All good things

Isn't blogging fun? I love it; to write, to post my art, to visit other blogs that inspires me, to read all sweet, wise, supportive comments. To receive a comment from you is always like a little present for me. It certainly makes my day, feeling happy. Last week all good things came my direction, that is related with blogging.

First of all: the book The pictorial consequence of Caio Fernandes arrived. Wow! this made me very happy. At first i had difficulties with ordering, but Blurb mailed me directly their advice and that worked. And i got the book sooner than i (impatiently) hoped for. Than the book itself: i had high expectations, but this beautiful book was even more than i could imagine. I turned page after page and noticed i was holding my breath. I am a fan of Caio's work, but to see all his work together in a book overwhelmed me. You're so right Caio: the internet doesn't do justice for your work. I was amazed by all the beautiful colors in your paintings. Colors that i didn't notice on the net. And your blue is far more deeper and intenser than i thought. I only can imagine how intense and emotional it must be standing in front of your work. I'm sure that will take my breath away. I really hope that some day i have this chance; to see your amazing work for real. But i am very, very happy with the book!

Second: i had the trade post, maybe you remember? Three cards i had to offer for some other pearls. And three lovely people were happy to trade with me. I had my packets waiting to travel to their new homes (your packet is now on the way Yvette) and i received some nice packets back.

William Michaelian traded my card The torch for his book No time to cut my hair. His book also arrived last week. I already have (read) his book The painting of you. A beautiful story about his relationship with his mother, which is moving and humorous also. The William Michaelian humour which i like a lot. And his book winter poems; beautiful painted images thru even more beautiful words. So you can guess i am very happy with this new book. I'll read it very s l o w e l y because with his work i always find it a pity when it's finished. The photograph on the cover from this book; a little William with his grandfather, is sweet. Nice hours reading this book is what i'm looking forward to.

As i visited the blog of Ria for the first time i was intruiged. A strong woman who is surviving two cancers and translates this process, this journey into strong images and words. I love her art a lot in which you also can find the influence of Frida Kahlo. The transformations of the women on wellknown famous paintings is very ingenious. Visit her blog and you know what i'm talking about. She traded my Wild lady for three of her cards which pleases me a lot. They have find a good place between other cards, little statues etc. which are close to my heart. These cards she has submitted for the Book about death exposition in New York. You now also can collect them at the same kind of exposition in Sao Paul, Brasil and (soon) Scotland i think. More information on Ria's blog.

The third trade with sweet Yvette is on it's way to her home. :-) This trading project is such fun! There will be following more soon.

If that wasn't enough i received another parcel. As i wrote before; i won a beautiful brooch from Whitney- Anne. It came with a sweet postcard, was packaged in soft blotting paper, in a heartshaped box that smelled like sweet soap. Very lovely and i'm happy with it. It's fun to wear this lovely brooch. Thank you Whitney.

And to make me feel even more like a birthday girl (it's not my birthday yet): last week i also received my new book; Momo Luna's organic world. William is the first one to have seen it. :-) I'll post more information later. And today i received new passe-partouts for my drawings. Great! Ánd the postcards i've printed from my drawing The beginning. They look wonderful i think. :-)

Another happy thing: I'm working on a mandala, because Shana Goetsch has asked me to join the Art that circles the eart project. I love her art, so i decided to join. So exciting.

And last but not least: i am trading a drawing from me and some other surprises (i cannot blab yet) for the painting Holland dreams by Brian of Inkpunk artworks. Isn't that great? I love this painting a lot. And that it is painted with memories of Holland is such a nice circle.

You should see me glowing with happiness these days. And to complete this happiness: spring is showing a tiny, tiny bit of her face the last two days.

Since i've been very, very busy lately, i haven't had the chance to visit all my favourite blogs. But one of these days i'll pop up again, don't worry. ;-)

The beginning * Double card

My Ebay store

Because of the nice and honest comments on my Selling my soul or..... post, i started to consider my feelings about this item once again. Especially Caio's comment: IT IS FAIR YOU DESERVE TO MAKE MONEY IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT , AND SEE THIS WAY . PEOPLE ARENT MAKING YOU ANY FAVOR BUYING YOUR WORK . they have luck for getting a Luna for only few hundreds of euros .art must to circulate . and it is even better when circulate with some profite on it . nobody loses , everybody wins . simple like that .
I assent to his words, and they make me feel more secure and strong. Yes i am proud of my art and i think my paintings and drawings are worth the price i ask for it. And his comment Caio style: AHHH CAMON LUNA !! DON'T MAKE A DRAMA . SELL YOUR WORKS FOR THE HIGHER PRICE YOU CAN . makes me smile. Yes, you're so right! So therefore i've decided that my artwork is not on auction for minimum prices. Except for this one time, to celebrate my Ebay store.

So take your chance! You don't get every time the chance to buy an original Momo Lunas for just the startprice of $7.50! Go and visit my store and make a bid, and who knows you become the lucky owner of an original drawing. There's not much time left. Just one day for Le Samoerai, and 3 days for Tree of wonders & Innocent little town. Haha shameless me, but it feels good! ;-)

CHANGE

Chris Jarik Dekker

As my eldest son Chris (13 years) saw how i changed some old postcards in a Momo Luna drawing, he got inspired. And started to change an old postcard into his own art.
"Mom, will you upload this on your blog?" he asked me. Ofcourse i will, i am a proud mother. I think he is curious about what the reactions will be, but it worries him also a bit.
"Probably there will be no reactions mom, do you like it?"
Yeah i like it a lot, but i love all the stuff my kids create, like all mothers do right? But Chris is talented i think, he's not afraid of expressing himself in a drawing or painting, he has (some) insight, knows what he's doing...... He draws and paints since he was very little. I told him that i'm happy to post his card, but that i also wanna place a photo of him, and some old stuff he did and that i like a lot. He agreed. So that's why i write this little story about him.
When he was younger, Chris liked to do unusual things and then we had to photograph him. So here are some pictures of it:

Chris painted already when he was younger. The paintings you see from left to right are:
* FIRE* He painted this one when he was about 8 yeard old. The second one is called: Woman in windowpane. He was about 10 then. The last painting is untitled and he painted it some weeks ago. He glued some old cloth on the canvas and started to paint. :-)
Click on the images for a larger view.

And here is the card. I was surprised he picked an old card about a Marlene Dietrich movie: The devil is a woman. He changed it into his own art. He asked me to explain that he gave her the tail of a demon but the hat of a clown. He teared up the bottom a bit as if it had been burned by the flames.

Selling my soul? Or these mind pearls are worth every dime.

As i mentioned before i am not a business woman. And that's okay 'cause i don't wanna be one. I think most artists find it difficult to sell their art. How can you ask for your art, representing glimpses of your soul, hard cash, nickle dimes or how it is called in the english language. ;-) But what makes the world keep going? Money. And money is dirty they say, poison for the soul. Perhaps, but it's handy when you have to pay the rent.

I used to give my art away for free or trade it for a good meal or music in the form of an elpee. Yeah, that long ago haha. I was a performer and played in different bands and when we had performances that included also a meal, some drinks and a little bit cash. It was great fun and i could manage, so that was alright. But then i became a mother of 2 darling sons and my love and i had to live a more regular life, we needed a more regular income as well. So we had to find a 'normal' job and we did succeed. That was a career switch for me, that turned out to be great because i could also start a study and now i am an occupational therapist in a nursing home. Becoming ill (a chronical muscle disease) was the reason i had to stop working fulltime. Then my hubby loosed his job and for being 52, no diploma's (he's a musician) it's hard to find a new job. And the rent has to be payed, the kids are growing up. So i am thinking of ways to make some extra cash and what am i good in? Yeah, right! I can draw and paint and although i'm insecure about it sometimes, deep in my heart i think that i am pretty good. Raise your hand if you think so too. ;-)

And here i am again at the point where i started this post with; how can i ask such dirty money for the pearls from my mind? But i can, even better, i dare to. But doubting, isn't it too much? People (friends, family) who like my art very much and wanna buy a drawing. I asked 125,= euro's for a drawing. But that's too much. I know it's a lot of money, but i think it's worth it. Every single drawing is unique. And yeah, i know, i'm not famous, i am not a Picasso either, if i was, you had to pay even more darling. Haha. I'm a bit joking about it, but it's difficult. Why is that, that people find it difficult to pay for original art (from an unknown artist)? Also: why do people call artists who don't wanna sell their work upright, as if artists who do sell don't have any integrity? But perhaps i put this too black & white. There's also grey. But this is what i experienced. There has to be a middle way.....

Then i saw on Ebay an artist (whoms work i love very much! > KEEMO) whois selling his art overthere. He's also selling his original work on auction. And i find that a great idea. This makes your art available for many people and they can define their own price they wanna pay. And it keeps me from worrying if my prices are too high, lol.

Also: i think it's more satisfying to have my art in homes where people can watch it and feel joy about it, than that my art is here safe in a drawer. I love all my work, but a drawer is a drawer. And i would be glad to give all my art away for free, i am not a gold digger, but there is the rent again and kids who want to eat.

To make a long story short: you now can bid on Ebay to make an original MOMO LUNA S!gnals drawing yours; Le samoerai.
It's there for 10 days and the last bidder can call him/herself the owner of this drawing. In the future there will be more drawings for auction. I also will auction some drawings on the dutch Ebay where you can bid in euros.

What do you think? Am i loosing my integrity now for you? Do you think i am selling my soul? I am kidding, but not entirely. I really am interested in your opinion.

WANNA TRADE?
Then there is the old trading way i also find nice. Do you wanna trade your cow for 1000 of my apples? I have some trading items for you. Old postcards that i edited into a real Momo Luna item. More of these items also in the future. I upload an item and if you wanna trade it with something of your art, poem or other little pearls let me know in a comment. The first one who comment and offer a fair trade is the one i trade with. So here are three trade items, please let me know if you wanna trade. These are old postcards i edited:

WILD LADY (finds her new home at Ria's, just great!)

THE TORCH
(is on his way to William, that makes me happy.)

BLUE
(I'm very pleased to exchange this blue lady with a pearl from Yvette. )

Tell me what you think, it interests me.

Whitney

The first time I visited the blog Whitneys weird stuff i was pleasantly surprised by the style of it. The nice colours she uses, the way she writes and the photographs and what she does with it. I like what's she's doing. On her other blog What Whitney made next you will find vintage and retro inspired designs. There are more blogs like this but what i like so much about Whitney's is, again, her style. I like the calmth but with some unaspected twists in it.
There was this give away on her blog with some beautiful gifts and i was so surprised to find out i have won the second price. A beautiful kilt pin brooch! I am so very happy about it, it's such a beautiful gift.

I can recommend you to visit her two lovely blogs.

Young @ heart

The post of Caio about his music influences was great. His 'getting older' in the title and his writing about The Ramones did me think about the Ramones cover by the Young @ heart choir. A great choir of elder people singing songs from Nirvana, the Clash and the Ramones. The movie about this choir was big fun and moving as well. These people shows us that you still can be alive and kicking when over 70 years of age.
So i uploaded this trailer of the movie, it's such fun, i hope you enjoy it. And if you wanna hear them sing the Ramones song i wanna be sedated, click here.

Struggle (what's new? ;-))

Today i was very, very restless. And frustrated. My muse was roaring inside of me, she wants to be free. I have kept her too long in her cage, waiting. I tried different keys to open the cage, but i couldn't manage. Some keys were lost, others rusted or broken. In the beginning my muse was quiet, she understood and was hoping for better times. I played with her creating drawings and she was pleased with the pretty and sweet places where she could wander. If you take a good look you also can find the dark corners where she sometimes wanna hide and feel safe. But she still felt caged. And that made me sad, today i cried a view times, just like that, without a clear reason. My muse grabbed me by the hand, delegating the restlesness and tension. The tension grew and almost became unbearable. So i took a canvas and my brushes and started to paint. Very cautious in the beginning. But she was whispering, and the whispers became stronger, transformed in a clear voice: "Stop the crap, let go! Let go! Don't be a tart, i don't wanna be pretty and sweet. Not this time! I wanna be rough and alive." She was guiding me to happiness and i could let go, feeling more and more secure and i used bigger brushes to avoid unnessesary details. I couldn't stop painting and she broke loose, free at last. And i was in love again with her, feeling so happy. And now she's looking at me from the canvas, so strong, but i begin to doubt again. I think every painter know this progress. I still am in love but i see her flaws. At this point i have to take some distance and let her grow. But i'll complete her world this week, because i cannot walk away from her. Not any longer. It will be a struggle, but it's worth every tear and drop of blood.

The painting is not yet finished and the quality of the photograph lousy, the colours are deeper and more intense for real, but i couldn't wait to share this process with you. In a few days, when finished i will upload a good photograph.

TASTE

Black birds * The movie ;-)

I just discovered a video editing program and it's such fun. Because it's difficult to see all the details on my large drawings i upload, i thought it would be fun to film all the details of the drawing. But the quality isn't that good, some bits are over-exposed. And i find out that i dón't have to film one big shot, but can do tiny parts and put that together haha. But still, i love this first try out and i hope i can transmit to you the atmosphere i had in mind. I promiss you: the next round i make a little movie it will be of a better quality.

I also did the soundscape (music). A soundscape is just like a collage but in stead of cutting and glueing images i do it with sounds and music. Sounds of the television or radio and i used the 9th symphony from Beethoven for the underlaying basic looping sound. I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to stop my How do u dream jukebox. ;-)

Black birds; i don't need no pain * i cannot get no sleep * is it all as it seems? Don't you see? I've got a sun in me * Monsters don't have hearts ♥ Sure they have ♥ It's the blaze across my nightgown * Insomnia! It's in my head! Let me unfold your thoughts * You are the blood flowing from my fingers * You are ♥

Dream about hope......

Every angel, demon, human, animal or flower i draw

Some years ago, as i was selling my drawings on an artmarket, there was this man who shyly said to me: "Perhaps i'm silly and i sure don't understand art, i'm just a greengrocer, but i like your work and it seems to me that all of your work is a selfportrait." I smiled at him and said that he hit the nail on the head because he was right. I think that every angel, demon, human, animal or flower i draw or paint also is a selfportrait. But isn't that the case with all art and their artists? You always put something from yourself in it. I gave the greengrocer a drawing for free, i'm not a good businesswoman. ;-)

In the drawing 'Black birds' where a woman is placed in the center of it, that's for sure a selfportrait. But all the other creatures on it as well, they are the sorrow, pain, hope and/or love i've felt and feel so deeply in my life. And now some drawings and photographs for you to compare.

Ha! Don't be afraid. The photograph was taken some years ago on a weird party where you had to dress up. Later on i used this image as the center of my black birds drawing.

This photograph was taken two weeks ago by my eldest son. I always think that i'm not photogenic, but this one i like, 'cause i look relaxed and happy. As you can see, my right eye is smaller than the left one. This has to do with the muscle disease i have since three years and when tired or after a lot of exertion my muscles (some) weaken and the right eye is a visible aspect of this. I call it my pathetic or sad eye. I often draw humans or gods with eyes in different sizes, i really don't know why, it has nothing to do with my disease. I did that already before the disease. I think it's fun to see the simularity between photo and drawings.

Dream with one eye open and one eye closed. ;-)