In August, the Arte Ed Anima group's theme for the monthly ATC swap was "Numbers." Above is my ATC . That background is the back of my sixth grade report card. Didn't my teacher, Mrs. Busch (my very favorite teacher of all time!), have beautiful handwriting? Here is what the back of my "Numbers" ATC looks like:
Back side of I AM Enough ATC
Of course, I have to show you the envelope I sent it to Gaby Bierberle, my sweet friend and fabulous artist from Germany. Don't miss checking out her blog. She has some very creative and beautiful ATCs and other fantastic art.
Inner Envelope for "Numbers" ATC
Well, after I made that little envelope for Gaby with the napkin collage, etc., I came to my senses and thought that the German post office might not like dealing with this so I put it in a larger envelope:
Outer Envelope before mailing (with fake customs form and postage sticker)
[Jennifer, if this envelope looks vaguely familiar, it's because I loved the reclining lady with the pointy hat you used on your envelope to me.] I would show you all the envelope that Jennifer sent me, but that was about the time my computer room exploded because I had to install a new Mac and all the software, etc. that goes with it and find all my discs and passwords and you now the drill -- the place is still a wreak and I can't find a thing -- including that darling envelope. Forgive me.
Meanwhile let me show you the wonderful ATC that I got for the "Numbers" swap from Kim Logan, my uniquely talented friend.
"Numbers" Theme ATC by Kim Logan
While I'm at it, just let me show you the "Wings" ATC that Kim sent as a preview of the next theme I'll blog about.
ATC for "Wings" Theme by Kim Logan
Stay tuned for "Wings" which was the September theme for our ATC swap. Tah for now.
One of the online groups I belong to, Arte Ed Anima, has been doing a monthly ATC swap since July. I want to share some of the fantastic art I've gotten and show you some ATC that I did.
In July, the theme for the ATC swap was Nature. I actually did two ATCs. That one above, Beetle, is a transparency of a beetle over a collaged number strip - all on a background of brayered ink on cardstock. The transparency is attached with green eyelets.
The back of this one looks like this:
Back of the Beetle ATC
The second one I did for this theme was a collage:
Flamingo: ATC for Nature Theme
This one was also done on a brayered ink background. The flamingo is collaged from a nature themed calendar page. All the rest of the images ae rub-ons enhanced with colored pencil and ink. The back of this ATC looks like this:
Back of Flamingo ATC
My Beetle ATC went to Sue Berry, the hostess for the swap (and the Arte ed Anima group "MOM.") I did a little mail art to liven up the envelope it went in.
Envelope in which I sent my ATC
The nature ATC that I received in the swap was a collage from my friend and artist extraordinaire, Jennifer Rowland. Isn't it precious?
Bloom: Nature ATC by Jennifer Rowland
That was the first month's swap. I'll get back soon with more. Right now I need to go prepare for a trip out-of-town to attend a concert by my 8th grade grandson's school choir in which he will be doing --- tah dah --- a SOLO!!! Woohoo. I can't wait to see this. His first performance in public -- outside of athletics, of course.
Lots of excuses but only two really big reasons . . .
1.
I've finally recovered fully (I think) from a month-long alergy/asthma bout with my body. No breathe, so no energy, and no stamina. All I wanted to do was stay in bed. So that's pretty much all I've done except for one week when I broke out with a red rash on my face and had to go to Houston for a dermatologist appt. (It's almost all gone now. Thank the good Lord!)
2.
AND the other reason I haven't been posting . . .
Remember back in February when my computer cratered and would only
boot half way? Well, In September it CRASHED, BURNED, and went to
HEAVEN!!! Consequently, I had to buy a new one. Bad news was it was ony
4 years old - I keep them much longer than that. In fact the one before
that is still working - decrepitly but still working. Good news? Well, now I have the very newest iMac with a 24" screen!! Woohoo!!)
Anyway, from there, you know the drill . . . It's re-find and reinstall
everything. OOPS! My printer is NINE, count them, NINE years old!!
YIKES... they not only don't have print drivers for it anymore but they
don't even make ink for it anymore. LOL. So-o-o-o, new printer! (Bad news? Another learning curve! Good news? I now have a brand new wide format HP printer Yippee!! Hope I learn how to make it print.
Next, the saga of the scanner. It was a top of the line large bed
scanner from HP and still working GREAT! Only thing is that since I
have the very newest iMac -- with the latest system version: Mac OS
10.6 Snow Leopard --- well, HP won't getaround to developing the scanner
drivers for that until some of the newer scanners have drivers for Snow Leopard -- so I
can get a driver for my OLD scanner in DECEMBER!!! Yuk!
I'm barely moving along in the "learn-new-hardware" department and
managing to do things I don't need a scanner for -- &$*@#! But I can
print -- some things -- LOL.
I was honored to get the frontice piece for Palais du Art.
See:
Photo of my skeleton piece in Pasticcio Issue 7
Beyond all that, I'm frantically trying to stay afloat putting this major art exhibit together at church... AND make art for it... gasp, gasp. A couple of pictures of the making of one piece about Deborah and Jael (the show's theme is "Art inspired by the Book of Judges") and then tah tah for tonight --
1 2
3 4
5
Okey dokey --that's it so far... hopethis piece gets better soon!
Hey, remember Deryn's challenge project? She challenged us all to work through Mary Hettmansperger's book. Wrap, Stitch, Fold, and Rivet? Well, there are 20 projects and I had done only TWO! Deryn has finished all of the projects and posted Project 20-Twisted Wire Choker Necklace - although she didn't do a necklace. She did these gorgeous earrings:
She will be drawing a name from those of us who participated in the challenge to give two prizes (pieces she created during the challenge.) We get to have our name in the drawing for as many of the projects as we did. She encouraged us to do one more before she has the drawing so I took her up on it.
I did Project 6 - Mixed Metal Earrings. Here is a look at Mary's Hettmansperger's Project 6:
Earrings by Mary Hettmansperger Photo from her book.
Of course the idea here is to use different kinds of metal in one pair of earrings. After digging through all the metals pieces that I have patterned and patinated, I actually ended up using copper for both major pieces in these earrings... yuk, I forgot about mixing metals. That's the way we artists are -- once the muse hits we lose control of the work! Oh well, I consider the copper pieces, the little silver tag I used to screw the pieces together at the top, and the brass bead caps all count as mixing metals.
Peek-a-Boo Earrings
The required techniques for Project 6 are:
Applying heat-treated patinas
Using liver of sulfur patina
Installing eyelets and brads
Making wire-wrapped loops
I pretty much did all this except I used itty-bitty screws and nuts instead of brads.
I love how the little turquois nuggets peek out of these brass filigree bead caps. They almost look like clappers in tiny brass bells.
Capped Bead Dangles
One thing I learned though - - next time I make a "peek-a-boo" element, I will not use a tired ole head pin. When someone inevitably turns the bead cap up to get a better view of what is in there, I want something showing that is a little more creative than a head pin -- like maybe a paddle or spiral end on the wire.
A-a-a-anyway, I want you to have a look at the great patinae. (Click on the image to get a better look.)
Patinated Copper
The bottom piece is copper that I think I used liver of sulfur and heat to patinate. However, it was so ling ago I don't really even remember where I did it or how. All I know is how ecstatic I was about the pink color I got in the copper contrasting with the black. The top copper strip I created in Susan Lenart Kazmer's class at a retreat in Seattle. I wrote with black sharpie on the copper piece before I used green patina solution on it and let it patina overnight. What a rich green patina you get if you are willing to wait.
If you would like to see other mixed metal earrings in this challenge project just go to Deryn's challenge blog and find Project 6 listed in the left sidebar. Each artist who did this project is listed there. Clicking on a name will take you to that person's blog post about that project.
Now, I need to go post this entry so at least I'll have my name in the drawing three times.
The girls hit the studio and took up where they left off last year -- making "money" from bottle caps. (Actually, they started last night.) Then they were served the first course of breakfast -fruit and cream. Papa T cooked breakfast for us on the grill outside.
Shades of Charlie's Angels.
The girls decided that today would be a "mess around Huntsville" day. They had lots of fun with these bead wigs. In the car, they would entertain themselves by putting them over the front seat head rests so they could "style" them -- pigtails, braids, etc. Kids can be very imaginative if left to their own devices.
Waiting on the adults to get ready for exploring Huntsville, the girls set up a domino "fall." Notice the bead wigs on the floor. Beads are a nuisance to setting up dominoes.
Here is a look at the show:
Did you notice that the bead wigs were back in place for the big show? A few hours later, Carly told me that they wanted to re-film the whole thing because she did not like what she said at the end. I agreed to film again and here is what happened:
LOL. A little lesson in the technical difficulties of filming "live"!! I don't think that was quite the ending they had planned. Oh, well. . . on to the next activity. BTW, did you notice that today is pigtail day?
Girls sign in while Papa T waits
On the path to the statue, there is a duplicate Sam Houston face. Our custom is to climb the back of it to take pictures and to sign the back of it. The girls found Korie's name from last month.
All of this while . . .
Papa T Waits!
Back on the path to the statue, I couldn't resist the ever popular "feet" shot.
Then I got the shot of a lifetime for the Sam Statue.
We were still on the path around at the back of the statue. I crouched down right behind the girls and nearly fell over! I manged to get the girls and the statue right up to the head. This statue is so huge that usually you see people backing up (to the highway) to try getting their loved ones and the statue in one shot -- impossible. I finally hit on a way to do it. Yea!
See, from the front of the statue, I could only get a part of his legs in the picture and not even his feet! The base alone is taller than any of the grown-ups. So might as well get a good close up of the girls!
Last year we discovered a rather cruel form of graffiti - scraping and scratching writing into the leaves of a plant. This plant was still alive this year thank goodness. Don't people know that it is the leaves of a plant that take in the sunlight and turn it to nourishment for the plant? Carly said they couldn't really see the graffiti in last year's pictures on-line so I made a large one:
(Click on any picture to see a larger version.)
Next it was out through the secret path to meet up with Papa T and take a sashay through the gift shop.
In the gift shop, the girls donned these great cowgirl hats in honor of pigtail day!
After the Sam Houston Visitor's Center, we went to Hastings to rent movies (another tradition) and then to what used to be King's Candy (a Camp T tradition as well.) There is a new owner and alas, we don't like it as much. The candy was moved to the back so it doesn't show well. The food was different, too. Bummer.
After a late lunch at Kings, we spent some time working on shrink plastic minibooks. these will be little spiral journal books about 1" X 1.5 "!! But the covers are made from shrink plastic so they start out at about 3" X 5" or more. When we work hard, there are fewer pictures. Forgive me. Notice that a couple of Barbie dolls are making it onto the work table, too. We're thinking about altering them.
For dinner, we selected a command repeat from last year -- hotdogs with chili!
When the day cooled off, about 7PM, we went back out to the golf course. (Mimi was too tired to take pictures of the three holes we played. They would have looked very much the same as the last ones you saw anyway.)
This picture represents a couple of little girls who came in, kicked off their shoes, and went to bed!
Carly, Mairead, and Korie buckle up to ride with us to the restaurant.
Camp usually starts at a restaurant with lunch for the whole family. Since we met at the kids' house this time, all the girls wanted to ride to the restaurant with us. They were giddy with excitement -- partly because of Camp T but mostly because they each had a purse with a surprise in it for Papa T and me:
Our beaded jewels!! This is what was in the purses. (Aren't those headdresses fantastic?)
Lunch at an old favorite - - Willies:
Of course dessert was the best!
CAMP TURLINGTON, Session II, Day One
After we arrived in Huntsville, Carly and Mairead had a surprise for us themselves:
(I took these 2 pics with my iPhone. So far I'm not too good with the photos. Sorry)
After unloading the car, the first adventure is buying groceries. You remember that at Camp T, the campers get to select ANYTHING they want from the grocery store for eating all week. Can you say "sugar-high?" Since our new, one-and-only Target opened the day before, the girls decided to try buying groceries there.
WooHoo!!!! We have a TARGET!!! (I know. I know. But it's a little town remember.)
I remembered the girls holding hands last year and wondered if they would still do that. Isn't it precious?
Well, we DO like fruit but Kroger has a better selection so let's see what else Target has.
Yeah, let's get pencils and then go to Kroger for food.
So we left Target -- to the tune of a rainbow!
And, off to Kroger . . .
Now Papa T has a weird affliction -- maybe more than one -- but we all think this one is strange. He can't stand to touch a peach... no I mean literally touch. He likes to eat peaches but says that to touch that fuzzy skin makes him feel the same as running fingernails on a blackboard. Isn't that wild? So the first thing the girls want to do is get peaches for teasing Papa T!
Did we get enough popsicles?
Papa T told them to get only one to share (he meant one package of 50!) Carly said, "I can one all by myself! (Shethought he meant for them to share one single popcicle!)
This brings me to a first for Camp T. At the end of the shopping, Carly asked, "Can we get some candy?" And in a loud booming voice, Papa T said emphatically, "NO!"
What??!? Camp T's first "no!" But as you could probably guess, Papa T gave in by the time we got to the checkout stand and we got candy! With these kiddoes, he is such a pushover.
Having taken care of the essentials, we headed for the links. Carly might end up being the golfer in the family. Doesn't that warm Papa T's heart?
Alrighty then, one hole down and we're approaching evening. If you click on the images you'll get a better view of what's going on . . . like dancing a jazzy walk, trying to chip from the lake, and in the next batch you'll see some "flag core" moves. (Did you have a flag core that performed at games in high school? We did.) So, anyway, Mairead drives us to the next hole.
Is anyone having fun yet?
Here are the pictures of the "flag core" on the putting green. Also, notice the putting happy-dance.
So, Carly's putt ends the evening - a couple of holes, a couple of hours -- as the game is called due to darkness!
We had showers and selected a dinner of Spaghetti-Os. for a few minutes, the girls worked in the studio making bottle cap "money" as they did last year. they pretend they make money for the government of a small country. They take orders, make the money and sell it. Clever, huh?
We also took a look-see into the studio to begin thinking about art projects. The girls spend time in their room working in their diaries - a gift from Papa T and Mimi.
The Chamber Maid, a "Magnetic Personality" I created in a workshop with Stephanie Rubiano
Weekend before last, I joined a group of artists who are MAGNETIC PERSONALITIES themselves in a workshop with Stephanie Rubianio which she calls, "Magnetic Pesonalities." My good friend, Deryn Mentock and I met with two friends I had not seen in three or four years, Kim Loya and Stephanie Rubiano.
Left to Right: Stephanie, Kim, Sally, Deryn
Deryn and I met Stephanie and Kim on Friday in Austin to catch up and to shop (of course).
Uncommon Objects in Austin, Texas (Photo by Diane Cook)
Deryn finding those rare objects she uses in creating her art jewelry. (Photo by Stephanie Rubiano)
After hours of shopping in that awesome co-op of stores, we braved the heat to check out the refreshment stands across the street.
(Photos by Stephanie Rubiano)
Our better judgment and burning bodies convinced us to leave the 104 degree heat and head for Stephanie's home where we were joined by an online friend, Diane Cook.
Oh, my word!! You can't believe this house! It is an absolute paradise to anyone, much less to her mixed media artist friends. The whole place is gorgeously decorated with art by Stephanie and other creative artists. Her studio off the entrance to the left is crammed with incredible eye candy.
Scenes in Stephanie's house. (These pictures made previously by Stephanie Rubiano.)
We called it a day after a delicious meal out and a trip to Baskin Robbins! When you see the pictures I post next from the workshop on Saturday, I suggest you keep an eye out for the yummy art all over Stephanie's home. In addition, you can see more pictures on her blog, So I Gathered, especially here. Her studio is an absolute delight. You can see pictures of parts of it on Diane's blog here and on Deryn's blog here. In addition, Stephanie has pictures throughout her blog and archives at "So I Gathered."
Stephanie's "Magnetic Personalities" Workshop on Saturday
Here are the other "Magnetic Personalities" who took the workshop. Left to right: Kim Loya, Mary, Beth, Cece Grimes, Jennifer Rowland, Diane Cook, me, and Deryn Mentock. In the background is part of Stephanie's collection of channel letters. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)
Deryn Mentock and Kim Loya
Cece Grimes and Jennifer Rowland
"OH, SALLY! Me and Stephanie
Stephanie had prepared the boards for our dolls so the first thing we had to do was cut them out with a jeweler's saw. (That was a great refresher for me!) On the left here is how they looked after sawing them.
Next we went to work making clothes for our wooden dolls. This is where the fun really set in. We all became clothing designers and played like little girls with paperdolls.
Jennifer, Mary and Cece
Kim tries out a metal headdress.
Deryn works with us at Table B. Things are shaping up.
Table A in the far room, Table B on left above, and the sawing station on the right. (Photo by Stephanie Rubiabno)
Next, Stephanie demonstrated how to wax select pieces of our wardrobes and also how to accomplish waxing delicate butterfly wings. Then she assisted as we made accessories from metal, fabric, and found objects.
After we got some frocks made and learned how to put the powerful little magnets on the back of them, the little darlings came to life and our table tops began to look like behind the scenes at a designer's runway show. What fun it was.
Jennifer and Cece produced as if they had a whole staff of designers!
Deryn's doll models one of her line of chic clothing.
Kim's doll wears a unique peacock skirt.
My newest BFF, Diane Cook and her doll with those creative wings.
Me and my doll donning her other outfit. (Get it? The clothes are only magnetically held to the doll! Very cool idea, Stephanie.)
This workshop was a total blast! If you have a chance to take any of Stephanie's workshops, I highly recommend it. She is a fount of knowledge and I PROMISE you will learn loads of techniques applicable to your own work.
Dinner at ZTejas. Left to right: Deryn, Kim, me and Diane. (Photo by Stephanie Rubiano)
City-wide Garage Sale!!!
Austin has a regularly scheduled city-wide garage sale! Woohoo! (Photo by Stephanie Rubiano)
Some of my loot from Uncommon Objects and the City-wide Garage Sale.
Well, of course I had to get this chest of drawers!!
Though my sweet cupie doll says right on the back that he is the "BEST" . . .
I have to admit that the best thing I went home with was one of Stephanie's exquisite little PIXIES!
My pixie is "bijou," a French word for a small, exquisitely wrought trinket; something small and delicately worked; or an adornment made of precious metals and set with gems. And precious she is!
Thank you, Stephanie, for a grand weekend.
Pixie created by Stephanie Rubiano (Click on image for a closer look.)
We are making a doll using Korie's drawing as a pattern. (Click on picture to get better view.)
We got the head stuffed. I'm sewing on the machine (to make it go fast enoough for a six year old) and Korie is stuffing.
Now we have all body parts stuffed but not sewn together yet. Korie has selected all the fabrics, buttons, yarn, etc.
Monitoring and gluing - both important tasks. LOL.
Remember the heart? After we got the body sewn together - all but the head, Korie re-evaluated and said, "She needs a heart." I told her no one would see it -- she said in 'build-a-bear' fashion, "I don't care. She has to have a heart." So in it went - stuffed right in where the heart goes!
< < < AND THEN THE UNVEILING > > >
When we took Korie to meet her Mom to go home, we showed the doll to her and to her sister, Carly. both were very impressed with it. Carly said in wide-eyed amazement, "Wow! It *does* look exactly like Korie's drawings of girls."
I can have whatever I want for Breakfast -- I choose . . . Yes, chicken tenders and ketchup.
Typical CampT Breakfast Direct from the "Anything-you-want" Grocery shopping adventure.
After a nutritious breakfast - not! - we head off to the highlight of this year's camp . . .
THE BUTTERFLY MUSEUM
When we entered the tropical paradise . . . sweet, beautiful butterflies were everywhere. They flew around in graceful swirls, they landed on the ground, trees, people,and feeding bowls. It was great - except for one thing...
Korie was terrified of them!
She froze in her tracks when one had landed in our path. She ducked and squelled when they flew past us. Oh, My heavens! So we did a quick soiree though the exhibit taking pictures and prodding Korie on.
When we reached the bottom and were ready to make the other half of the trek out of the museum, Korie said with fists clenched against her chest, head bowed, eyes half closed . . .
"I'LL BE GLAD WHEN WE'RE *DONE* WITH THIS!"
Hmmm-m-m... so much for the grand finale! LOL.
I didn't like the butterfly museum.
But I LOVED the gift shop! I got a fancy pen and a glittery, gemstone butterfly pin!!
(A little shopping always saves the day!)
Next, a McDonald's lunch . . . sort of . . . selected of course by the camper!
Well, yes, French fries and ice cream. What'd ya expect?
WooHoo, we're leaving the butterfly museum!!
After a meander through the dinosaurs and more gift shops, we made our way to the car to return home. Though I got no picture of it, Korie and Papa T went riding on the golf cart. Korie drove the whole nine holes! Later, Korie and I decided we must get serious about that art project.
Yea! We're starting tonight. Tomorrow we will finish it!!
After Camp Turlington left the Incredible Pizza, we stopped by the Sam Houston statue on the way home. This is an annual favorite and anyway, Korie had been too little to graffiti her name on the back of Sam's face last year.
Now, which Papa T put that hat on my sweet girl? And where did she learn that pose?
In the park behind the statue is an little amphitheater with a small(?) copy of Sam's face. The back of it is concave and unfinished. The kids use markers to graffiti their name on it in the back. With a little lift, we helped Korie take this traditional picture looking over the face.
After a short walk through the park, the trail brings you out around the base of the statue. Korie moved out from the base but still couldn't see Sam's shoulders or head! The statue is just too tall to see totally from this area. His feet are planted on top of the base which is barely visible just above the head of the lady holding the little boy. . . Even the base is taller than any of the adults. Yes, this statue is best seen from the car driving along I-45! Except, of course, you don't want to miss the visitor's center behind the statue. So, stop in, by all means!
On our way out, we witnessed this horrible spectacle. Graffiti in our unofficial, sort-of-arthorized spot behind Sam's head is way different from this plant-damaging graffiti. Korie agreed.
After leaving the statue grounds, we took a tired camper to the traditional "buy-anything-you-want" grocery store shopping spree.
Really! Anything I want! (What are grandparents for?)
Hm-m-m, fruit? I dunno. Uh, Papa T, are you calling your banker?
I doubt Papa T saved 15€ents like the sign behind him said, don't you?
We got home and had one of the Lunchables and fruit for supper. THEN - -
Out to the Studio to make final plans and gather materials for the art project! (More in the next post.)
Christ the Redeemer Stained Glass Exhibit by members of the First Christian Church
We got up early and took breakfast on the go (dry Cheerios and apple juice.) We went to my church to see the exhibit of stained glass works by some of my church family members and me. The ten of us created these stained glass butterflies assembled together to reveal an image of Christ in the background.
First Christian Church Sanctuary Resurrection decor including the stained glass exhibit
Stained Glass Exhibit (Click image for a closer look)
Can you see the Christ image? Hint: He is a silhouette in emerald green. If you look at all ten glasses as one whole piece and concentrate on the green glass background, you'll see it forms an image of the upper part of Christ's body with his arms extended.
The upper middle piece has Christ's head in green (with a butterfly in front of it, of course.) This glass is by Rev. Kyle Dennis who taught us to create these stained glass pieces. He is an accomplished stained glass artist and has made many glasses for the rooms of our church.
The glass on the far right side of the installation contains the green silhouette of Christ's outstretched hand. (Clearly visible here as both butterflies are behind the hand.) This glass was created by my good friend and wonderful artist, Molly Campbell. This was her first stained glass work.
My butterfly is in front of the left sleeve of Christ's robe. This was my first attempt at stained glass. In fact, only one of the artists besides Kyle had any prior experience with stained glass. Kyle said he encouraged advanced images because we wouldn't know any better than to create them even though we had only five weeks (one day a week) to complete them. None of us would agree to intricate images in that time constraint again!
Now click on the picture above of the whole stained glass installation to get a large image and see if you can identify the Christ figure. Don't worry if you can't ever see it. No matter what we do or say some folks just can't see the image of Christ back there. It's a gorgeous display even if all you see is the butterflies, right? Besides, when Christ actually appears again, you'll see him -- EVERYONE will see him! There'll be no mistaking or missing Him then.
By the way, day before yesterday Kyle led a devotional for the artists involved in this project. We reflected on the hand of Christ in our creations. Then we disassembled the installation and each of us took our butterflies home. Mine will have a home in the kitchen window.
But I digress -- let's get back to Camp Turlington. This was only the first item on the agenda for day 2. Korie liked the stained glasses but I think she enjoyed the back stage look at the church sanctuary even more. She went back in the Sacristy and climbed the steps to the Baptistry. She also investigated the sound room at the back of the sanctuary behind the curtain:
Korie said excitedly, "This is the first time I've seen this [behind-the-scenes] in any church." (She and her family - my son, DIL, and two other grandchildren - attend a large Catholic Church.)
Now we must go home to pick up Papa T and get on with Day 2.
THE BLINK_EYED MONSTER
What does an imaginative child do to pass the time while waiting in boredom for two grown-ups to get ready to go somewhere????? I'll show you!!!! (Just click the arrow below to watch the video.)
Oh, how she loved those sunglasses. Have you noticed that to entertain
a young child often takes next to nothing? On the other hand sometimes
we go to the other extreme like . . . none other than an annual
favorite --
INCREDIBLE PIZZA!
Playing miniature golf. The first picture was candid but she posed for the other one. (L'il Drama Queen)
Next? Miniature bowling:
Though she first started in a seated position, she soon discovered she could handle this miniature bowling in the regular way! Woohoo! A Strike!!
Now, how 'bout a game of air hockey with Papa T - I can beat him!
Deal or No Deal was stressful . . .
. . . but very profitable!!
So now, let's chill in the playground area:
ALL DONE!!
Well, that was the end of the first part of the day. We've still got a touristy visit to make and the famous GROCERY STORE FIASCO before we go back to the studio to end day 2.
Check back soon for more hints about Korie's art project. Day 2 will continue in the next post. WHEW!
How do I know it's summer? I'll give you three hints:
1.
2.
3.
How do I know it's summer? Ah-h-h-h, yes! 1. Yummy watermelon, 2. Lip-pursing, sour green plums, and 3. Incredible Pizza!
Tha-a-a-a-a-t's right -- CAMP TURLINGTON 2009!!!!!!
Korie was our first camper this year. She is six years old and still has her inner artist intact. Yippee!
You can tell that Mimi is a year older because I forgot to take the camera on Day One of Camp Turlington. We met Korie's whole family for lunch and took her back to Huntsville with us... a tired little girl. She had awakened early in anticipation of her turn at Camp Turlington and the fatigue added to her apprehension of leaving mama. She cried for about a third of the trip - uncertain about wanting to go - until Mimi got in the back seat with her. The fun began then as we started making camp plans.
We went immediately to see the Disney movie, UP, and loved it. (Mama has been forgotten - no more tears. LOL) Then we went home to unpack, eat, and go to the studio for a good start on an idea for this summer's art project. Here's a hint as to what it is:
Korie's Sketch
We managed to get out of the studio at 10:30PM and went to bed to look at pictures in two art magazines, and then to read two books -The Boy who Ate Aroundand The Poky Little Puppy(the first is one of my current favorite children's books written and illustrated by Henrik Drescher and the second was my favorite when I was Korie's age.)
Stay tuned as Day 2 of Camp Turlington is jam packed!
Oh, wow! Now I know how it feels to have even a little bit of your art on the cover of a published book!! L.K. Ludwig's new book, published by Quarry, has a cover based on my journal cover. Naturally, they used some technology to move things around for the cover but it's still recognizable as my art. I'm so excited. On the cover of LK's book, the area inside the metal slide frame is cut out so that when you open the book, you see that the "Please Sign In" tag is actually on the front endpaper. That's pretty cool - a hole in the cover.
Lucky me! My Colour Play journal is featured on
the page facing the introduction to the book. And get this -- see the
little strip of trinkets to the right of the introduction? That is a
picture of a part of my book spine! How clever is that? I think if you
click on the introduction page to get a larger scan, you can probably
read what the book is about.
I tried to show you a
larger scan of the spine of my book in the image to the right here.
This is a really terrible picture of it because I had to open to covers
on the scanner and that made a dip in the middle where the charms don't
show and there is no light. Bummer. I didn't have my digital camera
then. When I get my book back. I'll try to get a decent photo and
replace this one. You will have to click on the image to see the scan
at all.
ART JOURNAL COLLABORATIVES
Four of our books from the Arte ed Anima group's Colour Play art journal collaborative were pictured on the page facing the introduction to art journal collaboratives. (Click on the image to see it more clearly.) The books shown here are (left to right, top to bottom) by Lynne Porter, Lou McCulloch, Sally Turlington, and Kim Logan.
In L.K.'s book, the section on art journal collaboratives begins with the Colour Play journal round robin. There is a short article and TEN large pictures of some of the journal pages in that project.
I blogged about the Colour Play project, hostessed by Sue Berry,
which traveled from the UK across the United States. The assignment
each month specified a different art technique and color palette that
had to be used. Each artist made her book and created the pages for
January before sending the book on the next artist. You might enjoy
seeing those blog posts for 2006: January 22 , February 2, June 2, June 28, and Oct. 8.
Since that round robin started before I began my blog, I didn't have
blog posts for all the assignments. You can see the the pages I did for
the books in my photo album called, Colour Play.
Spreads by Sue Berry (top) and Sally Turlington (bottom)
ALTERED BOOK ROUND ROBINS
In another section, L.K. talks about altered book round robins. In the introduction to that section, my altered calendar spread was shown on the facing page along with five spreads from other altered books:
The middle spread on the left side is mine. And the strip on the right page, too.
Did you even notice that the strip they used one this introduction page is from my spread also? They used a strip of images right down the center of my spread (on the left page) - including the tags at the top of the book. I'll show you these two spreads in larger versions so you might see what I'm talking about.
See? All except the top red part of the strip came from the right-most edge of this page. (You will probably have to click on these images to see larger versions of them.)
This is the other page shown in the spread they have in the book . . . although, the two pages were not opposite each other in the actual altered calendars -- more technology on Quarry's part. I don't mind. I'm just thrilled to have art in the book.
The section in L.K.'s book about altered books starts with our Altered Calendar round robin hosted by Kathy Wasilewski. There is a short article about the round robin and 14 large pictures of spreads in the various altered appointment calendars.
My spread is the one on top here.
Here is a better look at those two pages I was happy to get into this luscious book:
Birthday and Saturday's Child, mixed media spread in altered calendar (Click on the image to get a look at some of the writing.)
Assemblage and Jewelry Collaboration by Deryn Mentock and Jen Worden
My good friend, Deryn Mentock and her collaborator, Jen Worden, have a featured article about an assemblage, sculpture, and jewelry piece they created called Midnight in the Valley of the Bones.
Assemblage and Jewelry colaboration by Deryn Mentock and Jen Worden
This is an awesome piece with a detachable necklace. It is based on the story about Ezekiel when he came upon a valley of dry bones where God commanded him to speak to the bones. God breathed into the bones and brought them to life! (Great story -- read it n Ezekiel Chapter 37.) Jen's assemblage is facinating and Deryn's accompanying necklace is no less a marvel, as her jewelry usually is.
Get this hot-off-the-press book and check all the newest things out for yourself. And be sure sure to check the blogs of some of the artists I've mentioned. Undoubtedly, they will have blog posts about the behind-the-scenes goings-on!!
Don't let the cover picture at Amazon fool you, they used a "working" cover picture. If you click to "see inside" the book, you'll get the right cover picture. Every time I see this one, my tummy flips like when you see an old friend! That journal cover is an old friend for sure.
Easter Stained Glass Display above the altar at Huntsville's First Christian Church.
Can you see the silhouette figure of Christ in the background of our stained glass butterfly panels? He is done in green glass and shows his head, shoulders and outstretched arms and hands. Just focus on the green glass that is in every one of the ten butterfly panels -- disregard the butterflies and see only the green background. See HIM? (Hint: the top center panel has His head and the left-most and right-most panels have his hands.) He is modeled after the statute, Christ the Redeemer, located in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. (Ours is just the top portion of it - from the chest up)
Well, we were quite excited at our church on Easter morning - not just because we were celebrating the risen Christ - but because our Easter art project made the first page of the paper -- above the fold!!! and what was below the fold??
A picture of our young, wiser-than-his-years minister, Kyle Dennis, shown adjusting . . .
MY STAINED GLASS!!! Yes, this is the one I made. Isn't that cool? The whole idea for the glass project was Kyle's. His hobby is making stained glass and he's really quite good at it. He took a bunch of beginners, gave us intermediate projects (we selected our own butterfly, colors, and glass), taught us to make patterns and construct our panels. It took about six weeks of work for us all to complete our windows.
This display was really gorgeous with our glorious stained glass of Christ in Gethsemane towering over the altar and many gorgeous Easter lilies adorning the area all around the sides. We were all very proud of the handiwork. I was especially excited abou t it as I had my mom and my uncle (from California) - both in their 80's visting! What a treat!
Easter 2009 (Left to right: Dorothy (Mom), Ray (choir member), Jerry (DH), Molly (BFF), Jack (Uncle), Carol (choir director & BFF), Sally (me), Charlie (Molly's DH)
What a great crew - everyone except Mom, Jack, and my DH is in the church choir!. What angels they all are. We had a special after-church, Easter dinner together. Fun.
But - - I digress... back to the story of the stained glass.
This is just one of many art projects we have done and have planned as a result of Kyle's studies at Wesley Theological Seminary where he is currently pursuing a doctorate of ministry. And get this --- his program there is a specialty in ART AND THEOLOGY!! Yeas, I said ART and Theology!! Isn't that the grandest thing you've herd in a long while from a theological seminary?? We are all so thrilled. Our minister is a very talented guy, interested in all the arts - especially the aspect of finding and connecting with Christ in art. there are many of us in the church that are already involded in one or more of the arts and many more climbing on board with each new project!
I'll be telling you more about this exciting program in the church as we get more accomplished. I have agreed to serve as arts ministry team leader. One of our first projects is to renovate one of the classrooms in our church to be used as an art studio. This coming Saturday we will be moving furniture, painting, installing a sink, building cabinets and shelves, etc. After that we will be using money designated by our board to purchase tables and chairs for the studio. Another project is working on guidelines and procedures for using our fellowship hall as an art gallery! Oh, it is all just too exciting.
In case you are interested in reading the article published in our newspaper on Easter, I've included it below. [I couldn't help but add a couple of, hopefully, clarifying notes. My comments are in brackets. Check out the diagram I added at the bottom to try to shed some light on the neswpaper guy's understanding of what was surely a little mini-sermon from Kyle as they talked about the stained glass project. LOL]
I'll be posting about our other art projects very soon. (Forgive me for taking such a long break from you. I've missed you and those reaffirming comments you make to my blog posts. I'll do my best not to be away so long again.) so, what do you think about my very first stained glass window? this is a very crude picture of it -- taken from the newspaper. The display is still up in the sanctuary of the church. When it comes down, I'll try to get a better photo of it. It was quite fun to make -- notice the little wire antennae -- they are actually only attached on one end so they look even more real.
Here is a copy of the article from the paper:
Church members focus on the arts and theology
By Brandon Scott Item Correspondent
First Christian Church created something special for its congregation this Easter Sunday. When the doors of the church are open, they will be greeted by the silhouette outline of “Christ the Redeemer.”
Members of the church designed 10 individual stained glass windows with different patterns in each of them. The windows will hang in the sanctuary above the altar in the church at 1800 Avenue R. The overall theme ties the pieces together to represent the resurrected Christ. Easter lilies will also fill the baptistery.
Pastor Kyle Dennis was inspired with the idea shortly before traveling to Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. At this ministry program, the focus is the arts and theology.
Dennis wants to reintroduce the arts into worship and spiritual development. “We’ve lost the ability to read and interpret language, music, image and dance,” Dennis said. “When limiting ourselves to words we limit ourselves to a part of who God is.”
The butterfly is a standard symbol of resurrection and the windows are designed to communicate salvation. Dennis distinguished salvation as a process as opposed to an event.
“Justification usually happens right away,” Dennis said. [Actually, justification is gifted to us by God at the time we become believers.] “Sanctification occurs [during] the rest of our lives [as we are] being made holy [in the image of Jesus], but glorification is the part of the process that lasts the longest. It’s eternal life.” [A believer enters eternal life at the point of death or at the time our savior returns -- whichever is first!]
Later he [Dennis] went on to define art as a process as opposed to a product, which can be compared to the resurrection of Christ as a process and salvation as a process. The resurrection of Christ validated the suffrage of the crucifixion, just as sanctification ultimately leads to salvation. [Salvation is the term given to the whole process - from birth and then Justification, through Sanctification, to final Glorification.]
Dennis explained the tedious process of cutting the stained glass to make windows look like art to the public eye. It takes time and sacrifice, as does anything else worth glorifying, he said. This church will emphasize the significance of the suffrage that eventually leads to the holy day known as Easter.
This diagram was first drawn for me by Kyle in the very first Bible study I did at this church. I really liked how it seemed to clarify some vague terms in my mind. I later added some verses to the diagram and I'm sure there are even better ones that I have here to illustrate the three terms of salvation.
Hope your Easter was as fun, inspiring and hopeful as mine was.
WooHoo!!! I got published in the lastest issue of Pasticcio (Issue 6). Doesn't it thrill the socks off of ya when you get a piece published? It does me... for sure... usually I have such little to offer for publication that when I actually see one of my pieces in a magazine, book, or zine, it just tickles me pink! Here is the piece they selected for this issue:
Chickadee, mixed media collage
I created this collage in a journal belonging to someone in a round robin. It is text, a map, fabric, transparencies, paper collage items, rubber stamped images, and thread.
I have to admit, this is one of my favorite pieces. I've done some doozies that I wasn't all that crazy about but this one I like. Does that happen to you? You get finished with a piece and it really doesn't click for you while others do? But some of the ones I don't like, other people do like and vice versa . . . so go figure.
My thanks to Angela and Sara for including me this time! I think their quartz rocks! (Even when I'm not in it.) These gals must be the busiest artists in the universe with all the publishing they are doing. Check out their web sites linked above or their blogs: Angela's Said and Doneand Sarah's Ragtags Studio Centralfor all the latest in their worlds.
