Party Dress

I just can't seem to pick up shimmer and shine with my camera or phone.  I spent a very long time on this--it has beads and glitter and tissue paper and acrylic, and two kinds on enamel, and...well, you get the point.  I went out to eat with a very good friend of mine, the last bit of the post-Thanksgiving weekend, and everything is now twinkling with Christmas decorations.  The holiday is working its way into my art.

There's my friend Cindy, or Cinderella as I call her, in the background.

Pierogies and Street Tacos--fusion food, baby!

Party Girl Makes Her Pick

A little mixed-media action here.

Party Girl Makes Her Pick

Burp Mortification

Carla felt out of place at the party, so when a cute guy offered her a few swigs of a hip, imported European beer, she eagerly took a few, hoping to cement her cool quotient.  She never once thought of the aftereffects, a quite audible burp from the fermentation of her bottled brew.  Carla knew she had blown it as her potential life partner lifted his eyebrows in surprise and started to edge away.

She would have skulked away, but he had left her the bottle, and it was quite tasty.  Besides, she thought, staying to finish it would help her get over her burp mortification.

 

At The Party

I took 3 or 4 more pictures of this as it was developing and as I layered more color, but I took them on my camera rather than my phone.  I blame it on being nearly 1 a.m. when I did so.  You see, I lost all my camera formatting when I had a virus and I can't find my installation disks to set it aright.  Ah well, I really haven't looked everywhere yet.

If I get it together, I will add the developmental stages!  Until then, here's "At the Party" in it's finished, painted form.

Hans Put on His Holiday Toupee

Hans had tried carefully to conceal the fact that he wore a toupee.  He ordered them online, never going to a store in-person.  He tried 8 different styles until he found one that was most "lifelike."  The fact that it came from the Raquel Welch "Hair U Wear" line just went to show how much he was willing to step outside of the box, finding just the right short style even though it was a women's wig.  Things were going smoothly; in fact, he convinced himself that he had yet to catch anyone's sidelong glances and eyes fluttering up to his topper. Success!

He headed assuredly to a family Christmas party where everyone remarked on his youthful appearance.  His yuletide glee rapidly deflated when, ladling spiked eggnog to hand to his Aunt Hattie, he realized she was wearing the same hairstyle.  His face fell while her's lit up.  What could he do? Quickly add a double shot of liquor into her crystal cup and hope her accusations were taken as drunken senility?  Oh, the truth had to come out.

Perhaps it was the holiday spirit that caused Hattie to grab his hand and take him into the next room.  She opened up her suitcase of a purse and pulled out a sparkly wig.

"Hans," she said with eyes gleaming, "I was going to wear this wig at the end of the night for a laugh.  You do it instead, because after all, when you come out with the truth, you might as well do it in grand style!"  Truer words were never spoken!

Hans put on his holiday toupee, took a deep breath, and bravely rejoined the party.  He also had several crystal cups of double-shot eggnog, but that's beside the point. (-;

At The Party

At The Party

Claude Felt Confident in His Funky Party Clothes

Claude felt confident in his funky party clothes until...he felt mocked by the overhead Chinese lanterns.

Day 209. Brandon Left the Party Like a Slinky Toy

Brandon, tired of being talked over by a psychedelically-influenced partygoer with bad teeth, a bad hat, and speech filled with poppycock, inched his way out of the party like a slinky toy.

 Paper, ink, acrylic, glitter, dried acrylic, bead

This creation started out with me drawing the left-side character on the edge of an envelope.  I cut him out, added paint and it grew from there.  I had to figure out why he wanted to drip off the edge of the page (the floating disco 'shroom came later).

Day 153. This Is One Crazy Party (SOLD)

I'm thinking I may be getting too old for certain things.  Outdoor concerts in 6 inches deep of mud is probably one of them.  Mind you, outdoor concerts still qualify--just not with mud!

My friends, Misty and Ashley, and I went to "Summer Camp" yesterday.  My main goal was to see the Avett Brothers, but with multiple stages and over 100 bands, you've got a lot of music to soak up.  Um, soak-ED being the operative word!  Unfortunately, this year's fest was dumped on with rain and mud or as one kid said to us, "100% chance of mud."

Other random quotes:

Overheard from inside a tent: "I've puked so much, I have nothing left to puke."
Kid walking by:  "I only have one pair of dry pants left."
Tow truck driver:  "I'm really worried--there's no way those cars are going to be able to get out of there."

Ah, memories.  I remember living through times like these in my 20's.  Alpine Valley (outdoor concert venue in Elkhorn, WI--about 1 1/2 hr. from O'Hare) always seemed to be a spot for rain.  My friend Shelley and I were soaked when we went to see Guns 'n' Roses as were an old roommate and I when we went to see Living Colour and The Rolling Stones.  Two hours minimum to get out of the parking lot and spinning tires in mud were just met with a shrug of our young shoulders back then.  C'est la vie.

Now, however, I've paid my muddy dues.  I think of Anthony Bourdain, always wearing cowboy boots and a leather coat (I'll never give up my cowboy boots), but suddenly with maturing age, understanding the joy and elegance of having a pair of bespoke Italian loafers made for his feet only.

Life is all about living and having experiences, I believe that.  But in regards to musical locales in my advancing age, I think I'll take either sunny skies or floors coated with sticky beer underneath my feet over thick, cement-like soil. (-;

"This in one crazy party."  

"Tell me about it!"

 The Avett Brothers at the Sunshine Stage:

Blast from the past:  Living Colour - "Cult of Personality"  I loved this album - great cover art, too.