Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the art category.
D.C. days
Try to remember when you first visited Washington, D.C.
For me, as a child.
Tall, white buildings.
Giant animals frozen in time.
Glittering Hope Diamond. And rubies. And emeralds.
The actual monster space travelers from NASA. (see the re-entry scars!) These were in OUTER SPACE!
Fountains.
Big carved rocks of men on horses at every traffic circle.
I also remember touring The White House with my family in the 1960s. This was before the days of
heritage tourism. There were no rest room facilities for the public. But a member of our party needed one.
So this person received an unusual private tour to a lovely room reserved for VIP guests. And the sneak peeks
down halls & opening & closing doors as staff performed their duties, was the top topic the rest of the day.
I visit D.C. as often as I can, which is made sweet by having a longtime college pal who
is generous in sharing her townhouse with friends. And another pal who also shares. Thank you folks!
Recently the trip turned judicial, because my public interest lawyer husband was involved in an important juvenile justice case at the Supreme Court. First visit to that august body. And naturally there wasn’t time enough to learn enough. A return visit expected. Let me just say: Go Justice Sonia, Go!
WALKING D.C.
The connected folks at Cultural Tourism D.C.
sent me & my walking boots to their site, to explore with my eyes before I arrived.
I settled on a tour of The Mall.
Our leader with the blue umbrella, Tim Stewart, a retired h.s. guidance counselor, knew the hills & vales to lead us to,
the front porch & back porch gossip, & the best place to adjust soggy situations. (I used the automatic hand dryer in a women’s restroom to remove puddles that my boots soaked up.) For nearly 2 hours – and I’m sure he could have brought us to more sites – he regaled us with his love of our Mall. We were of U.S., Paraguay & Asian heritage. Ask for Tim when you make your plans.
Although I have to say that my trip with my husband to gaze with love at our Nation’s Sacred Documents of Freedom & one of the the Brit’s original Magna Cartas (1297!!!) at the National Archives sits at the top of the list on this visit, Walking the Mall with our Guide is a close 2nd.
This was on Memorial Day, folks, we were in the midst of poignant moments, floral tributes, military honor guard at the Vietnam Memorial (s). And it was funeral, the gray sky, the chizzle (chill drizzle). My heart leapt. My father, the American Legion Commander of his post in Our Hunterdon County, N.J. town, honored his Memorial Days. I placed my hand over my
heart, for our troops’ brave service. Then I hummed as a prayer, brilliant John Lennon’s words, war is over … So be it.
World War II Memorial
Washington, D.C. Nov. 11, 2009
a funny Halloween
Is “Smell my feet” the best greeting a Trick-or-Treater can say at the door today?
That’s how the green-haired twins, Delia & Ophelia, want the neighborhood children to respond when they ring the bell & the door opens.
The twins are witches who are up to their britches stirring up a witchy brew of trouble in this most-inventive Halloween book.
Trick-or-Treat SMELL MY FEET! from artist-author Lisa Desimini is a treasure.
Her collage art is a wizardry of the highest order.
I was so unhappy when this beloved book wasn’t in our box of Halloween that we unpacked at the beginning of the month. Then last night, like a work of magic, I found it in a pile of great items in a box in my office – just in time for Halloween.
Books for the Boo!
We keep creepy Halloween in a box 11 months out of the year.
Come October, the ghosties & ghoulies, black cats & bats
are let out of the box.
We hammer tombstones into the yard dirt & place home-made pumpkins
of paper around the living room.
My daughter puts read-aloud Halloween books on a low table.
And she & her father stuff & dress a scarecrow who guards our yard. We will all
carve the pumpkin closer to the big evening.
What are your favorite Halloween titles? Once you read some of ours, these may become a grand part of
your Halloween bookshelf:
SIX CREEPY SHEEP by Judith Ross Enderle & Stephanie Gordon Tessler, with illustrations from John O’Brien
BAT JAMBOREE by Kathi Appelt, with illustrations by Melissa Sweet
THE LITTLE SCARECROW BOY by Margaret Wise Brown (yes, MWB herself, without a bunny in sight) and brought to a delightful modern art interpretation by David Diaz.
Trick or Treat (I want it to be Treat) to You & Yours
Chickees
Inspection
The office assistant weighs in on a summer project, experimenting with different materials for miniature chickees.
Palmistry
These are roofing materials for the miniature version of open-air buildings, chickees, in Florida. The chickee is a raised platform, with a palmetto-covered roof, created in history by Seminole Indians in South Florida.
Mine will be models for kids to create in class.
The Pulitzer-winner on Mount Soledad
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1znhk_the-wubbulous-world-of-dr-seuss_creation
Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite children’s literature icons to smile about.
This genius, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, knew children are intelligent folks who deserved lively literature.
His advertising work called for short, often rhyming blurbs that were also action packed & provided a fine catalyst for his real avocation ahead. His doodles from an early age proved his hands were hot-wired to an artist’s heart.
A cool part of the Theodor Geisel book world is his very own flag. His publishing house (where he also worked as an editor, RANDOM HOUSE) flew the Dr. Seuss flag at its Westminister, Md. warehouse, while his books were being shipped out.
For more on this national treasure, please see “Dr. Seuss from Then to Now,” A Catalogue of the Retrospective Exhibition, (organized by the San Diego Museum of Art, 1986. This catalogue/hardback book is the source of these tantalizing facts & many more…)
Paint a heart for February
Make a squiggly heart, a loop de loop or pizza at
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/
(A box of colored pencils to author M.R. Street of Blue Rock Rescue fame.)
Florida Christmas
A Green Christmas tree, in Florida, CEDAR KEY.
A fishing net, cast upon a pole.
Shells in the net. (Let’s hope the shells are castaways & weren’t taken live.)
Colored lights.
