Marwen rocks!

Spent Monday and Tuesday with ten other CPS teachers at Marwen on Orleans just North of Chicago Ave. learning about print making....we inked acrylic boards and sent our original designs through the presses to create our own prints. Making the duralar templates and carving a linoleum block challenged my brain to see an image in positive and negative, light and dark, and in reverse!! What great exercise...and NO headache...some mistakes, though!
Monday morning we used a coffee stir to "draw" with on the back of our paper...without looking!!! A blind sketch was made of a still life on the table and then passed to someone else using another color of ink to add their lines. Some were actually pretty good!
Then we used thin plastic called duralar to make a template/pattern OR some chose pictures from magazines, to make a multicolored print. What a great learning experience...my first attempt really missed the mark, but the second was the best!
Today we looked at a book of WPA posters created during the late 30's and then chose a "cause" as the basis of a design that we first sketched, then traced onto a linoleum block (in reverse). Carving the linoleum was fun..I liked the feel of carving! After lunch we printed!

Marwen serves disadvantaged youth by providing wonderful art opportunities and offers teacher programs during April June and July. This class was the second I've taken and can't say enough about the great artists and staff!

Farmers' Market Saves the Day!

I was SOOO hoping for good news at my semi-annual DR. appt. this morning......oh well, there's always December! My cholesterol AND thyroid numbers went up....BOO HISS! Seriously, I exercise regularly, watch ny weight, I rarely eat red meat..(it''s fish and poultry for me).. AND I eat lots of salads and fruit....not much dairy...no ice cream, butter, milk....I use Almond milk and have an occasional Chobani Greek yogurt....what gives body?????? The doc says it's hereditary..it happens.....meh!
It was such a beautiful morning I walked the two miles to my appt., then up to the Post Office, then back to the grocery to cash a check, where I met Kerry to go to the Farmers' Market.....the story is all uphill from here, friends...oh the sights and smells at the market..... delicious, fresh, a feast for the eyes!!!!

Is this NOT a lovely bowl of healthy goodness?? Check out those radishes! For lunch today I am having a radish sandwich....look how BIG they are..... thinly sliced rye with a layer of crunchy cuke slices and a layer of radish slices...YUM! Breakfast was divine as well....just look........

Oh life is GOOD!! I am blessed!
I'll get you ol' cholesterol....I'm gunnin' for ya' ...watch your back!

printing extravaganza!

This is Angee, our wonderful teacher, tacking up our first printmaking efforts..scribbly scrabbly looking!

This is by Amee, an art teacher at a HS for teen moms.

This is my second more successful attempt...the first lost the eye and mouth!! Hey, this process is a little tricky!

This is printed on cotton twill...I see a wall hanging in my near future!

This is our culminating printmaking effort..a carved linoleum block....see print below... Mayor handing the teachers a wormy apple!

Who's the real worm????

dreaming of Decorah with wide open eyes

Just spent some quality time with my friend Peg, who's been fortunate to have moved to "the country"....just outside Eau Claire WI on 7 acres with a view!!
I will get to see her new home in another month..can't wait...even to meet the 3 ft. bull snake that resides under her deck!
We talked about the challenges of pulling up roots to move away and begin making connections in a new place...not easy I'm told...

Nevertheless, I want to try, after I retire, to find my own "country" home...which leads me to dreaming of Decorah IA, not nightdreams...daydreams...I've been there..I don't even remember where I heard of Decorah....but seriously, ideas get into my head and they don't leave...they take root and eventually I act on them... I did visit Decorah last November...stayed at a B&B for 2 nights with my friend Janny, who also lives in the Eau Claire area. We had a lovely time visiting, wandering, laughing, reminiscing.. as old friends do. And I discovered what a truly lovely town Decorah is....there's a lively ARTS scene, Luther College, an organic food co-op, cool coffee shops (YES!), artsy stores, excellent restaurants, the restored Hotel Winnishiek, and a quilt shop :)
The terrain is lovely..bluffs, hilly wooded streets, vistas up the kazoo....
I hope to get Chaz up there just to see it...he's dead set against the idea...

Here are some pics...wish me luck...dreams can become realities....

New hairs!

Thanks to my daughter, Brenna, I have new hair....I always leave the salon wondering whose silky sleek hair is hangin' off my head!? The color is gorgeous! Brenna is a wonderful artist..working full time and going to school part-time...wants to become an art educator for under privileged kiddos...

summer intentions

It's all about balance for me...I need work and I need play in order to be a happy camper... preferably in equal amounts.
The great thing about an extended vacation is that I can make it happen....barring unforseen events (won't even think about that!)
This summer I plan to:
 see movies, read novels, finish quilts, play in my art journal, exercise a minimum of 5 x per week, keep a daily food journal, lose 8 lbs., drink wine, drink beer, go to the farmers market so I can eat lots of fresh veggies mmmmmm! play my guitar again, sing more, work in the yard more- need some ornamental grass (the other would be ok too if ya' get my drift---who said that????) paint the wall going up the stairs to the second floor, strip, stain, and varnish the kitchen table, look for new flooring for the kitchen, clean the basement, LAUGH a lot everyday!, spend time with friends, play cards, RELAX and DE-STRESS!
I get a little rowdy when I get happy, so apologies in advance for any cussin' that may occur..I'll try to keep it to a minimum...

Kerry and I had a BIG juicy salad for dinner with tuna and black beans-YUMMY!

Bacashun Eve

It was Fat Tuesday for me....no the Lenten season is not approaching....Tuesday, June 21st, the first official  day of summer, also happened to be the last day of school year 2010-11, which will always be remembered as one of my worst....happens about one every seven years, I've found. ANYWAY , I ate too much - homemade chocolate chip cookies and pretzels....(note to family members: All party treats must be removed from 8050 at conclusion of any and all celebrations) and stayed up too LATE (3:30 am). Thankfully there was no red wine in the house...... I worked in my art journal...a couple of new faces...tried zentangles...fun! added to an unfinished page.....I have a new question to ponder...does my art journaling parallel my approach to life???? I will be examining and analyzing that......

70 days!

I have 70 days of "bacashun" or vacation as most adults pronounce it......wonderful.....relaxing.......productive.....lazy.....intentional.....WAIT! a slight tension is manifesting....will it be lazy or productive? will it be spontaneous or intentional? will I drop out or plug in??? We'll just have to find out!