THE RAVEN, MR. POE, AND WEDNESDAY ADDAMS

My inspiration for this Theme this week was a free image I found on the Gecko Galz Blog. It is an image of a little girl with a black raven on her head, as portrayed above in the artwork.  The girl in the image reminded me of Wednesday Addams, and the Raven on her head reminded me of Poe, so I wanted to bring those two characters together like an Iconoclast.  

Robert Redford had a show on his Sundance Channel called Iconoclast, where he would pair two celebrities together who were not of the same era of Hollywood but had things in common. The two actors he paired together would hang out and talk, and the comparisons would show in their conversation with each other. I thought that I would do my own Iconoclast and pair the Great Edgar Allen Poe with our Darling Gothic, Wednesday Addams.

I have imagined Wednesday reading The Raven and other writings of Poe's at night before she went to bed. Of course, Morticia would have read Poe's stories to Wednesday as we read nursery rhymes to our children at bedtime. The Raven was probably her favorite poem, and she probably knew it by heart. She may have even had a portrait of Poe hanging on the wall in her room. She probably kept a much-treasured book of Poe's stories and poems on her nightstand. Morticia and Gomez probably gave it to her for her birthday or maybe even Halloween!! She would have owned a Raven, for Morticia would have encouraged her to have a pet that was dark and gothic.  So it would not be uncommon that Wednesday would have grown up cherishing Poe's writings as we grew up cherishing Little Women or Nancy Drew! Maybe she even dreamt of becoming a great Gothic writer like Poe and secretly wrote her own dark, macabre poetry in her diary. 

As I was reading about Poe for the theme, I read some interesting things about Poe's life that I did not know, which I wanted to share with you. For one, I have always thought Poe was British and grew up in England, but not so, he was born in my home state of Virginia. He went to school at the University of Virginia, and he also attended West Point. He had a terrible gambling habit when he was young, which caused him to be expelled from UVA, and he was court-martialed at West Point. The woman we know as Annabelle Lee, whom he loved as no other, was in fact his cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm.  He married Virginia at the young age of 13. She later died at age 24 of tuberculosis. Poe, distraught with grief, he was inspired to write the poem The Raven and Annabelle Lee in memory of his beloved Virginia.

I have also posted a Free Image Page to go along with this Theme! Have fun this week pairing Poe and Wednesday together in your artwork! I am also going to go back and pick out the art from the past challenges to go in our Artistry Showcase. I have not had time recently to keep that current but will try to post them this week and stay current from here on out! 

Here are my "Iconoclast" Poe and Wednesday Creations!!

Once upon a Midnight Dreary, Deep into that Darkness peering, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.

Ghastly grin and ancient Raven wondering from the Nightly Shore, "Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonium Shore."

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore, meant in croaking, "Nevermore."

Desolate yet, all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted----on this home by horror haunted, "Tell me truly, I implore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off the door!" 

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And my soul from out that shadow lies floating on the floor shall be lifted---"Nevermore."

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Free Blog Image, Chez Simone Tresors Vintage Grunge Papers, Miles Beyond The Moon Digital Kit Wednesday Art Doll, Wikipedia, and Pixabay.  

DEVILED EGGS

I am sorry for posting this so late, but I cannot shake this flu!  

I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter Holiday!  I hope your Easter Baskets were overflowing with chocolate, and your day was spent with your family, hiding eggs with your children and grandchildren, and gathering around the table for your Easter Feast! 

The Holiday Dinner menu usually begins with a Brown Sugar Glazed Ham, Potato Salad, Green Beans, and Deviled Eggs. Wow, I am getting hungry as I type this!!! I have an interesting recipe to share with you while we are on the topic of food! One year for Easter, I fixed Pickled Deviled Eggs! They were delicious! They looked so pretty displayed with the rest of the meal. Everyone really loved them! 

Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try them for their next Easter Dinner or just for fun! I boil my eggs until they are hard-boiled. I let them cool and peel them, I put them in a jar of pickled beet juice and then in the Frig for a day or two, depending on the color they get from the beet juice. They usually turn a beautiful pink color that I adore! I remove them from the jar and make the deviled eggs as I usually would. Very easy and very pretty.

Our Theme this week is not very pretty, but just as fun! We are going to create Deviled Eggs with a little Devil in them! Think red, horns, fires, etc.!!!! And I dare you to serve these eggs for dinner!! I really can't wait to see what you will come up with for your version of Deviled Eggs! I have posted a page of images to help you get inspired to make your eggs devil-style!

Here is my version of Deviled Eggs!!

Digital art created from images from Pixabay

PINK MOON

Quirky Full Moon

 I know I said we do not do pretty but I could not resist using the Pink Full Moon as a Theme and creating some pink art!! Being that it is Spring and the long, cold Winter is gone, our bodies are awake and our souls are alive and we yearn for the new in everything... new directions, new attitudes, and maybe exciting, new adventures!  Who knows??? The possibilities are endless when Spring is here!!  

Every living thing is budding and blooming with so many lovely colors sprouting up everywhere! The beautiful spring days we have had lately put me in the mood to create with some light, pastel colors!!

 So when I read about how spectacular the Full Moon was supposed to be this month and that it was going to be Pink...well...I thought why not???? We can do Pink and P.retty but with a Twist!!!! The Twist will be for us to use images that are Abstract and Surreal...even Fantasy... with your Pink Full Moon for this Quirky Challenge! 

And by the way, I watched the Moon for two nights and never did see it turn pink!!! It had a lovely rainbow ring around it last night but it did not turn pink!! 

I was disappointed but then remembered that after all, I am an artist and have the freedom to envision anything and with expression through my artwork, create what I imagine to see it come to life...real or not real!! 

So all of my Pink Moon creations are really Pink and created just as I wanted to see a Pink Full Moon!  You can create your Pink Full Moon just the way you see it too! 

Here are my Pink Full Moon Quirky Creations:

Digital art created from DreamPrintFusion Digital Kit Quirky Spring People and Digital Kit Earthkeepers. Itkupilli's Digital Kit Alice In Wonderland Stages, KatePrintableArt Dreamy Skies Digital Kit, Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps, and Pixabay 

BAD GIRL

 OK.......MY BAD!!! 

First of all. I posted Deviled Eggs for the next Theme, but I intended to post that theme later this month. And also once again, late in posting the Theme for this week!!

 I have a good excuse!!  I have the flu so I am not feeling well, in fact, really "monstrously" awful from the murky crud that lingers and will not go away! I think when I get better this would be a great theme for the challenge blog...

The Creeping Crud!!!!  

So on with the Theme for this Week...

When I was a little girl, I had very long, curly hair and was a good little girl for the most part but at times, as children will be, I was very mischievous, prone to loud temper tantrums, and so very stubborn! So, when I was unruly and misbehaving, my mother would recite this little poem to me to remind me that I must be a good little girl and be on my best behavior because bad little girls were naughty and not very pleasant to be around! We would end up laughing at the end of the poem and I am sure she recited the poem to distract me from whatever made me misbehave and lighten my mood so that once again, I would return back to the good little girl I was!

Here is the Poem...

"There once was a little girl, 

who had a little curl,

right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good, 

she was very good

but when she was bad, 

she was Horrid"!!!!!

Now it is your turn to create your Bad Girl! 

The artwork you have been creating for the Challenge Blog Themes are really amazing and so I have no doubt this week's artwork will be the same! 

Keep using your wonderful imagination to its fullest, as it is truly a precious treasure to see what others do not see, and then with colors and images, interpret what you envision onto your canvas!

I have posted a Page of images for you to use in your artwork! 

Now let's be BAD GIRLS!!! 

 Here is my 

Bad Girls Artwork!!!

Digital art created from images from Pixabay, Gecko Galz Steampunk ATC Collection Set, Art Nouveau Digital Collage Set, Itkupilli's Digital Kits, Bones, Alice In Wonderland Stage, Dirty Cards Murky Sheets, Open Stage Sheets, Chez Simone Tresors Digital Kits Vintage Journal Pages, Haunted Houses Journal Pages, Honeycomb Designs Digital Kit Ethereal Images, Facebook Group Free AI Images, MBWM Crow Co Art Dolls, Art House Whimsey Digital Kit Grunge Papers, and Miriam's 

Digital Kit Scrap

BLACK RABBIT

 

Black Rabbit is our theme for this week. 

We don't do pretty or cute or sweet. No, we don't! We do dark and spooky! So with Easter right around the corner, this holiday is no exception. Our dark rabbit art creations this week are mean, malicious and scary!  

Watch out for your Easter baskets filled with pretty eggs and delicious treats! These horrid rabbits are waiting to demolish your Easter Baskets and eat all of your chocolate treats. Especially the chocolate covered bunnies! They love a sweet, chocolate bunny. It is their favorite!

I have posted more images on a page for you to use this week in your artwork and some lighter versions of a Black Rabbit for those who want to create something more in tune with the Easter Theme!

Use your dark imagination this week to create your version of the Dreaded Dark, Black Rabbit! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Here is my version of the Black Rabbit!!!!!

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Land Of The Fey ATC Sheet and Into the Blue ATC Collection, images and backgrounds from Pixabay, and frames from Adobe Photoshop.

FREAKY CIRCUS CLOWNS

What is so dark and scary about Clowns?

Is it the make-up? The malicious grin?  The sinister way they look at you? 

I don't know but this challenge was a bit scary to create artwork for!! I even got a chill or two as I was creating my own Freaky Circus Clowns artwork!!

I believe these quotes will answer the question from the famous and scariest clown we all know, PENNYWISE,

from Stephen King's novel and the movie, "IT"!!!!

TASTY, TASTY, BEAUTIFUL FEAR!

I AM YOUR WORST DREAM COME TRUE!

I AM EVERYTHING YOU EVER WERE AFRAID OF!

LET GO. BE AFRAID. YOU ALL TASTE SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU ARE AFRAID!

Well, after reading that, is it any wonder we have a secret fear of clowns? 

So try, without fear, to create your dark and Freaky Circus Clowns this week! 

Try not to scare yourself in the process!!!

I have posted a page with some Freaky Clown images as well as some not so dark circus images for those who want to keep it light for you to use in your artwork! Let your dark imagination be your guide this week! 

Here is my Freaky Circus Clowns:

Digital art created from images from Pixabay, Adobe Photoshop Borders, and the Facebook Group Free AI Images

BLACK BIRDCAGE

The Theme this Week is Black Birdcage??? 

Yes, Black Birdcage. 

This week we will illustrate a dark story with our dark art creations. I posted images and photos of different birdcages for you to use in your artwork. Maybe, you have your own demented, dark images to create your art piece with so use those and also use your dark imagination as well!  Use images of blackbirds, crows, and ravens to give your art that 

"GOTHIC FEEL"!!! 

Tell a dark, mysterious story about your birdcage and your birds. What about the dark birdcages they live in? Why must they be caged? Are these birds treacherous, evil, or just mischievous?  And what of their Masters? Are they the same? What melancholy songs do your dark birds sing at night when all is still and quiet? Do you hear their eerie, foreboding notes sung in the shadows of darkness? 

I cannot wait to see what you will create!!!

I apologize for posting so late in the week, but I moved and ran out of time with all of the unpacking and settling into my new home! This Theme will run until March 25th and then we will have our last theme for March on the 26th and then go back to our regular scheduled themes.

Here is my Dark, Black Birdcage Story:

Digital art created from Conjurer Of Dreams Victorian Madame AI Art Digital Download, Friday Designs Digital Kit 85 People, Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps, and Pixabay

BLOOD MOON

On Friday, March 14th, we will witness a total Lunar Eclipse, a Blood Moon. At 2:30 am, EST, the Blood Moon will be at its peak so wherever you are at that time, if you are awake, you will see the moon turn blood-red in all its glory. 

A Blood Moon is a captivating celestial event that occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon, causing it to take on a reddish hue. The alignment of the Earth, Moon, and the Sun creates a very powerful energy portal, opening the door to inner reflection and spiritual awakening. 

The mystical Blood Moon invites us to explore the inner depths of our soul and to embrace the profound mysteries of the universe. Many see this eclipse as an opportunity for inner reflection and personal growth. As the moon casts its ethereal glow, it creates an atmosphere that is conducive to introspection and self-discovery. As we reflect upon our lives and make the connection with the Divine Force, we are reminded that there is something out there much bigger and more omnipotent than ourselves!

Astrologically, a Blood Moon image is of superstition and doomsday warnings but really there is nothing to fear. The energy of this Blood Moon brings a powerful significance for great change.  It's timing in March, astrologically speaking, will mean to de-clutter your life physically and emotionally. 

Full moons are all about endings and beginnings, so consider this transit to get rid of the things in your life that are not working and embrace the things that are working. Know what to let go of and what to keep!

So, what will you be meditating upon during the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse? What symbolism are you reminded of when you think of a Blood Moon? What does this Blood Moon signify to you? Incorporate those thoughts in your artwork for the challenge this week! Bring out the moon's allure and energy in all of its mystical, celestial wonder!

I can't wait to see what you will create!

Here is my Mystical Blood Moon Creations:

Digital art created from Pixabay, Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps, Gecko Galz Digital Collage Sheet Garden Of Dreams, and KatePrintableArt Digital Kit Dreamy Skies