Closing Time

365. A Star Concert

I had spent a lot of time contemplating possible projects for the very last star. Somehow, nothing would seem right and I had some serious doubst wether I would find the time and energy to make something big. All worries ceased, however, when a very unexpected solution presented itself about two weeks ago...

This is not a star I made myself.

This is a star which is just happening on ist own.

This is a star I actually paid for.

This is a star I travelled over 200 km to see - and hear.

This is a man who was made a 'star' by millions of people around the world.

This is my reward:

It was already in the process of buying my ticket that I realised the day Leonard Cohen played in Berlin would be the final day of my year of stars. I had at some point long ago decided that should I - during this year of stars - go to a concert of a 'star' of some kind, I will let it count as that day's project. So, all of a sudden, I was presented with my final star - and I consider this one a very worthy ending.

364. Tracking Stars - Going Home

(I apologise for the bad quality, but the file would have been way too large otherwise...)

363. Funky Purple Travel Star

Okay... this project is really coming to a close quite soon...

I've been thinking a lot about this, lately. What's certain is that I'm not going to continue with daily stars, neither am I going to jump right into the next project. I honestly need a break.

But I had an idea how I might take something with me into the "life after 365"...

I painted a little wooden star I had still lying around, and will now carry it around with me and take some pictures of it in special (or very ordinary, everyday) places whenever I feel like it. Also, it's particularly great to make one right now as I'm just about to leave for Ireland and two weeks of - possibly - traveling around... (And I'm not one for garden gnomes, really) So, lots to see for this little star:

It's about the size of a €2 coin and thus not ideal for taking pictures in front of famous large landmarks or the likes, but it'll do somehow. At least it's easy to take around and needs no careful packing. :)

362. Transformed Flower Star

When buying my new backpack I went for a women's fit version - and those were marked with some funny little flower on what could have been hair ties. I just cut a bit off the edges and got a (somewhat speckled) star:

361. Comb Teeth Star

For years I've had this little white comb - always stuffed into some bag or pocket - until its teeth started falling out:

360. Tomato-Centred Carrot Star

I met with some friends to work on a project - but before we got started we had a lenghty brunch, including these carrots and tomato:

359. STAR Backronym

358. Silica Star

Preparing for my upcoming hiking holidays, I bought a lot of stuff lately - a lot of which containes those little white bags with pearls of silica gel to keep the moisture out. I don't think I had ever opened one until today:

357. Mosaic Star

A few days ago, I discovered my tiny little mosaic stones in a box with old crafting material. A great opportunity to redecorate an old wooden mirror frame:

Those stones are tiny - really: 3 mm squares... This is the entire frame:

 

(more decoration to come...)

356. Runic Star

Having developed an interest in ancient Germanic culture and language some years ago, I also spent some time learning about different runic alphabets. At least I know the phonemic values of most of the runes. I also know that they had more meaning than simple letters - and that there are innumerable interpretations today on what they might have meant and might mean today. I'm not sure in how far I'm interested in that - it definitely stops with trying to tell the future... Anyway, I did remember some of the meanings and wondered wheather there was one associated with a star…

There was: The rune named thiwaz (most of the time) is associated with the god Tyr as well as the polar star (amongst many other potential meanings). It basically looks like an arrow pointig upwards, and I used it as pattern for a star and eventually carved it into a large wooden stick (which is usually lying on my window sill and serving as windowstopper every now and then):

355. Stone Strokes Star

I had big plans for this star, but non of them worked. What remains are two little stones I had wanted to use - and to just draw with one on the other:

354. Bottle Caps Star

Barbecue in the park and a little picknick on the street outside a concert venue afterwards. There were LOTS of bottle caps around... Photoshop helped to turn the four caps of our own bottles into a star:

353. Sesame-Surrounded Star

No star on Friday, so I made two today. Number one, while roasting sesame seeds for making tahina:

352. Fairytale of the Wandering Star

Oh, yes! I've always wanted to do this! I wrote a fairytale about a star. It took me a while, and it's scribbled on different sheets of paper, mostly. I haven't found the nerve to type it all out, yet, so I'll have to update this post some time soon...

351. Bone Cracker Star

Um, no, I didn't break any bones. But on my wild quest of creating new food and recreating food that I found elsewhere, I made these little guys today:

I can't help it, they really do look like bones...

350. Translucent Plastic Bottle Star

I always thought it should be fairly easy to cut a plastic bottle open and turn it into a star. Turned out it really is: