is musical.

The first thing I had to figure out was that all syllables are not created equal. Stressed syllables are higher notes than unstressed syllables. You really have to write the words as musical notations. I did that with one verse at the back of the previous book, ‘dancing down entropy street’. I’m not a musician, so I got a program that writes musical notes from a computer keyboard to illustrate the idea. In the beginning, I didn’t appreciate this fact, and some of the poetry worked by accident, and some of it didn’t. It took me quite a bit longer than it should have to figure out what I was doing wrong. You can do short ‘songs’, or long ‘songs’. I like longer ones, because they flow better. All poetry is like bonsai. Sometimes you have to wire the branches to make a pleasing shape.

I say poems are like dreams, because you get the emotional truth without necessarily getting the facts. That sounds like I’m saying poems are alternative facts, but I’m not. The truth is the truth. Or maybe your heart has one truth, and your brain, another. Maybe they’re mutually exclusive. Or maybe they’re the opposite sides of the same coin. Either way, they’re metaphors for the real world. Poems to me are also like collages. They’re bits and pieces glued together to make a new image of something, like dreams. I do have underlying themes that come from ‘The Wizard of Oz’, and ‘The Garden of Eden’, and other myths and legends.

If you took all of the water out of the well, there would be a small object at the bottom, a blue butterfly, a wish to be remembered. A wish not to be forgotten. A hand-print on a cave wall, to say, ‘I was here’.

A burning of the clocks. A time machine. A divination of swans. A skeleton dancing in the dark.

---

Fairy light halo photograph. Jo Forrest 2020.

---

This is the photo of me for the back cover of ‘echoes in the void’. It’s the photo I took after the bit of skin cancer on my neck was removed. I’m standing in front of the ‘jester’ painting I did for the previous book, ‘dancing down entropy street’. I’m now struggling with uploading my files to the KDP website, on Amazon. I wanted to do my own covers, since I don’t like any of their ready-made templates. Progress is, as always, slow. I did manage to upload both the cover files and the contents of the book, but layout issues always show up at that stage, which need to be fixed. Hopefully, I’ll manage to upload it soon. Any day now… Then I can start the next one. No title so far. I’m sure it will come from a poem, as usual. I’m writing #733 now, called ‘love is a runaway train’.

‘A little bit crazy’, was how they described me, but fear without proof is insane, watch me turn hope into autobiography, love is a runaway train’.

---

Finally. It only took me 6 hours to upload the file to my Kindle Publishing file, but it’s done. I poured a shot of something from the liquor cabinet to celebrate.

---

Here is the Amazon page. The file is in review, so I’ll have to wait a day or so for it to be approved. Then I can order a copy for myself, so I can proof-read it in ink on paper. I did my best to proof-read it on the computer screen, but I always seem to miss a word or two. Still, it’s done.

---

A close up of the Amazon page. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that it’s finally done. I burned my lunch, because I wandered off while it was uploading…but I don’t care.

Of course, I have to reformat the whole thing for the e-book. That’s next.

---

I ordered a copy of my book ‘echoes in the void’, to proofread. I always find it easier to spot mistakes if it’s ink on paper, for some reason.

---

The cover. It’s a collage of images of the funky 70’s light fixture in the basement stairwell, taken through my crystal ball lens.

---

The blue light photograph.

---

The book is now also available as an e-book. I had to reformat every page from a two-column layout, to a single column layout. I’m getting faster at that.

---

Crystal ball

Photographs taken with my crystal ball.

---

Crystal ball in the hedge behind the house. Snow in the background.

---

Crystal ball in front of the mesh in the window in the back addition.

---

Stained glass dragonfly window through the crystal ball lens.

---

Cricut...say Cricket.

Got a Cricut Maker for Christmas. It’s out of the box, and plugged in, but that’s as far as I got.

---

The box opened, and the Maker removed.

---

This is the painting I want to apply text to. I think it will go in the bottom left corner.

---

Managed to get this far, with the products included with the machine. Tried cutting a stencil from a clear vinyl, but it didn’t work. The letters didn’t stick to the mat. I’m going to have to get the proper vinyl and try that.

---

Tried cutting a thick stencil vinyl from Silhouette, but that didn’t work. It didn’t cut through the vinyl. I changed the setting to ‘stencil vinyl’, but that didn’t work either. I have some Silhouette vinyl, which I think must be too thick. You can increase the pressure of the blade, but I haven’t tried that yet. I also ordered Cricut Stencil Vinyl from Amazon, so we’ll see what happens when I try that. It’s supposed to come on Saturday, but they often deliver faster than that, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. It cuts well, just not all the way through. Maybe the regular vinyl would work, but I didn’t buy any to try it. Not annoyed yet.

---

I bought the proper Cricut Stencil Vinyl, and cut it, and stenciled through it. It turned out pretty good, there was some bleed under the stencil, which I touched up by hand. Next time I’ll try to make the surface of the canvas a bit smoother, or use a different technique for applying the paint. I kind of smeared the paint on with a brush, maybe I should have dabbed it on with a foam brush, which I have. Still, it took way less time and it looks a lot better than it would have if I’d painted it by hand.

---

I need a better crisper image, but you get the idea.

---

The bottom of the painting. I need better lighting in my studio to take photographs with. It did turn out o.k. though. Now I have to figure out how to upload a drawing into the Cricut design space to make my own stencil.

---

Christmas magnolia wreath

I made a wreath for my front door from magnolia leaves I got from the grocery store. I flipped some of them over to the brown side, and painted stripes in gold, brown, black and cream on them. It took 2 1/2 hours, but it was well worth it. Every leaf is hand wired onto a twig wreath base. I’m happy with the way it looks, and it only cost me around $14.00 for the leaves.

---

A closer look.

---

Peace lily

This is the beginning of the next painting. It’s a dried peace lily flower, from a plant in the front foyer.

---

Layer one of the orange paint. The gesso is tinted a light tan colour, but I’m going to paint over top of that.

---

One layer of paint on the background. This one is going to have text from a poem, to be done later. I hear I’m getting a Cricut Maker for Christmas, so I’m going to wait and do it with that. Fingers crossed it turns out the way I want it to. It would definitely make it easier to do if it works. Hand lettering takes time and precision.

---

A couple of layers later. I have a brand new Cricut machine, so I’m going to try to cut a vinyl stencil with the text on it, and see how it looks. It might take me a while to figure out how to use it.

---

The stencil cut, and paint stenciled through it. I had to touch up some of the paint that bled through, but it looks fine.

---

'nosferatu' the vampire's circus and assemblages

‘batman’ nosferatu. Collage on canvas. Maybe not finished. There are a lot more of these at the end of this section.

---

and it wasn’t. I added more polka-dots.

---

‘fear is the mindkiller’ bookcase. Bookcase, paint, text from the novel ‘Dune’. I drew the cracks with a pencil.

---

The other side of the bookcase.

---

‘the blind eye’ assemblage. Tin shrine, eye, rhinestones, beads, watch face, text.

---

‘spatter to your heart’s content’. Assemblage. Resin heart, shadow box, eye, text. I made a couple of resin hearts. I cut the text from a thesaurus and a paperback book. The resin heart has watch parts, beads, and glitter. I like making small assemblages.

---

‘Green antique marble’ assemblage. Old clock body, antique green glass marble, antique finial, silicone seal, glass, glue, plastic tube. This doesn’t have any text to go with it yet. I got all the components from the antique show in Brantford on the labour day weekend.

---

Memento vitae, made from a broken hourglass.

Glass hourglass, watch spring, plastic heart, marble, glass glob, watch faces, beads, waxed thread, text.

---

The next memento vitae. Waiting for me to go to the beach to collect the objects.

---

Memento vitae, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, 2013. Glass jar, sand, shells, beads, stone, tag. This commemorates our trip to Punta Cana with our friends from England.

---

Eye see you assemblage. Shadow box frame, misc collected objects, paint, glue.

---

‘the looky-looky eye’, assemblage. Shadow box frame, eye, hologram glasses, collage, letter beads, paint, glue. From the poem ‘a jewel beyond compare’, #692 v:44

You close your eyes and drift away,

I tell myself a lie,

the sky had dark momentum and

the look looky eye.

---

I collaged some text cut from an old book onto a globe I got at the thrift shop. Of course, I added some jewels.

---

The collaged ‘found’ text.

---

Memento Vitae Jan 1 2021, Long Point beach. Wide-mouth jar, sand, glitter, flotsam, waxed thread, beads, photographs, stones, glass finial, tag. Jo and Steve, trip to the beach. I like colourful bits of plastic flotsam.

---

I’ve been working on this found wood sculpture for a few weeks now, off and on. I made arms last night out of wire and beads.

---

The head of the sculpture. All my dolls are named ‘alice’. The head is made from a piece of driftwood, the eyes are dried paint from the tops of bottles of paint, the antennae are eyeglass frames I found on the road, and heavy fish line with beads from a recycled necklace.

---

I finally did my hand-painted globe of Mars.

---

The other side.

---

‘bone’ assemblage. Pork bone, stamps, glass glob, beads, rhinestones, paint, jewelry, glitter. I can’t throw a good bone away.

---

‘Pandora’s Box’, assemblage. Wooden box, paint, glitter, resin skull. I painted a moth/butterfly inside the box, on the bottom, instead of the traditional butterfly.

---

A clearer image of the moth/butterfly/moon painting.

---

The inside of the lid. Moon painting, resin skull, glitter.

---

The top of the box, and the front. Circular ouija board image, squished bottle cap found on the road, eye, jewels, paint, glitter, plastic anatomical skeleton wall hanging from the dollar store.

---

The lid of the box.

---

The inside of the box, with added plastic snakes and flies.

---

Moths on the inside left hand side of the lid.

---

The right hand side.

---

Moon, moth, on the side of the box.

---

‘T time’. Assemblage.

---

‘I see you’ assemblage.

---

‘Keep the promises that you make’. Assemblage.

---

‘the light of time’ assemblage. I added a domino and some beads to the bottom. I like it better now.

---

‘she rides a pale horse’ assemblage, front. Not quite finished, but I like it.

---

The back of the assemblage. Collage, stenciled paint, stamp, text from a poem, paint. I printed small labels with my name and date on them instead of signing them with a pen.

---

I’ve started a whole collection of small collages, for a sale this summer with my friend Amy Walsh-Harris. I didn’t think I was going to like this one, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. I’m going to do some more skull collages. Medical illustration, paint, text. 5 x 7” approx.

---

‘wolverine’ collage. Medical illustration, paint, heart jewel, text. I really like the claws. I’m going to do another one.

The finished collage.

---

7 small collages. I love doing them.

---

---

The original illustration, with red paint on the background, then the image cut out with the ‘flame’ shapes. Heart jewel, star jewel, small playing card, paint, text.

---

More small collages. 4 x 4”, and 6 x 6”, and a shadowbox, 8 x 8”, and one 3 x 9”collage, and a paperweight.

---

Three ‘wolverine’ hand collages. 4 x 9” approx.

---

‘nosferatu’ skull collage.

---

‘nosferatu’ icon collage. I love this one. I did the collaged illustration part in the computer so it would be on one page, then I painted the red, gold, and black, then I cut it out. Wooden mounted board. It can sit on a shelf. I’m going to put something inside it that no one can see. Way too much fun. I like it so much I think it could be a painting.

---

The back of the shadow-box icon. It has the poem ‘nosferatu’, and a cherub ornament, and an arm medical illustration. I might add more later.

---

‘wolverine’, back, flames. Collage on canvas. Printed collaged medical illustrations, paint, jewels.

---

‘wolverine’, right hand. Collage on canvas.

---

‘nosferatu’, the vampire’s circus. Collage on canvas. Collaged images, paint, jewels, eye. Imagine if vampires had a circus…

---

‘nosferatu’, hands up. Collage on canvas.

---

‘nosferatu’, clown. Collage on canvas.

---

‘nosferatu’, blue skull clown. Collage on canvas.

---

‘nosferatu’ batman, flame wings. Not finished. I love the sarong.

and the finished piece.

---

‘nosferatu’, clown, from ‘the vampire’s circus’ series. Collage on canvas, paint, rhinestones. 6 x 6”

---

‘nosferatu’ clown, harlequin. Collage on canvas, from the ‘vampire’s circus’ series. I printed the skull on a red background with the coloured circles, then I cut out the shape, then I added gold paint to the edges, then I painted the stripes and diamond patterns onto the paper. The black skull is a negative image of a black and white skull drawing from a medical text book I have. I’ve decided a little less detail is better, although it’s difficult for me to restrain myself.

---

the finished collage.

---

‘nosferatu’ clown. Collage on canvas, 6x4”. Collage, paint, rhinestones on canvas. See what I mean about the detail? A bit too much maybe.

---

‘nosferatu’, clown. Collage on canvas, 6x4”. A little less detail. I need a full frontal skull face now.

---

Then there’s the ‘nosferatu’ winged images. This one has bird wings. 6x6”.

---

‘nosferatu’, collage with text. 6x6” I added the word ‘nosferatu’ on top of the printed image, and printed it with a red background.

---

Then I did bat wings. Printed on a black background, with the flames painted on top of that. Then I cut out the image and glued it onto a painted canvas, then I added the jewels. I’m working on ones with the torso facing forwards, so you can see the front of the body. I like them all.

---

‘nosferatu’ clown. Collage on canvas. I like the stripes.

---

‘dancing skeleton’ collage for ‘the vampire’s circus’ series. From ‘the dancing skeleton’ painting I did a few years ago.

---

‘nosferatu’ clown skull, collage on canvas. I like the eyes. The left pupil is larger, the same as mine.

---

---

Three ‘dancing skeleton’ collages.

---

‘nosferatu’ bat man collage on canvas, blue background.

---

‘nosferatu’, hand-painted print of a photograph of me at 1 years old. I remember this being taken. For ‘the vampire’s circus’ series. This could be the new title and image for the next book, number four.

---

‘nosferatu’ clown painting for collage. This one is bigger. I’m going to try printing it to see what it looks like.

---

The finished collage. Collaged onto a mounted wooden board. I really like this one. I decided to take photos of a plastic skull I have to use as the basis for these collages, instead of using other people’s drawings or photographs. I’ve started three more of these, but I haven’t glued them down yet. They’re kind of addictive. I got a large canvas from the thrift shop that I’m going to do as a painting based on one of these images. This would make a good t-shirt too. So many possibilities, so little time.

---

‘nosferatu’ venus collage. I did two of these.

---

This is the second one. I added wings instead of an arm. 10 x 10”. Collage on canvas, paint, jewels. The verse is from the poem ‘but I am not a man’, which I’m still writing.

---

Just a small pile of some of the paintings I’ve done for the June show. I have a Plan B if things don’t sell. I don’t have a Plan C if they do. Panic? Ha.

---

‘nosferatu’ clown, dress. I took the photograph of the skull for the background in this collage. I like the way it turned out.

---

‘nosferatu’ the satanic parsnip hat collage. The hat is from a photograph I took of a weird parsnip I got from the farmer’s market a couple of years ago.

---

‘the satanic parsnip’ photograph.

---

‘nosferatu’ antique doll’s head collage.

---

‘nosferatu’ vampire clown collage. I might do a bit more on this one.

---

I added a bit more detail to the background, and some rhinestones.

---

Some of the latest collages. I’m still working on the blue clown in the foreground.

---

The finished collage.

---

Printed, painted wing and doll, cut out.

---

I painted around the doll, then glued the wing and the doll to the painted canvas.

---

‘the winged doll’ collage, finished. I painted the background and added a heart bead, and some pink rhinestones. I do like a bit of glitter.

---

The photograph I took of a sculpture at the ROM.

---

The photo of an eyeless doll I took at an antique mall. So creepy but cool. I also did a painting of this.

---

Three unfinished collages. I just have to do the backgrounds on them. I like the pink skull burning angel clown collage. I think I need to do some butterfly wings next.

---

The finished icon. Gold paint, heart jewel and rhinestones.

---

‘nosferatu’ winged wolverine icon. Collage on canvas.

---

‘nosferatu’, pink skull angel vampire clown. Collage on canvas, paint, jewels. I like the pink skull. I’m going to do another skull clown. I’m elongating the skull for fun. I usually do 3 or 4 of these at a time, so I can let the paint dry on one, and move on to the next one. I still have a stack of small primed canvases to finish.

---

I started 3 more collages last night, but I couldn’t stay up to finish them. 2:30 a.m. is late enough, and I still had to do some ironing, and the dishes. I still didn’t get to sleep until after 4. I’ll finish these today.

---

‘the juggling clown’, paper and paint on canvas, jewels. I like the pants. I left some of the text from the original drawing on the page, and painted around it.

---

‘butterfly clown skeleton with an elongated skull’, collage on canvas, jewels, butterfly shapes. I like the shape of the skull. Kind of alien-like. I like the blue braided beard too.

---

3/4 profile skull clown collage. I photographed the skull I have in 3/4 profile. I like the way it looks, especially the weird eyes.

---

DeviantArt Prints

I’m now offering selected prints from the book ‘dancing down entropy street’ as prints from DeviantArt.

I also have some images that aren’t in the book. I’ve ordered a 16 x 24” lustre print of this image for myself, so I can see how it looks. Finger’s crossed. Check out my DeviantArt page: joforrestvisualpoet

---

tiger lily

There’s a tiger in the tiger-lilies,

staring at the moon,

the drunken flies eat everything,

and bones are not immune.

---

---

Image and text for the tiger lily painting.

---

Or this one. I took a lot of photographs.

---

…then I made stained glass wings for him. I have a friend who’s motorcycle painting company is called ‘Flying Tiger’, so I might send it to him, if I can figure out how to pack it safely.

---

When the light shines through the orange waterglass wings, it makes a tiger-striped black and orange shadow. I love that.

---

Found a green and orange tiger at the thrift shop. I don’t know why he’s green, but I’m going to make wings for him too.

---

Flying Tiger and Battle Cat fairy, for the fairy garden.

---

I’m also making a glass pyramid for the ‘mummy’ fairy skeleton. The last one kind of fell apart in the rain. This one should last longer. It’s ready to be soldered, so I just have to do that. Staying in as much as possible. But then, when don’t I?

---

rude pepper

This is going to be a painting for sure.

---

The inside of the pepper.

---

Rude pepper, red background.

---

The inside of the pepper. This would make a good painting too.

---

Eyes from Michael’s. Cut pepper face. I like the seed ‘teeth’.

---

all those kleptomaniacs #659 verse: 4

I gave them maps to travel by,

and shoes to fit their feet,

the vagabonds, the dark avengers,

dancing down the street.

I had this idea of putting maps on the insides of a pair of shoes, and on the soles. That way, you’d never get lost, and it might make you want to travel. I got the shoes at the thrift shop, and I printed the map from an image I had. The flag is a New Zealand flag.

---

The bottom of one shoe, and the inside of the other one.

---

I had a good time photographing them on different backgrounds. I was thinking of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, if she’d had shoes with a map, then she would have known how to get home.

---

barbiedoll fairy queens

---

---

Barbiedoll mermaid fairy queen. Recycled barbie doll, pre-mixed cement, glitter, chain, bead, soldered crown, pearls, stained glass wings, tail.

---

Side view.

---

Rhino fairy, glass wings, plastic toy from the thrift shop, in a bag with the two sheep I wanted for a painting, and two goats, because that’s a natural combination.

---

The first barbiedoll fairy queen. Glass wings, tulle skirt, amber heart necklace, glitter, rhinestones, pearls, plastic leaves.

---

New crown made from solder for the skeleton fairy king.

---

The start of the next project, the Rapunzel barbiedoll fairy tower. I have to cut out the window. That should be fun. Metal furnace pipe, metal cone Christmas decoration roof, covered in premixed cement.

---

Making the roof for the small turret. I got a small styrofoam cone from Mary Maxim’s. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be used for, but it was the perfect size for the smaller turret. It’s covered in premixed cement from Canadian Tire. I glued it to the top of this plastic container to work on it. The rocks are for weight at the bottom so it wouldn’t tip over.

---

I attached the roof of the small turret to a cardboard core from some wrapping paper and applied the premixed cement and stones to it to make the smaller turret.

---

Flagpoles made from small skewers and soldered copper foil. The finials on top are lids from bottles of glue, and beads painted silver.

---

The wig I got from Value Village, washed and drying in the sink.

---

Rapunzel barbiedoll. Hair extensions, dress. Fabric scraps, sewn, glued. Still needs wings.

---

Rapunzel barbiedoll fairy in her castle, in the garden, with the flying fairy barbiedoll. What should I do next? I have a red-headed barbie doll…Little Red Riding Hood?

---

I got a plastic tiger at the thrift shop to photograph with the day lilies for a painting, but then I thought I should make a fairy tiger, so I went to the glass store and got some orange glass. The pattern is just laying on the glass. I have to glue it down, then cut the glass. He’ll go outside with the fairy rhino I made.

---

Flying Tiger. Plastic thrift shop tiger, glass wings.

---

The waterglass wings cast a striped shadow.

---

The Battle Cat plastic toy, with his new wings, for the fairy garden.

---

Both of them together. I need a unicorn, and a wolf, and a horse.

---

a wolf among the darling lambs

Two plastic sheep for the painting ‘a wolf among the darling lambs’. Value Village, in a bag with some goats, and a rhinoceros, because that’s a natural combination.

---

Layer one of the painting. Tinted gesso background. I really like it so far.

---

Close-up of the sheep painting. Painting on the coloured background is nice. The paint doesn’t look thin, the way it usually does.

---

Lots of in between stages to get to the final version. Add some detail, take it out, add some more, take them out. In the end less busy is better.

---

June 10th. Had some light oval shapes in the background. Decided I didn’t like them, so I painted something on top of them, then decided I didn’t like that, so I just painted them out.

---

Another previous incarnation. Trying to balance the light and dark.

---

The eighth circle of hell.

Cleaned up my studio painting storage area. You can see the floor now. August 2022.

---

Studio, cleaned up. Paintings stacked against the wall. De-cluttered.

---

Got 3 cabinets from Ikea to hold my stuff.

---

Magnetic lettering.

---

Beads in a drawer.

---

Studio painting.

---

Curled leaf painting, still unfinished.

---

Studio. ‘floating’, and shark-puppet-barbiedoll paintings.

---

Studio, new Ikea cabinets. Four peaches painting, ‘shadow’ poodle pepper shaker painting, collages.

---

‘Miss America’ painting, shelves.

---

I cleaned a space in my studio (gasp), and put the wire shelf in from the dining room. Let’s see how long it takes to fill it…and go…

---

…mission accomplished.

---

An image from Pinterest. I seriously want a case for my skull collection.

---

Curled leaf painting.

Some leaves fell off my poinsettia plant at Christmas. They dried up and curled, so I took some pictures.

This is the painting so far. Layer 2 of green on the leaf. No text on this one.

---

April 16th. More green, and Titan Buff on the background. I’m mixing the purple, since I don’t have any.

---

April 20. More work on the leaf and the shadow.

---

May 10th, painted some detail in, then painted it out.

---

George Machin, boxer painting

A painting from an old promotional photograph of the boxer, George Machin.

Layer one, just started this. The original photo was in black and white.

---

The original photo.

---

The finished painting. I might tweak it a little. I’m writing the poem that goes with it now. I’ve never written about a boxer before. This is my husband’s sister’s husband’s father. Got that?

---

Re-painted the shorts, and added a death’s head moth in the upper right hand corner. It’s varnished now, so I guess it’s finished. The poem is called ‘the boxer of the year’.

---

Dragonfly window

Started the next stained glass window. This one is for the front foyer. I still need one piece of glass, but it’s too cold and snowy to go out.

---

I know there was a big gap in between the previous photograph, where it was just a drawing, to this, the finished panel, but it doesn’t really look good until it’s done. I like the way it looks. I’m painting the outside came black, then I can install it. I’ll take more pictures then. It will look the best with light coming through it.

---

This is the whole panel.

---

Installed, with light coming through it. Needs some wood trim, the house leans to the left a little.

---

The whole window. It has a nice Art Deco vibe.

---

A better picture of the dragonfly stained glass window.

---

lily, lily, rose

Tell me every flower that

your secret garden grows,

it’s all about the sweet carnation,

lily, lily, rose.

lily, lily, rose poem, #605 verse:20 Jo Forrest.

---

Original photo for the painting.

---

I’ve been watching a series on the Knowledge Network about the Tate Gallery Walks, with Gus Casely-Hayford. I saw the program about John Singer Sargent twice. After the second time, I wrote the poem ‘lily, lily, rose’. I have to do a painting to go with it, and this is one of the photographs I like of the lilies in my garden. I’ll probably buy some white ones, and some roses and carnations, all white, to do another photograph to work from. That’s a few projects from now though. I have a few other things I want to do first.

---

Tinted gesso background. Layer one of the flowers. I’m putting the paint on in a thick layer, instead of my usual 3 thin layers, (or more). I’m not being too fussy about it. I like it, and it’s quicker. The background is going to be all dark green leaves on a darker green background, like the few off to the right. That’s going to take some time.

---

Close-up of the background leaves. Lots more to do.

---

Full view of the leaves. I’m only going to do one word for the text, instead of the whole verse.

---

More work on the background. This is going to take a long time. Up ‘til 3 again…

---

Working on the background first. It’s more fun than I thought it was going to be, but it’s taking a long time.

---

Still have the leaves to do. It’s comin’ along.

The finished painting. Varnished and signed.

---

Started the next day lily painting. I think it’s going to be a good one.

---

A bit more of the background done. I like the high contrast, and the light.

---

I did some more work on the background. I’m really looking forward to seeing it finished.

---

Layer one, all the leaves done.

---

Working on the petals now. It’s coming into focus.

---

Almost finished. Needs a bit more work here and there. I like it. It took way longer than the other one.

---

Rose stained glass window

Drawing for a CR Mackintosh rose window for the window on the stairs. Now I have to see if I have enough glass.

---

Ground, waiting to be foiled.

---

Foiled, waiting to be soldered.

---

The finished window, installed. I like it.

The window in the stairwell.

---

Taken from outside, at night, with the lights on inside.

---