Round and about: a very utilitarian round up

For the past ten days, I’ve been sick in a very Victorian invalid sort of way. Meaning that if I had a fainting couch, I’d be lolling about on it (preferably in a velvet day gown while clutching a bottle of laudanum). I’ve even been without a voice for four days. The good news is that, while I don’t have access to nineteenth century opiates, I do have a prescription for antibiotics. I’m definitely on the mend.

So, as a means of playing catch up, here’s a round up of what’s been going on in Art and Words land.

1. Last Friday was the second gathering of the Creative Women’s Networking Salon at the studio-gallery. It was a resounding success — so much so that the Salon will now become a regularly scheduled monthly event, like our Tarot Salon. I’m thinking first or second Friday of each month.

At our last salon, I was joined by a wide variety of women photographers, editors, writers, bloggers, artists, and crafters — an amazing array of talent. After the event, I noticed that some of the women “friended” each other on Facebook and beyond. That made me very happy, since one of my goals with my studio-gallery is to foster creative community in my Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park.

2. The Paul Taylor Dance Company is now at City Center in Manhattan through mid-March. I’m fortunate to know Annmaria Mazzini, one of the intensely gifted dancers who perform in the company. (She’s also a talented jewelry designer — I have several of her magical pieces.)

Seeing Annmaria dance has become a special ritual for me, marking the end of winter and start of spring. This year was extraordinary because Thea was old enough to attend with us for the first time! Annmaria even gave Thea a tour backstage at City Center, which thrilled my daughter immensely.

Thea and Annmaria, still in costume from dancing the 1960’s-themed Changes.

Imagine being (almost) five years old and looking out at this vista. In the words of Thea, “really cool.”

3. One of the things I love most about Brooklyn is the community (see item #1 above). One of Thea’s friends is a little girl named Theodora, who lives around the corner from us. Theodora’s mom is Jenny Offill, the author of several books including the novel LAST THINGS, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Jenny has a short story in Electric Literature from which she will be doing a reading of on March 14 at 7pm at KGB Bar and Lit Review. More info here.

Another neighbor mother and friend is journalist Sharon Lerner. Her first book THE WAR ON MOMS is being published by Wiley next month. It’s battlefield reporting on the widespread realities facing most American women today: the lack of paid maternity leave, the dearth of decent part-time work options, and the shortage of good, affordable childcare options. It tells the truth that overworked, stressed-out American moms need to hear: that they’re not alone — and they’re not to blame. Read excerpts here.

4. Related reading news: We’ll be having author Mary Sharratt visit the gallery all the way from England on March 15 at 7pm to present and sign her new novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL. I’m very excited — this is an exclusive for us, since the book won’t be released until early April.  DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is garnering some extraordinary praise and received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. Learn more about this event.

5. I’ve decided to start offering semi-regular blog posts about my inspirations for The Novel, which is set amidst Victorian England’s deliciously decadent Aesthetic movement. For example, I wrote last month about my trip to Montreal to view the Waterhouse exhibit. The next one will go up later this week as part of my ongoing Creativity Friday series. It’s about my obsession with a Schubert string quintet. (Listen to it here.)

6. Finally, several people have yet to claim their prizes from our Valentine’s Week giveaways. Please send me your info so I can get your goodies on the way. (Or, if you e-mailed me and have yet to receive a prize, please send it to me again — your e-mail did not make it through.)

And with that, I hope you all are having a great week!

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, creativity, events, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, studio and gallery, the art world, the world around me | No Comments

Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere: raffle winners! and Valentines! and cute kids!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated during last week’s “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere”, which was held to mark the relaunch of the Love Tarot app. I had a truly wonderful time reading all of your comments, stories, opinions, and thoughts. I loved having the opportunity to get to know you, my blog readers, better.

As a side note, your tales of dating woe made me shiver with horror as well as laugh in astonishment. I sincerely hope that things have improved considerably on your collective romantic fronts since then!

Special thanks to Sandra Gulland, Holly Tucker, Donna Henes, and Ruth Ann Amberstone for their wonderful guest posts. Much appreciation to Diane Saarinen for helping me organize this week of Valentine-themed love.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. And today is (drumroll please!) the day in which I announce the winners of our daily giveaways from last week. Congratulations to:

Audra: You’ve won Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland.

Leslie: You’ve won The Lover’s Path by me.

Fran: You’ve won The Queen of My Self by Donna Henes.

Joy Lerner: You’ve won the Goddess Tarot deck and MP3 of The Tarot School’s teleclass for The High Priestess from Ruth Ann Amberstone.

Silverlotus: You’ve won the Amor and Beatrice print.

If you could e-mail me your mailing addresses to kris at kriswaldherr dot com, I’ll arrange to get your prizes off to you pronto.

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In closing, here are some images from the children’s Valentine making workshop we held at the gallery this weekend. For a period of about three hours, my workspace was taken over by about fifteen kids wielding glitter glue and sequins. At one point, a group of them commandoed my work table, transforming it into a private club house. There was even a “No! Grow Ups – Only Kids” sign.

It was overwhelmingly cute.

However you spent your Valentine’s Day (or “Love Day” as one child called it), I hope it was fulfilling and fun!

• Filed under be-mused, creativity, events, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, studio and gallery | One Response

Mama Donna Henes guest post: Have a Love Affair with Yourself

Next up for my “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere” featuring the Love Tarot app, is Mama Donna Henes, an urban shaman and folklorist supreme. Someone commented earlier wondering what an urban shaman does. In Mama Donna’s case, she works with individuals, groups of all kinds, companies, and municipalities to create meaningful, non-denominational rituals for every conceivable occasion. For example, she performs solstice and equinox rituals for New York City; she also presides over the opening of the Village Halloween Parade. She also regularly reads tarot at my gallery’s popular Tarot Salon.

Mama Donna is also the author of several books, including the wonderfully empowering and award-winning The Queen of My Self: Stepping Into Sovereignty in Midlife.* Her blog entry here is adapted from The Queen of My Self — I think it offers a necessary corrective to so much media out there which suggests that a person can’t be complete unless they’re in a romantic relationship. Mais non, ma cherie! After all, our most important relationship with with ourselves.

Today we’re giving away a copy of Mama Donna’s book The Queen of Myself to one blog commenter. Details at the end of this post.

Tomorrow’s post: I conclude the week with a post about what I think is the most inspiring love story. Ever.

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: We have a copy of The Queen of My Self! To enter, simply leave a comment for this post. For a double entry, tell us about a an experience where you treated yourself like royalty. (For myself, it was during my recent trip to Montreal. I stayed at a nice hotel, ate at a famed restaurant, and saw intensely beautiful art.

The small print: You have until midnight EST on February 14 to leave your comment. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on this blog Monday, February 15, 2010. Sorry, but the giveaway is limited to U.S. and Canada only.

*If you enjoyed this entry, I hope you’ll become a fan of The Queen of My Self on Facebook. You can also follow The Queen of My Self on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thequeenbook.

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Top art: Isis and Osiris art from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

More about the Love Tarot app: Considered to be the most romantic app in the App Store, the Love Tarot app offers gorgeous tarot readings inspired by famous love stories, such as Tristan and Isolde and Cupid and Psyche. This five star-rated app was recently relaunched to include a tarot journal for users to save their readings and other inspirations.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

• Filed under creativity, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, queens, studio and gallery, tarot and oracles | 10 Responses

Children’s Picture Book workshop update

This Saturday’s workshop is officially filled. It will be offered again in Fall 2010. In the meantime, I’m happy to announce that I’ll be offering a Publishing 1010 workshop at the end of March. Spaces are limited to ten participants — I’ve already had a few sign ups.

Here’s the information:

Saturday, March 27, 2010 – 1 to 3 pm

PUBLISHING 101
$25. Includes materials fee.

This entry level class offers a comprehensive overview of the publishing industry. Topics covered include manuscript submissions, book proposals, literary agents, self-publishing, book acquisitions, and marketing.

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These workshops are personally taught by me, a publishing professional with two decades experience. Interested in registering? You can do so here.

Also, I’ve posted our other gallery events for February and March. They range from the ever-popular Tarot Salon to the return of our Winter Film Series. This time we’re showing the film Helvetica for all you design geeks!

• Filed under events, studio and gallery | No Comments

Workshops and updates oh my!

I’ve just posted the rescheduled date for the Children’s Picture Book workshop as well as the date for our next reiteration of our popular Publishing 101 class. Also on tap: a Valentine’s themed tarot salon on February 12, featuring readings from myself and renowned urban shaman Mama Donna Henes.

As some of you might recall, the Children’s Picture Book workshop was originally to take place in December. But life, alas, had other plans. Between that and the holidays, I found myself out of my studio for almost a month. Fortunately, over the past week I’ve been able to get back into the creative swim. I suppose it shouldn’t be any surprise, but I’m always amazed by how exhausting and time-consuming grief is.

Currently underway is an iPhone app for the Goddess Inspiration Oracle (the free lite version is currently available on iTunes), a newly-hatched novel, and my long-developing follow up book to DOOMED QUEENS. To further stoke my creative fires, I’m also planning a short trip to Montreal to take in the Waterhouse exhibit before it closes. There’s a painting in it which figures very closely in my new novel. So how can I resist?

The good news is that there are still spaces available for the Children’s Picture Book workshop. So if you couldn’t make the original date, well, what are you waiting for? I’m excited to share all about my experiences as a book illustrator, designer, and all around publishing maven — a subject which is near and dear to my heart.

Learn more about these events and others here.

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The above photo is of the full version of the Goddess Inspiration Oracle. Doesn’t it look pretty? It should be available by the end of the month. Can’t wait? You can download the free lite version here now.

• Filed under creativity, events, publishing, studio and gallery, tarot and oracles, the art world | No Comments