cartoonatic addict

ok i am enjoying instagram

but 

Nick discovered cartoonaddict

and i am 

head over heals in love

with this app...

even makes one's feet look good...

Balboa Island in instagram

finally home.

we had a wonderful week with family 

at Balboa Island

remembering my mom,

eating,

sunbathing,

laughing,

walking,

visiting Starbucks each morning,

and just doing nothing.

the best time I've had in a very long time...

here are the highlights 

filmed in instagram.

 ahh when can I return?

inkblot butterfly love

 nothing says summer like a butterfly!

the art clubbers finished the year out 

by creating some beautiful bugs.

first we just sloshed (art term #1) paint on the background,

drew crayon marks,

and sketched a simple butterfly...

so very hard for them to loosen up and just make a mess.

then I instructed them to paint one side only with lots of gooey paint.

then we folded and smooshed (art term #2)

and opened it up to see what we would find.

some were not happy...

but we turned that frown upside down

by adding lots of oil pastel outlines

and splotches (art term #3) of color

and our masterpieces emerged from their cocoons!
this really is the final art club post.

Giverny through kids' eyes

we had fun creating 3D Giverny ponds

in art club

using paper, oil pastels and imagination.

you have to notice the berets on this little girl and her french dog

as they dangle their legs off Monet's famous bridge

and over the swimming koi.

here's another student's

and another.

last student art until September

so check out 

'Create with Me' -

in book stores now

for more summer art projects!

...and visit my friend's art blog

for more kid friendly ideas too -

got the original idea for Monet from her - thanks Susie!

a little birdie told me...

don't you wish

 that we would stop and listen

 when something important

 is whispered in our ear?

my newest 'plaster on burlap' piece...

I do believe she whispered in my ear 

that she will stay and live with me.