Día de los Muertos Cakes

Earlier tonight as I was perusing Tumblr, I decided to do a search for Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead, hoping to find some of José Guadalupe Posada's artwork. He was a Mexican cartoonist, illustrator, lithographer, & printmaker whose work is frequently associated with Day of the Dead.

"Gran Fandango y Francachela de todas las Calaveras" by José Guadalupe Posada

What I found instead were Day of the Dead cakes! How did I not know these existed before? They are awesome and I want one! My uncle's birthday is the day before mine, so our family usually celebrates them together, and our birthday is coming up. The other day he & Shmanderz & I were discussing what sort of cake we want for our birthday; Shmanderz said she would like to make a rainbow cake for us, but now I am thinking how fantastic it would be to have a Día de los Muertos cake! Even if we don't have a Día de los Muertos birthday cake, I am determined to have a Día de los Muertos cake by the time Day of the Dead rolls around.

Here are some photos of Día de los Muertos cakes from around the internet. Aren't they cool?:

It looks like all of these cakes were made with fondant. I believe with some icing, fondant, sugar skulls, and a little creativity we could create a pretty cool cake! Would anyone like to join me for a Día de los Muertos cake decorating party?

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 7 and Charlotte Art League's Art Beyond Sight Annual Exhibit

The assignment for Day 7 was a photo of my wrist & any bracelets I wear:
My bracelet with the skull beads & Buddha pendant is actually called a mala, which is a set of 108 Hindu/Buddhist prayer beads. The hand-carved skull beads are said to bring good luck & protection, while also symbolising death, our own mortality, impermanence, rebirth, and serving as a reminder to live this life with love and compassion.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

This evening I attended the opening of Charlotte Art League's Art Beyond Sight Annual Exhibit with my Cousin Shmanderz, my mother, my step-dad Will, & my little sister Aimsee. It was great to see all the tactile pieces of art created both by artists who are visually impaired and by sighted artists. Some of the art even had musical components! Blindfolds were available for sighted people to explore the exhibit the way a blind person would, and a lot of people were experiencing the art blindfolded. The exhibit will be open until the end of October.

My mom's piece combines plaster of paris body moulds with oil paints on canvas, and is titled "Two Dreams."

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Mumsy & Aimsee were all dressed up for the art opening:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

I like the "antennae" my mom seems to have grown:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

This piece had a wind-up music box, which we thought was really cool!:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

This one had several moving parts:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

She is mending a broken heart:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

The pieces along this wall were some of my favourites. Many incorporated interesting objects such as an old camera, a foot-measurer, a guitar, wooden blocks, & CDs:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

My mom with "Two Dreams":

Photo taken by me with Ugly Stepsister's camera

Will entered one of his mobiles, which he makes out of aluminum/steel. This one is titled "Blue Moon":

Photo credit: Ugly Stepsister

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 6

A photo of my hair: this was actually a surprisingly difficult photo to get...I'm still not sure what I think of the results. What do you think?

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

This weekend I have several interesting, artsy events & such on my plate, and on Saturday I am planning to bring out my Canon AE-1 Program camera (the favourite of my cameras) to shoot the last of a black & white roll of film.

Tomorrow evening I will be attending Charlotte Art League's Art Beyond Sight Annual Exhibit Opening from 6-9pm. The exhibit will feature tactile works of art for the blind and visually impaired, created by both blind & sighted artists in the Charlotte area, and will run from 7-28 October. My mom, Ugly Stepsister, is among the artists who participated in this exhibit, and I can't wait to see her work on display!

For Saturday, I am looking forward to attending Carolina Claymatters Fall Pottery Festival, where one of my friends will be selling her lovely pottery pieces. There will be over 50 potters from the Carolinas, with a wide variety of styles, gathered at the site of an old dairy farm at McAlpine Business park from 10am to 4pm. I am bringing my Canon with me to the festival and am excited about using my favourite camera for the first time in a long long while (if only film wasn't quite so expensive!). Hopefully I'll also be able to buy a piece, as I think I might actually have enough extra money for once to be able to spend it on some art! We've also been invited by Ethan Uslan, the fantastic pianist from Charlotte Chamber Music's First Tuesday Concert the other day, to go to Petra's Piano Bar later Saturday night, where Ethan will playing & is bringing some young Romanians he is hosting. I've never been to Petra's before, but it sounds very cool and it will be awesome to hear Ethan play again.

I'll look forward to posting photos and tales from this weekend here at Mahogany Images! What are your plans for the weekend? Will you be doing something exciting, or will it be more of a relaxing weekend?

My Fave Photos from 20 Sept. to 5 Oct.

All photos taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

When I burned this blue candle, it ended up with this really cool lace pattern at the top of the candle. Photographing the lace pattern turned out to be quite challenging, and on top of that my camera kept wanting to make everything look very yellow. For some reason in low light it tends to make everything look yellow-orange-red, and in brighter light everything ends up blindingly white. I've tried playing around with all the settings and have yet to find ones that reliably provide a desirable white balance. Does anyone have any suggestions? It's basically a point & shoot camera, so there aren't that many settings to change (I suspect that is actually part of the problem)... Anyway, this is my favourite from the candle photo shoot.

I actually like how the white balance pretty much wiped out everything but my harmonica & its shadow in this picture.

Duke Energy Center, the second tallest building in Charlotte.

Approaching The Green, with St. Peter's Catholic Church visible, on my way to visit the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.

Pumpkin Season is here, and this is the light up pumpkin who is living on our front stoop until November.

On top of  my car, just hanging out, getting a slightly different perspective on things.

Sitting on the back deck, reading, chatting with my Cousins & friends.  :)

I took a lot of shoe pictures today. Well, my blue Levi's are one of my favourite pairs of shoes!

Buddha medallion hanging from my mala (Tibetan/Nepalese prayer beads).

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 5: A Photo of Me Outside

Today's assignment, photographing myself outside, was made easier by the lovely sunny weather. I spent a long time outside reading and photographing today. What could be better?

My reflection and the reflection of our house in the window of my little red Toyota Tercel:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Later I'll post a few of my favourite photos from the last couple days.

First Tuesday - 4 October

The 30 Day Photo Challenge is going well. The last few days have been rather busy, so taking the time to complete the day's assignment has not been easy, but that is pretty much the point of a challenge. If it was easy, it wouldn't be a challenge, would it? So without further ado, I present days 2 through 4 of my 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 2 (Sunday): A photo of something red. I love the little Kimono keychain girl standing atop the matchbox. Her crooked little one-eyed face is sort of endearing. One of these days I need to glue her pigtails back on!

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Day 3 (Monday): A photo of my feet/shoes. Yesterday after work I rode Charlotte's Lynx light rail Uptown to visit the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art on the last day of the Niki de Saint Phalle exhibit. I took this photo at the Stonewall light rail station platform on the way back.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Day 4 (Tuesday): A photo of what I wore today. This was my outfit for volunteering at Charlotte Chamber Music's Free First Tuesday Concert - Carolina Shout, Celebration of Romare Bearden. It was a fabulous day - I got to help videotape both the afternoon & evening concerts, listened to fantastic music, met some really cool people (including the musicians!), chatted with friends, was introduced to a great not-for-profit restaurant (King's Kitchen) whose proceeds are used to help feed people in need, and generally enjoyed spending a beautiful day with wonderful people.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Tomorrow I have the day off and am looking forward to relaxing, reading, spending some time outdoors, and visiting the library.

White Rabbits!

It is the first of October and this marks the beginning of my 30 Day Photo Challenge. The first assignment is a photo of my eye. After playing around with several ways of photographing my own eye in front of a mirror, I think I am satisfied with this one. Slightly creepy, no?

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera

Be prepared for close-ups of lots of random things over the next month while I do this 30 day challenge.

Here is a list of what my assignments are for each day:

1. A photo of your eye.
2. A photo of something red.
3. A photo of your feet/shoes.
4. A photo of what you wore today.
5. A photo of you outside.
6. A photo of your hair.
7. A photo of your wrist and any bracelets you wear.
8. A photo of you with a friend.
9. A photo of half of your face.
10. A photo of your favourite body part.
11. A photo of your shoulder.
12. A photo of your mouth.
13. A photo of your favourite outfit.
14. A photo of your hand.
15. A photo of you with a member of the opposite sex.
16. A photo of your most loved possession.
17. A photo of your legs.
18. A photo of your favourite food.
19. A photo of an object from your childhood.
20. A photo of you dressed up/smart.
21. A photo of your least favourite body part.
22. A photo of your smile.
23. A photo of you with someone you love.
24. A photo of anything you want.
25. A photo of something you have eaten today.
26. A photo that represents your day.
27. A photo of something green.
28. A photo of something that is your favourite colour.
29. A photo of your bedroom.
30. A photo of your face.

I think the most difficult assignments will probably be the ones that involve other people.

Optimistic About October

October means all things Fall; cardigans, beautiful displays of changing leaf colours, migrating birds & butterflies, cool breezes, new knitting projects, apple cider, preparing & decorating for Halloween & Día de los Muertos, more hours of my favourite natural lighting for photos, long car rides, picnics, evenings reading by candlelight, that earthy way the air smells, a hot meal at the end of a chilly day, & bonfires. I think Robert Louis Stevenson's poem, "Autumn Fires" captures my feelings about the season quite nicely.

In the other gardens

And all up the vale,

From the autumn bonfires

See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over

And all the summer flowers,

The red fire blazes,

The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!

Something bright in all!

Flowers in the summer,

Fires in the fall!

Autumn is my favourite season, and am feeling optimistic about what can be accomplished this October. On my list of plans for the month is a 30 day photo challenge. Each day will have a specific assignment such as a photo of something red, an object from my childhood, or my favourite body part (what??). I hope to get really creative with this challenge, rather than just snapping whatever photo would be easiest to fulfil the day's assignment.

Why else am I so excited & optimistic about this month, you may ask?

October is the start of Charlotte Chamber Music's season of Living Room Concerts & Free First Tuesday Concerts. This Tuesday is the first of the Free First Tuesday Concerts, & I will be one of the volunteers for both concert times! (12:10pm & 5:30pm at First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte on W. Trade St) This particular concert is titled "Carolina Shout, Celebration of Romare Bearden" and will be a musical tribute in honour of the centennial of the Charlotte-born artist's birth. I'm looking forward to excellent music, interesting people, and hopefully some great photo opportunities!

Fall is when I tend to be my most creative. I'm finally able to shake of the lethargy of hot summer days, get outside, and get out of my own head. Sure, my imagination can be a fun place to hang out, but after months of lying around not wanting to leave the cool spot in front of the fan I can start to get cabin fever in there. So when the days start to get cooler, I feel less lazy and can get some much needed outside input & inspiration. With the cooler weather, my energy reserves grow exponentially and I am able to actually accomplish what I set out to do. What a relief!

October also means camping season. So far I haven't got any trips planned, but I think it would be nice to go camping mid-October near Graveyard Fields in the Pisgah Ranger District, south of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Graveyard Fields is so named for the tree trunks (from trees toppled by wind hundreds of years ago) that used to make the area look like a graveyard until destroyed by a fire in the 1920s. Mid-October is usually the perfect time to see fall colours at their peak at Graveyard Fields.

Graveyard Fields Overlook Marker - photo from groovyadventures.com

Graveyard Field Trail in Autumn - photo from romanticasheville.com

Two more reasons to be excited are that many excellent art festivals take place in the fall, and my birthday is in a couple weeks! I will be turning 24, while my alter ego will be turning 44. I think my other alter ego will be 92, but I'm not entirely sure since she claims to not remember which year she was born...

What do you look forward to about the fall? Does this time of year revitalise you, or do you find yourself winding down with the cooler weather? Have you got anything exciting planned for the coming month?

What Inspires You?

I find that my inspiration comes not only from the works of other photographers, but also from a variety of artwork/artists, music, stories, nature, and all sorts of creative endeavours. Sometimes inspiration will prompt me to do something more specific; for example, reading about RV travel might inspire me to draw & photograph motorhomes; or it might prompt me in a more general way, such as seeing someone else's creative efforts at something completely different from what I do & being inspired to work on my own art or blog.

Among the many wonderful artists who inspire me is my mother, Ugly Stepsister. I've always loved watching her draw or paint & getting to see how her work turns out. In recent years she has also taken up wax encaustics & oil painting and has created some really fabulous works of art, as well as a cool blog all about what she does!

Ugly Stepsister working on an encaustic

Oil painting by Ugly Stepsister

I also like to watch documentaries or films based on true stories about artists & other creative types for inspiration. Recently I watched "Séraphine", a film about self-taught French painter, Séraphine Louis ("Séraphine de Senlis") who lived from 1864 to 1942 and was discovered in 1912 by German art collector/critic, Wilhelm Uhde.

A documentary I watched a couple weeks ago that has really inspired me to get creative & to put some serious thought into a cross-country road trip is "Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock". This documentary takes you behind the scenes of the Burning Man with interviews of the artists, organizers, participants, & founders. If you haven't heard of Burning Man, it is a week-long creative festival that takes place every year in the desert of Black Rock City, Nevada, and culminates with burning a giant wooden man, as well as with burnings of many other art pieces. Each year a new man, new temples, and new art installations are built, and each year has a different theme. A city is created, complete with streets where art cars roam, and at the end of the week it is all packed up & removed from the desert. Burning Man is the largest "Leave No Trace" event in the world! I would love to eventually make it out to Burning Man as part of a long road trip - can you imagine all the photographic opportunities on that journey?!

Where does your inspiration come from & what are you most often inspired to do?

Mahogany Returns!

Hi! I'm back!

Having taken such a long detour from my Project 365, I won't be getting back to that right away. So what have I been doing all these months? I've been working as a hostess at a hip restaurant in the Dilworth neighbourhood of Charlotte (300 East), making new friends, enjoying the arts & entertainment that Charlotte has to offer, and, of course, taking lots of photographs.

Over the course of the last few months, I've enjoyed art sales (Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival - Spring Barn Sale in May, May All Arts Market at the Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa, Terra4m Summer Art Sale in June), art exhibits (The Bechtler Museum, Mint Hill Arts), the Clayworks Open House in August, music (Ramblin' Man Piano Tour for Charlotte Chamber Music in August, Tosco Music Party this past weekend), and more with friends & family. Charlotte really does have a lot to offer once you know where to look!

If you haven't seen the installation of Niki de Saint Phalle's artwork in the "Creation of a New Mythology" exhibit yet (http://www.bechtler.org/Collection/Niki-de-saint-phalle) you should visit The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and The Green (across from the Bechtler) to see it before the end of the month, as the collection will only be in Charlotte through 3 October.

With that, I leave you with my photo of "La Cabeza Ou Tête de Mort (Grande)" by Niki de Saint Phalle, taken on The Green this April.

"La Cabeza Ou Tête de Mort (Grande)" by Niki de Saint Phalle - taken with my Samsung Rogue Phone