My use of kitchen cleaners for artist brushes probably says a lot about how I had little formal art training but lots of kitchen training. No blame on anybody. That's just the way it was.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Secret of the Ages - Revealed
I've made a discovery - all by myself. I've discovered the best thing in the world for removing paint build-up in my artist brushes.
It is supposed to be for getting baked on grease off your pots and pans but presto! It removes the build up of acrylic paint in the base of my paint brushes. It really gets acrylic sealer out of the brush. What possessed me to squirt some on a paint brush? Who knows. I clean up my brushes in the kitchen sink and there it was. . . the rest is destiny. There are some brush cleaners at the art store but they are $10.00 a bottle. This is $2.95.
My use of kitchen cleaners for artist brushes probably says a lot about how I had little formal art training but lots of kitchen training. No blame on anybody. That's just the way it was.
My use of kitchen cleaners for artist brushes probably says a lot about how I had little formal art training but lots of kitchen training. No blame on anybody. That's just the way it was.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
End of Summer - And A Book Review
I've been busy painting, really, so not much blogging. I have added the Nativity Scenes and some more arks to the Etsy shop. Yesterday, to blow off steam (locked up at home alone is the only disadvantage of being a self representing artist/crafts person) I just walked the isles of the Kroger Marketplace way out in west Little Rock. Usually, I shop for vittles at Sams Club and Wal-Mart in North Little Rock cause that 's closer to us and cheap. The very few things that Wal-Mart doesn't carry (like Dreamfields Pasta) I get at the Kroger, also in NLR. However, not all Krogers are created equal. The Kroger Marketplace is a huge store. Lots of gourmet goodies and ready to eat deli yummies. They carry sheets and furniture. You can lunch on the cheese samples. My brother had expressed disbelief that kohlrabi was not available in the greater Little Rock area but if it were to be found it would be at the Kroger Marketplace produce department. I had to go do some errands so this was just a bit of fun time.
They have a gas station so on exiting the store I put fuel in the car and *%#! The car wouldn't start. I have a cute little Hyundai Accent that we got two years ago when the "Cash For Clunkers" program paid us over $4000 for our van which had 375,000 miles (I wanted it to turn 400,000 but it was starting to hesitate at every intersection and all were amazed that it made it to the dealer on it's own power.) The little blue car needed a jump and a battery - it had given a few hints that it was needed but I thought it had more life in it.
Best Loved Hubby will always come get me, and did, but he had to wind some things up at work and he was good enough to first stop at home to get the BL Kid who had to be at work so I sat in the car for 2 1/2 hours and waited for rescue. Not all was lost. The big Kroger Marketplace has many temptations and I had succumbed to buying a marked down copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
So, to ignore heat, annoyance and the steely eyes of the Kroger employees I read it. I read it all. It's been on the NYT Best Seller List. Amazon has it listed as one of The Best Books of the Year So Far. I'm sometimes leery of big awards. What is considered amazing lit by some is often offensive or just boring to me. This time I wasn't disappointed, I was entranced. (Maybe I would have liked having a phone book to read to pass the time but I think this really was good.) The "hook" in the book is that the story is accompanied by real vintage photos of children in odd or mysterious poses. What makes the book so good is it's a great story written well. The photos aren't a gimmick but do enhance the story.
Our hero, Jacob, is very close to his Polish grandfather who was the only one of his family to survive the Holocaust. He tells Albert tales of the wonderful children's home on an island in Wales that rescued him and shows him photos of the strange children that he shared a home with. He also served in the English Army and tells tales of fighting the "monsters" and has lots of military hardware to show for that time. Jacob, now a teenager, has come to realize that this must be a tall tale concocted to help his beloved grandfather deal with the horrors of that war and the immense pain of loosing his family. The traumatic death of his grandfather and his grandfathers mysterious instructions to Jacob just before his death lead Jacob to the island where the his grandfather lived as an orphan and a meeting with the unusual children in the photos.
This book shifts from the here and now to magical realism with ease. The photos that are actual vintage photos become an important part of the story. The photos remind me of the art done by one of my favorite Esty arts, Emily Martin.
Her pretty but pale people are reminiscent of original versions of fairy tales where the bear does eat the little girl, but we're fascinated anyway. By the way, Emily is doing a new book based on a series of prints she did about an imaginary orphanage.
Thumbs up for Miss Peregrine! Thumbs up for BL Hubbs! Thumbs up for new battery!
They have a gas station so on exiting the store I put fuel in the car and *%#! The car wouldn't start. I have a cute little Hyundai Accent that we got two years ago when the "Cash For Clunkers" program paid us over $4000 for our van which had 375,000 miles (I wanted it to turn 400,000 but it was starting to hesitate at every intersection and all were amazed that it made it to the dealer on it's own power.) The little blue car needed a jump and a battery - it had given a few hints that it was needed but I thought it had more life in it.
Best Loved Hubby will always come get me, and did, but he had to wind some things up at work and he was good enough to first stop at home to get the BL Kid who had to be at work so I sat in the car for 2 1/2 hours and waited for rescue. Not all was lost. The big Kroger Marketplace has many temptations and I had succumbed to buying a marked down copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
Our hero, Jacob, is very close to his Polish grandfather who was the only one of his family to survive the Holocaust. He tells Albert tales of the wonderful children's home on an island in Wales that rescued him and shows him photos of the strange children that he shared a home with. He also served in the English Army and tells tales of fighting the "monsters" and has lots of military hardware to show for that time. Jacob, now a teenager, has come to realize that this must be a tall tale concocted to help his beloved grandfather deal with the horrors of that war and the immense pain of loosing his family. The traumatic death of his grandfather and his grandfathers mysterious instructions to Jacob just before his death lead Jacob to the island where the his grandfather lived as an orphan and a meeting with the unusual children in the photos.
This book shifts from the here and now to magical realism with ease. The photos that are actual vintage photos become an important part of the story. The photos remind me of the art done by one of my favorite Esty arts, Emily Martin.
 . |
| Bear Dance Print |
Her pretty but pale people are reminiscent of original versions of fairy tales where the bear does eat the little girl, but we're fascinated anyway. By the way, Emily is doing a new book based on a series of prints she did about an imaginary orphanage.
Thumbs up for Miss Peregrine! Thumbs up for BL Hubbs! Thumbs up for new battery!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Fairy Gardens
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| Fairy House from Orlando Sentinel |
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Design Inspirations - Giddy Giddy
Here's some things she shows/inspires you to make with kids:
She has pages and pages of equally wonderful stuff. I think I need to kidnap a BL grand and get to work! If you have girls, check out her shop. It makes me want to wear cute hair clips. I'm awestruck to find someone that if fearless when working with her kids. She lets them get messy and attempt things that might seem too difficult. This has to feed confidence as well as creativity.
Friday, August 5, 2011
More Board Books, or, What Baby Will got for Birthday #1
Here's another post from my defunct blog on kiddy lit. The was first posted Feb 2008.
I'm in love with two author/illustrators that are new to me that do books for the very young that are currently in board book editions. My littlest (for now) desendendant turned one yesterday. Since he can't read this blog I can tell all what he got.
I'm in love with two author/illustrators that are new to me that do books for the very young that are currently in board book editions. My littlest (for now) desendendant turned one yesterday. Since he can't read this blog I can tell all what he got.
The first author I found for Will is Olivier Dunrea. I'm in love with his series for the very young about a group of barnyard goslings. Gossie is where I started. Will also got Ollie and Ollie the Stomper. In simplest form these charming books have drama, conflict and plot. This is literature refined!
I love how kind the goslings are to each other. Toddlers will recognize themselves. Dunrea is so loveable you'll have to also check out his books Gossie and Gertie, Peedie, and BooBoo that continue the gosling theme.
The other author is Mick Inkpen. His books on a little dog, Kipper have been turned into a TV series. Kipper is OK but I've never been over the moon over the books or the series, (I know - I' ve never been a dog person) but Inkpen has done another shorter series around a little pig. I know that Kipper is the TV star, but my heart belongs to Wibbly Pig. Each Wibbly Pig book asks a toddler appropriate question that is sure to stimulate deep thoughts with your little one. I found Wibbly Pig is Happy, in board book format but couldn't find It's Bedtime Wibbly Pig! as a board book. I got it in a larger format hardbound. Several of these books were listed as out of stock by both Amazon and Barnes and Nobel. I'm going to order Wibbly Pig likes Bananas from abebooks.com just because it reminds me when his father loved bannanas as a toddler.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Board Books
This is a repost from Feb 2009 of a former blog where I wanted to review kiddy lit - mostly for my own kiddlets.
Do babies really like books? When I was a new and very enthusiastic mom I was going to gift my precious spawn with literary gifts as soon as she was released from the womb, or at least as soon as she could motor around and pay attention. I read her poems from Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse while she took her bath. She was not impressed, or receptive. She only wante
d to drink the bathwater, splash on Mommy and talk. Could that kid talk! I switched to Shel Silverstein. Who wouldn’t like “Are wild strawberries really wild”? She splashed, drank bathwater and talked. She had a peculiar reaction to books. If I held her and tried to read a story, she wanted to rip the book to pieces and chew (well “gum”) the pieces. She attacked every book she could find with ravenous intensity. I wondered if she lacked trace minerals or was suffering from pica. I 
couldn’t find many books that were sturdy enough for her to handle so since I owned a suck and seal appliance I started sealing magazine pictures in food storage bags. She was delighted. She apparently did not have to rip the pages to pieces to satisfy her cravings, just crumple and tear and stuff them in her mouth. It was a fun toy, but I couldn’t claim that she was getting an introduction to literature.
Since I’ve had a chance to practice on many, many other children since she was a larva I’ve gotten better at findin
g and picking books for the very young. Search “board books” and you’ll find over 1,350 titles listed at Barnes and Nobel. What is a board book? A board book is a format like hardbound, paperback, etc. The pages are hard cardboard that is supposed to be easier for a small child to hold and turn the pages. It also has the added benefit that your beloved toddler can chew or toss it without readily damaging the book. Often a board book is another edition of a popular picture book. Sometimes what is marketed as a board book is really a toy. The mother of this kind is Pat the Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhard. Pat the Bunny spawned lots of books that assume that a small child’s world is so devoid of texture that is we don’t give them some sandpaper and some fake fur to “touch” their brain will not evolve beyond the level of a blueberry. Great literature it’s not but Pat the Bunny is a perennial best seller and loved by many.
Following is my guidelines for books for the youngest set that you can find in board format.
The text should be short, rhythmic and simple enough for very young children. Rhymes are great and rug rats adore repetition. The text of the book has to hold the attention of a squir
my lap dweller. My litmus test – can you memorize the whole book? If you pick a winner the kid will have it memorized, but this may be just because you will have read it to them 100 million times. Read them the U. S. Constitution as often as you read their favorite book and they will be able to go on David Letterman as the youngest prodigy ever to recall the entire U. S. Constitution. You will be proud, your parents will weep, your state will award you the best parent in the word award. Silly Sally, written and illustrated by the wonderful Audrey Wood is a great example of good text. The words are more complex than some books for infants but even the littlest love the rhymes and rhythm. You’ll be chanting “Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards upside down . . .” at inappropriate times, so will your offspring but there will be no David Letterman, no awards. (Why i
s the world so unfair?) There are books that are just pictures or very few words. The theory is that if you can’t read you can get the story from the pictures. The Good Dog Carl by Alexander Day series is an example. I think there should be words but Carl may be an exception.
Great Pictures: This is a picture book format, which means the pictures are part of the story, not just an illustration. I like simple but beautiful pictures. I’m not fond of photos in this format. If you want baby to see a bunny, go find a bunny. They could even pat the bunny. Way more benefit than looking at a photo of a bunny. (This is just me being dictatorial.) Styles come and go and are very personal. I’m not fond of the illustrations in Goodnight Moon but I never see a tot that isn’t mesmerized by it.
What size should you look for? There isn’t a standard size but board books tend to be smaller than a normal picture book. I like the “medium” size, about seven by five inches, give or take a few because a toddler can hold it themselves. Board format books are easier to cut into shapes, so we can have a book shaped like a house, a daisy or cut around a pig. This can be fun but may not contribute anything. Some of my favorite board books are retelling of old rhymes and in one edition illustrated by Moria Kemp you can get I'm A Little Teapot, Round and Round the Garden, and they have a built in handle. The edition without the handle is just as fun. There are bigger board books, sometimes called “lap books” or “giant format” books. I guess if you have triplets it’s easier for everyone to see if the book is bigger but I think it’s hard for a small child to handle. There are “miniature” books also (they are often the size of a post-it and often sold in sets) but they don’t have much room for words or pictures.
Trust your gut. If you love it you’ll want to read it to the larva. Your enthusiasm may rub off. I'll be posting my favorites (in addition to those listed here) later.
Do babies really like books? When I was a new and very enthusiastic mom I was going to gift my precious spawn with literary gifts as soon as she was released from the womb, or at least as soon as she could motor around and pay attention. I read her poems from Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse while she took her bath. She was not impressed, or receptive. She only wante
d to drink the bathwater, splash on Mommy and talk. Could that kid talk! I switched to Shel Silverstein. Who wouldn’t like “Are wild strawberries really wild”? She splashed, drank bathwater and talked. She had a peculiar reaction to books. If I held her and tried to read a story, she wanted to rip the book to pieces and chew (well “gum”) the pieces. She attacked every book she could find with ravenous intensity. I wondered if she lacked trace minerals or was suffering from pica. I 
couldn’t find many books that were sturdy enough for her to handle so since I owned a suck and seal appliance I started sealing magazine pictures in food storage bags. She was delighted. She apparently did not have to rip the pages to pieces to satisfy her cravings, just crumple and tear and stuff them in her mouth. It was a fun toy, but I couldn’t claim that she was getting an introduction to literature.Since I’ve had a chance to practice on many, many other children since she was a larva I’ve gotten better at findin
g and picking books for the very young. Search “board books” and you’ll find over 1,350 titles listed at Barnes and Nobel. What is a board book? A board book is a format like hardbound, paperback, etc. The pages are hard cardboard that is supposed to be easier for a small child to hold and turn the pages. It also has the added benefit that your beloved toddler can chew or toss it without readily damaging the book. Often a board book is another edition of a popular picture book. Sometimes what is marketed as a board book is really a toy. The mother of this kind is Pat the Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhard. Pat the Bunny spawned lots of books that assume that a small child’s world is so devoid of texture that is we don’t give them some sandpaper and some fake fur to “touch” their brain will not evolve beyond the level of a blueberry. Great literature it’s not but Pat the Bunny is a perennial best seller and loved by many.Following is my guidelines for books for the youngest set that you can find in board format.
The text should be short, rhythmic and simple enough for very young children. Rhymes are great and rug rats adore repetition. The text of the book has to hold the attention of a squir
my lap dweller. My litmus test – can you memorize the whole book? If you pick a winner the kid will have it memorized, but this may be just because you will have read it to them 100 million times. Read them the U. S. Constitution as often as you read their favorite book and they will be able to go on David Letterman as the youngest prodigy ever to recall the entire U. S. Constitution. You will be proud, your parents will weep, your state will award you the best parent in the word award. Silly Sally, written and illustrated by the wonderful Audrey Wood is a great example of good text. The words are more complex than some books for infants but even the littlest love the rhymes and rhythm. You’ll be chanting “Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards upside down . . .” at inappropriate times, so will your offspring but there will be no David Letterman, no awards. (Why i
s the world so unfair?) There are books that are just pictures or very few words. The theory is that if you can’t read you can get the story from the pictures. The Good Dog Carl by Alexander Day series is an example. I think there should be words but Carl may be an exception.Great Pictures: This is a picture book format, which means the pictures are part of the story, not just an illustration. I like simple but beautiful pictures. I’m not fond of photos in this format. If you want baby to see a bunny, go find a bunny. They could even pat the bunny. Way more benefit than looking at a photo of a bunny. (This is just me being dictatorial.) Styles come and go and are very personal. I’m not fond of the illustrations in Goodnight Moon but I never see a tot that isn’t mesmerized by it.
What size should you look for? There isn’t a standard size but board books tend to be smaller than a normal picture book. I like the “medium” size, about seven by five inches, give or take a few because a toddler can hold it themselves. Board format books are easier to cut into shapes, so we can have a book shaped like a house, a daisy or cut around a pig. This can be fun but may not contribute anything. Some of my favorite board books are retelling of old rhymes and in one edition illustrated by Moria Kemp you can get I'm A Little Teapot, Round and Round the Garden, and they have a built in handle. The edition without the handle is just as fun. There are bigger board books, sometimes called “lap books” or “giant format” books. I guess if you have triplets it’s easier for everyone to see if the book is bigger but I think it’s hard for a small child to handle. There are “miniature” books also (they are often the size of a post-it and often sold in sets) but they don’t have much room for words or pictures.
Trust your gut. If you love it you’ll want to read it to the larva. Your enthusiasm may rub off. I'll be posting my favorites (in addition to those listed here) later.Saturday, July 30, 2011
Artistic Inspiration - or - What makes my heart beat faster
I've spent last week recovering from travel and grand kiddlet fun. Sleep isn't a priority when you're visiting family you don't see but once in a blue moon but the aftermath. - a killer. Also getting the last of the Nativity Scenes finished. Pictures soon.
I'll tell you a secret. I need to feast on others artful creations as much as possible in order to get my creative juices flowing. Thanks to the great almighty web I come across some great images.
Like these cute little bears I found through a fun blog by a English mom living in France. Aren't we global? Debora of Kickcan & Conker has so much eye candy. What is a Conker? I don't care.
I just love that she introduced me to these great bear prints. They are made in France by Zu. These bears are French, don't you think? Would any American do a print of a teddy type bear smoking a pipe? Only the French. I'm in awe of how they use simple shapes to make the cutest images and how they create distinct personalities from essentially the same features.
I'll tell you a secret. I need to feast on others artful creations as much as possible in order to get my creative juices flowing. Thanks to the great almighty web I come across some great images.
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