Cowboys, Yogi Bear, and an Eames chair

another gem from the Selleck archives...

and I thought I did not like guns?

well obviously at one time 

I did enjoy a little point and shoot action

of the cowboy kind.

my brother's expression is priceless.

and did you notice Yogi Bear seems to be putting 

his arms up in disbelief 

while happily sitting his furry tush 

on an original Eames wire chair?

ahh childhood...

smile

hmmm...

maybe I will ham it up for the photo -

321 'smile'...

found this photo of me at my dad's last week.

can't believe the quiet, reserved child 

that I remember myself to be 

was actually a diva at heart?

but I do remember that this is as close 

as I ever got to having fun at the piano.

and trust me - you don't ever want to hear me sing...

crayons were much more my thing.

a Sunday blessing in a bottle cap

it is what it is...

for some reason I just love saying this little phrase -

it rolls off my tongue...

and for some reason my husband hates it.

so I had to present him with this bottle cap pin

and he keeps it on the counter by the espresso machine...

maybe a little caffeine helps him deal with those things

that are what they are.

I guess it depends on how you view it -

as a defeat or as a call to arms -

I think it is a call to rally - 

"now given this current lousy situation - 

what am I going to do about it?"

because we all know this world

can be a lousy place to live sometimes.

I guess I think of:

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, 

and thank him for all he has done.

Phil 4:6 NLT

Well at least that is what I hope I do,

but more often it is some grumbling and complaining

that escapes my lips.

But I just love knowing that God wants to hear it all -

the good with the bad because

He is what He is!

red, white and blue

 gotta love these guys -

they brighten up even the wintery of days...

 Sweet bird!  Thy bow'r is ever green,

thy sky is ever clear;

thou has no sorrow in thy song,

no winter in thy year.

John Logan

 February is merely as long as is needed

to pass the time until March.

JR Stockton

 In the depths of winter

I finally learned that within me

there lay an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

That's it for the winter projects -

on to spring I hope.

Thanks to Deep Space Sparkle

for all of her fantastic art ideas.

doggie time...woof

Our last project combined 2D and 3D.

I wanted my students to think up a story about a dog

and bring her/him to life on a flat surface and in a small clay model.

So let me introduce you to Patches who loves the smell of fresh grass...

and Star who loves to play in the flowers...

and Bevo who runs doggy marathons...

and Spottie who also likes to play in the park

(wish my dog liked to do that)...

and Jewel who changed her name to Love...

and Scout - the only boy in the group...

and finally Flash whose owner is still working on her painting.
Air dry clay is just not the same as fired clay -
we are hoping for a new school kiln sometime in the near future.
And now a big shout out and thank you 
to Jenni Horne 
for the clay dog idea that started all this.
I happen to be partial to their crowns and name tags-
just gives them a whimsical feel.

I wonder if my dog would wear a tiara...

a Valentines Day tail...

a Valentines Day tail 

(yes I am spelling it that way on purpose)

 for you...

Once upon the time there was a statue

who was very lonely.

She had lots of sparklies strewn around her neck

that her owner seldom wore.

So most days she spent being stoic 

and resigned to her uneventful life.

 But one fine spring day

her owner threw open the windows 

to let the lovely spring day make its way 

into the winter home.

And at that very same time a crow saw the open window 

and spotted the sparklies...

 and she called her mate to check it out

as it was nest building time.

So they asked the lonely bust

if they could use some of her treasures

for their nest

and they promised to visit often to tell her

of their 'tails' to far away places.

And of course she answered 'evermore'.

the end

 I just couldn't resist...

"But the raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust spoke only that one word,

as if his soul in that one word he did outpour...

then the bird said, "Nevermore".

 This project was an assignment from Misty Mawn's on-line class. 

I started with a magazine page and it just went from there.

I loved working on the texture of the bust

juxtaposed with the jewelry.

(used lots of stamps including a crackle stamp -

a technique I learned from one of Misty's classes at ArtFest)

Here is the first step

with the magazine picture from House Beautiful.

Just sent this piece to Misty.  

When it returns I will mount it to a wood base 

and probably add real beads and cross necklaces to it.

if you give art club students pencils...

If you give art club students pencils,

they'll doodle awhile, then they'll want to use color.

So we'll get out the colored pencils...

but then they'll want to do wax resist

so we'll play with crayons and oil pastels...

when finished they'll want paint, 

so out will come the watercolors and acrylics

and fingers to apply the paint...

but one student will think we need tissue

and another stencils and stamps...

and another student will want buttons 

and glitter and laminate and

finally they'll ask their teacher to stitch the whole thing

into a book...

and then they'll want pencils for signing their names

and there will finally be smiles.

I am finally smiling as I pack this beautiful book 

made by my art clubbers.

It's going to Somerset Studio in response to their invitation 

for art related to "the Classics.

This is a take off of

"If you give a Moose a Muffin"

by Laura Numeroff.

Aren't they the best artists?