february06

Yesterday I completed a new painting. :) I planned to do a second fairy painting, but I was eager to paint my Mystifier.
I'm pleased with the way the painting turned out. A new update should appear very soon with 2 new paintings, one for
my Fairies page, and one for the Lords of Enchantment page. I actually began a fairy painting last month. All was
going fine, right until the end when I tried to do the face. I usually paint the faces last, and this painting was looking
good until then. I really botched it up and ended up tearing a hole in the paper. In utter frustration I screwed it up. I've
only ever done that once before. It made me feel pretty sad afterward. Nevertheless, I plan a second attempt. So
anyway, I was extra careful with the Mystifier painting and did the face real slow with a smaller brush.

You'll notice in my 2006 journal that I've included a lunar calendar. I often like to gaze at the moon but haven't been
able to as it's been so cloudy this past month. I think I've seen only about 3 or 4 sunny days in 4 weeks. I wouldn't
have a clue of the moon phases if I didn't have a calendar reference. My 'enchantment' with the moon began around
the time when I first starting writing my novel in 1994. Wolves feature predominantly in my novels and they tend to
have a kinship with the moon, but mostly I often associate my Yehren with the moon. It's in the quiet of the night
when I most sense him and just like the moon, he brings light into the darkness :)

Whilst on the subject of calendars, I've always been curious about the Mayan calendar. It's reputed to be the most
accurate in the world and suddenly ends at the winter solstice in 2012. Many have speculated that this could mean
the end of the world, or rather, a transition for planet earth. There's going to be an astronomical event at that time.
The following is an excerpt from one of many sites about this...

"At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the
Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree,
the Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world's spiritual traditions. Some observers say this alignment with the
heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the earth, cleansing it and all that
dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration." From http://www.halexandria.org/dward417.htm

Many people thought that the year 2000 was going to prove to be the big one. When I was in Australia my mum told
me that there was a strong rumour going around that the end was coming at that time and some people were selling
their homes in preparation for this big event. I personally did not expect anything, though perhaps there were
changes on spiritual levels that we were not aware of. The new millenium certainly proved to have some spiritual
surprises for me. :) From various sources, there have been 'whispers' from the spirit world of a coming change for
our earth. I actually dreamed of Armageddon recently. I was on a beach staring at a huge moon, which then
became around 10 huge moons in the sky, then changed back to one. The moon was sinking on the horizon and
looked like a balloon ready to burst. The sea began to churn and tidal waves came, washing massive ships to the
shore. I began to run from the scene with crowds of other people around me. We were climbing to higher ground
and then I awoke. This dream was one of many I've had recently featuring water. Water in dreams represent
emotion. There's certainly been some emotional upheaval lately in my life, but whether the 'end of days' is truly
drawing close I could not say with certainty. 'Soon' is the word from the spirit world.

Yesterday I uploaded my new paintings onto my site. The 2 new paintings are Mystifier & Frisky Fairy. I also
added a few extra things to my Artist page, one which was my Animal Rights banner which I first displayed in my
December entries. I feel very strongly when it comes to animal abuse, both domestic and wild. It sickens me and
makes me very sad. I also mentioned previously that I became a vegetarian a few years back. Farm animals
would probably be one of the most abused group of animals. I became a vegetarian for this reason, and for the
reason of health.

I noticed after I painted my Mystifier picture that the colours looked more blue than purple on my screen. I've had
this problem for a while and find it hard to get the natural colour right after I've scanned them. My paintings
actually look more blue during the day, under natural light. But because I paint mostly at late afternoon and night
under a fluorescent light, I see the colours differently. That which looks more blue during the day is more purple at
night.

A couple of other things I've been working on are new graphics for each page. I'm thinking of changing the
backgrounds and adding a banner with navigation links at the top of each page, but it will probably take a while to
do all that. If I can tear myself away from the X-box, it may get accomplished. :)

Yesterday I went into town, bought myself a new sketchpad, painting pallet and brush. My brushes tend to wear out
fairly quickly and become frayed which makes it hard to do detailed work. I'm glad I stocked up long ago on the
acrylic paint I use to do all my paintings as I can't find them anymore. I spend very little on this hobby. The paper I
paint on is just thick sketch pad paper, and the brushes and paints usually just Ł1 per item. It was a bitterly cold
day yesterday too and I was wearing my winter jacket. It's very warm but too warm for indoors and I dread taking it
off. It produces a lot of static and I usually get an electric charge by the first thing I touch, often the supermarket
trolley. But as soon as I reached for a potato... >zzzap< Not even the humble spud is safe!

Last night as I was listening to music on the computer I decided to do a random Google search. When I have
nothing to do, this is what I usually do, just doodle around on the internet. I typed in the words "male fairy" in the
image galleries, (and from previous attempts, I know I usually don't find much) but was I surprised! I found some
websites that feature these gorgeous male fairy sculptures, and other long-haired boys in sculpture! I think they're
just totally amazing and beautiful. I collected two of the pictures and will put them below.

Just click on the pics to take you to their websites.

For some years I've been interested in Visionary art. Such art
gives me the feelings and inspirations of what the world could
be, what the world should be and hopefully will become. I've
always admired the art of Gilbert Williams, a well known
visionary artist, but today I came across an artist whose work
is even more breathtaking. His name is Kagaya. If you like
this kind of art, visit his site by simply clicking on the picture to
the right.

Kagaya's site is mostly in a different language but it's not
difficult to navigate through the galleries which are listed in
English.

In my previous entry above there is a piccy of two lovely men and the other day I came across the very artist
who sculptured this beautiful piece. She has 3 pages dedicated to her fairy boy sculptures. She has such great
talent. Unfortunately many of the thumbnails won't open in the separate window. I emailed the artist and asked
her if the site was still under construction so hopefully I will receive a reply soon. The link below leads you to the
the page featuring the sculpture mentioned above.

The one other thing I wanted to mention was a word of advice... Back up your files! I say this because some
weeks ago as I was browsing through Deviant Art I read someones journal. This guy had suffered a robbery and
one of the things the thieves stole was his computer. He lost everything, all his art, his novel, his poetry and other
important documents. He said he felt like his soul had been ripped out. He hadn't copied anything, it was all stored
on his computer. That would be devastating and I felt so bad for him. But it's not the only way you can lose files.
Hard drive crashes are not uncommon. I regularly back up my files, usually keeping two copies on disks of my
files. So my advice to you, if you've not already done it, is to copy your files and keep them regularly updated.