I’m not trying to brag when I say repeatedly that I have some amazing friends. Just today, in fact, I received in the mail two beautiful handmade Kermit The Frog pillowcases from the dear N.Lempart (who is busy chasing around an INFANT for Chrissakes!) and then this evening I arrived at my metaphysical meditation group meeting for the first time in a month to find that one of the healers who was part of my personal cleansing a while ago went home and painted me a picture based on messages she received from Spirit about me. (It sounds kind of dorky, but it’s really staggeringly beautiful.) Photos of both of these unbelievably touching handmade gifts are forthcoming, of course, but I felt the immediate need to share my astonishment and gratitude at such amazing unsolicited generosity toward me.

It feels nice to be randomly shown love from people who have to go out of their way to think about me. Makes me happy.

Aaanyway, a while ago I was working on developing a personal goddess/warrior who would act as an alter-ego when my Demons decide to rear their ugly heads. The Goddess Warrior Castallare would thunder in on her trusty elephant guardian (Sheba) who would roar with preemptive victory against the slimy persistent demons who call themselves Fear, Shame, Regret, Depression, and Hate. Muahahahahahaha!

Problem is, I’m not much of an artist and I work best with meditative visualization and imagery when I can, you know, see what I’m trying to mentally summon. So I called upon the creative genius of my friend Rowena Zane (not her real name) to help me make sense of my mental notes and render an image or two and loooook at what she maaade for meeee!!!

Castallare and Sheba

Goddess Warrior Castallare and her bewitching smirk

I just think they’re spectacularly beautiful and perfect in their simplicity and feminine power and emotion. Now I really have one hell of an standard to live up to if I’m going to put this personal warrior’s powers to use. (I’d be kind of afraid of the repercussions should I let her down…)

Also, I kind of hope to work on more variations of this character and see how much more I can develop her both aesthetically and literally. Could be interesting, if from a merely self-serving standpoint. I’d like to see her evolve as I grow older.

I hope to incorporate these images into the new blogface we come up with… should that ever get around to happening…

And then…

:::: ssiiiiiiiggghhh:::::

…because a few readers who may or may not have access to my Facebook profile have been bothering and pestering me to post these next few photos I’ll oblige… I just will, okay? Gah…

Greg’s been diligently learning about this awesome new camera we got for Christmas and has moved on to acquiring and learning about professional studio lighting. This, of course, results in him taking countless photos of countless things around the house, including myself. Glamorous though it may sound to be someone’s personal model there’s a lot more “Hang on a second while I set this up” and “Can you hold that pose for another 5 minutes or so? I wanna try different angles!” than the clicky-flashy “Work it! Work it!” photographer/model dynamic that usually comes to mind. And then I have to do my own makeup, of course.

Alright, fine, I’ll admit it: I freaking love it. I love when he comes in from a long hard day of work and can’t wait for the baby to go to bed so we can spend quality time together in a photo shoot. I love when he has an idea or new concept that he’s been mulling over all day and when he directs me around his “set”. I like the idea that someone sees art in me and deems me worthy of acting as a medium for his artistic visions. It’s a pretty cool compliment, especially from someone who loves me.

All my gushy blathering aside, these were my top few favorites from the shoot the other week. Greg wanted me in a wife beater, corduroys and dark eye makeup. (He started me out in an open green flannel button-down, but it just weighed the images down too much so we went without.) I was happy to comply and mostly just proud that my grunge-era obsession was finally wearing off on him.

Craned neck? Check

Now channeling Kim Deal...

One B'dass Mother

Oh, look at me. I'm a musician. I'm all brooding and complex. I must hate my parents. Waaaahh...

"I like to play" - Garth Algar

There might be more but these are the only ones he’s color-corrected and “finished”, so I told him I wouldn’t unveil any more of his work until he’s ready. Because I’m an obedient student.