textures, coffee and shopping on a grey day...

Thanks to Ishtar Olivera for finding these beautiful textures here

at Boccacino's photostream

and sharing them with us.

My boring rainy day photo taken Saturday at the Macrina...

but this added to it...

turned into this beauty.

Notice the mammoth Starbucks ad on the side 

of this small coffee house 

- rather amusing don't you think?

and this...

added  to the sign on the door perks up the photo...

Yesterday we had a day out in Seattle with friends drinking coffee

and perusing this store  - one of my favs!

check out their site as they ship anywhere - oh dangerous...

and here are some glimpses of their window displays...

and inside...

I will take one of everything please.

Finally I will share some of my own textures that I have been playing with.

Feel free to take them and use them for yourself - 

I would love to see what you create!

and

Enjoy!!!

A Sunday blessing and rambling on yet another rainy day...

'Indecision is the worst enemy of creativity.'

Don't know who said that but if you are anything like me, 
it pretty much sums it up.

So I decided to do this class with Kelly Rae -
starts today...

and over at Gritty Janes -
she is looking for artists who are brave enough to do self portraits.

Took a photo of this bust from the art room at school -
Can this be me?
Sums up how I feel today - a little pensive perhaps...
Think I will give the self portrait a try,
but don't have any photos of myself recently...
seems I am the one taking all the photos.
So what pose shall I strike?
So much to think about -
maybe me with a crow.
(there's that stupid indecision again...)
but if I do my normal
'try every technique'
then it will be doable.
just like Picasso said;

'I put in my pictures everything I like.

So much the worse for the things -

they have to get along with one another.'

Here is another quote to get you thinking 

and hopefully motivated to try something new -

'It is not because things are difficult

that we do not dare,

it is because 

we do not dare

that things are difficult.'

- Seneca

So what decisions are you putting off

and what are you afraid to try?

I am going to try and step out onto the water and try something new -

how about you?

My two favorite quotes are these -
'God doesn't call the qualified;
He qualifies the called.'
and
'For if the willingness is there,
the gift is acceptable
according to what one has,
not according to what he does not have.'
2Corinthians. 8:12

Have a great week
and try something new and outside your comfort zone!
Love to hear how it went for you...
I will report back next week...

まるです２。Maru returns... now I am happy

grey...

Let the beauty we love
be what we do.
-Rumi

a very grey and rainy day here,
kinda down and melancholy,
hopeful for sun and light soon...

danger Will Robinson...

I needed a clay project - 

and I wanted something the boys would like,

and I was the owner of lots of nuts and bolts...

so what to do...

How about some intergalactic robots?

We first made the bodies out of Crayola air dry clay.

I put a hole vertically and horizontally through each robot.

Discs and round balls were made and skewered on heavy gauge wire.

I pre made the standing mechanism out of wire

 and they wrapped ball feet onto each tripod leg.

Many screws were inserted into the wet clay for eyes etc..

We painted with acrylic the following week.

Then we made little moon backdrops with a moon dust floor (sand)

and intergalactic scenes.

Finally it was assembly day...

and some adorable little robots were born...

including ones of the feminine persuasion with long hair...

and this lucky robot even has a pet slug...

and this one has a heart.  I heart her.

just love serendipity...

The day before my husband and son returned from a walk 

with the front of a cell phone they found in the street.  

I got very excited and 

confiscated the item before it hit the trash.  

The numbers easily peeled off.

Sure enough the kids loved gluing cell phone numbers onto their robots

for that added touch.

Eat your heart out R2-D2!

ahh ... family

What greater thing is there 
for human souls 

than to feel that they are joined 
for life - 

to be with each other 

in silent unspeakable memories.

George Eliot

ahhh ... family - I love them all so much.  

Jonathan (age 25, married and living in New Jersey),

Kim (married to Jonathan - like a daughter), 

Nicholas, (age 21 - a psychology major at SPU in Seattle), 

me (timeless ;-} ), 

and my dear husband Doug (also ageless and newly into backpacking 

- hiking in the rain and snow today - you go babe!

better you than me)

So the kiddos are visiting ...

my soul is at peace.

finger-painting fun

When I was small the norm for art projects involved finger painting -

not so much anymore...

my kiddos thought I was nuts when I informed them 

they were going to paint with their fingers.

We expect them to be 'grownups' way too early...

to miss out experimenting and making messes...

but what a shame

and a missed opportunity

to make something like this...

and end up with hands like this...

and  learn all about color mixing on paper instead of on the palette.  

so let us begin...
Step #1

We started with red, yellow, blue, and white only...

and we divided our paper into three sections.

We painted one section with a mixture of yellow and white,

the next was yellow and red,

and the final section was yellow and blue.

We tried to do all mixing on the paper 

so we got some really interesting color mixes...

Step #2

We then looked at our pieces with an imaginative eye 

and tried to figure out what our painting could become.

Pencil was used to draw in the image.

Some paintings turned horizontal (or 'hot dog' versus 'hamburger' 

which is vertical for those of you that don't speak "kiddo").

We then mixed white and blue and 

painted over every part that would be in the background.

This is a very tough thing to do (at least for me).

Basically you are doing the opposite of what your brain wants to do.

But they brilliantly rose to the occasion!

Step #3

Outline whatever you see in the painting with permanent marker 

and draw doodles and texture to give interest...

and finally add oil pastels for the finishing touch.

So here is a before...

and after...

and another before...

and finished...

and the rest of the  masterpieces...

The one above is a view out of the window -

how clever is that?

Wow I was impressed -

wish I could return to that kid-like naiveté 

and take those blinders off my eyes

and just paint with wild abandon...

I got to finger-paint at Art Fest this spring

with Jesse Reno...

an amazingly gifted artist with a unique, imaginative

approach to painting.

but as I said before

it was really tough for me to think in a new way.  
This old brain sometimes does not like change...
So I am happy I got to try a second time
 and teach some younger brains some of his mixing techniques

(only primary colors and black and white mixed on the paper)

with the best tools around -

our fingers...

and I don't think my fingers have ever looked prettier!