HAPPY DECEMBER NEW MOON!

November was a rather peaceful month! Which I probably needed after my whirlwind adventures! I have been enjoying my time at home. Even having to spend time alone felt good. Typically I only like being in an empty house for a day or two and then I begin to feel very lonely and miss all my people. But this time spending a whole week on my own with just my pets and plants felt good. No pressure to worry about anyone's needs but my own. Ok, I still had to feed the pets and water the plants. I have spent a great deal of my life looking after other people. It's a strange but lovely feeling to do whatever you want whenever you want. I spent my time ravenously reading. It has been an incredibly long time since I stayed up all night reading! It was divine.

Did you blend some genres last month? I admit I have been more invested in reading this month and have been working on my 50 Books Read goal. But I've had so many ideas of how I will blend ideas into images. I just need to finish binge-reading first! I would love to hear how you blended genres so drop me a line and tell me about it. I can't wait to see what you created.

CURRENT EVENTS IN THE SPELLING ROOM

Bachelor of Photography (BoP)

I now have 20 courses fully planned and as of Dec 1 started the first five courses:

• Studio Survey: Methods of Inquiry
• Fundamentals in Drawing
• Survey of Photography
• 2D Design: Elements & Principles
• Photography Basics

For the Studio Survey course, I'm using a syllabus that I found online but am learning that I don't have all the information those students would've had so I'm having to take some liberties, figure out assignments and track down videos to support it. I found one very interesting video from 2017 that I watched and enjoyed called Everything Is Remix. As I write this, I'm watching a version updated this year: Everything Is A Remix. I think it's worth watching both. Both videos discuss how the most popular artists today, in music, film and games, have copied from those who came before them. It's a fascinating discussion on how we copy to learn, transform what we see, and combine ideas to create something new. As you probably guessed, everything is a remix of what came before us, but how does that work in a world where we copyright every little thing in our works? And what have memes and AI contributed to this? Watch the video to find out.

I have more to share about what I'm learning but plan to do so in The Artist's Grimoire so keep an eye out! There should be some more entries this week.

Reading

I read a lot this month. A crazy amount of books! I forgot how wonderful it feels to immerse yourself in a world and characters. I haven't let myself avidly read fiction for quite some time. Just like when I used to binge-play World of Warcraft, I can become so immersed in it that real life falls away and everything gets put on the back burner. But It's good to visit now and then! So what did I read this month?

The Archivist Series by Meghan Ciana Doidge: Awakening Infinity, Invoking Infinity, and Compelling Infinity.

I've been a longtime fan of Meghan's "Adept Universe" but I think The Archivist Series is by far my favourite. I can't put a finger on what it was exactly that made me love this more than The Dowser Series, The Oracle Series, The Reconstructionist Series and The Amplifier Series (I still have to finish this last one), but I do. I also know, that I likely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much without those other series. But I love the adventure the main character goes on and her choices. I love characters who don't always choose "the right thing" necessarily. It leaves room for some interesting lessons and potential new adventures. They are on the lighter side of the smut scale if you care.

The Witch Collector Series by Charissa Weaks: The Witch Collector, City of Ruin and The Wolf and The Witch

I enjoyed the first book a great deal. I found the world and characters to be quite fascinating. I like the author's interpretation of Witch's Marks and what they tell you about the magic in the world. I also greatly appreciated reading from the perspective of a mute character, the first character you follow. But as the series progresses the story begins to bounce between characters and become more focused on the smut (some of which does drive the story but some not quite so much). There is a lot of focus, especially in the second book, on attire that I don't necessarily see as belonging to the fantasy world she has built. But maybe that's just my taste. The Wolf and The Witch feels more like a side story than a continuation of the series (it might be because I think it was noted as a novella) and is probably the smuttiest of the three. It's not for those who are more vanilla in their tastes.

The Blood and Ash Series and the Flesh and Fire Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout: From Blood and Ash, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, The Crown of Gilded Bones, The War of Two Queens, A Soul of Ash and Blood, A Shadow In The Ember, A Light In The Flame, and A Fire In The Flesh.

Call me obsessed. I couldn't put these books down. I enjoyed the main character in each series but probably appreciated Sera in the Flesh and Fire series a bit more. Both stories are set in the same world but centuries apart. Jennifer L. Armentrout is incredibly good at worldbuilding and character development. She does the "show don't tell" very well and I can't tell you how many of her scenes I would like to turn into images. I might even undertake a project recreating scenes from my favourite stories in 2024.

I started reading this series so my daughter could talk to me about the books and I DEVOURED them. They are smutty but a bit less so than The Witch Collector series and are better done. Some of those moments are massive parts of the choices the heroines make for themselves. Not going to lie, these women inspire me to embrace my own power more. If that isn't fantastic writing, I don't know what is. I must confess I cried A LOT while reading A Fire In The Flesh. It contained some traumatic events for our main character but also some incredibly emotional inner dialogue that was just heartbreaking. I loved it because I'm very drawn to the inner fears, desires, and struggles we have as living breathing people.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, the first of the The Empyrean series.

After having been obsessively reading the previous two series, I didn't expect this book to grab me like it did. I started it at 10 pm and thought I would read a chapter or two. Next thing I knew it was nearly 5 am, I was half done with the book, and I had to make myself put it down so I could go to sleep for work in the morning. I was instantly enamoured with Violet and the situation she finds herself in. And come on, who doesn't love dragons?! This story is part "against all odds" and part "military" with a side of "romance." It's pretty damn awesome. I am currently reading the second of the series, Iron Flame.

QUESTION

Are you enjoying these little reviews? I'm considering adding some scales to them such as smut level and story rating for fiction, or usefulness and informativeness regarding the non-fiction. Would you like that? Let me know!

THE LATEST GRIMOIRE PAGES

BoP (aka Tara's Bachelor of Photography) I am undertaking a massive learning project that I have lovingly dubbed "my BoP" where I pursue learning photography from the perspective of an Arts Degree. Read Grimoire Pages

A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

Something a little different this week. Instead of a complete image, I am going to show you a work in progress. I have a deep admiration for the maternal figure and I would love to create deeper stories surrounding pregnancy than those you typically see. I want to tell the story of a mother's fierce protectiveness with this one. I have a vision of where this should be, but I'm still working out how to get it there. I'm not sure this is the correct forest for the background. I may need to go out and shoot what I need with a strobe to get the light correct. Luckily I have a lot of trees in my yard! But the beginnings of the idea are here. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into my process.

A MESSAGE FROM THE POWERS THAT BE

Are you letting material things overly consume your thoughts? Such consumption can be expressed as excessive worry about having enough, or in a miserly way where you become afraid to share or spend what you have. It's the time of year when we are consumed with "gift-giving" and "gift receiving" but one wonders, what is a "gift" and why should it be something you purchase? It might be time to consider what is most valuable to you and why. And then take those thoughts and apply them to your gifting this season.

This card is from Tarot of the Old Path by Howard Rodway.

A CREATIVE MISSION

BRAINSTORM WITH MIND MAPS

Throughout my creative career, mind mapping is often a suggested method of coming up with ideas. As part of one of my BoP classes, I had to create a mind map of myself. From that map, I had to select five things to research for a project I would be working on. I know that one of my mentors, Joel Robison, also uses mind mapping to come up with ideas.

So how does this work? Essentially you write a single topic or subject in a bubble in the middle of the page. Then you draw lines off of that bubble to other bubbles that that topic brings up for you. And then you do the same for each of those additional bubbles. You can take this as far as you like. If you find that you have too much to fit on a single page, you might try a mind-mapping app like Simple Mind or Mind Meister. Both have a free option to try. They allow you to create much bigger mind maps than you can on a single sheet of paper. However I must say, there is something to be said for brainstorming with pen and paper.

Here is my mind map on me. I'm not sure I am finished with it though.

Tell me what you learned on this Creative Mission by replying to this email, or tagging me in your post about it on Facebook or Instagram: @theportraitwitch.

Thank you for joining me on this journey! I can't wait to see where we go from here.

P.S. If you love what you read here, please invite your friends to sign up: New Moon Missives​

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