Stephanie's Studio

I know a lot of literary folk, novelists and readers visit this site, so today I want to share a book review. This review is of "Shadows of a Tuscan Moon" by Sandra Carrington-Smith and Giovanni Logli. I have been following Sandra's work since her first wonderful nonfiction book " Housekeeping for the Soul ." Book Review I just finished Shadows of a Tuscan Moon , sadly. I say sadly because the author Sandra Carrington-Smith, creates such a real world, filled with mysterious twists and turns, spoken through believable characters, and I did not want the novel to end. To be sure, this is not easy reading. Its story focuses around domestic violence of every kind and its brutal, sometimes fatal consequences. Carrington-Smith is a masterful storyteller. She is gifted with the ability to imbue her novels with supernatural and magical elements grounded in everyday realities. This story is in turns poignant, sad, horrific and romantic. It flows effortless...

I am very excited to share that DAC (Design Art Concepts) will be representing a series of my art works exclusively through their online platforms, including Artsy.net. My page with DAC on Artsy  is here. Here is a painting they are featuring, it is called Whimsy, and was created in 2017, using mixed media. The second image is a detail from the lower right side. The imagery is derived from plants. DAC organizes exhibitions in a wide variety of spaces internationally, including in museums. I'm excited to see what develops and will share developments with you here. You can explore their artists' offerings and read their overview  here.

"Arise" is my ArtPrize 10 entry. It is created using gold and silver leaf, enamel and acrylic paint, a mirror and birch panels. Here are details of the left wing of the horizontal paintings: Here is the right wing, separated from the left by a mounted 12" square mirror: My Artist Statement is as follows: Arise means variously: to emerge, to become apparent, and to get up. In terms of this contemporary polyptych, “Arise” utilizes the language of painting such as, color, mark-making, organic, sacred and geometric forms; to convey the story of Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, death and reemergence as a Holy Spirit. “Arise” has an installation and sculptural quality created through the incorporation of a dimensional cross-shape, complete with a central color-block story, mirror and painted borders around the edges, forming the frames. These objects have conceptual and symbolic meanings. The vertical color-blocking reiterates the horizontal st...

When I was doing research for my first book  "Sticks, Stones, Roots and Bones,"  I came across fascinating documentation of African American tree whispering. Essentially, tree whispering occurs after spending long periods of time with a particular tree and coming to understand its language. Since that time over a decade ago, I've explored the topic more deeply and have incorporated it into my novel. I also dedicated  "A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals for Body and Spirit"  to the magickal possibilities of trees. I get tree whispering at a gut level. Growing up, our home was enveloped by trees and I could see them from across the lake. I had the assistance of trees while practicing dance steps. I did my homework in a special tree, to which I also retreated when necessary. I now live in an urban suburb. Each day, seemingly, more land gets swallowed up by new construction for condos and townhouses. Still, trees and plants have a huge pre...

What if you could learn to deepen your spirituality through the practice of Hoodoo, day-by-day? How about if you could study herbalism, practice rites, and match spells to your intentions? These are some of the ideas behind my soon-to-be-released book, "365 Days of Hoodoo: Daily Rootwork, Mojo & Conjuration." Perfectly timed to be released in the latest part of the year--perfect because then you can peruse the contents in December, gather what you need, and get yourself ready for using it in the New Year of 2019. This book shares the wisdom of traditional Hoodoo and also offers modern/contemporary approaches. It was a labor of love to be sure. I think it comes in around 400 pages! Whether you are already practicing or new to Hoodoo, or even just curious about it, I think you're going to find this book to be one you'll want to engage in, for the entire year. I'm so happy it is coming closer and closer to it's publication date . Stay tuned f...