Theme Number Two

Inspiration: Your bedside table

This one is a little more broad.  Is there a book that inspires a song?  Is there a photograph to inspire you to create something? A cookbook with a recipe you tried that held an interesting story to write about? I'll stop hinting at ideas and await your creation.  Happy creating!

Theme number one - Submissions

It is so fun to see how everyone interprets the same photo in different creative ways.  Thanks to everyone who submitted something for the first theme!  (I thought it may just be me!)  Below are the submissions in the order that I received them.  I hope that you join in for the ones in the future.   Should you want to know more about a certain work or about the artist that created it just click on their name or on the link off to the side of the page.

Theme One - The Inspiration
The original photo that served as our inspiration was found in a container of old family slides.  (I think my dad took this one.)  The image was never color corrected but I love it.
Ice-Scream Man
Mixed Media 
by Anika

Ego Over Manhattan
Digital Photography
by Ego

A Sea of Endless Possibilities to Reach One Goal
Digital Painting
by Andrea

The City is Crazy
Digital Painting
by Tobias

The City is Red
Digital photography and Song
by Doug
(The photo accompanies a song.  Check back to listen to the song - technical difficulties..)

 Samson & Mia
Digital photography
by Stephanie

If you would like to submit anything inspired by the original image just submit it and I will post it.  Thanks for visiting!

Artists Pages

Thanks to all of you for participating!

I am starting to put up an artist page for everyone who enters a submission of any kind.  If you want your name taken off let me know.  If you want a link for your own promo please just send me an email.  Additionally if you have a bio, photo, artist's statement, or ever want to include anything about your submission that's great.  Just email me any info I can put up on your page.  All you have to do is let me know what will make you happy. 

Happy creating!

Artist Page - Stephanie

Stephanie has a great eye!  Most of her work can be seen on the delicious pastries she whips up.  A talented baker, chef, and photographer too - a very crafty lady!  The photographs on her blog are a must see!

Here are Stephanie's listings in order from newest submission to the oldest.

Inspiration #33 - Found
"Found"

Inspiration #28 - Seeing Red
"Redrum"


Extra Inspiration: Roy Lichtenstein
To see more, head on over to Stephanie's blog!


Theme 21 inspiration: Front Page of the News
"Spiral" 


Theme 16 inspiration: At the End of the Rainbow
"Lucky Charms"
 (Head on over to Stephanie's blog to read more about this submission.)

Inspired by Jerry Uelsmann 
"Chicago 224" 
(Care to know more?  You can visit Stephanie's blog to find out.)


Theme twelve inspiration: Resolution
"Resolution"
Photograph
Theme eleven inspiration: A Video (link here)
"Hallway"
A photo
by Stephanie
The video reminded me of the shining in that was evident in the beginning.  The further into the video, the less obvious it became and more eerie it was, so I wanted to to a eerie photo.  It is of a storage unit underneath condos.  I took a Hipstamatic photo then photoshopped in lens flare, upped the contrast, and added a light blue filter to make it feel colder.

Theme nine inspiration: Out of My Element (Link here)
"Day in the Life of...."
(You can also see this entry posted on Stephanie's blog, here.)
This project stumped me at first: do I pick my favorite period element, do I make a project that I have never done before? I thought about it for a few weeks and decided that ultimately I feel out of my element when there is attention on me.  I have always been more of an introvert  around new people and I really don't mind just sitting back and people watching. I don't like having my photo taken, overall, I am a pretty private person. Which is funny to say about someone who has a blog, but if you've noticed I don't make my entries too personal and I have never included photos of friends or family. In fact most people I know, except a rare few, don't even know I have a blog. Sounds weird typing it but for now, it works for me.
So for this acolab, I decided to take me out of my element for a day: I decide to turn the camera on me and to follow myself for a whole day and take photos of what I was doing on the hour for 12 hours. 

Theme Seven Inspiration: Full Circle (Link here)
"Full Circle"
Photograph
I just returned from seeing my former home, Napa Valley, CA . The image is from a wine storing tank, from one of the wineries I visited. For me going back to Napa was finally closing that chapter and seeing how things have come full circle. 

Theme Five:  The phrase "Bits of the Past, Pieces of the Future" (Theme Five blog post) 
"Mother Stephie's chocolate chip cookies"
Digital Collage
I knew I was going to do baking right away, but I was stuck on this one since the subject is so broad. My love for baking can be traced back to my first cook book: Mother Goose's Candy and Cookie Book, by Anne Rockwell. After being a professional baker for the last 10+ years I have baked plenty of bits and pieces which have all lead to new bits and pieces, but I was stuck. I decided to turn to a friend about the project and how to trim down my ideas. She has some great old magazines from the 60's that she thought about using and we talked about how fun it would be to redo an old timey ad. This all made me think about how I need to learn to edit my ideas, I don't need to recreate each baking experience or even recreate the whole scene from the book--I was actually thinking about how I can get my dog to stay still for the photograph--I need to remember that photoshop is there to help. Thanks Buddy for your help!

Theme Four:  The words "Hot Summer Day" (Theme Four blog post) 
"Untitled"
Painting

Theme Two - Your bedside Table (Link to Theme Two blog post) 
"Banana Oat Pancakes"
Cooking and Digital Collage
So, my nightstand has:  Fitness and cooking magazines, "the kind diet" book, 3 alarm clocks (!), a baking book, and animal stuff--collars, combs, etc.  So I decided to do a collage of how to make banana oat pancakes since
1) It's "baking" (baking book)
2) It's healthy (fitness mags)
3) It used items kind to the earth and body (the kind diet book)
4) It's a breakfast food (alarm clocks)
5) It's hearty (like the wood used to make the nightstand)
6) It has Samson walking into the shot (covers the last element--the animals)

Theme One:  Photo Inspiration  (Link here)

"Samson & Mia"
Digital Photography

Artist Page - Doug

Doug is a prolific songwriter.  Awhile back, Doug and friends recorded a song for every element on the periodic table...it's fabulous.  You can learn more about this and other projects by visiting his website or by going to his page on You Tube.  Doug is currently working on the third installment of the Roane County Song Poems and various other musical projects.
Here are Doug's listings in order from newest submission to the oldest.


Theme thirty inspiration:  Haunted
"Haunted" 
To listen to this song please click "track details" on the widget below, thank you.
Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Theme eighteen inspiration:  Turn on your radio!
"Radio ACoLab"


Theme thirteen inspiration: Page 25 of a magazine
"Page 25"
A songlette

Theme eleven inspiration : A Video (link here)

"ACoLab #11"
A song
by Doug
(To play the song just click the "Play"triangle on left that the arrows are pointing to)
Acolab 11 121910.m...

Theme nine inspiration: Out of My Element
"Copernicium"
Doug has written, along with some friends, a 3-disc set with a song for every element on the periodic table.  It just so happens that there was recently an official name given to Unumbium.  Please listen to this song to learn more and you can check out more about the discs Periodically on Doug's website.  You will be glad you did- songs to teach and make you laugh using many different types of music.
Copernicium 101710...

Theme eight inspiration: Your Favorite Song
My Favorite Song
Song
by Doug
My Favorite Song 1...


Theme five Inspiration: The phrase "Bits of the Past, Pieces of the Future"
"Bits of the Past, Pieces of the Future"
Digital Collage



Theme Three :  Title "This Pattern is Perfect For_______" (Theme Three blog post) 
This Pattern Reminds Me
Song
Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Theme One: Photograph (Link to Theme One blog post)
The City is Red
Digital Photography 
Doug drove around thinking about the lyrics but then suddenly had this image of sharks approaching the people on the boat.  Here are both:

Artist Page - Andrea

If you have not checked out Andrea's blog you are missing out!  Not only is the writing great; she has one of the most entertaining reads on the internet.  Smart, quick wit, imaginative, funny and she can hula!  Listings in order from newest submission to the oldest.


Theme twenty-two inspiration: Something that frightens you
"Fossilized Grimace"
Taken on the peninsula in Samoa, Humboldt County

Theme ten inspiration: Dreamland
"Dreams"
A wordle is a toy for generating word clouds. One simply puts in text or a url and the program poops out  a wordle.  I write about my dreams a lot on my blog. For this wordle I included every post I've ever made about my dreams, my dream life and a few other little tidbits about dreams.  Enjoy.
 (Click on image above to link to the full-sized image.)
Wordle: Andrea's Dreams

Theme nine inspiration: "Out of My Element"
"Out of My Element?"
In the Hawaiian language, the word "huaka'i" means "trip" or "journey."
For a hula dancer it means something different.  It's an educational and cultural journey one takes with one's Kumu (teacher) and fellow haumana (students). Next May my class and I will be traveling to O'ahu for our huaka'i.
I'm not Hawaiian. I don't look Hawaiian. I've never lived in Hawaii. An outsider might say that I have no business being a part of a community with whom I have no real shared history. However, I've worked hard for this. My Kumu says that I am ready to take this journey with my hula brothers and sisters. For this, I am not out of my element.



Theme six inspiration: "Shadow"
"Shadowy Graveyard"
This is a graveyard in Santa Cruz across the street from the Portuguese Hall. It's an interesting place because it has grave markers from the 17th Century all the way to present day, its permanent residents comprising an interesting mix of adults, children and soldiers.
As you walk up the stairs, the staircase branches off to small grave plots. The further back and up one goes, the older the headstones. The further back and up the less the stones resemble gravestones. The names and dates have been rubbed off over time; the stones broken and stacked 5-6 high.
Funny thing about this graveyard is that a great number of them say "Tennessee". Did a lot of Portuguese folk in Tennessee have a giant Exodus ending in Santa Cruz?


"Blackberries"
Photography and Story

My in-laws have a condo in a funky little gated community in Guerneville. On the property, separating the row of condos from the river is a thicket of yummy; wild blackberry patches grow not ten feet from the little patio attached to the condo. Presently most of the blackberries bushes are just starting to bear fruit. Some still have pretty purple flowers, but most of them have turned into bunches of tightly packed unripe berries. In the coming weeks as they ripen, we will get to enjoy them, save for the ones the blue-jays get to first.
I love picking berries in the late morning, just after my first cup of coffee. It's fun to scout out which ones aren't quite ripe enough to pick in the morning but will be perfect come about 4pm after the berries have had a chance to soak up the day's sun.
Yesterday I found the perfectly purple berry surrounded by a big cluster of berries that still needed to cook in the sun. I twisted it off and handed the first berry of the season to my son.
 Theme Three -Title "This Pattern is Perfect For_______" 

"This Pattern Is Perfect for Showing You're a Well-Rounded Dork"
Crochet Pattern



"You Turkey! Oh wait, um . . . . I mean “You Chicken”!
Cooking & Story 

One day Hubby brought home a cookbook. Not sure where it came from, how he got it or why he decided that this particular cookbook would be a good addition to our home, but upon one of our bookcases in the kitchen did this new cookbook take its place. Yes, we do indeed have 2 bookshelves in our kitchen filled with cookbooks and books about food.

The book was (and still is) called Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the American Kitchen by Ayla E. Algar.

When we first got the cookbook I leafed through it. The recipes sounded delicious. One recipe caught my eye; Tavuk Göğüsü. It was a dessert made with chicken breast. In all honestly, I think it caught my eye because it sounded kind of gross. The rest of the recipes, however, sounded yummy. I decided that if the rest of the recipes were good, then this one, however weird sounding it was to my American tastes, it was probably good; either that or it was one of those things that one has to grow up with to enjoy like Marmite, Natto or Lutefisk.  

The cookbook sat on my shelf for a few years, forgotten.

Flash forward to modern day.

I work with a woman from Turkey. Her name is Derya. Derya is very quiet. She doesn’t initiate conversation very often, but when someone else starts the conversation, she’s very friendly and has a good sense of humor. We often get lunch together. Sometimes we sit and eat it together, but a lot of the time we go back to our individual desks and eat while we work.

I brought Ms. Algar’s cookbook to work with me and asked her to pick out some recipes that I should make. She came back to me a week later with a list. On that list was Tavuk Göğüsü with a little smiley face next to it.

I made this recipe last Monday night. I don’t think it turned out as good as it could have and I get the feeling that some old woman in Turkey that’s been making this dessert her whole life could probably make it really yummy and beautiful looking.

The dessert called for -
The breast of a freshly slaughtered 3lb chicken – I used some frozen chicken tenders I bought at Trader Joe’s.
Milk – I used Horizon Organic Vitamin D milk
Rice Flour – I used Uncle Bob’s Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Flour
Sugar – I used C&H Sugar that had a vanilla bean inside of it for the last 6 months.

There are a few more steps involved than this, but basically you boil the milk and sugar, make a slurry out of some milk and the flour, combine, boil and then add the chicken and stir until thick.

From this point one can spoon into pretty dishes and serve.

The author also suggested putting the pudding in a heavy bottom sheet pan and put over a burner to gently burn the bottom. I tried this method. It made the house smell like burnt marshmallows and chicken. After cooling, I should have been able to cut the pudding into strips and then make sort of a jelly-roll shape out of it. That part didn’t work out too well. I guess I didn’t cook the pudding enough to thicken as much as it should. Also, the bottom didn’t get crusty enough. The whole dessert just looked like a giant mass of pudding skin.

We all took a bite out of it on Sunday night. Hubby and The Boy had some yesterday as a snack. The Girl and I didn’t care for it very much.

I told Derya about my adventure in making it. She told me I did something wrong and that I shouldn’t have been able to detect the chicken in the pudding.

My question is why add the chicken? If it wasn’t supposed to add any flavor, what purpose did it serve? It’s not like chicken breast has any fat, connective tissue or collagen to speak of that would have helped with the thickening process. It didn’t seem to have a purpose other than maybe adding some protein, but if it’s a dessert, why would it need protein? One would assume the protein was contained in the main part of the meal. Why would it be in the dessert?

Anyhow, the process of making this dessert, my interaction with Derya, my fondness for blogging, my joy of cooking and feeding my family and my desire to enjoy foods in all its forms has inspired me to make the rest of the recipes Derya suggested. I’ll possibly write about those ones as well.

Theme One -  Photo Inspiration 

 "A Sea of Endless Possibilities to Reach One Goal"
Digital Painting

Artist Page - Ego

Ego Sensation does it all - she sings, plays multiple instruments, is a cinematographer, photographer, seamstress, and much, much more!  She can also be found traveling the globe with the band White Hills and on her blog.

Check out her videos here
Listings in order from newest submission to the oldest.

Theme twenty-three inspiration:  Space
"Man of God"
{Link to song}
Extra Inspiration:  Andy Warhol
"Screen Test"

Theme eighteen inspiration: Turn on your radio!

"Liturgy"
Ego and her band White Hills are currently touring Europe...a must see!  


Theme eleven inspiration: A Video (link here
"Come Get the Treat"
a video
by Ego
The concept of walking into walls or hitting your head against a wall made me think of this film I made in which the character obsesses on getting a caged treat that she shuns when it becomes available. The human animal can be incredibly dense.

Theme Three -Title "This Pattern is Perfect For_______" (Link to Theme Three blog post)

"This Pattern is for Compulsive/Obsessive"
Video
by Ego

Theme Two - Your bedside table  (Link to Theme Two blog post)
Image was taken with the Hipstamatic App. on my iPhone.
Nausea
Photograph
Theme One - Photo Inspiration (Link to Theme One blog post)
This work is about my huge ego.
Ego Over Manhattan 
Digital Photography

Artist Page - Tobias

Toby is our most distant artist thus far...all the way in Scotland.  A true artist, talent seems to come very naturally.  Take a look at some of his other art here.  Listings in order from newest submission to the oldest.
Round twelve inspiration - Resolution
"Plant"
Digital Painting
by Toby
My new years resolution is not to give up on my projects. This picture depicts a group of characters from the novel I'm writing, one of the projects I want to hold to. It's now at 25, 000 words!

Round three inspiration - "This Pattern is Perfect For_______" (Link to Theme Three blog post)
"This Pattern Is Perfect for Success"
Digital Painting
by Tobias
A quick one inspired by my girlfriend who's close to some big exams and is a very hard worker

Theme one inspiration - Photo Inspiration (link here)
"The City is Crazy"
Digital Painting
25 or so layers done in Photoshop. Used a pressure sensitive tablet.  Most of my stuff starts on paper, this was one of my first fully digital Photoshop pieces.

Artist Page - Anika

Photography and mixed media projects are my favorites to work on but I enjoy a lot of other crafts including my latest-glass etching!  I like to work with multiple dimensions and take a graphic approach to most of my art.  Most of my personal art resembles my first submission in which I prefer a more humorous approach to creating.







 


Inspiration:  And Three Became...

"We Come in Peace"
For this inspiration I used images 1 and 3.  The only way I could think of using the third image was to utilize it as a texture.  I rotated the image, shifted the colors, and it inspired a more unearthly idea.  So, I layered the images and used some Photoshop to change the meaning of the first image.  I then used some lighting and masking to abstract the astronaut in the foreground.  I thought the story could be more interesting if that figure wasn't necessarily human.  So I tried to keep the shape while abstracting things a bit. 


 Inspiration: The word "Celebrate!"
 "Celebration"
For my daughter's third birthday I made a photo wall out of streamers.  It was a very festive addition to the party's decor and made the room feel like a celebration. 



Theme #34 {Family}
"He Would Love to Help Her Build A Castle"

Theme #33 {Found}
"Suspicion"

Theme #32 {Going with the flow}
"It's What They Do"

Theme #31 {Light and Shadows}

"Day into Night"
{For more about this entry please click here}

Theme #30: Haunted
"Brooding Brothers"
 What came into mind was in the other’s mind
Bothered, brooding brothers both amazed by the sights that stood before them
Confused, this was the first time that they had each felt fear 

Theme #29:  It's All An Illusion
"Illusion"
Collaboration with John.  Anika did the photographs and video.  For more information about this entry please visit Anika's blog.

Theme #28:  Seeing Red
"Seeing Red"
To learn more about this image please click here.

Theme twenty-seven inspiration: Perfect Timing
"#27"
Collaboration with John. To read more about this submission please visit here.

Inspiration #26:  Brushstrokes
"Pieces of The Drive"
Inspiration #25:  Falling
"Appearing & Disappearing"
For Falling

Permanent Inspiration #1 - Joy
"Where the Sky Meets the Waves"  
The inscription reads:  This is the place where the waves meet the sky, where the ocean meets gravity, where I think of you and you and me together, like the ocean and the sky.

Theme twenty-four inspiration: Drama
"July's Show"
It's funny how one simple word can be so challenging.  {Drama: a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces.This theme had all sorts of grandiose ideas swirling through my head but when it came down to actually following through and making something I feel like I settled.  Gone were the shots on stages with velvet curtains and hot lights creating beautiful silhouettes... Perhaps one day I will get around to creating the images that this little word prompted but for round 24 here we have a show by Mother Nature, a drama in the sky, ever-changing, always interesting, and dramatically beautiful.

Theme twenty-three inspiration:  Space
"Reflected Space"
You can read more about this entry here on Anika's blog.

Theme twenty-two inspiration: Something the frightens you
 "Watching Me"


Theme twenty-one inspiration:  Front Page of the News
  "Coincidences"
Theme twenty inspiration: Outside Your Front Door
"May, Outside My Door"
Theme nineteen inspiration: Spring
 "Boing! Boing!"
When I thought of the inspiration I wanted to try and create something involving a spring instead of thinking of Spring, the season.  So I made this image from a building and thought it resembled a jack-in-the-box.  I did try adding more - a spring, flowers coming out of the box instead of a clowned figure, etc...  but in the end I liked this simple version best.  So here is my implied Spring submission.

Theme eighteen inspiration:  Turn on your radio!
"Cabins then Cocktails"
Care to know more about this image?  Please click here.

Theme seventeen inspiration: Lies
 "Clues"
Little pieces of my fabricated mystery...


Theme sixteen inspiration: At the End of the Rainbow
Experiments with Rainbows 
I know, on the irritating side.  But I wanted to do something using repetition and the colors of the rainbow.  Should you like to know more about how I came up with this and to see the original image please click here.


Theme fifteen inspiration: Fill in the Blank 
 When I think about how Spring is in the near future I just have to smile.
I was going to do a different photo with the same quote but decided to use this one instead.  If you would like to see the other one you can click here.

Theme fourteen inspiration: Inside the Heart
"All for You"
Digital collage
I was working on an image with the theme of "Love"  for another project and I suppose it being February made me have love in my mind.  I like to think I also carry it in my heart.
Theme thirteen inspiration: Page 25 of a magazine
"Abelardo's Blind Spot"
Photograph
(See Anika's blog to see more about this entry)
I had a similar issue like Joanna - every page 25 I flipped to was an advertisment.  So I looked through on of my "art" magazines called "Blind Spot".  Page 25 just happened to be the work of one of my favorite photographers, Abelardo Morrel! (photo below right) So I staged a scene in my daughters dollhouse living room...  To see more of his photographs you can link here and here.
abelardo morell Houses Across the Street in Our Living Room, 1991

Theme twelve inspiration: Resolution 
"Balance"
Digital Collage
I started the new year with the word "balance" in mind.  I never thought of it as a resolution but felt like I wanted to learn to balance the important areas of my life better.  I think lately I have been an all or nothing kind of person.  I feel like my priorities are in check but everything else is...  well, I need to find some balance in my life.

Theme eleven inspiration: A Video (link here)
"Balloons Make Her Crazy"
A photo flip book and a video version of the flip book
by Anika
After thinking about the video and what to create I thought about the speeding up and slowing down.  But I think that because I had also just spent time with Ego the memory of walking with her came to mind.  Then my brain took me to walking with my daughter.  I noticed that she walked faster with Ego than she did with me.  So, now, my daughter does "city walking" and "country walking".  When she is walking too slow all I say is "Let's city walk" and she picks it up.  (It's great for parking lots and crossing the street!)  So then my brain took me to wanting to do a flip book of my daughter walking" city" and "country" walking.  But it's too cold for that so I decided to do a flip book of something else.  I think it fits the theme because however fast you go through a flip book is dependent on you...you can decide to see the show slow or fast.  Because I am showing the book on the Internet I decided to make the book into a video...  I kept things fast.

Theme ten inspiration: Dreamland (Link here)
"Floating Dream Lands"
For this digital collage I used a photo I took of a bubble floating up into the sky.  I thought it was pretty dreamy to begin with but when I think about my dreamland I think about things that make me happy.  So I decided to put my family in the bubbles.  There is a photo of my husband and daughter at a place we like to visit every year, me with them in the garden, and also a photo of my father (who recently passed away), my mother and daughter, and me in Chile with my Aunt.  These people are always on my mind and in my heart and therefore show up frequently in the happy lands of my dreams.


Theme nine inspiration: Out of My Element (Link here)
"Creating Out of My Element"
For this inspiration I decided to create something in a different medium than I am accustomed to.  The last time I did a glass etching was when I was 11 or 12.  One of the best things my mother ever did for me was give me private art classes after school a few times a week.  The art teacher at my school taught me all different types of art.  It's still some of my fondest memories from my childhood.  So this glass etching was of some abstract people I drew around a glass jar.  I needed another jar to put some utensils in and so voila, an artsy little jar.  I had a lot of fun with this challenge even though I was quite out of my element.


Theme eight inspiration: Your Favorite Song (Link here)
 "My Sweet Little Mutant"
Digital Collage
(Please read more about this post on Anika's blog here)
The song I chose is "Baby" by Os Mutantes.  Although I have many favorite songs I have to say that this is my favorite band.  At first I thought "nooo, I don't have a favorite band.  But, I do...and it's them.  I can listen to them in any mood for any occasion.  They are what I always want to listen to.
 Never heard "Baby"?  Here, take a listen... here are two versions

The original:

and the English version, also quite beautiful...I play it for my baby all the time to bring a smile to both our faces.

Theme seven inspiration: Full Circle (Link here)
"Full Circle" 
Photographs

This is a panorama of the backside of downtown Knoxville.  You can see the landmark, The Sunsphere, in the background.  The image is a full circle, taken 360 degrees around. 

Theme six inspiration: "Shadow" (Link here)
 "Shadow"
Photograph and Music 
When I was thinking of inspiration ideas for round six I was walking through my hallway where this photo hangs.  I created a couple of other things but when submitting came back to this image, my inspiration.  This photo was taken while I was pregnant.  It was our first family photo of sorts...  Doug and I made an album of our favorite punk rock songs for the baby, lullaby versions. 

 You can see the other images and read more about this image on my blog.

"Bits of the past,  parts of the present, and pieces of the future"
Photography and digital collage
I decided early that I wanted to find an ad from an older magazine to alter somehow.  This magazine would represent the past.  So I found this old ad for furniture (see the ad to the left) and removed the model and added myself with my daughter.  This photo was of my present moment.  I replaced the items on the front dresser with photos I have in my office.  There are photos of my dad, mom, family, husband-my past.  I put a photo of a house we may make an offer on in the frame above the bed as a symbol of a potential future.

 "Hot Summer Day"
Photograph

"This Pattern is Perfect for Interpretation"
Photography,drawing,digital art (10 Images) 
I decided to take one image I had taken on a vacation, a simple photo of two boats on the ocean, and re-interpret the moment.
 "Open to Interpretation" 

"Ship Ahoy!"
Caption reads:  "Heyyy, look, a boat!  You think they have a corkscrew?"

 "Something to Remember"

"Atlantis"

"The Bermuda Triangle"

     "League of 20,000 Under the Sea"

"The Digital Dimension"

 "Crazy Lady Island"
Caption reads: "Hey, isn't that that island with the crazy lady?"
"Peek-a-boo" (and yes that is me.)

"Regatta"

 "Fishing"
Caption reads: "Anything?"
"Not even a nibble."

"Whatever Satisfies the Soul is Truth"
Digital Collage
So I am one of those people who always has several different books and things on her bedside table.  I find myself wanting to read a certain type of book, magazine, or comic on each night depending on what mood I am in or if I am tired or not.  So it sometimes takes me a long time (years I will admit) to finish a book, even one I really like.  

So, for this submission I decided to use a little something from everything that's was on my bedside table.  Let's start with the title of this collage and work our way down.  The title is a quote from Walt Whitman.  Not from one of his works but from a book Secret Lives of Great Authors.  This book is one that I read in little snippets as the chapters are quite short.

I used the mirror to represent I'll Be Your Mirror.  It is a book about the life of Andy Warhol.  This is one I like very much but have been reading for a long time.  I forget it's on the table for awhile and then go back to it, read a few chapters and again it sits for awhile.

The Jabberwocky and Alice are from the Annotated Alice in Wonderland.  If you look closely, Alice is wearing some Groucho Marx glasses and mustache.  I put those on her because of another book on the nightstand Clandestine in Chile.   This is a short book that I have read several times.  It's always on my nightstand as it's one of my favorite books (I think this is my third copy!)

The photo in the mirror is one that I took on a hike at Clingman's Dome.  I think that's my favorite hike I have ever been on.  I used this image in honor of A Walk in the Woods.  It's a really great book, an easy and entertaining read, and it's been unfinished for too long to admit.  And I love it!  I don't know why I have not finished it.  Maybe I keep it because I know it will always entertain me.  Anyways, the book mentions that particular trail and the surrounding areas.  It stood out because I remember the walk so well.

The other girl with Alive in the mirror is Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  After the show ended it continued in comic form.  So I read every issue and lately it's been a great read!  Buffy is asking Alice if she knows what she is really eating.  That quote is in honor of  The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I read that one in snippets.  The same goes for the book represented by the Jabberwocky's quote "If peace is really what you want then you will choose peace".  That's from the book The Power of Now.   This quote made a lot of sense to me and it's something that seems really simple to do.  I just remind myself of that quote when I feel things becoming too dramatic for comfort.  

Alice's quote, "Suck it!" is in honor of the Kathy Griffin autobiography Official Book Club Selection which I am almost done with.  It was interesting and at times quite funny.  It was passed onto me so I am trying to wrap it up so I can pass it along to another friend.  
The cat reaching up to the mirror is from the book Wicked which for some reason I can't really get into but I want to get into.  
Then there's the magazine, the wine, and phone.   I guess that a bedside table really does tell a lot about a person...embarrassingly so sometimes.

"Ice-Scream Man"
Mixed Media 
When I saw the photo I first saw the people in the foreground pointing.  What could they be pointing at?  So I wanted something approaching from behind the buildings like King Kong.  So, as the ice-cream truck sang through the neighborhood, I thought of this...  I used acrylic paints for the ice-cream man and have used a few added dimensions to add some depth to the photos.  I liked the red sky but thought if I could make it more ominous that would be better.  I color corrected the original image using photoshop so that the focus would be more on the action than the city.