Art Masterpiece Today

Today I presented to the kids this painting called "In Front of the Chateau de Chastelloux" by Maurice Utrillo. We talked about the perspective and the season and colors. Also, the fact that Utrillo didn't pay much attention to detail. I had a little trouble with the title and had to figure out the pronunciation before today. Chastelloux is pronounced Shas-tel-loo. I am learning French now :) I think I'll be ready for Paris soon.

I've learned that Maurice Utrillo's Mother wasn't married to his Father who apparently was an Artist and an alcoholic. He was out of the picture from the get go. His Mother was an Artist's model and modeled for such famous artist's as Renoir. She was eventually taught to paint herself by Degas. Utrillo was given his last name by a Spanish art critic. He had a very sad childhood and didn't do well in school. His Mom left Maurice to his Grandmother to raise quite often while she pursed her painting. Grandma would actually spike his soup with wine to help him sleep. I'm guessing that's what eventually lead to him becoming an alcoholic by 17 years old. He was then in and out of asylums for a period of years. As therapy it was suggested that he take up painting. He was self taught and painted from memory or postcards. By his 40's he had become famous. In his early 50's he finally married and that was a much happier part of his life. He quit drinking and lived out a pretty normal life and died at 72.

Feeling Nostalgic

I Love this picture! Me taking time to smell the roses.

Me catching some rays

Me & cousin Lori

My cousins Anthony, Mark, Lori, Sherri-Lynn, me and Barbara


My 3rd Birthday party & lots of family to celebrate (I'm the short one near the cake)

Me & my Daddy




I caught up with my cousin Lisa this morning. She lives way back east and I'm in the west. We are a whole country apart. It was so nice talking to her. I felt nostalgic, we both wished we all could be closer. We talked about how nice it was growing up, to be surrounded by cousins and Aunts and Uncles. My Dad was one of 5 brothers and 2 sisters. I think all together there was around 16 kids, not that all of us were near the same age. Half of us were close in age. We all saw each other so often, Birthdays, Holidays and lots of in between. For the girls, we had another cousin that owned a Dance Studio and we would take dance lessons together. We were in a couple of recitals. I wonder if "family" still exists? Or are we as a nation becoming to busy to get together with family? I know we make time for our immediate families but how about the rest of the "family"? Someday I'd love to have or be a part of organizing a family reunion, maybe within the next couple of years if everybody may be willing. It would be so nice to see the cousins and their children! My Mom and Lisa's are the only Aunts left sadly. All of the brothers have passed. I think about how my children don't know what it's like to be surrounded by Aunts & Uncles and lots of cousins. It would be nice to introduce them to the family. Thinking about family I thought it would be fun to post some old pictures. I actually had to take pictures of these pictures, they came out pretty good considering they were all taken back in the 60's.

Time for a hair change

I was long overdue for a haircut and highlights. I thought it was time to get some bangs once again, needed something different. They are back in now, not that I follow that too much. Whatever looks best on you... Last weekend when we went to play in the snow, my hair was blowing in my face way to much. There is a pic. of me where I look like "Cousin It" from the Adams family, honestly. I knew it had to be the front of me rather than the back, the picture was in the distance so I zoomed in. Sure enough. You get the point. I felt like it was time for a change. We get into the pattern of repeating what we think works. Not that this is a drastic difference, just enough. My daughter took this pic. the day I got my hair done so I thought I'd share it. My friend Renee at Camelot Salon did and great job cutting and highlighting my hair I'm happy with it (thanks Renee!).

One last ride on this Carousel

Maybe I won't be recognized on here if I wear my shades, then I can enjoy one last ride! I'm guessing that's what she's thinking? Oh how fast they grow up! Hopefully I can get her to try out the new one at least one time. We had a nice talk about not caring what others think as long as we're having fun.

This is my little ham on the Dolphin :)
One last roar for the tiger!
If I were a Carousel horse, I'd want to be this one

In our local Mall we have a Carousel. My kids have both grown up with it. It has always been a presence there. I can remember when my daugther's class took a field trip to the Mall. It was either Kindergarten or 1st grade. At one time there was a pottery painting place there. They went to paint pottery, then lunch at McDonald's followed by a ride on the carousel. McDonald's is gone and so is the pottery place. The Carousel has always been there as long as I've known. Last week there was a news article that said yesterday would be the last for the Carousel. They were going to install a double decker Carousel. Sounds pretty cool, but still my children have both grown up with this particular one. We went to the Mall yesterday for just one last ride. My daughter at 12 1/2 only rode once (with sunglasses :) my son rode 2 times in hopes of riding the dragon. It was pretty crowded though, you only had to wait about one go around before getting on again, but he never would beat anyone to the dragon. Perhaps there will be an even better more awesome dragon on the new Carousel. Just an FYI on the photos above you can click on them to make them larger.

My Beautiful Children: Find Your Wings

Mark Harris - Find Your Wings
From the album The Line Between The Two

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

Chorus:
I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

Chorus:

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

Chorus:

A Day to play in the snow

Yesterday we thought it would be fun to go and play in the snow. We live in an area where it doesn't snow. Thankfully we are close enough to drive to it. All four of us still have a childlike approach to snow, not just the children. Neither my husband or myself have ever really had to live and work in the snow as adults. We both grew up with snow and remember how much fun it was. We got an early start and traveled about 3 hours north of our home. We could have found some snow closer but knew the areas to have fun would be better where we were headed. We got there just before lunch. We had a quick lunch and then headed for the fun. Lots of other people had the same idea, but it wasn't so crowded that it was annoying. We started with the little hills and worked our way up to the bigger ones. Most areas you could walk pretty easy, those were the areas most traveled that had been compacted down. There were some where I'd step and be knee deep. I strickly stuck to the sled you see me holding, even though it spun around on me, I never screamed once :) My bottom hurt a little this morning but I'm good now :) My husband took the kids down, they really enjoyed being able to ride with Dad. Surprisingly it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I had a hoodie jacket on under my jacket, neither of which was very warm. At one point I had to take them both off to cool off. When the wind blew though then it felt cooler, glad we all had hoods and water proof gloves.

We didn't make the snowman, but I thought his image should be captured. Our day was more fun than a day at the amusement park! I'm so glad we made the trip.

Girly Comments & Graphics

The Altered Fairy

Scroll down to my previous post and see the original photo of this lady. I have been having fun playing with Photoshop. I removed the people from the picture. I've combined my love of Photography with my love of Paintings and look at her now, suitable for framing! Which one is your favorite? Be sure to click on each one so you can view them larger.

The Renaissance Festival

We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. Our weather was in the lower 70's. It was the perfect day to do something outdoors. Even though that sounds perfect, the sun get's pretty hot in these parts. The occassional refuge of the shade was nice. It's always a place where you never know what you'll see. The people that choose to make the Renaissance their living as well as the ones that choose to do so one weekend out of the year, are always interesting to observe. Some not appropriate for the children's eyes. We just direct the children in the way we want them to go and what they'll see. Not all there was appropriate but it was interesting for them. My daughter's first Renaissance Festival was when she was only about 5 or 6 months old. I think for my son it wasn't until he was 3. We bought her an adorable pink satin hat and we carried her around in our backpack carrier back then. A couple years ago was the first time she'd been back to one. She got a pretty princess crown that day. This go around I think my son had a bit more fun. He like looking at Pirate stuff and he enjoyed a ride in a hamock/chair swing. The sword swallowing guy hopefully didn't encourage him to try anything at home. I think in the end my daughter enjoyed it more than she was willing to admit. I admired this "Fairy-like" lady and her "Robin Hoodish" looking significant other. I should have just gone up to them and told them so, rather than stalking them with my telephoto zoom lens. Don't know why I didn't? Then I could have actually gotten a picture of them frontal, see their pic above. They did not work at the Renaissance but rather appeared to be dressed in the moment as many were. I'd really like to do that sometime. For those of you who know my husband, can you just see him now? :) Maybe not quite the Robin Hood type, but maybe more like a knight :) One of the last things we did was to watch the jousting. The "King & Queen" made their entrance and then it began. It was kinda corny but fun to watch. I have not done anything with the photos yet to touch them up in any way. I think it could be fun to play around with a couple in Photoshop. When I get around to it, I'll have to do that and post them.

Frozen SUV

We live in an area where it usually never snows. I have experienced something rather foreign to me the past two mornings. We've gone to get into my SUV and yesterday more so the doors stuck, they were pretty cold. Once inside I put my defrosters on full blast both front and back. I turned on my windsheild wipers only to find out they are covered with ice. I had no clue what to do, sad but true :) I called my husband in a panic now to get to school on time. He told me to hose off the car, ok where's the hose? It wasn't where it normally would be. Then get a glass of water and throw it on the windshield. OK that I can do, and it worked YEAH! My heart goes out to those that have much more to do than that. I can't imagine having to shovel the driveway or scrape ice off. As a child I grew up in the northeast but as a teenager and adult have always lived where it's never snowed. I did live in Colorado for about 3 months, but that doesn't count. New experience for me. Being a photographer, I should have taken a picture. If it happens again tomorrow, I will.

Renoir is my next Artist

I'm just Loving learning more about these Artists and their paintings! My next Artist is Renoir and the painting is called "Monet painting in His Garden at Argenteuil". I thought it would be fun to find out where the original is actually located. It is actually in Hartford, CT. I spent 40 minutes talking with the Librarian's assistant at the museum their the other day. I found out the correct pronunciation for Argenteuil it sounds more like Ar-jen-toy. It might be fun to let the kids have a crack at it. I'd say so far I like this one the best. I am appreciating them all in the process though. This one is just much more pleasing to the eye for me. I like the flowers and Renoir always painting things pleasing to the eye. He was quoted having said there were to many ugly things in the world that they didn't need to be seen in paintings. That not the quote word for word, but the basic meaning. I was happy to see that about 3/4 of the 6th grade class knew who Picasso was. I invite my daughter to critique me later that day each time I've had a presentation. How did I do? Her comments are always encouraging, this past time she said I did better than before :)

I have had thoughts of "what if" regarding the fact that I never became an Art Teacher. I'm not saying it was ok for me to be discouraged by an adult, nor to I suggest anyone do anything less than encourage your child to pursue all they have a passion to do. It may have been fate that I was discouraged from doing so though. I just feel had I become an Art Teacher, it would no longer be as fun having to do it on a daily basis. In college I thought I wanted to pursue Graphic Design. In High School I actually took a course at the vocational school because I couldn't wait. Oh to have that kind of time now, when I'm in school all day and actually think I've got time on my hands I'll go learn some more tonight :) I don't think I ever finished the class though. I loved doodling with letters and making flyers and greeting cards and playing around with typestyles... once I had to do it as class work, it wasn't fun. There was that pressure that just zapped the creativity. Somethings are just meant to be left as a passion you don't get paid for I suppose.