weird dreamin'

me, walking dachshunds in the temperate weather in a red sweater, vintage black dress, and vintage neck scarf.

I wore a necklace combination of old keys, a severed seashell, a gold arrow,  a rose pendant, and a fox vertebrae.

I had the most bizarre dream Monday night. Granted, most of my dreams are weirdly grey-clouded and inherently eerie, but this one has been haunting me all of my waking moments lately.

Monday night, before I went to bed, I was conscious of the fact that I would be visiting the abandoned zinc mine (quarry) the next day. This fact informs the events of the dream that I will now divulge.

I woke up (woke down) into a dream that illustrated a weird dreamscape of this:

There were deep tide-pools. But, not tide-pools, as much as they were deep, circular gashes in the earth (filled with turquoise water). They were a whole lot like the emerald pools on the island of Maui in Hawaii (I have visited this place). In between each tide-pool was a flat valley, in which channels would flow, linking the tide-pools. In between the channels, pools and flat valleys, there were giant, metal ladders. On these ladders, one could observe the terrain and depths of the pools without actually exploring them.

For some reason, my entire mission during this dream was to reach the deepest pool. Mind you, I had explored this terrain in dreams before. In this dream, though, i was hellbent toward reaching the deepest of depths (as far as tide-like pools were concerned). Eventually, I tired of swimming from pool to channel to pool. I decided, finally, that I would climb one of the metal ladders situated in the valley to survey the terrain. I did just that...and...visually mapped the terrain. I was on the lookout for the deepest pool. The deepest pool appeared to be the southernmost, the last before a giant highway. Suddenly, I noticed (while upon the ladder), that there was a body in the depths of the deepest pool. The body floated, lifeless, at the bottom. The bottom of the pool was crystal clear, unlike any of the other pools in the whole dreamscape. Then, as soon as I made eye contact with the the body at the bottom of the pool, it began to float to the surface. I swam through the channels and valleys, unknowing of my ultimate destination, but hoping it be the deepest pool with the deadest body at the bottom.

Before I know it, I am at the the deepest pool. It is 400 feet deep, but I can clearly see the bottom....and someone is swimming toward me, with the deadest body, limp in her arms.

Then I wake up, having slept through two alarms.

-kc

REBORNS

My friend just gave me an awesome vintage baby doll head she found in an antique market.  The weird thing is, I came home and there was a documentary on BBC about this lady who makes baby dolls that are extremely realistic for women that want to feel like they have a newborn.  It was super creepy.  I watched the entire thing.  Then I searched on youtube for clips...

MY FAKE BABY (trailer)
(you can only watch it on youtube, embedding is disabled)

here are related videos:





BEST USE OF A SARAH MCLACHLAN SONG, ever.  yeeeahhh.

-kc

Addendum

update:
Another finished drawing/painting.

Self Portrait as the Sacred Heart of Mary

A detailed view:  I USED ACTUAL GOLD LEAF! 

How fancy!

all images copyright Katelyn Roof 2010

the countdown

Why is it that when Spring chooses to come out of hibernation, it carries the scent of nostalgia?  Everything (and everyone) seems to come out of hiding, too.

2 days until the Joanna Newsom concert.  I can barely contain myself, actually.  The month of March will be marked solely by this event.

I've been working on more drawings...I wish I had a larger scanner -- my scanner is too small for the paper I use, so I'm forced to photograph my drawings.  Unfortunately, this method doesn't do justice to the small details...because I make a lot of little lines and designs with really little pens.

This drawing is based on a bad dream, involving a brown recluse spider embedded in my hand, visible phalanges and muscle fibers curling up and all over from the bone.

The omen on the side of the road: brutal blackbird roadkill.

All drawings copyright Katelyn Roof 2010

shining twins

In the (kinda rural) suburbs, this is what we do for fun -- we go on themed photo adventures.  Laura and I realized how we have the same color hair, and similar faces so we decided to be the Redheaded (Fraternal) Shining Twins in the Woods.  Add in some gingham dresses and deer skulls, and there you have it.  Here it is.

all photos copyright katelyn roof 2010

logs

At the magic hour:

great things happen.

Ridin' dirty

OH man. I love television commercials -- for many reasons, none of which I need to name, because after what I am about to post, it will all make sense.



and then...
an interpretive version:






... NOW I'M FREE TO SEE THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD.

a horse, a horse; my kingdom for a horse

The sunshine makes me feel all 70s and wanting a good wander through the woods, or a hike up a mountain.

I found the best 70s striped turtleneck at the thrift store the other day.  It came complete with a matching waist-tie.

Also, I have to express extreme sadness at the untimely death of Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse).  I have such an attachment to his music, namely the album "It's a Wonderful Life."  He was an amazing musician with some of the most poetic and sad lyrics I've heard.  RIP.

the great search

I have been searching for inspiration lately, you know, as a way to promote growth in my life and my art.  Upon searching for inspiration, I re-realized how much I really do love Billy and Hells.

Billy and Hells Photography and Art Website

Seriously, take a look -- the website is really worth spending some time scrolling through.
I love fashion photography, I love costuming, I love makeup, I love things that are cryptic and slightly creepy.  They satisfy all of these loves.

-Kc

Relics

I am forming this project idea in my head.  Really, it's nothing revolutionary or new, but I feel that it's something that I really want and need to do.  I went through my family's memory trunk the other day, and I found so many weird relics of the past.  I love how things that have just been thrown in a photo album haphazardly, or objects that have just been stored together in a random order have more composition and look more intriguing than things I spend copious amounts of time composing.  I'm in the process of scanning all of the pictures (just to have an archive of them, really), but I photographed some of the objects with my Nikon D90.  Eventually, I want to create some sort of an order, mixing the scanned photographs in with the objects that I photographed.  It's going to be kind of a long project to work on, but I'm excited to do it.  I'm already obsessed with the past, considering my giant collection of vintage clothing and accessories, so this is the the perfect thing for me right now.

Looking at these relics of my past, the themes in my drawing and photography really make a lot more sense.

-kc

Spiders and cold weather clothing.

Today was a day of searching for jobs, resume revamping, and random rain.  Oh yeah, also working on my phalanges/spider drawing.

I had this dream a while back, in which I was trying to escape from a building made of cement.  I was being held captive there.  I eventually crawled through a labyrinth of tunnels to exit the building, only to discover a giant, metal fence preventing my exit.  I dug into the earth with my hands, creating a path of escape under the fence.  Suddenly, I realize there is something in my hand.  I look at my right hand, and a brown recluse spider is embedded under the skin, lifting the muscle up.  I can see every single bone in my right hand, even through the skin.  Eventually, the spider broke out of my hand, through the skin.
That dream haunts me to this day -- I had to illustrate it.

Outfits of note from the past week (Saturday - now):

This is a vintage zip-up corset... with a vintage prairie/square dance skirt.

I don't usually like long dresses, but this 60s/70s  full-length dress looks pretty great with my long, black coat.

I just recently got this awesome old camel-colored, wool coat.  It makes me feel like a dandy.  

This dress represents me so well.  It is super 60s, really whimsical, and reminiscent of an Austrian dirndl.  It's vintage, I'm assuming from the 60s or 70s.

Vintage anchor chain belt!

A loose braid and a vintage bow fascinator.

-Kc

South of West Self-Death

So, I apparently posted the last post without knowing it.  In a weird, (explainable), semi-unconscious daze, I made a false promise of drawings posted the next day.  Apparently, in this daze, I started about 5 or 6 drawings, but didn't finish any one of them.  I am currently working on finishing them.  I'm almost there. The series is titled:
"South of West Self-Death"

 Here is what I have so far:

all images copyright Katelyn Roof 2010

In other news, I've been dressing like a winter appalachian snow queen in a frozen flower garden lately.  The weather is intolerably icy and damply dim, but I've been amusing myself by trying to walk in snowy, icy streets (and parking lots) in 3+ inch heels.  Outfit reenactment pictures will be posted soon.  I didn't have the time to take pictures at the time the original looks occurred.

-kc