ahh october is finally here! for those of you who know me- you know that dia de los muertos is one of my favorite times of year. i’ll be sharing my artwork throughout the month. hope you will be inspired to remember and celebrate the life of a past loved one.

el libro del muerto or ”the book of the dead” is not really so much an altered book as an assemblage piece. i used the pages from a lovely antique victorian photo album, and for the cover , an old book. the paper dolls on the cover are from the 1900’s, and the antique lace is hand dyed and beaded. for the “pages” i embellished antique photo’s with collage, pen & ink, ephemera and finding’s. soooo much fun!

small works-some of my favorites! i’ll be having a “make & take” mini altar workshop next sunday, sept 28th which will coincide with the abbot kinney street festival. if you are in the neighborhood come by-details can be found on my website www.turkeyred.com or www.tenwomen.org

my newest altar creation.

Yo me moriré un día, pero soy a causa de usted que mi amor vivirá para siempre.

I will die one day,
but it’s because of you that my love will live forever.

actaully-summer in southern ca is not quite over. we’re in somewhat of a heat wave. betty is the only one of the three girls who really enjoys the water. angie will sedately lay down on the middle step of the pool, zoey will have nothing to do with water at all (except her bath, of which she has no choice.)  betty’s  favorite thing to do is play ball in the pool, second best is to attack the sprinkler.  we’ve had betty for a little more than a year now-we rescued her last may & she’s come a long way. she came from a very good home and loving young mom-who was relocating to the east coast . betty was brought up in a studio apt- and was Not impressed with her new yard at all!  took her a long time to be comfortable going outside.  while the girls are inside most of the  time, they do enjoy their outside time- betty especially!

august has flown by-this was the month i was going to take off -oh well-didn’t happen!

with september 1st being tomorrow, the general consensus is that summer is over.

i am in agreement-for the few weeks i’ve been consumed with thoughts of dia de los muertos-my favorite holiday.  here is airesella- to welcome things to come.

The talented Patricia Anders, one of my favorite artist’s at the Ten Women Gallery, is curating the show ”Raining Art dolls”.  More than 29 artists are participating-it’s a must see! La Sirene is one of my contributions.  Please join us on September 5th from 6-9pm  for the artist reception at the Ten Women Gallery in Venice. http://www.tenwomen.org/venicegallery.html

i have very little willpower in some instance’s -kid’s & books being one.  so-when i was at the flea market this morning it was impossible to resist this treasure-a baby book.  robert henry was born on june 10th 1918 in waukau, wisconsin to gwendolyn & henry cantgler.   gorgeously illustrated by clara powers wilson & published by the reilly & britton co chicago.

these finds are bittersweet for me-it breaks my heart that a family heirloom fall’s into a complete strangers hands at a flea market for a couple of $. this was an only child-the light of his parents lives-they  recorded his childhood with such love and pride.

perhaps at the moment, i’m a little bit over the top emotionally these days on this subject.

i am a mother-my kids are for the most part ”grown”.  my youngest , my son,  will be 21 in dec. a few weeks ago, late at night -he woke me up with “i brought john home-he has nowhere to go”.  john, with his life in 2 trashbags , was moved into one of the spare bedrooms.  i’ve know john since he was 9yrs old-he was my “second son” through  elementry & middle school-he was always here.  he was a child that could have easily fallen through the cracks. his mother had such serious substance abuse issues that she was unable to care for her children.  fortunately her father stepped up and took all 3 kids-john being the oldest.  baseball & his grandfather were john’s savoir, he loved both. my son fell out of touch with john during high school-we heard from john during his senior year-his beloved grandfather was dying  of cancer.  after his grandfather died,  john’s life quickly spireled downward. two years later- this is a young man on the edge-he can go either way. he’s a great kid-i’ll do everything i can to make sure he makes it-i hope it’s enough. 

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 This morning i read in the LA Time’s that an Australian preforming art’s troupe  “Strange Fruit” would be in downtown Los Angeles this evening. My husband (bless his adventurous spur of the minute soul) a friend and i took the subway downtown to  Bank of America Plaza.  the excursion was well worth it-in a word-MAGICAL. They are preforming tomorrow as well as Friday & Saturday- I highly recommend it!  for more information visit

www.7fig.com

 Although I named her Valentina Marcella-she is dedicated to my friend Shelia-the true “Queen of the night”.

i over dyed an vintage 1940’s tablecloth, embellishing with beading & embroidery and she is in an early circa 1900’s woodframe.

she’ll be at the  Icons, Legends & Nortorius figures exhibit at the Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock. visit their website:  http://www.eclecticcactus.com/

for those of you who know me-you  are aware of my “collections”.i have tried to be quite stern with myself-i’m at a point in my life i should use what i have-sadly that is not quite working out.  

i was at a flea market (not the best place for one who is trying to resist temptation-ah well) & couldn’t resist a bundle of old books. one of my very near furture projects is an altered book so i rationalized.

i’m reading the arabian nights, a lifelong favorite, enchantingly illustrated by rene bull. i’m keeping tradition and reading one story each night. (see-i do have a soupscon  of willpower.)

http://www.whimzical.com/Bull.html

René Bull (1870? - 1942) had a wild imagination and a bold style. We had not heard of him until recently, but we’re immensely glad we did. Frankly, we think he’s a genius. His mind could grasp any concept and find a way to express it in a lively and humorous style. Check it ouT:what immediately springs to mind is comic book illustration—and this in the early 1900s. Born in Ireland, Bull did not come upon illustration till he was studying engineering in London. He was inspired to become an artist, and was eventually sent to cover several wars for Black and White magazine. Speaking of which, in addition to his amazing color illustrations, his version of The Arabian Nights also features humorous line drawings (see below). This is truly one of the most wonderous versions available, long overdue for reprinting.