carlacryptic

It has been FOREVER since I last posted anything here. Too many online communities and blogs and obligations and enducements - too little time. :)

I was here commenting on my friend Nicci's artwork and realized I should post something on my own LJ blog for a change, especially since I have something new to post. :)

I've been singing and writing songs/music for as long as I have been alive but I go through periods when I don't sing at all. I don't like those periods very much! But, they happen for their own peculiar reasons.

At the moment, though, I am singing up a storm and writing lots of new songs, as well as revisiting old ones in new ways. I have a bunch of stuff available to hear at iCompositions so I want to invite anyone reading this to come have a listen. And, please comment if you feel moved to! I can use all the feedback I can get. :)

Here's a link to my main artist's page at iCompositions (from there, just click on any song title to hear it):

http://www.icompositions.com/artists/carlajpatterson

One of the items is actually a poem, not a song. It's called Jazz.

I'm also into experimental musical forms and the one I'm involved in right now is called Consemble. You can find out about the project overall and hear the 'CD' I'm personally part of at the following link:

http://www.chameleonlectra.co.uk/Consemble-E.html

The Consemble project is an ongoing one and is open to participation by anyone who has access to a way to record sound. It's fun so give it a try! :)

I've been playing around with a new website focusing entirely on mail art and it's finally finished - at least as a prototype! Come check it out and let me know what you think. There is a lot of content but there are hundreds of images to add yet. For now, though, I'd like to point people to a mail art call I've initiated called Art from the Heart (for survivors of Hurrican Katrina in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi). Your feedback, as always, is welcome.

Carla Cryptic's Mail Art Site

Art from the Heart Mail Art Call

This year, due to unusual amounts of rain, the hills are still green and there are flowers everywhere. Since I'm a photographer and my focus is often plants and flowers, it's hard for me to get anything else done. I go out to do errands and I stop every few blocks to take pictures! It took me two and a half hours to get back from the dentist the other day. :) Come visit my fotolog to see some of the results. Or, if you're in the SF Bay Area, come visit me at Open Studios and see the work in person. I'm part of the Artiszen Group and we show and sell our work this year on June 24th and 25th from 11 am to 4 pm at 772 El Centro Rd in El Sobrante.

Finally saw Sally Potter's film, YES, the other day and I was so glad I did. I've always enjoyed some part of her other films but there was always something which kept me from immersing myself completely or find the experience totally satisfying. This time the combination of the actors, the dialogue (completely in verse*), and Potter's filmmaking worked for me on every level and I just wanted to watch it again right away. It is brilliant.

Some other films I've enjoyed recently include Happy Endings, Thumbsucker, The Return, and Twilight Samurai.

I'm a big Octavia Butler fan from long before she was popular... she was a generous person when I met her in various bookstores and at Sci Fi conferences. I cheered when I heard she'd gotten a Macarthur Genius Grant - no one could deserve it more than she did. I was really sorry to hear of her death recently - I had hoped she'd live to a ripe old age and continue to bless the world with her kindness, her talent, and her intellect.

If anyone who reads this is into artist trading cards, and is ever in the SF Bay Area, come to an ATC Meetup sometime. I am the organizer and we meet at least once a month to make ATCs and trade them. We've got some regular members but everyone is welcome. We've had visitors from out of state and we have an active member in Australia who sends cards each month to trade on the theme we're doing. The next Meetup is March 25th from 1-4 pm PST. Check out the details: http://artisttradingcards.meetup.com/45/ and/or send me email.

*It was very much its own creation but to imagine the way the verse fit the film, think Shakespeare not The Cat in the Hat :)