ARTFUL SELF

New Year's Day Outfit

2012-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to dress up a bit for my new fashion blog. Even in January, it's t-shirt weather in my Anaheim, CA neighborhood. So I'm wearing a sleeveless t-shirt and the new scarf I just bought.

New Year's Day 2012

2012-01-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

A new scarf for a new year.

Me in the 80's

2011-12-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

This one is not a self-portrait. My ex-husband took it in our front yard.

World Market Orange Mango Soda

2011-11-22T23:27:00.000-08:00

Necklace From A Friend

2011-11-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

Wearing a necklace a friend in Bulgaria made for me.

Purple Shirt and Glasses

2011-10-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

Depressed today but playing catch up on computer projects.

Teal Fingernails

2011-10-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

I asked a friend on life what color I should paint my nails next. He said, "How about my favorite color." And I said, "What color is that?" And he said, "Blue." I can't believe I actually had blue nail polish. It's called Lapis and Amethyst by Sally Hanson.

Friday's portrait at the end of a long day.

Catching Up on Self-portraits

2011-08-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Working on cartooning today.

Getting licked at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival


Me at the Silverado ranch yesterday

The days are flying by so fast I barely have time for blogging. So I'm doing a few days at once. This is my drawing, me at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival, and me at the Silverado ranch yesterday where I went to visit friends.

felt hearts

2011-08-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Guitar Practice

2011-08-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

I used to be so much better at guitar. So I'm determined to take it up again, as soon as my fingertips stop hurting. Two unfortunate things have happened since I used to take classes in college. I'm bigger, so it's harder to fit the guitar over my boobs, and now I'm going to need to wear reading glasses to see the music book.

Raffia Hair

2011-08-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I couldn't resist trying this raffia on like a wig. I can't decide if I look like a milk maid or a Valkyrie.

Me and Wallop the Cat

2011-08-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

It's almost midnight and I feel pretty frazzled. Believe it or not but I did brush my hair today. And this innocent looking cat scratched me good when he leaped out of the window today and slid down my side.

Repurposed t-shirt

2011-08-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Horse Sitting

2011-08-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

My horse sitting trip.

Feeding the horses.

Out by the corral.

Trying out their drums.

Self-portraits from Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Reading the Gathering Storm

2011-08-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Reading on Friday morning.

Thursday night at home.

Trip to SLO

2011-08-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

I tried to remember to take daily self portraits when I was visiting my daughter's art gallery in San Luis Obispo called SLO Space. Since that was already a few days ago, I'll just put them all in one post.

My grandson is 8 months old.

My daughter took me to the train station.

Wed. Night Self Portraits

2011-07-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Packing for my trip to San Luis Obispo, CA to see my daughter's art show. And also to see my grandson.

Lyondemere Anniversary SCA Event

2011-07-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting I have this self portrait blog. I took this on Sat. at an SCA event. I was too depressed Sunday to take any photos. Now it's Monday and I need to go find my camera. It's still packed after yesterday's archery shoot.

Here I am holding 3 felt hands that I made as bardic favors. I gave them out to these three singers, the only bardic performance I saw all day. They sang 3 songs.

Me at Gyldenholt Anniversary

2011-06-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

I took this one Sat. at the Gyldenholt Anniversary, an SCA event in S. CA.

SCA Event

2011-03-14T11:36:00.000-07:00


Gyldenholt Friendship Tourney

I've been too busy to do much in the way of self portraits. I took this at the SCA event Sat. at Pacifica High School.


Pacifica High School

I took this one on Sunday when we dropped off some arrows at the SCA Pentathlon. No time to do a decent self-portrait. Why am I always at the mercy of other people's schedules?

Hearts and Flowers

2010-03-20T16:08:00.001-07:00

Make custom Glitter Graphics

A little girly girl collage self-portait I made this morning.

Biz cards

2010-02-24T10:31:00.001-08:00

I just ordered 1000 business cards. No more trying to print my own and having them all flimsy and weird.

I Got To Be My Witchy Self on Sunday

2010-02-22T18:39:00.000-08:00

SCA event in Van Nuys, CA

Sexuality is a part of life

2010-02-12T09:28:00.001-08:00

Long Hair

2010-02-07T21:45:00.001-08:00

It took me forever to get my hair to grow this long.

Combing

2009-10-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

My hair is so long now it takes a lot of maintenance. Here I am combing it in front of my computer.

Updated Editor on Blogger

2009-09-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

I got a book on blogging at the library and it lead me to make some changes to my blog. Did you know there is an improved editor but you have to turn it on by going to the settings page? It's supposed to make it easier to manipulate the photos that you add to a blog post. I'm going to try it now.

Blog Make-over

2009-09-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

Instead of giving myself a make-over I gave my blog a make-over. I hope you like it. It took me many hours to figure out how to change to a photo background of one of my paintings.

If you are starved for photos, here are some new photos of me.

Today's Self Portraits

2009-08-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

My garden is my refuge with flowers always in bloom.

Breath is Life

2009-08-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished my violet corset so today I'm wearing it the Irvine Renaissance Faire. I think I'm going to have a lot more trouble breathing than I did when I used to wear a bodice to fairs in my twenties. Even trying it on left me gasping for air. So we'll see. I'm at least going to wear it when I walk in the gate. And go from there.

Widow Earring

2009-07-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

This earring lost it's partner years ago and has been hanging on my felt earring hanger for a long time. Finally I decided to embrace the concept that symmetricallity is the antithesis of style and wear a braid on one side and the fabulous earring on the other. I've been meaning to make some mismatched earrings anyway. So this seemed like a good place to start. If you have beautiful things stashed in boxed, drawers and closets get them out and enjoy them. An artist I know just died suddenly at 35. Lesson learned. Don't wait for the perfect opportunity. Enjoy life now.

A Few Self Portraits

2009-07-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

A few self portraits from the Hammer In I went to today where I got nice and sunburned. It was a really hot day and we were standing around a forge and crucible. So this witch is melted.

Harry Potter and Thesbian Thursday

2009-07-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Today I couldn't resist wearing my witch hat in preparation for the new Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie. But it was super hot out so after I took the photos I left the hat at home. Just as well, there were only about 20 people in the movie I went to anyway. I'm sure the crowds will be massive this weekend though, since the film opened mid-week. How convenient today was Thesbian Thursday so I could use the photos in my Flickr group as well.

Aqua Saturday

2009-07-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

I took photos today wearing a lace skirt I had made a while back. I still don't have anything to wear for Silk and/or Steampunk Saturdays. So I did the best I could with an aqua skirt, top, umbrella and beaded necklace. I made the necklace and the skirt.
I need a real photo backdrop. I'm so tired of making do. But here are some of today's photos.

Silly Sunday First Set

2009-07-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

I took this goofy knitted hat I made and painted my face. My boyfriend thought it was pretty funny that I'd wear this hat in sweltering heat. Hey, anything for comedy.

Manic Mondays Musical Self Portraits

2009-07-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, phooey. I've decided to change MuuMuu Mondays to Manic Mondays, to give it wider appeal, but there was already a Manic Monday Self-Portrait group. So I had to choose another name. So now it's Manic Monday Musical Self Portrait Group. The other group was for outfits matching the song by the Bangles. But mine if for dressing in a way inspired by your favorite musician, band, or song. A much broader range.

I've also added a link to each group if you want to be a spectator or a participant. Not much to see there yet but I'm working on it.

Also I'm afraid I'll have to make sure people know the groups are for all ages, because I'm a bit worried about porn being added to Wicked Wednesday or Fishnet Friday. Then I'd have a moderating nightmare on my hands.

Silly Sunday

2009-07-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's silly Sunday. In a way this is the easiest outfit to do, because when I'm tired I end up wearing some pretty bizarre things. I'm also pretty geeky and would probably wear bunny ears to the grocery store but stuff like that mortifies my boyfriend. Even as we speak I'm wearing a camo tank top and a floral print skirt, two patterns that don't go together whatsoever. But it sure is comfortable. It's been really hot too, so I'm wearing as little as possible.

Still, I'd like to come up with something even sillier for today's self portrait. And I just found out we are having company in a few minutes. Oopsie.

Fishnet Friday

2009-07-03T23:24:00.001-07:00

Today was Fishnet Friday. I was feeling pretty good about the photos until what I thought was a woman left a remark on a photo of my leg that said "Ugly Woman". Well, I block them straight away earlier today. But just now I looked at their avatar, and even though I thought the photo was of a woman, their profile says they are male. They also have no photos on their Flickr stream available for the public to view. So it's a pretty cheap shot to criticize others while keeping your photos for private use only. So I've been thinking a lot today about hateful people. Why are they that way? What is it they get out of it?

Anyway, here are some of the Fishnet Friday self-portraits.

Movies That Inspire Costuming Ideas

2009-07-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

Now that I had so much fun with the Desperately Seeking Susan project for Thesbian Thursday, I'm wondering what other movies might be fun to do. So I thought I'd make a preliminary list.

1. Lord of the Rings
2. Harry Potter (if I ever get that Slytherin scarf finished)
3. Pirates of the Carribean
4. Moulin Rouge
5. Jesus Christ Superstar
6. Practical Magic
7. Sex in the City
8. Shakespeare in Love
9. Raiders of the Lost Ark
10. Time Machine

Thesbian Thursday Desperately Seeking Susan

2009-07-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I started out what is turning out to be a complicated and far reaching project. I've been doing Daily self portraits for awhile to post on Flickr, and that got old quick. So inspired by a friend who told me about TuTu Tuesdays at Burning Man, and showing me a video of that and Fishnet Friday, I assigned a different theme to each day of the week. And then I thought perhaps a blog would be nice to talk about it all. So since today is Thesbian Thursday, I picked the movie Desperately Seeking Susan and tried to get the feel of that look for today's self portraits. I must say I feel pretty sassy dressed like this.

Remember the goal isn't to be a celebrity impersonator. It's to embrace the spirit of the movie.

Thesbian Thursday was founded by me, Fayme Zelena Harper in 2009.