Cimetière

One thing I found myself struck by when visiting the grounds of Mt. Auburn cemetery in Cambridge, MA (with a highly informative, impromptu tour given by longtime friend Badriyaz) was how for somewhere that many might see as a place of death and endings, it was verily brimming with life and beauty.





The pond, seemingly grown solid with it's thick coating of algae, at first:


but then you notice something different about the surface of the water. Whatever could that faint fairy ring of a circle be?


Why, it is the watchful gaze of Mr. Toad!


A quintessential, eternal view ~ shrouded by trees:


Painted with the strokes of a purpled brush:


I have no doubts these two frequently team up in preparation of things mischievous beyond our imaginings:


A very clever Madame Duck, beguilingly swims our way:


The rich diversity of life's beauty can be found everywhere, including the most unlikely of places... one must only open their eyes to it all.

"The theme is Freaks, which really means be yourself."

Saturday evening found us and along with a full motley crew of artists, musicians, writers, family and friends, descending upon Cynthia von Buhler's secret Manhattan penthouse loft birthday party... Here's the most adequate way I can think of to describe it, courtesy Mr. Wonka himself:


Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination.
Take a look and you'll see into your imagination.

We'll begin, with a spin, traveling in the world of my creation.
What we'll see, will defy explanation.

If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it.
Anything you want to, do it. Wanta change the world?
There's nothing to it.

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination.
Living there you'll be free if you truly wish to be.



Amanda Palmer and Kambriel, your faithful Ministers of "Party Propaganda" invite you to take a step inside:


There was an art installation of mermaids in which most were tragic "oil spill mermaids" in reference to the BP disaster, but Cynthia was one of the lucky mermaids who was rescued and cleaned:



The timeless beauty of the birthday girl.... I created some decorative "mer-hair" for the Countess' special occasion out of various sparkly, seaweed/floral bits. Birthday mermaids should be indulged in a bit of added glamour:



I helped with a small, but tight team of mermaid dressers for much of the night (if there was a mermaid pit crew competition in the Olympics, we'd be set!). I think we ended up having well over a dozen throughout the various "mermaid shifts" as the night went on, first transforming them into mermaids, and then liberating them back into a vastly more mobile, re-incarnated human form. Lesson learned: it's an invaluable bonus to be experienced in yoga or pilates when being transformed into a mermaid (or when doing the transforming) ~ as there is a lot of lifting involved! One of our dressing/carrying team got a bit scraped up in the process, and we warned him that he may indeed run the risk of turning into a merman at the next high tide:



We brought Neil backstage into the mermaid dressing room (you'll notice one casually laying on the floor here awaiting transport!) to try on his newly created Kambriel coat. This time the frock was made from lush, pitch black velvet and even more pockets... I (and I daresay Molly as well!) think he cuts quite the dashing figure in it:



If you could hear this picture, you'd be hearing the sounds of perfectly suited mermaid dressing music being performed onstage right next to the dressing room, by none other than Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys.


Shortly thereafter, Amanda came back as well to do a quick fitting of a striped cheongsam I'm making her. The photo below brings to mind an old limerick I'd often hear as a child (even though my hair is naturally bone straight. The silvery-grey "Big Wig" I'm wearing here was specially commissioned from the exceptional Serret of Wig Witch Studios.):

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl,
right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good, she was very, very good,
but when she was bad, she was horrid."




There was interactive art all around, and fairground fare a plenty to eat (though I never actually managed to ~ I got as far as having a veggie dog in hand at one point, but was immediately called away for mermaid-transformation duty!), consisting of popcorn, the aforementioned hot dogs, candy floss, and perhaps other delights which I didn't happen to catch in the fantastical blur of activity...


Performer extraordinaire Jason Webley played a raucous, accordion filled round for the Countess' assembled guests, occasionally accompanied by a rather massive glass jar filled with pennies:



John Cameron Mitchell during Jason's set (I did my best to crop my giant head o'hair out of the picture!):



The musical genius Sxip Shirey was marching throughout the rooms and down the halls with his own unique blend of festive aural majesty in tow. That man literally has music coursing in his veins.


Amanda takes the stage... I love the intimacy of this moment, framed by shadows and a softness of light:



Amanda said something about her life being made at the point when these mermaids unexpectedly freed themselves from the mermaid room and scooted across the stage so they could be serenaded:



Let us toast to art, family, and enduring love!



Neil and his enchanting daughter Holly:



I'm enamoured with how it looks as if Molly dreamed up these ruffled stilt walkers in that very moment, from the depths of her own colourful imagination:



Watching the show from bed ~ is there any other way?:



Cynthia von Buhler, Molly Crabapple, and Kambriel ~ caught on film making merry mischief!



Kyle Cassidy ~ in action, while Neil Gaiman plays with an eyeball gumball and yours truly looks on:



Me, with two of the most warm-hearted and visionary gents one could ever have the pleasure of knowing:


Thank you Cynthia for bringing us all together, in that spinning carousel beside the Empire State building, underneath the light of the moon.

SPINE [a fashion film] by Brianna Olson, featuring Kambriel designs

In honour of tonight's Autumnal equinox:





Set to "Spine" by The Gem Club, and filmed on the achingly beautiful Massachusetts coastline in July of 2010. With gratitude to Julia Matorin, Michael Pope, and everyone else who added their magic to the day.

upcoming ~ November 4

This should serve as fair warning that when creative people start talking about the what ifs in life, those things have a funny way of becoming reality. Because an idea that started as a seedling of an idea here: http://kambriel.livejournal.com/243328.html has now turned into joining forces and doing a photo workshop in the desert. We shall rise before the sun, venture forth and pull all the art and magic we can summon from the silhouettes of the sentinel saguaro, endless horizons and vast, arid vistas where one can't help but be surrounded by the ethereal spirits of solitude & timelessness.


From 's journal:

there's a four day odyssey in the desert, november 4-7 in conjunction with Kate Freaking McKinnon (if you don't know her name, you must not be a jewelry maker) details about that one can be found here as I understand it that one only has one seat left in it, it's geared towards jewelry makers and macro photography -- it'll involve making your own jewelry (and Kate is a metalsmith so you'll be forging things in fire like freaking Sauron with hammers and tongs and the souls of elves* and then doing awesome macro photography of the things you've created.

Since it's nearly completely sold out though, Kambriel and I got a clever idea that we could do two desert photography workshops that would involve models and fashion and cactus and getting up before the sun. This would be November 4th and 5th and might be the perfect thing to occupy your spouse if you'll be making jewelry those two days. So let me know if you'd like to come out to Tuscon and photograph clothes and cacti (or if you just want to do landscapes). This is going to be a whole lot of fun.


You can find more details in his journal here: http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/617040.html

To see the desert through Kyle's eyes, treat yourself to this: http://www.kylecassidy.com/pix/travel/2008/mojave-desert/empty-places1-low-res.pdf

Now blend that with the aesthetic of my designs, and you'll start to get a feel for what we're going to be up to, and what you can also be a part of:


(photo by Curse, with me wearing a sandstorm inspired version of the Geisha Top and Skirt and a Byzantine Headdress)



If you think you'd be interested in participating, please get in touch with Kyle, who is holding the keys to the kingdom.

Family Corvidae

A few days ago we went along with some friends on a surprise adventure to the Carolina Raptor Center ~ a place whose mission is, "dedicated to environmental stewardship and the conservation of birds of prey, through education, research, and the rehabilitation of injured and orphan raptors.". It was in the mid-90's out, but our love of birds, and the grace of the shaded woods were enough to get us through...

The current exhibit is "Family Corvidae: Where Human Superstition and Mythology Meet Bird Intelligence". How could we resist?


If only you could truly tell through this photo just how massive this bird really is. The scale of the photo does it no justice. All I can say is for those who easily confuse and interchange names between Ravens and Crows? When you see real, honest to goodness Ravens ~ there is no room for confusion.



These barred owls were incredibly accommodating of us temporarily interrupting their day of sleep:


A rescued one-eyed golden eagle retains every bit of his natural magnificence:


Another owl (I believe it's a short eared owl), wondering what this whole bright sun-during-the-day thing is all about:


A black vulture, aka Coragyps Atratus, with it's matte black, sheenless feathers. I'd name him Grim.


For a bit of contrast ~ a vividly hued American kestrel:


The pitch black silhouette of a giant raven against the lush surrounding woods:


While I prefer to avoid getting cage wires in animal photos whenever possible, I had to be highly aware of my surroundings (not just those within the camera's viewfinder in cases where multiple birds were present) when taking some of these. Remember, these strong beaks can come at least a beak's length beyond the cage openings should they so choose, and keeping fingers attached is a very good thing indeed!


The African Pied Crow ~ exhibiting that classic blue-black sheen upon its shoulders:


A charming Magpie ~ the intelligence and cleverness can be seen in her eyes:


Here's the Magpie showing off her beautifully iridescent plumage to the fullest advantage:


At one point we spotted half of a snake on the wooded path. I'd never seen ~half~ a snake before...

A weekend in Neverwhere - White dogs, white cats, white bee suits, white clouds... and a very black sky.

Hello Blogspot. For years, I've been keeping my online journal here at Livejournal, where my user name is Kambriel. Please feel welcome to head over there if you'd like to catch up on some of my previous blogging. For now, I thought I'd start by cross-posting my newest lj entry here, and in time, we'll see what it wants to morph into.

So with that aside, presenting....


Whereupon Kambriel flies North in order to better lasso Herr Author Neil Gaiman with her measuring tape.


When you wake up to this kind of luminous morning light, softly diffused and glowing through a plush frame of overgrown ivy, you can't help but believe it could be anything but a perfectly enchanting day:



Neil and I are far too captivated and amused at Lola and Cabal to notice that a photo's being taken!




Neil captured this moment on his phone after we first arrived from the airport. The temperature was well into the 90's, and he was in the process of surveying the grounds due to a rather magnificent bit of flooding which swept through the day before. Where I'm sitting is "new beachfront"...



Whooo arrrrrrrrrre You?
One of a plethora of fattened Monarch caterpillars preparing themselves for the great transformation awaiting them:



Another ~ just about ready to tuck himself in for a nice, long nap:



The promise of Autumnal things to come:



Behold the bounty we'd picked with Lorraine from the garden, soon thereafter transformed into a delicious feast! One thing I've noticed... sometimes it's the least expensive foods in the world which are actually the ~best~ foods in the world. My wish is that everyone can not just remember, but continue to enjoy the tastes, colours, scents, textures and diversity of food grown *naturally*.



Mademoiselle carrot ~ coquettishly conjoined. Neil heroically saved this from the wicked fate of the juicer, but I have reason to suspect he made off with her privately on his own shortly thereafter. I wish you well carrot! I wish you well....



The very picture of Summertime contentedness ~ pawing away, purring into the air:



I'm not sure who's being sillier here:



Precisely what's needed to make a Sicilian feel at home. Waking up to a giant decapitated horse head (pillow)!



Keeper of the bees (pay no attention to the mystical pyramid of glowing smoke!):



An impressively large piece of wild honey found after lifting the lid from one of the hives... We were indulged in being able to remove it and feast upon the fruits of the bees labours afterwards, and I just might be forever spoiled for supermarket honey after this. Neil set up a mini-taste test for me comparing different qualities of honey and the difference was clear. The fresh, wild honey has a lightness and clarity ~ both in texture and taste, compared to the thicker, gummier texture which might otherwise come to mind when you think of typical mass-produced store honey. This particular batch, still warm from the sun (and the bees!) had an undercurrent of delicate spiciness which was particularly addictive.



This photo was taken in order to meet a certain "ransom request" (codeword: purple). Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that out loud... It's o.k., they assure me they're a kindly sort ;)



It's the great pumpkin!



A fine day for a walk:



Everyone taking a moment out to rest:



Master Cabal at the ready, while Lola catches up on her beauty sleep:



A fair Princess resides in the tower:



Whilst a storm brews on the horizon:



New "Coraline" buttons for the Kambriel posh frock... Ironically, I sewed this kind on originally before the Oscars, only to change my mind at the last minute and switch them out for matching fabric covered ones thinking it would lend a more formal look for the occasion. Some things are simply meant to be, and so it is. (You can see one of the bent "soft metal" needles I alluded to in my previous post, which is why I was so happy to find those glorious vintage ones which are capable of going years upon years without ever giving way.)



A surprise midnight snack, kindly served up by Neil; to which I say, "Happiness is a warm pie" (The Beatles had it all wrong):



One of my favourite moments: Standing beneath a perfectly black sky, with the dimly muted, frozen gleam of the Milky Way floating directly overhead. Neil, Curse, and I walked out into the open a bit, turned our eyes upwards to where the Perseid meteors were to be at their height. Not long after, Curse spotted two quickly fleeting meteors which Neil and I missed, but then, mere minutes later, Neil and I both caught sight of a perfect, falling star ~ gracefully sliding its way down the blackened edge of night.

And then the mists rolled in...