I am working on a series of voodoo boxes for a show at the Plymouth Coffee Bean in October and November. This is my first finished box, it is dedicated to Baron Samedi, a loa of the dead. The loa are much like the Catholic saints. I am making boxes dedicated to several of the loa family. Baron Samedi (french for Baron Saturday) hangs out in cemeteries. The box is approximately 10″x10″.
Saturday, Lynn and I did a little gallery hopping. The first gallery we hopped to was the Northville Art House, where we each have two pieces currently on display.
These are my voodoo skulls. There’s a lot of cool stuff on display, see it if you can.
Lynn and I hit two other galleries, we saw a lot of inspirational work.
Saturday night Mark and I went to the Ark to see Girlyman, a quirky trio (well, no longer a trio, they added a rockin’ drummer) with phenomenal harmonies. Take a listen to “Easy Bake Ovens” if you get a chance.
Then Sunday, the day for love, Mark and I went to a party at our friends, Janice and Marko’s. We planned for a couple of hours but spent longer, J & M have an amazing house, amazing friends, and amazing food, needless to say, an amazing time was had.
This took us closer to the east side, so we wound up at Dylan’s Raw Bar, where we ate lovely sushi and celebrated an early Mardi Gras. The joint was absolutely rockin’ with a band headed by Paul Carey and RJ Spangler. Beads were flying, people were dancing between the tables, and we all marched out with the saints. Great weekend. Go see some art and music first chance ya get!
Every year at this time I tear apart my linen closet and make it into a voodoo alter. Before I take it down I thought I’d share a few images with you.
These are the skull candles, with my butterfly skull book and mosaic tile behind them.
These are some offerings to the gods, some tea and rice, and pretty stones in a beautiful handmade bowl.
This is one of my voodoo dolls and a nun, I like to cover all bases.
In our Runs With Scissors group we were given a hardware challenge. Mary, bless her soul, bought a bunch of from Home Depot, and gave each of us an envelope containing many various and unrelated items to make into some sort of art piece. Mary is doing a wonderful job coming up with ideas for the group, but I think we shouldn’t let her buy the stuff for the challenges. It was challenging, to say the least.
This is what I came up with. Fortunately, my sister had given me a box-project based on the work of Joseph Cornell. I could never decide what to do with it. Then this challenge came along, and it was a perfect fit.
I chose the name Bumble Bee Boogie Woogie based on my inspirations for the piece. Mondrian did a painting called Broadway Boogie Woogie, and there is a piano piece called Bumble Bee Boogie by Jack Fina based on Rimskey Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee.
The domino was one of the pieces in the challenge.
The louvers are a paint stick, and the flower cut from a filtration mask.
I painted a piece of a white window shade for the background of this square.
I’m pretty happy with the piece, and happy it’s done!
Little friendly misshapen skulls.
Sorry, I meant to blog about this yesterday, but yesterday Les got to come home from the hospital, and hospitals can move at a snail’s pace when they are discharging someone. We are very glad to have him back home, and sorry he won’t make it to Florida this year, I know he was really looking forward to it.
This is my shrine early on.
Bats ready to go in the shrine.
Finished shrine!
Side views.
Jane’s box.
Katie works while her round robin doll keeps watch.
General mayhem, artists at work!
Oh the concentration!
Stuff!
Well, I had a great time last night. First, we went to Slow’s bar-b-que in Detroit, where I had the Hoppin’ Jack, and Mark had the half chicken and half ribs. As wonderful as the food was, and it was, the beer was even better. I had a Dark Horse Black Bier that was quite complex and amazing. It was bitter and malty sweet at the same time. They have wonderful food (check out their mac and cheese), and a terrific beer list. The bar-b-que makes Mark happy and the beer makes me happy, that makes for two happy people. Then we went on to the Lager House, a bar by Tiger Stadium that a friend of ours just acquired. We rung in the New Year with the Howling Diablos. They tore the joint up! Funky, funky way to bring in 2008!
Unfortunately, 2008 is not starting out very well at all. Usually when tenant stuff goes wrong, it’s on a holiday. I feel so bad for them when something happens like the heat goes out, we try to get everything working as soon as possible. But I really hate it when it happens at our house. The sewers backed up last night as I was trying to get some laundry done, I can’t use the water, and I don’t know when someone can come out and fix it. I have a washer full of wet laundry right now. And, of course, other issues. And then the snow. We wake up to about eight inches of it. And my throat is sore. And my wrist hurt, even before I started shoveling. Not at all the way I wanted to start the new year. I was hoping for a nice walk along Eddy Hines Parkway, not a lot of lifting of heavy, sticky white stuff that won’t come off my shovel when I try to fling it off. But alas, this is how it started, we will all cope, and when the sewer gets snaked out I will promise the waste gods that I will never take sewers for granted again, and I will of course take sewers for granted again within the next few days.
On a happier note, I will leave you with pictures of the voodoo alter I make in the bathroom for the party every year. You will have to be content with those, I was having way too much fun at my party to remember to take pictures.
This is my shrine to George, I thought I’d share it with you on the anniversary of his death.
George Harrison, February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001
I’ve been eating lots of pumpkin muffins My friend Kari gave to me and Mark for our Anniversary. She also gave me politically correct coffee, and an amazing skull bag!
Today is the day of the dead, so I thought I show you another shrine, one that would have benefited greatly from some sort of theme.
Since Halloween is coming up, I thought I’d share a picture of my voodoo shrine. I belong to several art groups, and every once in a while we get together and go on retreats, where we just make art. Joan had named us the escape artists. Very fitting name, for it’s our chance to escape from ev
eryday life.
