paint me

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if i were a bird house

on top of a bench

paint me with flowers

thirsty & pink

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(C) photographs, MJ Calitz 2008. photo art & verse, MJ, 2009

pLay

If you've been wondering why I've been so scarce the last week or three, here's your answer…or at least part of it :-P… I've been busy with some art projects, playing with paint, paper, wood, canvas, fabric, beads, etc. & I will reveal them as I go. The rainy weather has been both a blessing and a curse, giving me time to sit down and create, but also slowing the process down (trust me, humidity is not a friend of paints, glues & fixatives.)
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So here's a piece I call [blueX9]. It still needs to be finished with a fixative, but for the most part, it is done. It's roughly 8 x 11 inches, acrylics on paper, glued onto blocked, sanded & painted hardboard. The 3D elements are string & dried paint from paint tube caps.

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If you click on the 3rd picture (to enlarge) you will get a better idea of the texture, which I created by roughing up the paper a bit while gluing & randomly scraping wet medium with an old credit card or dabbing with a piece of cloth. I layered black gel pen & different dilutions of blue, red, gold & white acrylic paint, using stamps, stencils & brushes, until I got the effect that I wanted.

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doN't be afraid to pLay with painT

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(C) Art, MJ Calitz, 2009

time is a verb

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the time it takes for a car door to rust

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for weeds to grow tall

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for the clouds to pass so you can take a picture of the shadows those weeds make on the rusted car

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or to catch a ray of sun on the bumper

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time is a verb.

patience is the lesson.

and the pay off,

is beauty

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(C) words & photographs, MJ Calitz, 2009

how super!

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nail polish ?(!)
on a boy ???
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& wHy noT?
it makes the eyes poP
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:-P
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the original black & white photograph (not shown here) of my nephew, Gideon, was taken by a family member. it was so darling, i couldn't resist playing with the image.

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009

i. flower

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like yellow & butterfly...i can't quite describe the way you make me thrive...like sunshine in paint on blues & grayish greens, you make me queen. & sometimes i blur a little. but you always shine a light on me

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(C) words & photographs, MJ Calitz, 2009

vintage

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two weeks ago one of my friends made me a very happy girl. he put a camera in my hands (or a fairy box, as the folks at the renaissance festival kept reminding me) and gave me permission to roam his backyard and take as many photographs as my heart wished. keeping in mind that his backyard contains a barn as well as half a dozen old cars, i was in fairy box heaven for a couple of hours. this was my favorite FAVORITE picture of the day. i almost can't believe that i took it. watch this space. more will most definitely follow...

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(C) Photograph, MJ Calitz, 2009

treasure

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i found treasure...papers, fabrics, yarns, trims & rusted things. some in craft shops, some from home, more from friends who knows that i'm collecting these things. when i saw this little rusted gun, i wanted to eternalize it inside a nest of paper & creamy texture, like this...

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009

gather ye merry skirts

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Renaissance festival, Harveysburg, OH
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(C) Photographs, MJ Calitz, 2009

inside the cake fairy's soul

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009 (click on pic to enlarge)

the colors we possess

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we made love in my mind

& i saw

all the colors of the rainbow

explode

inside

my skin

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009

carved

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somehow your face got carved into the light & hard of my days. and i had to take a picture

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(C) Photograph, MJ Calitz, 2009

journey rocks!

Okay, i don't normally post music videos on my blog, but there is always an exception, yes?

Last night we went to a concert of Journey with their seXy new lead singer Arnel Pineda. They opened with an aWesome cover of Foreigner's "hot blooded," ROCKED out songs like "wheel in the sky" & "seperate ways" and meLted hearts with "faithfully." Here are videos of my favorite two songs of the evening"...

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"anyway you want" (with a stunning guitar solo by Neil Schon)

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&
"lights"

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peace out
mj

love & lace

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i am not a doLL.
i've decided that
a long time ago
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but
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porcelain & lace. bLack lace
is how i feel some days
about this stillborn thing
we insiSt on calling "love"
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or. like a raggedy anne
with no arms
permanent smile sewed on
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he stabs me with words
pouring from his aRtless soul
& i become the invisible child again
& i grieve. & i smiLe
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i used to think that love was
a magical ballooN
with layers of depth & delight
liFting you. up. up. uP
but you. you cut me doWn
without regard. & i fall
& i grieve. & i smile
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how can you deny me my souL,
walk away
& then return hours later
wanting to maKe love?
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i am noT a doll
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today i sat down & found my focus.

take back your arms &
believe in yourself.
if i can do it,
so can you
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(C) Words & art, MJ Calitz, 2009

a drop of nothing

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do you sometimes get that feeling too? the one where the moment right after you think you got it, you realize, that you got nothing but a drop on parched lips...

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[i call these pictures "what do you mean? duo 1 & 2"]

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(C) Photographs, MJ Calitz, 2008

inspiration cross

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"inspiration cross" - acrylics on wood embellished with papers, fabrics, beads, ribbons, etc. including antique lace and a hat pin from my creative grandmother

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i made this cross to remind me to love my life, live in the moment and embrace my creative side.

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009

draw a chair

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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009

about the journey

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this was not supposed to be anything. i was just experimenting with different inks, paints & techniques and then it started to look like something so i kept going and before it was done, i realized that art [life] [love] is more about the journey than the final product.

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as i make these things for you that are born inside the depths of my soul, love drips from my fingertips like vanilla ice cream melting in the summer sun. dripping. dripping. seeping through my pores. deep deep down. no, it doesn't matter that i sometimes choose not to eat dessert because you have branded me with your dark chocolate love. love. love, i will always. be. yours.
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…even when i'm not making something for you, i remember that you love autumn leaves.
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(C) Art & words, MJ Calitz, 2009

morning light

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morning light. fog paints the air ethereal. butterflies hang on the willow tree like two upside down hearts still asleep while flowers wake up taking thirsty sips of dew. the beauty of it all takes my breath away

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(C) Photographs & words, MJ Calitz, 2009

rules for surviving

when you're a butterfly

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1.
don't be a zoMbie loveR
stuck to the liPs of
a god chiseled out of
starduSt & cliMb my limbs
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2.
don'T forget
that he has feet of cLay.
& for god sake
doN't fall at his feet
starving clinging
caRving angel wings
on his back
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3.
don't eat out of his haNds &
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4.
whaTever you do
don't feed him blOwn kisses
taSting like hoPe because
they have the tendency
to bouNce back
& hiT you in the heart
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No.
this
is
noT
what
this
is
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thiS is
don't look into the fUture
lest you tuRn into a deer
caught in the headlighTs
frOzen in stone
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yeS, i am still a butterfLy.
but that doeSn't mean
that i should fLitter
to faSt forward
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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009. art, mj, 2009

inadvertent & reaL

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but she shiNes!?! even the sun spins pure gold threads in her haiR, you say, shivering & confused. just call her goLdilocks. (that's the faiRytale anyway.) but soMe days. she locks you out with her lashes. the saMe lashes that kiSsed your eyes, touched your souL your heart your ear, crawled iNside & stayed without invitation. & you search but you can't fiNd the keyhole & her barbwire tongue, sO pretty, so pink, inadvertently cuTs you in 2. too far away. you want to remeMber the kisses. but they burSt against your i. effervescent. ephemeral. eveR elusive…illusive.
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truth? nobody knows the damn truth. aLL we can do is be here…BE HERE & be reaL
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(C) MJ Calitz, 2009