Health Care

As you know, I don't get very political on here. But, I just got the information to renew my health insurance. I'm self-employed, which means I have to pay all of my health insurance. My premiums have been going up every year by 30%. This year with that increase, I'll have to pay an additional $70/month. I already struggle to pay my bills, and sometimes I can't. Having to pay an extra $840/year for basic bottom of the line health care insurance, which means I'll be paying $3360/year for insurance which barely covers anything, is insane. I am faced with having to decide whether to drop my health care insurance or not. I have some health issues (like my neck problems) that make it scary for me to do that. Last year when I went to a pain specialist, where all he did was talk to me for 10 minutes, that 10 minute office visit was almost $700. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place.

I found out that my health insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is using my money to fund campaigns against President Obama's Health Care Plan. That's not how I want to use my money.

Please speak out against this and urge your congressmen to stand with Obama for the health insurance plan where we as individuals can have the choice of a public plan or a private plan for our health care.


You can sign a petition here.

Albert Update

I just spoke to the specialist, and little Albert is in kidney failure. More than likely I will have to put him to sleep before I go out of town Thursday for the Estes Park Wool market. Which means I'll have to do it tomorrow.

I can't tell you how upset I am about this. He's so sweet and only about a year old. He has only been in my life for maybe 3 months, but I've grown very attached to him.

A Shrine for Albert

My little cat Albert, who showed up at my door several months ago, is very, very sick. He's had tests done, and is at a specialist right now getting more tests done. Hopefully they will tell us what is wrong because so far, my normal vet can't figure it out. I'm waiting to hear the results of the new blood work to see what the next step is. He will probably either have an ultrasound done on his kidneys or need endoscopy (where the go down his throat with a scope). I took the photo yesterday before taking him back to the regular vet for a check-up on how he was doing, which wasn't good. He goes back and forth between eating on his own, and having to be force-fed. He's probably around a year old, and I hope he has a long life ahead of him.

On the way home from the specialist, which is about 45 minutes away from me, I stopped at a grocery store to get more cocoa for hot chocolate. Shortly after I got in the store, which caters to the Hispanic community here in Lawrence, I spied some religious candles. God knows I've already got more than most catholic churches, but I saw one I didn't have, and thought I should get it to make a shrine for Albert. So as soon as I came home, I found an empty spot on a shelf by my cockatiels and started the shrine. The hope is that from making the shrine, my intention will be set forth for him to get better without needing super expensive tests and biopsies done. Or, that I'll know what steps to take to either help him get better or to make him as comfortable as I can. The specialist thinks it's kidney or intestinal problems. Hopefully the first round of tests will give us good news on something that's easily treated. When he saw I was from Lawrence, he said "oh . . " He said that for some reason, outdoor cats who live in Lawrence pick up more strange viruses and diseases than cats other places don't get, as if Lawrence is still a frontier . . .

Open House!

Just a quick reminder that my open house is this Saturday! Some come on by! I have a brand new spinning fiber that I'm excited about. It's a superwash merino/bamboo/nylon blend. It has dyed up nicely, has a nice sheen and is super soft! I also have some new rayon summer yarns dyed up and ready to be made into some warm-weather projects. Hope to see you!

Workshop Schedule

First I want to thank everyone for all of the wonderful comments and e-mails I've been getting everywhere. It feels great to know that people are appreciating and enjoying the video. I also received an e-mail from Akin Fernandez, the creator of the Conet Project (whose recordings I used to create the layered "music" in the video. He said, ". . . I wish more people were as open with their work; open to allowing disparate things in to make something refreshing. If only you could teach this way of thinking to the many people who send us demonstration recordings looking for a deal. Thank you for making something so beautiful, and for sharing it on the internet." What a great e-mail to wake up to. It made my day! he also posted my video on his blog.

While I have your attention, I should mention some of my upcoming workshops. I have them all posted on my website, but there are several this summer I really want to mention. They are new venues for me, and I'm excited about them. With the economy down, I want to be sure it doesn't affect the enrollment!


The first one is at the Valley Ridge Art Studio July 10-12th, 2009. It'll be my first time teaching there, and I've heard such wonderful things about it, both from teachers and students. I'm teaching a 3-day workshop called "Get Your Art on Buffet." This is a different version than I taught at Carol Parks' NoHo Studios last fall. Day 1 is Printmaking MacGyver Style--it is a full day of two of my different MacGyver printmaking classes put together; Day 2 is Repurposed Bookmaking where we create a new book from an old one, similar to how I make my own journals that I work in; and Day 3 is Uber Self Portraits which has been Uber popular!. This will be a fabulous location for this 3-day workshop, so please check it out if you haven't already.



The next one is at Idyllwild Center for the Arts. This will be my first time teaching there as well, and I've heard rave reviews. I'm teaching two 2-day workshops. I'm teaching Printable Matter and Über Surreal Painting
July 20-21 for the first session, and the second session is Visual Journaling & Creativity: Preparing the Way for the Wanted You July 22-23. I was scheduled to teach at Carol Parks' NoHo studio the beginning of September, but it got canceled. So any of you who were thinking of taking a workshop from me there, my workshops at Idyllwild would be the closest to you.

I'll also be teaching some more workshops in my Art House this summer, but haven't decided what and when. I'll let you know when I do! I hope to see you sometime soon at one of these workshops!

Presenting my New Video: "Traci Bunkers Creates a Visual Journal Page"

Monday I filmed myself creating this journal page. Here's the video:



This video is a peek into how I work in my visual journal. It took a little under an hour and a half for me to complete, and I sped up and edited the film so you can watch the whole thing in 10 minutes. I did not plan out what I was going to journal about--I work as I normally do, just letting come out what needs to come out without censoring myself or being concerned with the final product. I'm not trying to make a piece of art because the process is what's important to me.

I positioned the camera so that you could best see the journal while I worked, which meant you couldn't always tell what my hands were doing outside of the journal. This doesn't affect the video or watching my process other than you can't tell at times that I've applied gel medium to a piece that I'm gluing down, or that I'm dipping my paintbrush, watercolor pencils or crayons in water.

The materials that I used in this piece are gesso, Golden's Heavy Body acrylics and fluid acrylics, watercolor pencils, crayons, watersoluble oil pastels, markers, pens, rubber stamps (both hand-carved and stamps from my line of art rubber stamps that I sell), ephemera (a self-portrait, an incense box, and a candy bar wrapper), and tape.

I frequently receive questions about how I am able to write on top of paint, so I will answer here to keep from getting deluged with more questions about it. I can write on top of my painted journal pages with just about any kind of writing tools--pens, markers, etc. The key is to not apply too thick of a layer of paint. As you will see in the video, I use several (sometimes many) light layers of paint. That is better than one thick layer. If you can't write on your page after painting, the paint is too thick, or maybe try something different to write with.

I teach visual journaling workshops as well as other mixed-media and fiber workshops. Please visit my web site for my workshop schedule. The large alphabet stamp I used is Blind Melon, the stamp I used for the lines is from my Journaling stamp sheet. I also used a monkey stamp and a hand stamp. You can also visit my blog.

The music that is played while I'm working is recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations, all from the Conet Project created by Akin Fernandez. The mysterious sounds and voices are believed to be encrypted messages from short-wave radio stations operated by government agencies as a way to communicate with spies. Just like my visual work, I layered many different recordings from the Conet Project to create the final soundtrack. Many thanks to Akin Fernandez for allowing me permission to use these recordings in my video.

Thanks for watching!

04.30.09 Journal Spread

04.30.09, originally uploaded by Traci Bunkers.

I'm back from teaching six workshops at Art & Soul in Hampton, Virginia! I made it! I left to go there with only 1 hour of sleep, and I started with an all day class and a night one--all in the same day! But I survived and all of my classes went well. Luckily all of the students were wonderful, which made it all easier for me.

I started this journal spread while I was teaching a journaling class there. Although I can't always work during the classes I teach, it really is helpful for both me and the students if I'm able to. They can see how my work progresses, and also I think of things to tell them that might be helpful with their project. Most of the spread was done in class, but I did the finishing touches this morning. The journaling class was titled "Creating My Desired Life", and it's something I'm still working on! (Creating My own desired life that is--and creating one that isn't slowly killing my body that seems to be breaking down more and is in more and more pain because I'm working it too hard.)

I'm terribly exhausted, but don't see time for a reprieve. My entire book that I've been working on is due June 1, as is a knitting editing job I have. Plus I have some weekend workshops at my studio, and an open house! So yeah, no time to just collapse for awhile.

P.S. The main alphabet stamp I used in this spread is Crap Toy. I have it in two sizes, and I used the smaller size.