A Sunday Blessing

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

found amongst my mom's things -

a nice needle holder for binding up wounds in clothes - 

wonder if God has a kit like this...

the wisdom of Stephen King

If God gives you something you can do,

why in God's name wouldn't you?

so begins one of my favorite quotes 

penned by Stephen King in his book

On Writing,

a Memoir of the Craft.

working on this one at present

and can't quite figure out how to finish it...

so I must wait for it to speak.

no wonder people think artists are weird...

 and I am still blown away when 

I see my published art

(this one out any day and I have a whole page - yippee!)

more from Stephen:

Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless;

when you find something at which you are talented,

you do it until your fingers bleed

or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head.

 so that is why I love 'pulling art' out of kids.

I want them all to realize how gifted they are!

Here is our class auction project...

 which just melted my heart as each student looked in amazement

at their creation...

 and yesterday in art club we played with glue.

I was washing glue out of brushes at the sink

and I overheard one student say,

I just love art,

and then another,

I just love it too,

and another,

me too.

and seriously I started to tear up...

could anything be better?

 Well maybe watching a Kindergartener

with very definite opinions about how she is going to do a project...

work on this beauty.

She was the only student who insisted on doing a glass vase - 

notice the water in it.

and I thought it would be too hard - oh me of little faith...

Stephen King finishes his thoughts on creating,

Even when no one is listening

(or reading, or watching),

every outing is a bravura performance,

because you as the creator are happy.

Perhaps even ecstatic.

And shouldn't we all live that way -

thinking our next outing will be a bravura performance?

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...