Balloon Head

I think my baby girl is a balloon head! She celebrated her 2nd birthday this past weekend and the best part of the party (for her) was the "forest" of balloons. Twenty-four blue balloons with long spirally tails floating around the dining room. It was like the scene from "Ice Age" where the squirrel finally gets to heaven and it's paved with acorns... balloooooons! By the next day they were down on the floor and trailing after her like puppies. Today (yes, they are still here!) they look a bit more like raisins and I think they are starting to scare her. Tonight they will magically disappear.

Her dress (from Hanna Anderson - they had a great sale a few weeks ago!) well, it looks like a Hostess cupcake! My husband decorated the cake and cupcakes to match. Yep, that's right, my husband. He made all the other food too. Of course, he waited until the morning of the party to even START cooking and then forgot to buy eggs. But if he had actually planned ahead, then he'd be perfect, and who wants a perfect husband, right? ;-)

Any perfect mommies who stumbled upon this post hoping to find great toddler party tips should back away now! I think we broke all the rules on this one. We had an evening party. All the kids were older than Lilah, and there were tons of people with no kids at all. My 11 year old was in charge of entertainment which included a frantic "treasure hunt" covering the entire house (but NOT my studio - I said "no!") and piano bashing (we recently got an out of tune piano through FreeCycle). The birthday girl, and her mom wore black, (it did have a very sweet puffball fringe!) And the color scheme had no pink at all (blue and silver with a few black penguins). The "treasure" party-favors were really cool little collectible "blind-box" toys from Kid Robot that had interchange-able body sections so the kids could actually trade parts. They are called "Critter Splitters". Then my son went around offering everyone, adults included, giant, striped chenille stems (pipe cleaners). I was surprised that many adults accepted them, and even requested certain colors, and stood stroking them as they chatted. They are very silky and fun to twist. Good for us introverted, nervous types, too. But it made for a strange scene - grown-ups (in a balloon forest) with stripey giant pipe cleaners in one hand and a beer in the other. (oh... you're not supposed to serve beer at a toddler party? oops.) Don't believe me? Here's my own dad making a tiger. Yes, it IS a tiger, he even followed the instructions on the packaging!

Art in the Olympics

Guest blogger for today: my son Alex, age 11. Actually, he had to write a "persuasive" paper and chose to write about Art in the Olympics. I thought it was a hoot! And he said it was fine if I posted it. I particularly love the last line!

Alex Bartholomew
11/20/08
The Artistic Resurrection

From 1912-1948 artistic competitions were held in the Olympics. Events were in architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. These were cancelled however, due to the lack of preparation time and the non-professional rule which states that professional athletes and musicians weren’t allowed to compete in the Olympics. The Olympic viewers didn’t enjoy amateur art, so the whole contest was rejected. Now that the professionalism rule has been permanently abolished, I believe art should be re-introduced in the Olympics. Many people would enjoy its return, including artists, viewers, and the people responsible for the Olympics themselves.
First of all this would help the artists and musicians that are entering these competitions. A lot of artists do not have the fame they need to sell their work and need the chance to show the world what they can achieve. Radio and TV broadcasting makes Olympic athletes as well-known as a light in a darkroom. If someone local wanted to purchase one of their "Olympic-winning" pieces, the artist would be quite satisfied with themselves. But however happy this would make them, other people can be just as content.
Whether from TV or the real deal, Olympic viewers are served, too, especially if they're someone who doesn't watch the Olympics because they don't like sports. Or maybe an art collector that needs a competition that suits their needs. Maybe an artist to be inspired! An art collector could find the artist and and purchase their work. But however rich the artists are getting, and however close to completion collectors collections are getting, and however much citizen are watching TV, there are people who might just be the happiest of them all.
The Olympic managers! With more people to watch the new addition, they get a massive budget-boost! All the money could be used to pay for some of next years Olympics. Plus the point of the Olympics is international cooperation. if you add more to the Olympic games, it just means more cooperation. Along that note, Olympic workers can come in contact with more people they'd like to know. Instead of just athletes they can meet artists and musicians too. Olympic workers would love an artistic addition to the Olympics.
If artists are too timid to make themselves known within their own states or provinces, they might not enter a worldwide Olympics. They might not think they are important enough to bother with a circumnavigating flight. A simple solution would be to have state-wide competitions that would lead to a regional, to an national, and then to the Olympics. This could lure them from their caves and decrease the number of competitors. Another matter includes the objection that it would make the Olympics longer and more boring. THIS IS NONSENSE!!! The Artistic Olympics could be placed in between the Summer and Winter Olympics. They could be prepared for in an Olympic-like fashion in a completely different country and city. The other opposition is that art is too subjective to be properly judged. This is probably true, however so is judging a criminal on trial. A panel of average citizens representing the competing countries would be randomly picked for a jury. As of these requirements, art would be quite an enjoyable plan.
As you see here, I believe that everyone can withdraw some joy from the addition of art to the Olympics. When this act follows through, a beautiful art piece that would've been lost for eternity can now fall into the gaping jaws of human necessity.

Gallery Shows

I have work up at the Mill Brook Gallery in Concord, NH and at Interior Additions (also in Concord). Both are shows for the WCA/NH (Women's Caucus for Art) and both run through the middle of December. The Mill Brook Show is called "Vision Keepers" and the IA show is our annual 6x6 Show (all works 6" square and $66).


These pieces are all available for purchase from the galleries (mosaics - Mill Brook, Time Fairy collages - Interior Additions)

Halloween

My Halloween post - posted really late:

Halloween is not only my favorite holiday, but it is also my wedding anniversary. Sixteen years. Amazing. Why did I think that this would be a good day to have an anniversary? We get hundreds of kids banging on our door and any idea of celebrating on our own goes kablooey. I LOVE carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating, but the idea of asking neighbors for candy has always felt weird to me. My son and I started the tradition of handing out our own treats, house to house, and now my daughter is getting in on the fun too. This year, my son drew a whole bunch of adorable, spooky bookmarks and we attached little chenille spiders to them as tassels. Some of the neighbors claim they have collected all his gifts over the years!

I didn't get to carve a pumpkin this year, so here is a drawing of one from last year:

I got to dress up for a costume party too, this year - and I stumbled across my alter-ego. I was sort-of a darke faerie, but with a better sense of humor! I played with the photos my husband took, in Photoshop and decided that this is what "Sakhmet" would look like:


Perhaps it is time to have a mid-life rebellion? Well, maybe this Spring, when I'm not so tired!

Fairyland

We all went to an amazing FairyHouse garden Tour in Portsmouth, NH recently. My mother-in-law shot this picture of my daughter - and I'm having urges to paint it with oversized flowers in the background...



...and perhaps you have always wondered, how a fairy gets around with those filmy wings?

Make-a-Wish Mural

A few months ago I saw an ad in the local paper about an 11 year-old boy who had suddenly been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He was having chemo and radiation and his family was asking for donations to help out. I ripped out the info and begged my husband to write a check (he did!). But I wanted to do more. The story struck a chord with me on so many levels. Not only do I have a son of the same age, who also loves Star Wars and Legos, but I had a similar tumor-experience when I was that same age. I was one of only 3 cases, at the time, and all treatments were experimental. I was told I probably wouldn't live past 25 and I wouldn't have children. I turned 39 on Monday (Happy Birthday to me!) and I have two awesome kids! So, I've always wanted to be able to share my good fortune - or maybe pay it back... or pay it forward?- whatever- I wanted to do something!

Then, out of the blue an artist friend asked if I'd help her do a Star Wars mural for a sick kid and I said "yes!" (even though I am supposed to say "no" to everything right now). Guess what? It turned out to be a mural for this same 11 year old!


Make-a-Wish granted his dream of having a movie theatre in his basement - complete with a huge tv screen on the wall, luxurious reclining seats with cupholders, an intimidating stack of electronics, Darth Vader popcorn cart, foosball, lots of legos, and our mural. It was amazing. (sigh) So... here are some pics of our lovely mural. The idea was that the stormtroopers have blasted a hole in his wall and are fighting a big battle in the docking bay. The Naboo fighter is on a different wall. I picked it because it was yellow ("ooo... pretty!") and we got tired of painting gray stormtoopers. Yes, I know, they aren't actually storm troopers, my son corrected me on everything, but that's what I call them. :-) If anyone else wants Jen and me to paint a mural for them, we are even better at fairies and such - or at least the fuzzier Star Wars characters!!

Work of Art

Well, that one Parent Visitation Day came and went. I do think summer months move faster than other months... anyway... we were SO excited to visit the kid. There was a mad rush of parents towards kids and kids towards parents. It resembled some battle scene from the movies, but with smiles and boxes of donuts and gifts instead of weapons. The baby was sitting on her daddy's shoulders and launched forward to hug her brother. She wouldn't let go!! When we finally got the two separated, and set the baby down, she rammed her brother to the ground and wrapped her arms around his neck! 

These two have GOT to be my greatest masterpieces. sniff sniff. I know, it's corny. But so many people told me they were too far apart in age, they would resent each other, I was insane to start again now... blah blah blah!  When I think about it though, in my more confident days, all it really took was someone telling me I couldn't do something to seal the deal. "Oh really? I'll prove you wrong!" So, in my own twisted way, raising two kids (in this very strange world) who really, really enjoy each other and appreciate each other - is my way of saying "oh yah?! Watch me!!"