I’ve been deeply immersed in the wondrously weird little world of my crow’s nest studio, much more appealing now that C.P. McDill helped me re-organize it and found a way to make it reasonably warm. Another important part of “gathering mojo” for the working mode has been treasure hunting for dusty old books and their pages. I guess this replaces beach combing and gardening since I do tend to switch to antiquing in the winter months.

I’ve also been listening alternately to two amazing internet radio stations, both of which I highly recommend. My current favorite is the recently discovered Ancient FM which plays medieval and early music. I also madly love the ambient otherworldly atmosphere of Drone Zone at http://somafm.com/ and not just because they occasionally play tracks by yours truly although that is always appreciated. Both stations have a nice flow to them. I am rarely taken out of my own zone or distracted from what I am working on.

The photograph (above) is a corner of the studio arranged with newly adopted books and cheese crates, along with an antique paper cutter, restructured wooden cigar boxes, and more books from the last successful raid.

Gorgeous book from 1905 illustrated by Will Carqueville.

This is not only a nicely tattered old book. It’s actually a useful music lesson primer. I’m beginning classical guitar lessons next week so it’s just what I needed.

Oh yes! Peacocks and columns.

No idea what these are! Embroidery cards?

Last but not least, deep in some arid desert is a cool cave, an abundance of life within finding refuge from the brutal noontime heat beyond. Small luminescent creatures dwell on the walls of the black interior, making unintentional constellations to delight the eye.

Size: 6″ x 6″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, and varnish on canvas.

That’s all for now. I’ll be in the cave.

Patin’d silver metal bezel and chain and vintage charm. The image is a hand painted paper tile is an original work of art comprised of vintage paper, ink, and oil paint glaze to resemble the palimpsest of illuminated manuscripts.

The Divine Hermaphrodite

Full description of One is the All on arianadii.com

Full description of The Green Lion on arianadii.com

The phoenix is an eagle-like bird that is said to be nearly immortal. Some variant of the phoenix appears in the mythologies of many of the world’s ancient cultures. In classical Greek myth the phoenix undergoes a death-and-rebirth cycle approximately every 1,000 years, by building itself a pyre of myrrh branches in which it is burned to ashes. From the ashes a new phoenix is born.

In modern times the phoenix is a symbol of the Lebanese people, who are descended from the Phoenicians, and of Beirut in particular, a city eternally reborn from its own ashes. In alchemy the phoenix represents the element of fire and the fiery aspect of sulphur. It also symbolizes the perfection of unified opposites, in that it reproduces from itself without need of an “other.”

New astrological miniature of the Taurus constellation. I posted this a few days ago and forgot to post it for everyone silly enough not to be subscribed to my improved website‘s new work feed or the shop feed on etsy. Hehehe. Kidding. Really though, aren’t these new fangled thingies so convenient? I love RSS feeds.

I redid arianadii.com in wordpress so that it could have a feed and better content management. What a Herculean task it turned out to be that I was not prepared for! It isn’t actually a blog like this one. It’s just that the wordpress is so easy to update. I still need to put up links and a few other pages. I’m working on that. Okay. Whew. That’s done and now I can just have fun posting to my websites and spend more of time in the studio where I belong.

Adopt a bull! – Etsy link. ;)

In alchemy, things in threes tend to symbolize the three elements (Sulphur, Salt, Mercury) as well as the Christian trinity of God. This esoteric image depicts a three-headed eagle astride a globe in which is represented three winds over the sea. Tom deForest of Small and Simple Things has another interesting take on this symbolism.

In his book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap”, Cleon Skousen describes our form of government as a three-headed eagle with each head representing a branch of our government; the judicial, executive and legislative branches. This separation of powers is nothing new. We’ve learned it from our youth, although most really don’t understand the details.

However, he carries the symbol a little further and describes simply and powerfully another principle of our government. He states that the two wings represent two forces at work in the government – the wing of problem solving and the wing of conservation. The wing of problem solving is the wing of compassion and seeing to the needs of the people. The wing of conservation is responsible for care of resources and individual freedoms. These two powers must be kept in balance in order for our form of government to operate successfully. Skousen gives the example of wing #1 wanting to solve all problems regardless of cost. If wing #2 cannot convince wing #1 to take a more realistic approach then the government swings towards tyranny. Anarchy lies at the opposite end of the spectrum.

These principles are so simply stated and understood. Share them with your friends and neighbors. Share them with people on the bus. Hand out pictures of the three headed eagle in the street and we will all rejoice in this simple knowledge.

(The Five Thousand Year Leap, Clean Skousen, p. 24-26)

In all fables we are told that the Salamander is born in fire…. It dwells in a great mountain which is encompassed by many flames. And as one of these is ever smaller than another — herein the Salamander bathes. The third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest. In all these the Salamander washes, and is purified. Then he ties him to his cave, but on the way is caught and pierced so that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood. But this, too, happens for its good: For from its blood it wins immortal life, and then death has no more power over it. Its blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth, the same has not its like in the world. For this blood drives away all disease…. From it the Sages derive their science, and through it they attain the Heavenly Gift, which is called the Philosopher’s Stone . — The Book of Lambspring

This is another experiment with working dry. I “painted” the surface with composted endpapers by ripping it strategically and hand-stitching it to linen. Then I drew on the paper (ink, pastel, crayon, pencil) and embellished it with embroidery.

I finally made it to Provincetown after three years of living just on the other side of the Cape Cod Bay. Even though I can see it from our landing, it’s a long drive around the tip of the Cape and it would be an even longer swim. I forgot to take pictures until we passed this amazing garden on our way home. The Ganesha caught my eye. I always forget to take pictures. Oh well. It’s a reason to go back. The other reason to go back soon is that I found an entire gallery of antique Indian art with hundreds of miniatures and yantras.

The garden gate.

The front entrance gate.

Long shot and close-up of the wizard sculpture.

An eclectic stone wall surrounds the property so I couldn’t see most of it.

I’ve been out and about more than usual lately. C.P. and I finally made it up to Salem to see the Joseph Cornell exhibition. To put it diplomatically, the choice of lighting and display were interesting. It’s Joseph Cornell though. I had to see it and the sheer size of the show made it worth the trip. There were a number of small paintings and collages from private collections that are rarely seen not that I could actually see them. Note to curator. Please turn on the lights next time. It would also be nice to be able to view all sides of the work since it is actually three-dimensional but I’d have settled for the front view. Lights? Please? I guess the person who designed this show thought showing shadow boxes required low lighting. It wasn’t the best choice.

We also visited the Fogg and Sackler museums. I had sort of forgotten about them. The collections are small, diverse, and selective. The lighting and display are exquisite. I was reprimanded for taking notes in my notebook with a pen instead of a pencil.