Summer Blog Posts #6

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Gorgeous (gorgeous!) flower constructions by Anne Ten Donkelaar.

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Something WRITTEN

moving on suggested by Deb

Steve and I realized last night that we have lived in the same apartment almost three and a half years. This is the second longest we’ve ever lived in one place.

We tend to move a lot.

I’m not sure why this is. But in 25 years together, we’ve lived in seven places. This means that every three years or so we start looking on Craigslist for greener grass.

At the moment we live/work in a truly beautiful space, though — a dream apartment really! — and it would be kind of hard to find something better than we have now.

Hmmmm.

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Something MADE

Chihuahua!

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “pow wow,” “yellow gutter,” “oh man,” “why after” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #5

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Beautiful work by Kelsey Shultis (via Art Hound)

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Something WRITTEN

two words, suggested by Jane Wherry

 

Writing posts
using prompts
from you
of only

two words

is really
much harder
than I
thought it
would be.

But I’m
having fun
with it —
so please
keep on
posting your

two words.

(Thank you!)

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Something MADE

Imaginary flowers from a few years ago:

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you Monday!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “John Smith,” “purple guitar,” “get down,” “how now” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #4

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Lovely illustration work by Makoto Maruyama (via Artistic Moods blog):

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Something WRITTEN

ten years, suggested by cathee

Ten years ago I was 44 years old and had just returned from a month-long art-teaching trip to India.

Ten years before that I was 34 years old and grieving the sudden death of my father (a heart attack at only 62).

Ten years before that I was 24 years old I was beginning a year of studying History in Sweden and was pregnant with my first son, Christer.

Ten years before that I was 14 years old and was taking a ceramics class in summer school where I made a little clay elephant that I broke on the way home and threw away in frustration (but my sister retrieved it from the trash and for that I am grateful).

Ten years before that I was 4 years old and honestly can’t remember what I was doing that summer but I do remember the day before I turned 4 in May telling the grocery store clerk that I would be “this many” tomorrow (while holding up four fingers).

Ten years from now I will be 64 years old (hopefully) and will have three teenaged grandchildren and will have published “that” book (hopefully).

Ten years from then I will be 74 (hopefully) and, gosh, the grandkids will be in their 20s.

Ten years from then I will be 84 years old (hopefully) and Steve and I will have been married 55 years (hopefully).

Ten years from then I might still be alive at 94 (my grandmother lived until 102!) and if so I hope I am still drawing and painting.

Ten years from then I will most certainly not be here anymore, but hopefully by then it will be okay.

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Something MADE

The elephant from the summer before 9th grade:

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “think do,” “blue bunny,” “gripes before,” “Oh man” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #3

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

seno-kaori has lovely work; her website!

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Something WRITTEN

stinky feet, suggested by tcre8ive

So I was at the airport and in the security line. That day things were moving fast and I was feeling pretty good, unusual for me and airport security lines.

It was April 14th and I was flying home to Seattle from Denver — a quick trip for my mother’s 80th birthday. My mom, sister and I had spent a good day together the day before; Kelly had arranged for us to spend the day at The Wild Animal Sanctuary. The weather was beautiful — welcomingly hot! — and I noticed that the park was basically a 1.5 mile elevated sidewalk where we could observe tigers and lions and bears from a high vantage point.

My heart leapt; I could kill two birds with one stone! The two “birds” were:

1. Honor the woman who gave birth to me, raised me, and who, miraculously, had made it to 80 despite several life-threatening health scares in her life.
2. Get my walk in.

They had wheelchairs to rent and my mom had wandered over to the parking lot. She was settling into a nice big one when Kelly and I looked at each other and sprung into action.

“No, mom,” Kelly said. “Your chair is over here.”

My mom’s face fell. We were pointing out (cheerfully, big smiles!) a motorized chair.

“But I…” she protested as we plopped her on her chariot.

My mom was nervous that she wouldn’t be able to drive that fast thing, and said that she preferred that we push her in “that wheelchair over there….” But her voice trailed off as she pointed vaguely to the right, clearly giving up. Kelly and I exchanged a cautiously triumphant look and I started giving mom instructions on how to push the lever.

Well, we got through it.

The 3-mile round trip was made up of numerous jerky starts and stops, a couple of crash landings, and a bathroom break. At one point Kelly had to walk alongside mom for about a mile with her thumb impressively steady on the “go” lever.

Mom was a nervous wreck the whole time.

We did get to see a few animals, though. “Look mom,” I would say. “Do you see those black dots in the corner there, by the fence? Not there… farther away, yes, there! Yes, way out there! Those are lions!”

Still, all told it was a pretty good day! My mom has a good sense of humor and we all laughed a lot. An hour later we dropped mom off at her residential home in time for dinner and then drove home to Kelly’s house, exhausted but happy things had gone so well.

I was thinking of our successful birthday outing when I grabbed my bin and took off my shoes, as one does when one doesn’t have TSA Precheck.  The woman in front of me immediately pulled her scarf up over her nose. I thought it was an odd thing to do, actually, especially as she kept it there for an unusually long time (how long does it take to blow a nose?).

But then I realized that my shoes, or my feet — one or the other, or both (all four actually) — were causing the odd behavior: I was stinking her out:

Hot weather + 3-mile walk + old shoes – socks = Oops, sorry

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Something MADE

Videos from my mom’s 80th birthday.

Kelly Walks, Mom Rides

 

At one point my mom had had enough:

Mom Walks, Kelly Rides
https://vimeo.com/226211115

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “thumb-like antics,” “yellow mane,” “goodness me,” “Ew, serious?” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #2

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Jeff Koons’ website

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Something WRITTEN

curly poodle, submitted by Nina

When I was growing up, my two grandmothers lived within driving distances and visits were fairly frequent. They both had awesome grandmotherly names (Gladys and Esther), and they each had a black dog (Sheri and Susie).

My mother’s mother was Gladys (“Grandma”). She had a Standard poodle named “Sheri” (pronounced sher-ree), who always smelled like perfumed soap. My grandmother kept her groomed and I remember the click-click-click of her red toenails on the kitchen floor. My sister and I loved that dog’s friendly smile and curly poofs and velvety ears. (She also had bad breath, but what could she do?)

My father’s mother was Esther (“Nana”). She had a medium-sized black dog named Susie, her breed unknown to us. Susie was old and graying around the eyes and a little overweight and not that friendly, and Kelly and I didn’t really love her that much.

As far as I know my two grandmothers didn’t see much of each other. In fact, I’m pretty certain they only met once, at my parent’s wedding.*

But they both belonged to the Black Dog Club**, so at least they had something in common.

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*There is absolutely no basis for that statement. For all I know they talked on the telephone every Tuesday and took a weekend away to Las Vegas together once a year.

**I had made that up, but decided to google it to see what I found. There is, indeed, a club called the Black Dog Club!

 

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Something MADE

A mini hanging pillow made years ago. It’s me and my first dog… a poodle!

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “day break,” “red tube,” “gad dummit,” “crazy love,” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #1

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Trashy Dog.

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Something WRITTEN

 

I have been thinking about doing another series of blog posts for a month now.

Meaning, every day for the past month I’ve thought I would start that day, and every day  of the past month I just couldn’t think of “what” or “who” to write about (much less “when” or “why”).

I even missed a golden opportunity to do some posts themed on Steve being out of town for 10 days, but I watched a t.v. show instead, and now that he will be home in 7 days, it doesn’t seem worth it.

But then today I went for a walk to Home Depot for a bag of 1000 white zipties and I had the idea that you could help me!

Please comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “I love,” “green table,” “gosh darn,” “colored pencils,” etc.

Leave a comment!

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Something MADE

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Kids Art Week – July 24-28, 2017 – FREE!

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“2017 Kids Art Week”: ANIMALS!
for Kids and Kids-at-Heart!
with Carla Sonheim
One-Week Class; 5 Video Lessons
FREE!

Class Dates: July 24-28, 2017

Carla Sonheim, author of “Drawing Lab,” would like to invite you and your kids to join us for a week of creativity and fun. All you need are some basic art supplies and less than an hour a day!

… and, it’s FREE and class starts SOON!

SIGN UP HERE!

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Class Itinerary

Monday, Lesson 1: Blob Hunting: Imaginary Animals
Markers, Colored Pencils. We will go outside, find “blob” shapes, and then turn them into animals!

Tuesday, Lesson 2: Dürer Rabbit
Oil Pastels. You will do a Master Copy of Albrecht Dürer’s “Young Hare.”

Wednesday, Lesson 3: Chagall Merry-Go-Round
Collage. Inspired by a drawing by Marc Chagall, you will create collage papers and make your own composition with a “recipe.”

Thursday, Lesson 4: Picasso Cats
Watercolors, Markers. A strange and weird cat in the Cubist style.

Friday, Lesson 5: Outsider Art Elephants
Cardboard, Tempera or Acrylics. Rip your box down and create an elephant from the parts!

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Sample images:

 

It’s Free! Sign up today!

SIGN UP HERE!

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Supplies Needed:

Tempera or acrylic paint, markers, crayons, oil pastels, watercolors, pencils, a small cardboard box, colored construction paper, watercolor paper (or other stiff paper), white glue, imagination and sense of fun!

 

Brayered Collage Paper

I have a hodgepodge of acrylic paint procured variously over the years — a lot of it dried up and no longer good. I want to start fresh! So I’m trying to use up the old so I can buy some new.

These patterns/backgrounds/collage papers were painted on newspaper flyers using a brayer.

Have a great weekend!

 

Post 25

Since our anniversary yesterday Steve has taken to saying things like, “Now that we’ve been married 25 years I don’t think I should have to make amends for something I did in your dream.”

Okaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy……

Countdown to 25 – 1!

Steve and I will be married 25 years on June 19th. So I’m doing a little countdown here at the blog and will continue the Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE format.

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1 Day before the Silver Anniversary

Something FOUND

A delightful post over at 50 Watts on 1950s Japanese Ads:

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Something WRITTEN

“Watch Out for the Overturned Jeep” Part 2

We set off, the three of us: Christer (now 4), Steve, and I.

This cross-country trip was beginning on a different note than the one in the summer of 1990. We were tired from the holidays and had had a rough couple of days. Someone’s feelings were hurt: “We had a fight just DAYS after the engagement? What does that MEAN?”

We said goodbye to my mother and set off at 7pm; if all went well we would arrive to Steve’s parents house by lunchtime the next day. We planned to drive all night… since we weren’t yet married, a hotel room seemed out of the question.

After a few hours in the car, though, we started to relax and things were good! Christer fell asleep in the back seat and we drove. And drove. And drove.

Now, we were only a little bit older, but somehow the Young Us that could drive all night just a year before had evaporated after we made arrangements to become an Old Married Couple. It was only midnight and we were exhausted.

But no worries! We could do it!

We drove several more hours. I don’t think I’ve ever been as tired as I was that night. I could hardly keep my eyes open, but I forced myself to stay awake for Steve’s sake.

At about 4am we exited the freeway to get some gas, and I saw something on the road ahead. “Watch out for the overturned jeep,” I warned him in my best stoner voice, as if running across overturned jeeps in the middle of the night was a common occurrence.

“That’s not a jeep,” Steve countered in an equally slow and calm voice, “it’s a herd of elk.”

“Oh,” I murmured, nodding in agreement.

We slowed down so as not to scare the herd as we passed.

But… there were no elk.

There wasn’t a jeep either.

There was…. nothing.

Steve braked — hard — and the two of us woke up from our sleep-driving. “I think we should get a hotel,” Steve said, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt happier to hear those words in my life. And a mere twenty minutes later we were slipping into blissful unconsciousness when Christer’s cheerful, singsongy little voice startled us awake:

“I not tired!”

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Something MADE

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!