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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: creative exercises, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 5 of 5
1. In the Sandbox

Belonging to yourself…

I used to have a post that was Sketchbook Saturday, because I draw like crazy on Saturdays. That’s probably why I love Saturdays so much. I’ve been feeling lately like my blog has lost its way a bit and has had less of me in it. And it dawned on my when I woke up this morning, “Hello! It’s YOUR blog!” So I am reclaiming it. And I want to play. And share. And invite you into my giant sandbox. Most of my stuff in my sketchbook has a purpose because I collect little pieces here and there for fun ways to teach. They make their way into books or classes, most the time. And hopefully, I will inspire you to make your own drawings.

pizza

the plight of the sensitive tummy

colorfultrees

magical forest: what kind of seeds would each tree make?

3cupcakes

fairy cupcakes made from magic


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2. Making Marks - Searching for Patterns

More creative exercises to play with. This time I picked up my black pen and scribbled unplanned 'marks' on a page, then decided they somewhat resembled leaves and so drew a whole lot of those, spacing them out in a grid. After which I sketched out their outlines, and finally, still exploring and playing (couldn't stop myself!), I added colour.

The original marks were made on paper but I scanned that and the outlines were worked on in Photoshop. I filled the colour in with marker pens on paper as well, and that too was then scanned in and finished up in Adobe Photoshop. Had tons of fun.

X2.6-black-leaf-pattern

 

X2.6-black-leaf-outline


X2.6-blue-leaf-pattern

Now I just have to figure out what my next step might be ... Cheers!

 

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3. Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend brought a trip to the Finger Lakes to visit family on Canandaigua and Keuka Lakes, both lovely and swimming with activity (and both warmer than Lake Champlain, I might add!).  Weekend highlights include:

  • Shopping with Mom and Sis in a belated Mother's Day celebration.
  • Eating an ice cream cone every day.
  • Catching three fish.
  • Joyfully watching J and E play with rowdy, fun cousins.
  • Laughing at husband and brother-in-law wearing wet suits to help install dock (no pictures...even though they were entertaining).
  • Visiting the grave site of one of my main characters in SPITFIRE...
    My historical novel SPITFIRE has two main characters - a fictional 12-year-old girl who disguises herself as a boy to fight in a Revolutionary War naval battle on Lake Champlain, and a real 12-year-old boy who was a documented crew member on board one of the vessels in the Battle of Valcour Island.  His name is Pascal de Angelis, and after that battle, he went on to do some privateering as the Revolution continued, spent some time in a British prison, and ultimately, settled down to found a village in Oneida County, NY.  That village, Holland Patent, is along Route 365 -- one of the roads that leads from my house on Lake Champlain to our parents' homes in the Finger Lakes.


    On Saturday, we stopped in Holland Patent to visit Pascal, who is buried in a cemetery not far from his old house.  It's the first time I've been there since I spent a day at the Holland Patent Free Library, researching his life as I prepared to write SPITFIRE more than five years ago.  It's also the first time my family has been with me to "meet" Pascal. It was like introducing them to an old friend.

    Today, Holland Patent is a pretty community with tree-lined streets and friendly people who are passionate about remembering their past.  The village green showcases a memorial to veterans, dating all the way back to the American Revolution. 





    P.C.J. is our Pascal.  (The CJ stands for Charles Joseph.  His son shared the same name.)

    If you keep driving along Route 365 through town, you come to the house where Pascal de Angelis lived when the village first began.  It's easy for me to imagine the spirited young boy from SPITFIRE growing old here with his wife Elizabeth and their children.



    Not far from the house is the cemetery where Pascal and his family are buried.  It is truly a lovely resting place, full of tall old trees and creeping vines, and Pascal is surrounded by family and early villagers in this place that he made his home.






    This cemetery is beautifully tended, but somehow the flag that marks the graves of veterans had fallen down and blown from Pascal's grave.  I'm not family, but I feel like I know him well enough that it bothered me, so I made sure it was back in the ground, secure, before we left.

    It may sound silly, but I told him abou

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    4. Happy Memorial Day

    As we set aside this day to remember those who have served our country in military endeavors,wars, and combat from our country's founding, and given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, words can't express the gratitude and respect for these men and women, and their families. We owe our freedom and the ability to celebrate and worship, work and live in comfort and ease, move around and prosper and believe what we want freely, communicate, travel, study, learn, read and protest, vote and live in a free land....so much that we can't imagine living without, and the price has been dear.
    Here is a link at Lines and Colors showing some artwork created by Combat artists of WWII.

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    5. I'M NOT SURE WHY I'M BLOGGING ABOUT MEMORIAL DAY ALREADY

    Good Morning:

    I've just spent the morning listing and marketing on Ebay and Etsy. Not my favorite way to spend my glorious morning time, but it's a chore that must be done....so, it is done!!

    With spring rolling smoothly along, and summer quickly coming upon us, I find myself looking forward to long days and bar-b-ques. With Memorial Day right around the corner, we have already planned the yearly grill with our neighbors across the street. Ava is working on the menu today and all will be well planned long before the charcoal is lit.

    The menu is yummy, but somewhat predictible. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, Chili, homemade Guacamole, lots of Salsa, dips and chips. I always try to include a few healthy items, corn on the cob and raw vegetables, although I am most likely the only person that grabs for these items first!! A big bar-b-que is never a healthy, meal, but it sure is good for the soul!! We look forward to our Memorial Day bar-b-que each year, although we never do anything outstandingly superb. We just hang out together and eat and gab.

    You see, although the kids and teens that attend this traditional dinner don't consciously realize it, they are making memories. Through the act of having this celebration each and every year, we are concocting images that the kids will pull from as they grow older. Just as I remember my dad mowing the lawn, and my mom canning plum jelly on hot summer days, the kids who attend our annual bar-b-que will look back to these yearly and somewhat predictible dinners shared with friends.

    As I have grown older, I have the luxury of wisdom!! I know that what my children and my neighbor's children are looking at as "just another Memorial Day bar-b-que", will, in their future, become breathable and almost touchable memories that will tug on their heart and bring joy and comfort to their lives.

    I'm not really sure why I'm blogging about Memorial Day already. It doesn't seem appropriate yet, does it? I should have waited until next week, but for whatever reason, it's fresh on my mind today. Most likely because we are planning the menu and it is at the forefront of my mind.
    **************************************

    Here's the latest collage print I've listed in My Etsy Shop. It's called "Prince Roger's Garden"


    The gorgeous little baby portraying Prince Roger is a vintage photo of my cousin Roger. His pictures fascinated me when I was a little girl browsing through the family "box of pictures". He's quite a lot older than I am, so I saw him as a baby, only in photos. His eyes are a spooky-ish light blue and his hair, jet black. I was so happy to come across this picture a couple of years ago in my mom's old photos. I just knew I had to use it. (It's a scanned image, of course. I never cut photos). So, I crowned him "Prince Roger" and put him in my garden.

    Until Tomorrow:
    Kim
    Garden Painter Art
    gnarly-dolls
    Kim's Kandid Kamera

    3 Comments on I'M NOT SURE WHY I'M BLOGGING ABOUT MEMORIAL DAY ALREADY, last added: 5/23/2007
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