Day 9: 28 Day Challenge

Well this is day 3 of spring break and I had the great honor of watching my son, Colin perform at a local library for a mess load of kids and their parents.  He rocked of course and so did all the other young performers.  I am so proud of them all.  So I need to rant before I get to my creative time...  My husband, Claire (Colin's twin and also a great dancer), and myself were sitting right in back of a bunch of young boys (and girls).  They were all of 4, maybe 5 years old.  Everyone seemed to be interested in the performances.  But here is what really gets me or gets to me.  So the young instructor who was the MC and director of this event,  had all the children stand to teach them a few ballet moves.  Nothing complicated or especially hard.  She wanted to show them that a simple jump in the air is really quite complicated if you are a ballet dancer.  She asked these young boys to join in but they turned their noses up and said, and I quote, "Dance is for girls."  How could such young children already be so jaded.  These boys had seen Colin dance, lifting the girls, doing big jumps, and they insisted on sitting out.  What was so sad was that one little boy really wanted to dance but the peer pressure was too much.  When the instructor came to the part where she taught them a little dance to the tune of "Take me out to the Ball Game,"  this one little boy turned to the other boys and said, "Well this is sort of boy like."  I can't believe what I heard.   Where the heck did they get these ideas?  My guess is that it can only be from adults.  Surely they did not exit the womb believing dance was for girls?  Oh that so makes my blood boil.   No wonder there are so few boys taking part in dance.  Our ballet studio does these programs to promote the art of dance for everyone, entertain the community, and give our dancers an opportunity to strut their stuff.  I think we have got to target the fathers of these young children and maybe the mothers too...  What is wrong with you people?  Ok  enough of a rant, for now anyway......

I did make it to the studio at 9 PM.  Actually worked about 1.5 hours on my air element.  Will scan my progress in the morning.  Right now the glazes I put on are drying and I can't scan the work until dried.  What is ticking me off is that some of the papers are buckling from all the moisture but I think I can fix it manana.  Here is to my friend Linda who started me on this challenge.  At least I am making some progress...
k

Day 8 : 28 day challenge.

Recuerdos -segundo

It seems that I am getting into my studio later and later.  Today is day 2 of spring break and I took my twins to various functions.  My oldest I only had to pick up later in the day.  Made lunches, dinner, walked dogs and worked out.  Then it was Idol time...  I love that show.  I finally got into the studio at 9 PM CST.  I worked about 30 minutes on my most recent landscape.  This is the one pictured below and I started it in my last class.  I needed to add a focal image, one that was springy in nature.  I added a focal image cactus, flowering of course,  and did some more shading.  Now I will let it sit for a day and then go back to it.  It is near finished, maybe totally finished but I usually have to let my work sit around for a while.  I scanned this work and the colors are a bit off.  Not sure why, usually they are right on.

k

Day 7- 28 Day Challenge

Air:  in progress

I am indeed insane for taking on this challenge...Today is day 1 of Spring break.  All three of my children are home and bored already.  I took my 17 and 15 year old shopping at a local lifestyle center (that is nothing more than a fancy strip mall with nice restaurants) and let them spend a little money.  Then I played taxi driver for my son.  I finally got down to my studio at 8 PM and boy was that sweet relief.  I spent an hour working on the class sample I started and the third in my elements series...air.  Here is the progress on Air.  Still a ways to go.

k

Day 6: 28 Day Challenge

I wish that I could say that I made it to my studio today, I did not. Sundays are hard... Family comes first. I did do a little research for an Art Journaling Class that I want to offer at the Studio... Slowly but surely I will get there. Oh and I did make some cute little bunnies for Easter. Check this out...I used wash clothes to make these! I plan on putting them in my teens Easter Baskets. At least that was something!

k

Day 5- 28 Day Challenge

Here are the pictures from my class last night. I definitely am the proud instructor of emerging mixed media and collage artists. And today I worked on my in class sample collage from last night. I still have a way to go. Need a focal image and more shading... I also spend time today wiring some finished works and framing a triglyph (my phases series). These pics are bad but they are proof of my work today. Although framing/wiring works isn't exactly enjoyable for me, it is all part of the part in parcel of getting ready for a show. If I am able to sneak in some time tomorrow, I definitely want to work more on my landscape and finish ASAP.

This one is mine.

Framed Phases

K

Day 4- 28 day challenge

Like Linda, today almost did not happen. I get a lot of headaches and today was no exception. After hiding over 400 plus Easter eggs for my pre-k class, I came home with a doosy and went right to bed. Luckily tonight I have a class to teach (she said with a sly grin). As I type this, the nap did little good..the headache is here to stay (at least for today). So here is what I started in my class last night. This is another landscape from my minds eye. It again is a memory of The Jemez mountains in New Mexico. Papers are all done by myself. I can't wait to see what it looks like today. I still want to add a focal point (spring themed), and glaze it. So those pictures will be up tomorrow. In the foreground of the photo you can see my stack of papers. I do have a few of the student's works, also in progress and those are below.

Day three- 28 day challenge

No pictures yet...those will come way later maybe early tomorrow. My creative afternoon is being spent packing for the Mixed Media and Collage class I am teaching this eveing and tomorrow evening. We are doing a landscape that must include 5 altered papers (different) and one focal image that says spring. And so in class I will start/demo the technique. That is two hours of creativity! Yea me. I love patting myself on the back because no one else does. I will take class pics on my iphone because it is convienent but the quality is pretty poor... Anyway, those will be coming!

Linda, I have Day 3 and 4 accounted for :))))
k

Day Two 28 day challenge

I almost quit today after only one day! I have such a lousy cold and came home from work with my head pounding and just filled up with gunk. I took a hour nap but really could not get comfortable and did not sleep. So I headed to my studio and what do you know? I actually worked for an hour ( a little under) before I had to quit (my head was spinning). And what did I accomplish...a second coat of varnish on my landscape sample (Awakening) plus I started the third in my series of 4, Elements series, Wind. Here is the finished work that I called Awakening and the beginning of Wind. I work intuitively without a plan and often in quadrants... Now I need to take my son down to his rehearsal for Swan Lake....

k

Insane Woman and the Challenge

Alright, so I have this friend who lives in the UK who was nuts enough to do this 28 day challenge: http://rediscovering-art.blogspot.com/, and she invited anyone else to join her. I gave some thought to challenge and decided to go for it, with my own set of rules of course. God forbid I should follow any one's rules but my own. The original rules state 1 hour per day for 28 days doing anything you want that is creative. Seems easy enough except I know my schedule is not conducive to a daily dose of creativity! I really need to get a few more 8 by 8 inch works done to complete a series before April 15 so the challenge may help me get there! N0w I figure if I can get into my studio daily, that will be a good start, if I can work on something or other for 15 minutes, that will be a good start, and if I can make it an hour, I just might have to celebrate with a glass of wine :)))). The weekends will be tough but I will give it a go. For today I managed about 25 minutes. I had to get some labels done for Easter presents for my Pre-K class and I had to seal with polymer varnish, my class example for this week. Photos below to prove I did something!

I hand stamped my labels, creative right? The labels will go onto jars of bubbles for my kids. The picture was taken with my iPhone and the quality of both are not that good. And varnishing the work had to be done before I can really justify starting anything else.

K

"Earth". second in the Elements series

Moving right along, here is "Earth." Using the same methods as below, Earth unfolded very quickly (for me that is) and all that is left is sealing it with golden varnish. The finished piece is 8 by 8 inches on maisonite (as is the first in the series). All the papers were altered for this specific look. I can't decide if I want to tackle wind or water next but I do have a board prepped and waiting for the first piece of altered paper to be affixed! With the show set for Cafe Luna in April, I really want this series of 4 done. Wanting and doing are two different things! I do want to give a plug here to Jackie over at alteredpages.com. The photo of the Earth came form one of her collage sheets with all the planets on it. I was lucky enough to win a gift certificate from her last year and this year too in the One World One Heart Event. She has something for everyone at Altered Pages. I have used her sheets in my collage classes and for my personal use. I can't tell you how excited I was to find those planets!

We are busy in the household. Swan Lake rehearsals for Colin and Claire start very soon and that will definitely eat up precious evening time everyday of the week, Saturday time, and soon enough, Sunday time as well. I spend an awful lot of time in the car and dance studio. TIme is fleeting...

k