Christmas in 3 D

This is my last post of this year 2010. New Year is around the corner.

I plan to post next year interesting links that I find for writers since I am writing my novel and I am researching marketing possibilities. How should a writer promote her or his book. What makes a good author's site, book trailer (as seen on youtube), and many more activities that a future author-preneur may need to include on their do list. I also want to include more art in my Raven's Art Shack.

I made animated photos ( .GIF) but later found out that some websites "flatten" the pictures and thus prevent the animation. I enjoyed making my wiggle grams so I took two wiggle grams and made a video. I had fun making the 28 second video. Making a wiggle gram is simple when you download free software from Stereo Photo Maker

With Stereo Photo Maker software you can make 3 D photos as well as animated photos. Some artists recommend that you shift the camera 2 inches when taking a set of photos. I found this excessive. I think what makes a successful wiggle gram/ 3D picture is the short distance between two photos. You can preview this effect in Windows Gallery by watching one photo and clicking the next button. You will want a slight change in the photos. The sliver of focal shift causes a believable movement that you just turned a corner.

I hope you brought your 3 D glasses. Enjoy mon amies! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Writing Tips from Ragnarok Fantasy

Ragnarok Fantasy

I found this author's site truly fascinating. I felt as if I stepped in a Viking world and met a live dragon who tells his story. This site is a work of art. I found 10 tips for writers very interesting.

Happy Writing!

Writer Barbara Knobova'a link

Hey folks! I found a cool link. Chiquenist writer Barbora Knobova has a cool blog and she writes in her blog entry "Are You a Nomad?" ( December 6, 2010) I found this entry delightful. In our life's journey we search for beauty. I am also doing research regarding how authors promote their work. She made youtube videos that promote her books! That is clever! :D

If you find a clever way to promote your book let me know! Cheers and Happy writing! :)

Quest for Beauty

Quest for Beauty

I think we are always looking for beauty in our daily lives. I find it when the sun shimmers on glistening snow. I even find it in virtual plug ins, algorithms. I don't pretend to understand them, but they are beautiful. Algorithms live and dance in software. It makes the arp in a virtual synthesizer purr, grumble or roar. It is in your image software that transforms pixels into brush strokes. Amazing wonders.

Right now I am writing my novel and I keep a watchful eye for visual and audio stimulation. I want to define the purpose of my blog. Art enriches lives by expressing thoughts and emotions. Yesterday I discovered GIMP software. I took a picture of my favorite cyclamen flower and tried cloning for the first time! I Ctrl+ click the area that I want to transport on another area of the picture. The clone function allows me to conceal parts of the photo, make spheres, brushstrokes or add extra flowers. When I Ctrl+click I find that when I move my brush the control area moves so I can trace the shape of the cyclamen and create as many as I want where I want them! Wow!

I hope you discover new things in your own personal journey too! :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween mon amies! I made this video just in time for All Hallowed's Eve.

Info: photos taken with Nintendo DSi and digitally painted.

Music composition: with LMMS software, DSK Overture and Audacity.

I find deep inspiration with artists and I think people who make virtual instruments and virtual studios are uniquely talented people who share their inspiration and help artists create. Thank you.

My First song with LMMS software!

If you follow this link ravenking5 it will take you to my first music video I composed with LMMS software titled "I Can Rave On with LMMS". My youtube channel is ravenking5. I had so much fun making this video by shooting 20 second clips in the dark and painting over digital photos taken with my Nintendo DSi. This is my first song composed with LMMS so I only used the song beat editor and the presets that came from this software. The genre is trance, industrial at 140 BPM.

I would say that making that first song with a powerful software is start of a wonderful sonorous journey. :)

Fascination

Fascination (4 DAW and VSTi)

I see it

in my dreams

my new obsession

a new arp odyssey

of sine waves

and oscillators,

my motif

of the day

browse by

the day

or by the hour

screenshots

of GUI

my new window

opens up to a new world

of reverb

raising my BPM

dynamics propell

my desire.

Plug in a virtual

instrument,

increases desire

searching

for that elusive sound

so much to learn

so little time

so much to

express with my CPU.

In the middle of writing my novel I found a new obsession: making digital music. There is a lot of software to try, learn and enjoy. If you are new to virtual instruments I recommend that you start with a DAW/ VST host. Once you have a vst host or DAW you can insert your VST i (virtual instrument/ vst plug in) in the VST host.

I tried LMMS which is a VST host and it is a wonderful software that can load in plug ins (virtual instruments), contains a sound font 2 player, song editor with piano roll, beat editor, mixer with many effects and prests. You can export your music file to .wav file.

Here are cool websites to browse for vst host and instruments.

Check out the excitement, tutorials, downloads, forums. :)

LMMS
http://lmms.sourceforge.net/

Check out freeware, free vst hosts and virtual instruments
http://www.vst4free.com/

freeware, vst hosts and vst plugins
http://www.vstplanet.com/

POEM

Poem

You recently left

emerald acres

of tethered vinyards

on rolling hills

awash in gold

that's where

I long to be

a place I put

on a pedestal

still I met you

copper stills

hidden treasure

pink gleams.

In silence I hear

you whisper.

I dedicate this poem to my dear aunt who recently passed away.

Lull a Blue Bye

Lull roams
brushes past
in quiet lace
dream scapes.

Undulating
sand dunes
in hues
of blue and gold.

Is it a calm
before the storm?
Will the rosy cheeked
lasses and lads
come frolicking
again
bringing their
poems and lore
of slain dragons
and treasures
from a distant land?
Will the cabrito
be tender roasted?

Carrying a solar lamp
a lone flicker
in this quiet realm
thick reams of
isolation
a drill of a dune...
This flicka dances
to an immortal tune
a distant but steady beat.
Blue and gold
shimmering drones
echo my soul.

Harmonious Friend

My friend is a self tuning instrument,

playing unfamiliar melodies. Don't B flat.



Misunderstood tune synthesizes to a mystery.

Te quiero.



We speak only in pirate tongue.

Acquiesce squire to veritas.

Are your pants on fire?



Truth revolves but not becoming a pistol,

or does it coagulate to the blossom pistil?

Doubts flower by the hour.

His words are the sweet incubus rolling in my mind.



Veritas. Where it is.

What is hidden can be found.



The court jester is amusing muse.

Shameless hoodoo that you do.

Amorphous riddles about amour.

Why is your song so unfamiliar?

Can't you see the skin walker that I am,

the lone she wolf in human skin.

Are my eyes glowing?

I'm just happy to see you.



Run and get knackered.

I'll huff, puff, and blow

through your symphonic defenses.



So hombre, get knackered and prolly

I will place you in my trolley.



Look deep into my eyes.

You are mine.

The Excitment Behind This Video

There was some excitment and controversy involved in the making of this video. The music was highly controversial due to its aleatorial nature and virtual chairs were thrown across the cyber room, but not by me. I am an absolute angel. Can't you see my wings? (winks). Just kidding. When I submitted my innocent little song for a critique I was surprised by the firece battle that took place among the critics. So in the video you see a private joke when the word music rests under the cottony soft batton.

I had so much fun making this video about an exciting group of people called Universal Salon which you can find on Facebook. I hope people see this video come and join us. We are artists, poets and deep thinkers.

Changing the subject, I am excited that my personal UFO account got published today in Pamela Grundy's "The Paranromal Detective" which you can read at Eye on Life magazine. Yeah!

http://www.eyeonlifemag.com/the-paranormal-detective/is-there-a-link-between-receiving-paranormal-art-and-seeing.html

Devouring Sea

Devouring Sea

Flesh rolls before my very eye.

Salt licks her sunny side eggs and his sausage bump.

Drizzling enigmatic sauce prepares to devour.

My irritating gift grows your pearl to thump.

Pouring squid ink over flesh I devour you.

Cracked you like an oyster I shuck your sea.

Crawling inside your soul I resonate your sea.

Waves of intention flood my eye.

Writhing in squid ink with flesh to devour

I find your joy stick to bump

to spank to a pulsating thump.

No peace for neurons for I crawl inside you.

Irritating sandy thoughts are my gift to you.

Welling, percolating beneath your sea,

pressing friction to fiction jolts to a thump.

Inconvenient fiction a plump figment of the eye.

Pluck, fig, tickle, bump.

Guilty thoughts on a platter: ready, aim, devour!

Warm fruits of the sea aim to devour

the soul, but an invisible umbrella shields you.

Carefully, you guard your ears from a bump

from the oscillating whispers of the sea.

Your ears like Shitake mushrooms sprout before my eye.

Stubborn edible ears don't hear my heart thump.

Dancing on your eyelashes I hear your thump.

The hours savor to devour

the briny soul before the sticky eye.

Oh, to reach the kelp tangled you.

Naked is the sea

that grinds to a bump.

Impatients bloom on a road hit a bump.

Bump and grind you to a thump.

Fruits of the sea

wait for hours to devour

the bare briny soul in you.

Sea fruits undulate a feast for the eye.

Galaxy hidden beyond my eye,

siphoning for vibrations I devour

your crunchy outer shell and you.

Invitational Interview

• Tell me about you, your blog and send me a link. I would like to post the interview here at Raven's Art Shack.
• Please, no politics.
• If you curse I may transform the word into a more colorful one such as frack, fig or peach!
  

For Artists, Writers and Art Fans

1. If you are an artist tell me about your medium.
2. What art means in your life?
3. Why do we seek beauty in our lives?
4. What do you want your artwork to say?

Writer's link

The writer in you has spawned ideas for a story. The main character has been bitten by a butterfly carrying a rare virus. Splenda, a voluptuous redhead transforms into a carnivorous butterfly human hybrid. We need to get to know Splenda and the best way is to make a short biography in order to plot her future reactions to her condition. Our goal is to better understand, motivate and love our characters even if they turn into monsters.

Here's a helpful link for writers.
http://character-development.suite101.com/article.cfm/developing_memorable_characters

Dog House

Welcome in

this ain't no

Bauhaus

doghouse.

Hudibrastic

(brew ha-ha)

mastic,

nuts, bolts

you're screwed!

Shunned

shuttered expressions

warped boards

buckle my mind.

Thoughts disintegrate

in crumbling

roof shingles.

Sancho Panza

got the flue

hubris

rain

crumble

this crock

of a shack.

Stupid, stupid

thoughts dip

in acid rain

hubris

pain

crumble

this crock

of a shack.

Welcome in

dog house.

P.S.

My "Picnic" poem was previously posted on Eye on Life Magazine.
http://www.eyeonlifemag.com/poetry-unlocked/the-picnic.html

The Picnic

Root beer floats.

Children play

under the

arms of trees.

Hey, check out

that old dandy

in pressed jeans

brings his own

folding picnic tables.

Honey decks

the tables in fine

acrylic ware.

A third fires

the mesquite grill.

Sweet smoke curls

dance in the breeze

drifting by family

and friends.

Whispering wind

tickles toasted ears

with auburn tresses.

Wind whispers,"

I am here."

Find a peace

of the jigsaw puzzle.

Time to eat.

A spot remains empty,

waiting.

About Me

I am a simple person who views nature with complete awe. Living in the high desert fuels my imagination with long winters that dip into -20 F for many nights and short hot summers that rise to 100 F. My ranch is a treeless wonderland of cactus and sagebrush filled with solitude, sun and peace.

Question: What is your goal for Raven's Art Shack?

Answer: Interview artists from all mediums such as writers, composers, songwriters, culinary artists and people who think about art and what it means to them. I also will post some of my poems and music here.

Question: Where did you come up with name Raven's Art Shack?

Answer: Some people call me Raven. I plan to focus on topics to art although my interests include paranormal, nature, and herbs. Shack is for the once in a life time experience I had in Maine. I once ate at the beautiful Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth. The place was so beautiful with ocean view, sitting on huge logs of petrified wood with my luggage. Flowers grew on the cliff and the clams were super tender.

The photo above is the farm fresh eggs that my neighbors brought me. What a rare gourmet treat! The large green eggs are duck and the brown ones are from chicken. The eggs are so beautiful that they deserve their own poem!

GREEN EGG BROWN

Bathing in green

deep sky dips

in the shallow pool

of hammered copper

adonized in shock wave

green liquid mirror

rising from the

depths of the pool

the soul enveloped

skin unfolding

changing

baking in the

sun

freckled

brown egg

holds an

eternal treasure

of creamy gold

sizzling protein

yum.