“Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

~Pat Robertson

Hmmmm… Witches and bitches and lesbians, oh my!! Why is it, do you think, that the patriarchy, that so many men and even women cling to that sort of thinking? Why are they so afraid? How did a witch become a hag and the Horned One a devil? Is Hilary Clinton really the Anti-Christ?

Religion. Power. Money. Control. Fear.

Haunting, isn’t it?

Above is a closeup of a collaged wall sculpure I made a couple years ago. It’s covered with images that represent the feminine in many guises. I don’t think it requires much explanation, but the placement of the hag was no accident!

“There is no art in turning a goddess into a witch, a virgin into a whore, but the opposite operation, to give dignity to what has been scorned, to make the degraded disireable, that calls for art or for character.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Peace, out!

PS… You might be the Anti – Pioneer Woman if… you hang art like this on your livingroom walls!

Having a light olive complexion myself, and an even darker skinned daughter, I’ve given a lot of thought and had some experience with tattooing color on a reasonable variety of skintones. Lately, as my client base has broadened, I have had the opportunity to work an even larger variety and ethnicity of clients and I believe that skintones and skintypes are a topic worth covering here. It is an interesting problem for a couple of reasons.

1st, as the artist, we must take into account that we’re not painting or drawing. Tattoo pigment does not lay on top of the skin like any colored medium you apply to any other surface. Tattoo pigment is injected into the skin, therefor the colors, (even black) are going to be affected by the natural skin pigment.

2nd, and perhaps the bigger problem, is explaining to/convincing the client that has her heart set on colors if/why her color/style choices are unsuitable.

When considering what colors are suitable for a particular skintone the simplest mental formula to use is the darker the skin, the bolder the color. It is impossible to estimate the variety and range of skintones we might be dealing with, so if we use generalities, we will be dealing with:

• Very Light (0% to 10% skin pigment)
• Medium-Light
• Dark-Light
• Light-Medium
• Medium (50% skin pigment)
• Dark-Medium
• Dark
• Dark-Medium
• Dark-Dark (90% to 100% skin pigment)

If that sounds difficult, just imagine 3 shades each of Light, Medium and dark skin. Get it?? Of course there is a wide range in between each of those shades, and I doubt that either 0% or 100% skin pigments exist, but the percentage scale seems the best way to approach the problem. Another way to visualize was suggested to me by a wonderful ad for Mom’s (Millennium) Inks in a recent trade journal. When considering colors to use imagine that the client’s skin is a sheet of tinted semi-transparent plastic in the client’s skintone. Imagine that plastic laying on top of your color choice. How does it look?? crisp and clear; unaffected?? (Lighter skintones) Or dark and muddy; muted?? (Darker skintones)

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Custom Made “Dia De Los Muertos” Altars by Thorne

Greetings constant readers and new friends as yet unmet! Been busy here in Thorne’s World a bit these days. The GirlyBoi has gone with her Mom, Sis, Nephew and Niece (all crammed into a freaking Kia!!! OMGods, I’m glad I’m not sandwiched in there somewhere!!- Besides, it’d kill me to be somewhere I could be gambling and be too broke to drop a few quarters- Thornie is a gamblin’ fool when the stars are right!) to visit Her Brother and all the Reno kinfolk. She left on Tuesday afternoon and she’ll be back next Monday sometime.

Bless her little GirlyBoi heart; she took care of the heavy work before she left; trash taking outs and making sure the pools are filled for all 4 outside dogs, cleaning up my Mom’s dog yards and getting me propane for both the house and the Grill. She even vacuumed for me! (Which seriously rocks, because it straight out kicks my FMS into overdrive to do it, for some insane reason).

But busy?? Ya, a bit. 5 dogs, 6 birds, 2 cats (and boxes! Ewwww!!!), and my Momma to take care of. Oh yeah. I also have some kinda cute little aquatic turtle (the niece’s) in an aquarium parked on my kitchen counter. That bubbler makes me have to pee every damn time I walk into the kitchen!

But…. (you knew there was a “but” in there somewhere, didn’t you??), it also means that I don’t have to cook dinner every day (Me n Mom have a deal worked out for the week! Yay!), which means a lot fewer dishes aaaand it means I don’t have to share the modem! So I can blog, and cruise the interwebz and play WoW to my lil heart’s content.

But wait. Here’s the good stuff and what I intended to tell ya about when I began. I’m crafting some and working on a collage and acrylic painting for the cover of Enigma’s soon to be published book, Watergate Summer (from the blog of the same name). I’m really honored and excited to be doing this for her. It’s a great blog with some very important an enlightening information and I’m sure it will make a great book!

I also wanted to share with you my latest spiritual crafting endeavor. You may have read about how to Ritually Create an Altar of the Dead and seen the pics of a few of my altars. It occurred to me that not everyone has the room, or the inclination (or the number of dead) that I have, so I’ve been working on mini altars. They are loosely in the style of Dia De Los Muertos; bright colors and shiny bits. I made this one for my step son, JD. It includes a photo of Jerry, my soulmale and late husband; JD’s Dad. The tiny bottle contains some of Jerry’s cremains, and the other bits are mementos unique to him and special to his son.

I would love to make one to honor and in remembrance of your dead. These would be custom order items. Each one would be unique. I would be guided in the crafting of your Mini – Altar by the small mementos or photos you send me and the things you are willing to share with me about your beloved dead. Her favorite color, his hobbies and pleasures; and by my affinity with the spirits of those who have gone before us. Each Mini – Altar would be created ritually and within sacred space and I would be happy to follow any spiritual or religious preferences you may have- I am, after all, an eclectic witch!

If you would like me to craft one for you, email me or use my contact form. Depending on the size, construction and decoration, I can see them ranging in price from $20 to $50 or so (plus shipping).

Peace, out!