Día de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead coincided with my friend Damien's 30th birthday, so that was a party opportunity waiting to happen, especially since earlier in the year he was being a diva of sorts about the whole ThirtyMilestone. We kept a slightly satirical funeral vibe, complete with a coffin that he popped out of after we stood in a large circle reciting hilarious eulogies. What better way to dramatically tell your friends you love them? But the Dia de los Muertos aesthetic can be completely gorgeous and I think from now on I'll be skipping Halloween and sticking with this. Of course they really do it up right in Mexico and other participating cultures; large breads shaped like skulls, and parades...

Backyard lighting

Hurricane Sandy day two. Candles were not just for looks.

Forrest painted this both pretty and practical, and now he has a newly awakened love of painting all things. Looks like I have a new studio partner. 

Another by product of Hurricane Sandy. A rope was strung up indoors for this. It reminds me of 'putting the F-U-N back in funeral'.

 Going to work

Colors we could wear everyday. Totally.

A Little On Preservation

Dipped my yellow chrysanthemum today. Beginning to wonder if the polycrylic is making me ill (or ill in the future). Some of these flowers seem to be shirking their preservation; the finish rolled right off the insides of those tendril-petals, unlike the rose. Then I dipped two shoulder blades (probably from a fox). They have been perched nicely in my closet for over one year and I was tired of knocking them around.

This is the skull they were found with, now gleaming and fixed to a mobile device. Lovely photograph by Melissa A. Cromwell.

This is exactly how it was discovered in Nova, Ohio.