“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons ...” J.R.R. Tolkien (English Writer -The Lord of the Rings, 1892-1973)

"...perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us."

~Rainer Maria Rilke~ Austria-German lyric poet~ 1875-1926 ~ 

I had to drive down to South Sacramento yesterday. I had an appointment for an eye examination so I could order new glasses. This is one of the big issues in my life. I'm losing ground ,as I mature, and continue to need stronger glasses to see the things that bring me pleasure and to discover new points of view. 

After seeing the doctor and ordering glasses, I sat in the pharmacy waiting for a prescription I needed and watch the news at noon on a TV suspended over the waiting room . Someone in Placerville, who worked in an elementary school as a custodian, shot the principal and killed him. This happen during school hours and the screen was filled with the chaos of parents trying to get to their children and the news media trying to get information. Oh no, not another angry person... and another..... and another.

The man accused of killing the Principal was picked up at his home and arrested. No one seems to know what the motivation was for this killing. The police are not talking, so the media is focusing on the parents, teachers and the children who knew the two men and of course they are all speculating as to what happen.

I thought, as I waited for my medicine, that this seems to be happening more often... more the way that people deal with adversity in their lives now. Some people reacted with so much anger that they fought and argued with the actions of the police who were trying to keep some semblance of order and deal with the frightened parents who wanted answers.... and their children. 

 The news continued and folks were standing near the TV watching and talking to each other, shaking their head and walking away. My name came up on the board so I got in line, paid for my meds and left the hospital. I still had to drive over to Costco. 

I always have a list when I go to Costco. It keeps me from impulse buying. BUT.....Sometimes I just start looking around, especially in the book section, and then I see something that I can't live without. Impulse buying is usually not a good idea but yesterday I had a reason. The premise, this time, being that my oldest grandson has a birthday coming up next month and I need to start looking for presents.

I found two. One I can't tell you about because it has to be a surprise.

Now, the reason I'm telling you about the other one is because I'm in a dilemma about it. I love this book. The Bean would probably love it too..... but I think I really bought it for me.

It's called DRAGONOLOGY; The complete Book of Dragons. I don't get too goofy about books. I like some and I keep  the ones I fall in love with.... but this book is beautiful. To really enjoy this book you have to maintain a small part of you that believes dragons just might still exist. I think I do or I hope that somewhere at sometime, they did. But this book takes dragon dust to a whole new level.

You have to suspend your logic and  believe in spells, Merlin, Beowulf, the Origin of Species and Marco Polo .You have to become a child again and remember "not to discuss dragons with people who do not believe in them, or with those who merely seek to amuse themselves."  

This book is about DRAGONS.... 

Fierce, fire breathing dragons that fly and have shiny eyes ..., and are an endangered species.

This book is the encyclopedia of Dragons and opens with a small envelope that says...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN written on it. When you open it up there is a letter inside from Dr. Ernest Drake of St. Leonard's Forest~ April 1904

He writes that he has written this book, "...not that you might seek out and destroy the few dragons that remain, but that you might learn about them and, indeed, help them to stay concealed. For the wise learn much, see much, know much, but disturb little." and he wishes to, "pass on this knowledge to someone worthy of its keeping." 

He tells you how to refute the skeptics and how to befriend a dragon if you have the amazing opportunity of finding one.

He even classifies the dragons by habitat and shows you where you might find them on this planet.

There is a chapter for Dragon Biology and Physiology...

and The Life Cycle of Dragons. I think I'm in love with this little newborn infant. Something about him reminds me of Carl, my corgi.

The illustrations are beautiful...

And he adds a record book, riddles & puzzles and how to fly with your new "pet".

But wait, I've saved the best for last....

A real sample of dragon dust. I had no idea. You can use it for spells and charms, like making yourself disappear. HOLY DRAGON DUST!  All you have to do is take four freshwater pearls, ground them into powder with a dragon horn or jade. Mix the powder in the grease of  a freshly killed , seven-day-old Koi ( that's a big goldfish) and massage it liberally all over the clothes and body repeating "She zheng wang dong. li pa!" Nothing to it. This will last four hours. Now tell me.... haven't you always wanted to just disappear for four hours at some point in your life? 

I need to find a Dragon. I need to market this dust. I would be a wealthy woman.

Maybe these Dragons are like the gold that the Prospector and I seek. Maybe Dragons really do exist but they are as elusive as the gold of the Mother Lode here in California. All I know is that I will be looking for these beautiful creatures for the rest of my life and I have decided that I may wait for a few years to share this knowledge with my grandsons. This is some heavy information and I want to choose the opportune time to share this with them. I want them to be young enough to have an open mind but old enough to not be afraid. 

Also, they need to be old enough to do some field work with me because I see lots of "Dragons" in this world, in other forms.I see many dragon  metaphors in our lives and in the vast territory of our minds we seem to create them as part of our life stories. I want to teach my grandsons how to see the difference between the real dragons in our lives and the dragons that fly invisibly over us and live in magical places. Children need this. It's where Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman live and if it's in my lifetime we will find it together. 

We can't tame the men who choose to kill one another, but we can start with them as children and teach them about goodness, love and the magic of Dragons. It's all about dreams, hope and being brave and it's about the dust..... that beautiful, magical and shiny dust that humans came looking for here in the California Foothills  thinking that it would be the answer to their dreams. It's all about the limits of our imagination and how we can soar above it all  if we choose.

I think I will keep this book for a while longer. It has given me back something that I thought I had lost... the magic of my childhood and the the fire breathing dragon inside of me.

 

Mystorian Book: still a work in progress.

This is the front cover of the book that I started at the workshop in Asilomar. I have decided that it's finished. That sounds like a simple statement but it's hard to know when to stop adding things and say to yourself "Enough." The front cover is a piece of metal that was tarnish in liver of sulphur (nasty stuff, but it gives metal an interesting finish.) Then I glued an old piece of lacework to it . On top of that I glued a piece of bark, a metal dragonfly and two metal flowers, some pieces of agate(from the Oregon Coast) and a piece of wire with pearl beads (as a kind of imaginary tail on the dragonfly). There are two odd shaped pearls tucked in too. I had sanded the three metal pieces to tone down the gold tone so I covered them with a coat of matte Mod Podge to protect the metal and give it a bit of a shine. The collage is not centered because there will be fabric attached in the left side to form the spine of the book after I get all the pages done. What do you think?

I'm not sure this is done yet. It's an old photo frame that Nina Bagley (our instructor at the workshop) gave to me. I took out the old mean looking lady photo and inserted a copy of a photo that I took at my house. I stamped some leaves around the picture and stamped "Dog Farm" on the left side, "Sanctuary" on the top (It's kind of pale and hard to see). The top is a piece of lace and two pieces of the frame that I had cut off for a border. Then I pasted an old picture of a woman with 3 dogs on the right, colored them with pencils and glued some driftwood over it. On the left is an almost dry helleborus flower and a couple of small rocks. On top I glued two cabochons( flat backed, polished stones ) and a couple of old jewelry pieces. Everything got a coat of Mod Podge to hold it in place and protect everything except the center of the flower (it wasn't completely dry and I didn't want it to mold) and the cabochons.
Seems like I need to do something with the slot on the left side, but I'm not sure what.

This is about Creativity and the month of June. I accidentally covered the word "June" with lace, but I will pull the lace down a bit and secure it with a little "something" so the word can be seen. The metal flower and hummingbird were applied the same way as the other pages, then I took very thin pieces of mica and glued them all around the backing. Sometimes you learn by doing things and making mistakes. I should have done the mica first. It would have been easier than trying to fit the pieces around the bird and flower. Oh.., and before I had anything on the mat board I glued a "month of June" piece of clip art on and stamped a large green flower in the middle. Then I added the fabric and lace. The hummingbird is wired on at the top so I didn't have to glue it too much and it gives the bird more of a look of movement. I only used Mod Podge on the metal pieces . I wanted the mica to shine on it's own and the fabric to stay soft.

I have three more pages almost finished. I will show them to you very soon. I LOVE DOING THIS ..., it's so creative, but it's time consuming and takes up the whole kitchen table. I make a big creative mess everyday. Every night I have to clear it off for dinner. I'm lusting after the work spaces I have seen in a magazine called Where Woman Create and a workshop I saw recently of a lady artist here in our county. I NEED MORE SPACE.

The gourd art is on hold until I finish this book.

Sorry Mr. Blake

A while back I tried my first altered book. I found an old book of William Blake poems and proceeded to "alter"( or change ) it into a work of art. When I was done I said "Never again."; and this is why.....
First of all: Never use a book, no matter how old, that matters to you. When I started to tear pages from this small old book I felt like I was killing my bantam chicken for dinner. I love books and this seemed almost sacrilegious. Being my first attempt at altering anything other than a hemline, I found the whole process painful.
Secondly: Have some idea what you want to do. Have a plan. I didn't and that my be what made the whole process so difficult. If I had thought about it ahead of time, I probably wouldn't have use "this" book. If I had thought about the guilt of tearing pages, I would have chosen something I didn't care about and the whole experience would have been so much better.
And last: Be fearless! I'm very new to "art". When I look at this altered book now, I think that it's not so bad. In fact, I'm kind of happy with the way it turned out. Maybe you have to suffer for your art; the way I suffer from arthritis and breathing after I clean and work on my gourds. I know that suffering teaches you appreciation, empathy and give you greater understanding of yourself; so maybe it makes you keep trying.... to be braver, better, and more creative too.
I keep hearing Blake saying;
" If you trap the moment before it's ripe.
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;" Yes, I know I'm making a big deal out of this.
Just , please, use a book you don't care about or the author will haunt you.