More Snow Globes iPad Style!

 It's that time of year again when we make snow globes!

Only this year one of my iPad classes is studying fairy tales

so we made Hansel and Gretel candy cottages in that class...

Each is enveloped in snow of frosting and candy.

First the students drew their cottages.

 Then we cropped them into a circle.

They cut them out,

added ephemera, 

colored the globe with white snowflakes,

and glued 3/4s of the cover on,

which left an opening for me to add the glitter.

 I took them home,

warned the cat to hide,

got out the glitter,

 and started stitching and filling each globe.

 I will be seeing glitter for quite some time...

such is the small price for beauty.

Ahh pure joy!

These are all based on my original snow globe taught years ago.  

You can see the original lesson here.

My Word for 2015 - Do you have yours yet?

 Welcome to 2015

The sun is out on this brisk day and there is a touch of spring in the air.  The newly purchased daffodils on my counter are tilting their heads toward the low sun on the horizon.  And I finally have decided my word for the year.  Some people make resolutions soon to be broken, and some artists like to have a word for the whole year to meditate upon, and infuse their art with it.  I have flittered through several words the past week and none seemed to latch on or excite... until today.  The word I have chosen, or did it choose me, is REJOICE !  

I love, love, love this quote by John Calvin.  It speaks the truth that I need to remember daily. We were created to take delight in and feel joyful, to be gladdened, to revel, to celebrate.  The dictionary defines rejoice as "to feel great joy or delight, to gladden, show revelry, to experience joy and gladness in a high degree; to be exhilarated with lively and pleasurable sensations; to exult."  And the person doing this is a rejoicer - ha love that.

This year I want to dance in paint, to laugh as I create, to let my brush sing, the pencil jump, and my finger glide across the iPad.  I have forgotten the joy of simply creating; instead the business end of it, the self critical nature, the comparison to what other artists are doing online (which of course is always more than me) seems to trip me up.  Enough of this nonsense... when did this love of art slowly slip away to be replaced by the drudgery.  I vow to make art and enjoy the process with this God-given gift, for the sheer pleasure of it, to be wowed by color and texture, to love line, and hopefully the end product will bless others.

John Calvin also said, We are cold when it comes to rejoicing in God.  Hence, we need to exercise ourselves in it and employ all our senses in it - our feet, our hands, our arms and all the rest - that they might serve in the worship of God and so magnify Him. *

So go fingers, go!  Make a dance of delight in creating with abandon!

*Thanks to Ann Voskamp for reminding me of the quotes.

As I sat and pondered the sun rays coming in and bouncing off my grandmother's sideboard I found the word rejoice to be quite fitting.  Life really is in the details and small things.  If you sign up for my newsletter over on the right side of this blog post you will be able to download these two photos to remind you to rejoice! in the beauty of this world and notice the small things that might otherwise go unnoticed.

So do you have a word for 2015?  Ponder some words that pop up in your readings and hearings, and try one on for a while.  Sit with it, roll it around out loud, and just maybe one will fit like a glove and become your friend, mentor, and muse for the year.  I would love to know what word you chose!  Blessings to you in 2015

Learn to Draw?

iPad Art

with Pamela Holderman

Come join the fun as we learn to doodle and draw flowers on the iPad.

I will be teaching a workshop Saturday March 14 from 1-4

at artEAST in Issaquah WA. 

All the info is here.

Questions?  Just let me know.

a Cup of Winter Cheer

Doesn't this look good enough to drink?

a little sparkle and fizz to bring on winter cheer...

did a little sketching this morning

to bring some joy to my fingers and clear the grief cobwebs.

My Good Bye to Zoe

 Zoe Holderman

2000-2014

 You made it to 14 1/4

which is a long time for a corgi.

And even though I had been preparing my heart

 for the time you would leave us,

I still wasn't prepared to for it to happen so suddenly.

 You brought us joy and taught us patience

and reminded us that we each come with personality

that can't be altered.

God created you with a personality that was bigger

 than your short little body

which didn't stop you from doing what you wanted to do.

 You knew how to play and would fetch the ball until your body said enough. 

 You were a good sport about all the photos I took

and your fashion sense was impeccable.

 You knew how to rest

and how to make me stop and slow down.

 Thanks for herding us to bed each evening

and camping by the side of my bed to herd me downstairs each morning.

I loved that ritual

and still feel bad that we didn't have any sheep for you to herd.

You would have loved that.

 You loved your kingdom and surveyed it daily

to clear it from pesky squirrel, deer and crow.

We will try to continue your legacy...

 A summer dip was your favorite 

yet I still don't get why you hated bath time so much.

Sorry we took you to the dog park,

but thank you for always protecting us from the other dogs 

and herding us back to the car safely -

it's what you lived for because we were your people.

 A tennis ball was your best friend

and you were a homebody.

 You kept our feet clean

 and would have done the same with our bowls if we let you.

Thanks for teaching Matteo that he needed to get up

 and greet us when we get home,

even if he is sleeping.

He dutifully was there when I got home yesterday

and I was so dreading you not being there to greet me.

 Girl you have enriched our lives beyond measure.

We pray you are being greeted in Paradise by your cat buddies who went ahead 

- Sampson and Thomas,

and you will get

all the balls you want to chase,

endless summer swims,

longer legs,

a tail,

and all the bacon you can eat.

Little did I know this photo of you the other day would be your last.

It seemed so odd that you faced your back to me.

I know the last couple of years have been hard on you,

but you were your stoic self until the end.

This is how I will remember you - 

anticipating running like the wind after your hundredth fetch

and still wanting more.