Nothing to show

I'm having one of those days where nothing goes quite right.  I can't mix the colours I want, the shading goes all wrong, the line ends up elsewhere than where I want it.  The grey catbirds come out looking a little more on the green side.  It's not  artist block, it's more of an artist stumble. 
My time tomorrow has been booked by parents and parents-in-law, so I know I'll get little to nothing done--which only adds to my sense of frustration.  This was supposed to be a day for making!
Normally, if I'm having trouble in one sphere of creativity, I move to another until the stumble resolves itself.  Today there seems to have been little recourse but to write and avail myself of Write Habit's list of literary magazines in the attempt to find someone who might want to publish my work (hopefully with a little bit of pay to be exchanged, as well).
So at least that was something.

There can't be anything much more boring than reading about someone who cannot create.  More interesting posts are in the offing, I promise.

In regards to actually getting to work.

So my lovely mate, E, has been in LA for the past week.  He was there attending the workshops and award ceremony attendant upon winning one of the quarterly Illustrators of the Future contests.  Incredibly impressive.  If you want to go rush over and take a look at his work right now, having heard that, it's here.  Go over.  Spend some time.  I post his DeviantArt rather than his website, because he updates it more often.  (Mine own, more neglected, is here).
So I've gotten up off my own butt, and I'm getting back to work on the art that I've been ignoring, due to demanding-contract-dayjob.  I admit to bouts of self-doubt and criticism of late.  There are a few things that are difficult in a relationship between two creative people in the same field, and being torn between extreme pride in your mate and jealousy/self-doubt is one of them.  That, and some people will come at you with the preconceived notion that in a creative couple, one of you must be inherently "better" than the other.  More about that in another post.
Anyhow, I've been spurred to work on my artwork, more vehemently.  Also to pick up my writing again.  After the six books of mini short stories I wrote for my BFA thesis, I took a rather substantial break from writing.  Partly because I didn't know how to surmount the main (and very legitimate) criticism that occurred during my thesis critique: that I have difficulty ending a story.  Or at least, coming to any kind of conclusion.
So this is my goal.  I have several short stories in the works at the moment, and for practice I'm going to try writing flash fiction.  Just to practice better how to bring a story from a begining to a thoughftul conclusion.  The stories will probably begin showing up on here. 
And of course I will be submitting to Illustrators & Writers of the Future as well.  E says he had a smashing time at the workshops, and heartily recommends attendance.  By which he means getting off one's ass, and getting the courage up to submit to this thing.  Now. Because it honestly cannot hurt (except one's confidence).

As if I didn't love her enough...

...for her incredible books (Palimpsest utterly blew me away), this is what Catherynne M. Valente had to say about the recent Mammoth book of Mindblowing Science Fiction Gender/Racefail:

"Stories are important. Stories, in fact, are life. They are what is left of our unique experience in this world. They speak--no. They scream. And when an author sits down and constructs a completely imaginary world in their heads, if people like me, people like us, do not exist in it, or exist only to be ridden like animals or raped or murdered or humilated or destroyed so that an audience can acheive catharsis via symbolic annihilation of our lives, bodies, and souls, well, certainly, we can sit down and look at the floor and say: yes, you're right, that is what we deserve. Or we can stand up. We can scream back. We can band together. We can demand our right to exist, to take part in humanity, to learn, to grow, to evolve, to self-examine. We can tell our stories, to anyone who will listen, to the campfire, to our lovers, to coffee shops, to strangers, to publishers' skyscrapers in New York, to the heavens, to the earth. Yes, you're fucking well right we can."

Besides being the very first one to call it out. 

How to lose me as a customer

I'm finally getting back to work on my gallery website.  I tried it first two summers ago, and was ultimately defeated by my own ambition.  This time, no flash is going to be involved at all.  Just a simple, aesthetic layout in Dreamweaver, using Lightbox2 to showcase images.  My writing will go up on it too.
What spurred me to get on it again?  Well, my domain name registration expired.  I'd been waiting for this, because I originally got it using GoDaddy, as it had been the only registry I had heard of.  Then I got blasted with some of their ridiculously gross, sexist commercials.  Decided I didn't want to send any more money that way.  I canceled (after having them unsuccessfully try and charge my credit card for re-registry behind my back) and now it has been several weeks of waiting for my domain to free up so I can register with DynamicDolphin.  Is it supposed to take this long?  Seriously not amused.

But anyway.  Here is a doodle from one of my sketchbooks, done in café Tryst a few weeks ago.  Ballpoint pen and white coloured pencil on recycled brown paper.

Good/Bad

Not Happy:
-Maybe coming down with another sinus infection.  
-Coming home to find toaster oven's door broken off.  
-Call from coffee shop telling me I'm not hired.  -Someone trying to hire me to do 20-25 colour illustrations for her children's book in under 6 weeks, and only offering $250 as pay (and making passive-aggressive comments about how reasonable she thinks this is.)
-Still not living in Portland.

Happy:
-Working again, for good-paying contract.
-Working also on illustration commissions for two books, both of which are future-pays.
-Working on t-shirt designs that will get made, and I get commision on! Yay!

The tide is rising...

Evan and I just got back from downtown. We went to see the high tide, which is 1 to 1.5 feet above average. Accompanied by heavy rain, it's the cause of the 'coastal flood warning' that's been in effect from Tuesday morning, and will remain in effect through Thursday morn.

After crossing the drawbridge into the city, we were immediately confronted by a massive puddle, at least 100 feet long, more than a foot and a half deep, and spanning the entire breadth of the road. The storm drains in Annapolis are a little counter-productive. Whenever the tide is high, or there has been a tad more rain that usual, they back up and flood into the street.
The dinghy docking area, normally consisting of a small brick park with trees and benches about three feet above the waterline, was entirely immersed. Water lapped against the stairs on the far side, dampening the bronze children of the Kunta-Kinte memorial. Waterborne debris littered the plaza, and we spent some time fishing out and disposing of the inorganic matter.
The closer to the docks we got, the higher the water level. An Camaro and an SUV sat side-by-side in the lowest point of the dockside parking lot. Both were submerged up to their headlights.
The waterline sat less than a foot below the dock, sometimes coming into corners so violently that we were hit by the spray. Not that this mattered much, the constant chill rain--illuminated occasionally by distant flickers of lightening--kept us damp enough.
We took the side of Dock street opposite the docks on the way back (which proved to be a mistake). The Navy yard was surrounded by a veritable moat, and we joked that the single grey boat sitting in the parking lot was there for such occasions. A car passed us, and the shock of its passage sent a wave of brackish water over our shoes.
There was no saving our feet, really. An ankle-deep pool in the sidewalk pretty effectively drenched Evan, and swamped over the ankle of even my waterproof hiking boots. We arrived home soaked but elated.

It's easy enough to enjoy, because it's mostly spectacle. Despite the high water, there's no possibility of damage to businesses, homes, or people. In 2003, long before I moved here, hurricane Isabel did major damage, flooding all of Dock Street and up to the Hard Bean Café and Riordan's. 2009 is predicted to be a relatively average to light hurricane year. Considering the state of the storm drains, however, and the unusally rainy six months we've been having, it might not take a hurricane to cause real trouble here.


Illustration:
"Cthulhu before R'Lyeh"
India ink on bristol board.
6 x 11"
Copyright Lisa Grabenstetter, 06/2009

Thematic redux (Plumed equine)

A re-examination of a subject I drew back in highschool. There used to be a long, elaborate story it went with, but now all that I remember is its environment. Long, domed flint shores that ran into a translucent sea. Enormous mosses and lichens towering overhead. Plumed equines running about beneath. That sort of thing.

Colored pencil and walnut ink on hemp paper.
8 x 8"

Tried out a new technique with the penciling this time. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it.
Feedback would be immensely helpful.

The Magnetic Crow

Just because, it has been neglected.
This was actually drawn for this site, before it ended up on my thesis card.
Expect it to show up somewhere soon.

On literary magazines.

Something I neglected to mention here. Two of my pieces were selected to be published in the newest edition of GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator) magazine. I just received my contributor copy in the mail, and it is really quite sweet.

Now, publishing your stuff in magazines really does not pay much. It's really about the exposure, and being involved in something as beautiful and independent as a lit mag like GUD. And so, I am extremely thrilled about this. Really, go check it out. Even if you don't have the extra income to spend on a copy right now, get a peek at the free content. 'Time cat' is an awesome game.

Some considerations.

I have been thinking a lot about this blog lately, and what I want to do with it. See, I have many venues for putting my artwork up online. There's deviantart, and carbonmade, and my future website-which-I-haven't-finished-yet. Yet I am a very opinionated person. I read a great number of science and political blogs, and would like to express my thoughts.

So here is what is going to happen.

I am still going to post my art here, and also bits of my writing. I like having a space that's entirely my own to do that in. Also, I'm going to stop being afraid of letting my opinions come out in a space where they will be connected with my art, person, and career. Mostly, I am no longer going to be afraid of vociferously expressing myself as a feminist.
I know! What could possibly make me afraid of letting possible future employers know that I am in fact an advocate of my own gender? Or, more importantly: I know that this will be a possible put-off to future employers, but I've made the decision to not care. Because I really do not think I would be happy or comfortable working for someone who would penalize me for voicing the opinion that I deserve equal rights to my male coworkers.
Also, I know that my views are going to remain visible in my art and writing anyway.
So there.

I have been posting on feminist blogs for a time, most under the pseudonyms 'L.G.' or 'Algae'. Now I'm using 'Magnetic Crow' as my one and only. We'll see how this goes.