#michelle ray

[cornerofhell]

My OCs' wedding dresses:

Crystal Cleopatra Frost (nee~Winters)

Miriam Jessica Claus (nee~Allen):

Hela Claus (nee~Kaupaland):

Michelle Linda Ray (nee~Burns):

and

Donna Jean Caputo-Angelo:

Lucky Jean Leprechaun (nee~Ramone):

Rosalie/Rosie Lorraine Tudor (nee~Barker):

[prettyputrified]

Part 5 of a series of gifts

OC: Michelle Burns by @cornerofhell

Slasher Prince (and Princess): Charles Lee Ray and Tiffany Valentine

Princess Inspiration: Princess Belle

[cornerofhell]

Idk why I randomly got curious about this, do any of your slasher families have dogs? :) or cats?

Bonus: any mythical creature or horror creature feature type pets

Ooooh thank you thank you!!!

The Frosts: The Frosts have a giant Great Pyrenees named Cane (full name Hurricane) who is very protective of the kids, though Claudia has pretty much claimed him as HER dog. He's very protective and oftentimes you can hardly see him when out with his family.

They also have three kitties. A mama tabby, Cherry, and her two babies Pumpkin and Nutmeg. Finding Cherry in the cold, Crystal took the mama in and nursed her to health, while Jack claimed they didn't need any damn cats. You will now often see Cherry loudly purring in his lap, in his recliner while he watches TLC.

The Claus's: Before his death, Santa's helldeer Mistletoe was a beloved member of the Claus family. Sigrid never met him, but she was often told stories of how magnificent of a beast the creature was.

Now Santa has his reindeer, who though he preferred Mistletoe, he loves all of them. His girls are well-treated and pampered by him, and so much as a chipped hoof will get an elf sentenced to death.

As for current pets, Hela has one. A megalodon she named "Bubble". He is fed plenty of whales, loves head scratches, and often is seen giving his mommy rides around the sea. He is safely hidden and has plenty of space to roam.

Sigrid herself has a different creature. A dragon. Given to her by her grandfather, Askr may be a baby for now but he is SIGRID 'S BABY and you can often see him on her shoulder or being fed the finest of meats.

The Frost-Claus's: Of course Mistletoe and the reindeer are often spoken in this version of the Claus's as well.

Miriam has several pets that she adores. First and foremost, there is her chonky Basset Hound that she named Alfred, though you will often hear her call him other names such as "Ally-baby-boo" "Floppsy" and "Sniffles". Then there is her other puppy, Reginald, a giant Saint Bernard who you often hear her call "My widdle boy" "Slobbers" and "Reggie-weggie-woo-woo". She spoils them both very very much. Ofc they are Jack and Santa's as well, but the moment the pups were brought home they became Miriam's.

Miriam also has several birds in her own giant enclosure for them to fly around in happily.

The Rays: The Rays have their pets galore, and I'm just gonna name the mama's pets and do my nextgens' in another post. Tiffany has a giant Mainecoon kitty cat who she named Duchess who hates Chucky with a passion.

Michelle however, has a beautiful boa constricter that she lovingly named Sunny, and often takes her out to the garden with her. Sunny also hates Chucky.

The Caputos: Eddie and Donna have a pitbull named Duke, who they got to help protect their new apartment and give him a good home. Well. The second part was good.

Duke is scared of his own shadow, a giant love bug, could hardly catch flies let alone robbers, and Donna absolutely has gotten him some jammies, all while Eddie has to defend to Chucky that "Duke is a good guard dog, I swear".

The Leprechauns: The leprechaun cave is full of different pets for the children of the home, all given by their loving parents, but the matriarch of the cave does indeed have pets of her own that her hubby Lubdan got for her.

Lucky has two pet ferrets, Silky and Satin, little tricksters who hardly leave their mommy's side. Lucky pampers her girls with their own room for them to play in, and yes, has little outfits for them.

The Tudors: The Tudors only have one pet in their ice cream shop, and that's an old, but still kicking dachshund named Waffle. He has his own little hat and is often laying in his custom bed in Gregory's truck, loudly snoring. The family loves him very much.

[ae-sterling]

An Analysis of God Created the Sea and Painted it Blue so We'd Feel Good On It by Michelle Ray

View the book and its details here

View more of Michelle Ray's pieces here

Something that always interests me in media is exploration of the lines between truth, reality, and fiction. I was originally drawn to this book because of its title, but I knew I was going to choose it for this paper when I read the author’s quote, “The enclosed account is partially true. It is also partially fabricated. But I assure you that all of it has been vigorously documented in a most honest manner” in the book’s description on Herron’s digital collection site (Herron Library). In her book God Created the Sea and Painted it Blue so We’d Feel Good On It, Michelle Ray tells a story of ocean travel that is completely fictional and yet simultaneously the truth.

In an interview with Herringbone Bindery, Ray says that she grew up in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt near the Little Shenango river. She has a background in sailing and has built small sailboats herself. Before she began studying book arts, she received a Masters in Library and Informational Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh (Fletcher). Elements from these settings–rurality, nature, water, materiality, organization–are woven through all of her works.

While completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, Ray was introduced to book arts by her sculpture professor, who noticed her interest in combining words, form, and kinetic elements. Ray studied book arts independently for years, including a year-long residency at Small Craft Advisory Press in 2012, before receiving a Book Arts MFA from University of Alabama in 2013 (Fletcher).

God Created the Sea and Painted it Blue so We’d Feel Good On It was created in 2013 as part of Ray’s MFA while she was at the Small Craft Advisory Press residency (Fletcher). It was made in an edition of 50. The book itself consists of 11 7x3.5” pamphlets, throughout which the story is compiled, as well as a crew manifest that is 21x14” when unfolded. The papers are handmade cotton/abaca, French Construction, and Neena Environment, and the images and text were printed using photopolymer plates. The pamphlets and manifest are stored in a slip-and-slot envelope, which is itself stored in a compartment of a custom-made box. The box is 7x5.5x4.25” and is made from linen and basswood. Alongside the compartment for the envelope is an open, fixed tunnel book. All of these details are from Ray’s page on Vamp & Tramp Booksellers’ website.

The box is what introduces viewers to the story. The imagery incorporated into its design are present throughout the book itself: a whale skeleton stretching around the outside of the box, a sailboat on the box’s inside cover, a compartment that holds a fixed tunnel book depicting another sailboat at sea. At the center of the tunnel book, on the furthest back layer, is a whale (as if hidden in the waves below the sailboat) and the quote “Some things you cannot explain because they are too simple,” which is attributed to Bernard Moitessier (Ray).

By introducing readers to her story with the above quote, Ray implies that the following story will speak for itself; there will be no explanation surrounding why she wrote the anecdotes that she did. The readers will simply have to trust what they feel in order to know the truth of what she says. This idea is continued on an inside flap of the envelope in which the book’s pamphlets are held: Ray writes, “I ask you, dear reader of this fine story, for complete suspension of disbelief–as no truer account of ocean going has ever been created” (Ray). This quote is the thesis statement of the entire book, which encapsulates the feeling of an ocean voyage. Despite the anecdotes that make up the book being fiction, the emotions and sensations that Ray portrays are the “truth” of what it is like to be on the sea.

The envelope in which the book’s pamphlets are held acts as the book’s colophon. Besides Ray’s ask to the readers, two other inside flaps contain information: one shows the method by which the pamphlets were folded and another provides more information about Moitessier, the man quoted in the tunnel book. Ray explains how he would have won the first around-the-world solo sailing competition had he not changed course in the final stretch and continued sailing instead. He tossed a note onto the deck of a passing ship, in which he explained, “I am happy at sea, and perhaps because I want to save my soul” (Ray). The colophon’s paragraph about Moitessier provides context for why Ray chose his quote for the tunnel book. By adding his reasoning for continuing at sea, Ray also begins a through-line that goes through the entire story: the ocean provides men with contentment and a desire for something greater than themselves.

Additionally, the bottom panel of the envelope upon which the papers of the book rest contains traditional colophon information–where the book was created, the materials used to create it, and what number of the edition this copy is (28/50). It also has a continued artist statement:

My dear reader, while residing in the Deep South, I undertook a most wondrous imaginary adventure. The journey began with time spent aboard a cardboard boat on the linoleum headwaters of my apartment and led to points unknown. It started as cathartic play, it became this object. The enclosed account is partially true. It is also partially fabricated. But I assure you that all of it has been vigorously documented in a most honest manner. (Ray)

Ray explains that the story told within God Created the Sea has originated from her imagination, but this does not mean it is an untrue account of the sea. Although the anecdotes she writes are both factual and fiction (it is never designated which are which, leaving the reader to decide for themself), the story she tells is a completely true (in the feelings it inspires) depiction of an ocean voyage.

God Created the Sea is told by an unnamed narrator (who is distinct from Ray). It recounts the experiences of a crew sailing aboard the ship The Ortolan. Although the same characters and events are referenced throughout the book, the anecdotes that make up the story are told non-linearly. The book also does not have a clear plotline; instead, Ray provides the readers with a collection of experiences that, when put together, give the sense of a tumultuous ocean voyage. Ray imitates the ever-changing, unpredictable state of the ocean in the non-linear way she organizes these anecdotes. She supplements them with footnotes that reference sailing legends, ocean phenomena, and other oceanic stories (such as Moby Dick), building a story that weaves fiction with reality in a way that creates an account that feels authentic. It is not the actual facts of the story that matter but rather how it feels to experience it.

Physically, the book is not a traditionally bound codex; instead, it is made up of 11 separate pamphlets and one crew manifest. The pamphlets are made from two pieces of paper accordion folded with four panels to a side. These pages were then sewn together at the valleys, which creates a diamond shape in the center when fully opened. All the pamphlets have text and/or imagery on both sides. Sometimes the anecdote on one side of the pamphlet is related to the anecdote or imagery on the other side of the pamphlet, but not always. Oftentimes, the leftmost and rightmost panels on a side have footnotes that provide more information or context about the anecdote(s) on the middle two panels.

Additionally, all of the pamphlets are oriented horizontally (if the paper is laid flat), but some are laid in the envelope so that the reader has to rotate or flip the paper in order to read the text or properly see the images. The footnotes on the outer panels are written parallel to the long side of the panel, requiring the viewer to orient the pamphlet vertically (if the paper is laid flat) in order to read the text. Assuming all the pamphlets were organized in the envelope as the author intended (as opposed to careless previous readers), the fact that the viewer has to rotate or flip the pamphlets so much in order to get the complete story implies the constantly shifting nature of the sea, which adds to Ray’s greater narrative about an ocean voyage.Overall, I greatly enjoyed God Created the Sea and Painted it Blue so We’d Feel Good On It. Ray explores the lines between a factual story and a story that is true in all aspects of the book: the non-linear narrative, the purposefully (I am assuming) disordered pages, the chosen references and images. When everything is brought together, it tells a story that may not have happened but is nonetheless a truthful account of travelling the sea.

[girlwithaface18]

I’ve learned that all happiness and all answers can’t begin and end with one guy. I need to be by myself for a while, because it’s too easy for me to put everyone else’s needs and wants ahead of my own.

Falling For Hamlet

[kellypaloma-favequotes]

Is it better sufer through life, to deal with all crap thrown at you, or fight against your problems by ending your life? To die is to sleep. That's all. And by sleeping, we scape everything that torture us. That's the dream, then, isn't it? The perfection of nothingness." "I can't take any chance. I have to put everything I want aside like always. I have to wear this maks and be who everyone else wants e to be all the time." "My future was so meaningless. I wished only for sleep, no mather what dreams might come." "The lacquered boxes seemed to mock us with their shining perfection. Such beauty was about to be put underground; their only purpose was turning to dust. The beauty of those I had loved would be forever locked inside, and all would be left to rot."

Falling for Hamlet, Michelle Ray.

[uartslibraries]

God Created the Sea and Painted it Blue so We’d Feel Good on it 

by Michelle Ray

call # BA R212g - VRSC Book Arts

[uartslibraries]

The Cave Protection Act of 2013

by Michelle Ray

call # BA R212c - VRSC Book Arts