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Monday, March 30, 2009

It is Amazing!

Just saw this You Tube video called "Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy"
It's very funny, but also brings up a good point. We roll our eyes when our parents (grandparents) say things like "when I was a kid..." And now I find myself saying the same thing with my children, except that it wasn't so long ago that we did these unthinkable things. "When I was a kid, we didn't have cell phones or microwaves." "When I was kid, I had to program my own computer games." Can it possibly be true!? Sesame Street was first aired the year I was born (and man walked on the moon). Which one is more impressive to a kid? Rocket ships are nothing new, but Elmo... Oh, but we didn't have Elmo, when I was a kid. (Thank goodness). I would gladly trade 95% of the hundreds of kids programs we have today, to get Kermit the Frog back on Sesame Street. sigh.

We have SO many amazing inventions, new technology, but honestly, how much of it do we really need? Does it really make life easier? When I was a kid, our parents didn't bring their jobs on vacation with us. There are hundreds of ways to reach out and touch someone - and yet we are all so lonely. When I was a kid, I remember playing hide-and-seek under the pine trees with the neighborhood kids until the fireflies came out. I remember my mom bringing treats in to our classroom, just because, and she hadn't been fingerprinted! Shocking. I remember when PB&J was standard food for all kids and not considered "illegal" in the lunchroom or a ticket to the ER. Oh the good old days. Funny how the grandparents thought we were all spoiled and didn't appreciate any of the amazing things we had (like the telephone and school buses...)

It could be that these "scary economic times" happen as a system of checks and balances to help us see what we have. Take down the big "super-sized everything", and give the small "hey, I have a great idea" people space to grow. This way, perhaps, all the jaded, younger people,get a chance to see what they can come up with when they aren't inundated with all the technology of past generations. So maybe there is a positive way to look at this... mess. It's a way of clearing space - Spring Cleaning. Forcing us to be creative, use our brains - "what would I do today, if someone hadn't already done it all for me?"

Monday, March 9, 2009

movie: Ballet Shoes


I just watched a wonderful movie called "Ballet Shoes". Here's the short description from Netflix:

An unusual explorer named Gum (Richard Griffiths) and his kindly niece (Emilia Fox) adopt three orphans -- Pauline (Emma Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige) and Posy (Lucy Boynton) -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But when Gum doesn't return from one of his adventures, the girls must fend for themselves. Together they nurture their respective acting, aviation and ballet dreams in this charming adaptation of the Noel Streatfeild novel.

Emma Watson is the actress who played Hermione in Harry Potter and Richard Griffiths was Uncle Dursley. They are both wonderful in this film. This is one of those rare films that can be watched by any age and enjoyed - no violence, sex or drugs. (And, yet, still has a plot - go figure!) After Gum is forced to take in his niece, her Nanny makes him remove a lot of his skeletons and fossils to make room for the new family members. She forbids him to bring back new fossils from his adventures. So, when he starts bringing home orphaned babies (!?), they are all surnamed "Fossil". ie: Posy Fossil! Very funny! I really love movies about women beating the odds to pursue their dreams, but I really love when they incorporate family loyalty as an obstacle. Who of us doesn't wonder "what would I do today if I didn't have to worry about my (husband, kids, sick mother)...?" What if you could have your dream AND your family was happy about it? Ahh...

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Tangling it Up!

We have begun!
I've been working on all four knees (gnees!) down to the hoofs. My inspiration is Mendhi henna tattoos.


Deb's been working on the gnose, eyes and forehead. Very cool. Some of the face will eventually be in color too.
Liz has been working on the shoulders. And on the opposite shoulder there are raised areas for the hair (mane?) and her tangles follow along those lines. Cool idea.

Carol has been decorating the...ahem... posterior. Looks like Indian pottery, doesn't it. We are all amazed at how our "mistakes" disappear into the Zentangles. I think this must be the most perfect artform.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Tangled up!

It's taken me a week to post this, but I spent last week in Whitinsville, MA attending a Zentangle Teachers Certification Workshop. Wowza! It was amazing! It was so much fun to be surrounded by so many "square pegs". Lots of artists and quite a few people, like me, who still don't know what they want to be when they grow up.

There were 50 people from all over the US, plus Hong Kong and Belgium. Some had never done Zentangles before. If you have never heard of it, look here at the official website. I'll be adding some information to my website soon too - now that I can teach it!

This is a photo of me (on left), the leaders (Maria & Rick, center back), and four other women from NH chapter of The Womens Caucus for Art.
Maria's shoes! how cool! I'm working on a pair of black lo-top sneakers.


One of the "mosaics" of tiles made by the group. We all worked on basically the same patterns for these tiles, but they all look so different.

My head is still vibrating with all the ideas... I'm putting together some basic workshops, so if you live in (or near) NH and are curious about learning to create Zentangles, send me your email and name and I'll get you on my mailing list. I'm doing a workshop for my employees at Wingdoodle tomorrow. They were so excited when they saw my drawings they said "we want to do that!" Should be fun!

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