Cay Denise

I'm so delighted with my new book -- that I designed, wrote and illustrated, and is now in print thanks to Blurb!   'The Soliloquies of A Wayfaring Trio' was a months-long effort this year.  I had no plan to create a book when I started reading unpacked journals from years ago. Those journals -- started in 1979 -- was at a time when life was about to serve-up some dramatic changes including a solo move from the Midwest to the Pacific Coast.  I wasn't writing poetry then.  In fact, I had never written poetry before, and it was only through those journals that I started writing creatively.   In 1981, that creative writing began with prose (one to four sentences in length).  While taking a 10-month journey to Europe (1982-3), poetry in free verse form started showing up.  An edited version of one of the poems written during that trip appears in the latest book and is titled 'A Day at Nea Kameni' (a location in Greece).   Thereafter, and in looking ba...

Copyright protection for the earliest version of Mickey and Minnie Mouse expires this year.  That means, Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters as used in Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy (the 1928 version of each) become part of the Public Domain in 2024.  The two early images can then be used for other creative works without fear of copyright law issues.   But WAIT A MINUTE, before taking up brush and paint or pen to make a derivative work, consider that Disney has been in business a very long time and was helpful in extending copyright terms that were approved by Congress.   Copyright law is complicated, and where copyright and trademark apply to the same creative work, that intersection adds unique peculiarities.  Disney still maintains copyright (for 95 years) of each later version of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  So, it's important to know which version is in the Public Domain.  That said, if the character is trademarked, this sets up other issues when u...

The rescued, resurrected and rehabilitated Luna Luna art amusement park is now open in Los Angeles, CA!! The original park appeared in Hamburg, Germany in 1987.  Many of the then unconventional visual artists took part in the park's design including Keith Haring, Salvador Dali, David Hockney and Basquiat among others.  After its closure due to loss of funding, the park's elements were stowed in Conex boxes ending up in Texas with an unknown future.   That future has had a positive development through the efforts of Dream Crew, a multi-disciplinary media company.  As a result, pieces in the original park have been rehabilitated and are being exhibited in a couple of Los Angeles, CA warehouses.  It is now open through the spring of 2024.   It sounds like a fascinating, fun and imaginative project for the visual artists that were involved in the original project as well as those that are re-inventing the idea and its ability to delight new audiences.   Fo...

A recent virtual field trip offered through Creative Mornings was on making watercolor and quote zines.  It sounded like a fun idea, since I love making zines every once in a while and have not used watercolor or quotes in them.  The leader provided a few pages of very useful quotes that could be printed out as well as a supply list in advance of the workshop.  At the appointed time, we assembled for an hour.  For me, I needed more time to finish as I had so many scrapbook bits to look through and decide on what to use.  So mine sat unfinished for a little while as ideas took form.  In the finished zines (that I like), some of the leader's quotes and limited watercolor were used.  Both interestingly...wax philosophical.  One is named 'Breathe' and the other 'Fly'.   A shout out to Creative Mornings for its Virtual Field Trips, and for the Watercolor and Quotes Zinemaking session in particular!

Wrap-up week has arrived for Louise Fletcher's 2023 Find Your Joy course.  This is my second year of study with Louise and it has been as enriching, in different ways, as last year.   I've done a lot of work in the class.   Strike that!  Actually, I've done a lot of PLAY in the class.  Playing is the perfect way to discover one's buried areas of delight without judgement by unabashedly breaking out favorite, old, new and unused tools, paint, pencils and pens, crayons, watercolor, markers, stencils, pastels -- you name it - and using them to create on a substrate of one's choosing (paper, canvas, wood panel, fabric, etc.).  The most important part is allowing the platy to be what it is, to be open to what it has to teach (especially if one doesn't like it), identifying the parts you like that prompt new explorations, and detaching from result--because it's all about the process.      That said, these are some of my favorite efforts, from th...

A SUCCESSFUL FIRST!  This custom-designed and digitally-printed scarf arrived today.  I uploaded my design and ordered it December 3rd and received it today, December 7th.  I'm very impressed with the company's customer service and the quality of the product, and I'm quite satisfied with the scarf (printed on Silk Sensation from Bags of Love). I'm still interested in having the design printed on a fabric so it is viewable on both sides.  That may mean having it printed on a much lighter fabric (e.g. Poly Chiffon or Silk Georgette).  If you have a fabric suggestion and/or vendor to look into, please leave a comment.