Now is the hour...

It is time to throw up the white flag and surrender.  Perhaps I shall rise again to fight the good fight another day but until then...

I am molting!

All that hard work that chicks do, well, they need a few days (?) of downtime to restore their production levels and their fluffy good looks!  In my case I suspect it will take more than a few days as the Rooster is heading into retirement and supervisor of the hen yard, that he is,  he has some major revisions in mind!  I think it was the thought of him sticking his beak in my coop that has triggered the molt!  lol

The truth is that I have fallen behind on most fronts.  My journal/planner has been reduced to penciled scribbles, notes and overflowing piles of ephemera.  Thank goodness these new phones keep records of texts for what happened and when.  ;^)  I do plan to catch up and pretty them up.  Just not sure when.

The one constant is art school 101.  The kids come home with us Sunday and we do school Monday morning.  I am just luving our new program!

It takes 3 hours total and we can expand any of the basic segments into THE project.  We start with a timeline and add all kinds of interesting things to show where we came from, how parts of history influence art and where we are now.  Heck, I'm learning lots as well.
Then a short reminder of basic elements and art principles.  The nature journal is their homeschooling daily journal and we do show and tell and just review sketching or how to draw a bird info.  Then, RECESS!  The artist of the month follows. Did you know Dr. Seuss was an arttist?    The Project depends on what we want to focus on for the day and which they can work on while I get some kind of literature reading in.

  I intend to keep this format in future years as we can go back over the time line and focus on different things and also build on what we have learnt.   I am really quite pumped and find this even more exciting than the grand kiddies.

 I had started an 'who am I?'  journal at the beginning of the year.  I think it was the start of trying to figure out my creative self and the journey has had some amazing revelatory twists and turns.  I fully intend to hit this one hard in the year 2018.  I have learnt so very much about myself.

I have had good intentions but realize that sewing just isn't going to happen.  Perhaps the hiatus was necessary as I am starting to really yearn for sewing time and even bought a piece of quilting fabric while I was away.  This winter will likely see only hand sewing and I did get an online class for free form embroidery that intrigues me.

Part of the learning was my fashion mission.  I kinda felt this was vain and frivolous but creativity expressed in clothing reveals to others who I really am.  I've been delighted to see how art principles  apply just as effectively in the fashion world and overlap in many areas.

 We have been delighted with our young contractor as we build our new home.  His expertise and suggestions have made this such a fun project.   He 'gets' my vision and the Rooster's budget!

 We have been stockpiling pavers and the grand kiddies have been a tremendous help passing them down off the truck.

 The property is quite pretty and unspoiled.  The kiddies found a young pine that we've marked and it will be a worthy journal subject as we chronicle our time here and theirs.  :)

 We were comfortable to leave things in good hands as we took a trip out to see DD#1. We all watched Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy!  ;-O   Hubby was all about having a meal ready for the working girl to come home to and I caught up on the art scene from her trip to Paris! She had an amazing dvd on the works in the Louvre.  We had left in the first snowstorm of the year and came back to full blown winter.  But also rested and refreshed for the move from the old farm to the new town.
 

 I have been being creative.  I can testify that creativity isn't just an art room or even an art class option.  Embracing my 67 year old body and all the 'old rules' for what one can and cannot wear has required some creative clothing choices as I decide what I want to look like.  There have been dozens of design decisions for the house.  I have a pile of landscape books by my chair as the Rooster wants the landscape budget perfected.  Come January 1st we will need to get creative as we pack up 40 some years of stuff and transition from the farm life to small town living.  It won't be hard because every time we drive away from the property our smiles get bigger and bigger as we anticipate this new adventure.

And that brings me to goodbye.  I have enjoyed my blog and chronicling my creative journey.  I have grown and changed is more ways than even I realize.  I am so looking forward to my Rooster's retirement and our new home, our new LIFE!  I think this is a good place to end.  I'm not sure that I want to nor even can leave blogland.  But I won't be the country chick messing about with crafts under the bemused eyes of my farmer.  We will be doing life differently but definitely creatively!

Thank you for reading and being a part of my story.  Perhaps I'll see you in a book with a different title.

Blessings from elle

A Royal Story

Once a week I head off to see my grand kiddies,  a royal prince and his princess sisters.  We do Art 101 and then Literature Appreciation.

Having observed my rather normal (typical) grandchildren I would say it is never too young to introduce art.
Jolina, the youngest (4), was just kinda encouraged to do her own thing off to one side.  She has amazed me with her interest, ability, and fine motor skills.   Eliana, just turned seven, is messy, independent, and fearless. I might add tearless but it would be untrue as she gets quite dismayed when abilities don't match her aspirations!  Can anyone else relate?  Joshua is almost nine.  He is tidy, focused and likes the details.

I want to foster a luv for journaling.  We begin with a binder that is their planner/journal. At this point it is very visual. I also realized I need to use my motto-  KIS Students!  They don't have a limitless attention span so I must keep an eye on the clock.   Since we are always coming back to the colour wheel which has 12 segments I decided we would begin in January and do a colour a month.  A little forethought and we should hit the warm colours in time for summer.  ;^)  Sometimes I amaze myself!  LOL

Looking through the designated drawer for their supplies I realized I needed to fine tune things.  By season???   Again, not a full room sort but just a better dividing of categories.  As I search,  I reassign the stickers and scraps.  I can also see what I have in abundance (summer) and what I lack (blue violet).  :/

She has leaves figured.  House orientation not so much.

Final revision.  Lesson learned- markers are permanent!

hmm, what's between sky and ground?

The format for the actual class is an old art book.The publishing date page is missing but Art Stories * Book Three* looks to me like it predates Dick and Jane!    "Through varied pictures and interesting reading the child is made increasingly conscious of beauty of colour, form, and line as seen in nature, pictures, in all his surroundings.  Elementary ideas of drawing, painting, sculpture, design, architecture, interior decoration, costume, and civic art are thus introduced in a setting of natural child interests and activities."  Not only does it simplify my planning but it is fun!

Winter is devoted to that royal colour purple, or more correctly violet.  January is red violet.  February, the secondary colour violet, and March will be blue violet.

We finish our time together with a chapter or two.   Sometimes the children draw and colour as I read and sometimes we just snuggle and imagine the lives of royal children.  A grand story indeed!

The flakes are flying!

It doesn't even look like a tease but the real deal.  Winter is beginning!

I have last week's memories recorded.  The grand kiddies spent a couple of nights to check out our new kitties and the roadway project.

So their journal page included heavy equipment. No surprises!  Josh's is loaded with detail.  Eliana's is sporting a colourful paint job.  And Jolina is working on a driver who surely resembles the new kitty!  lol

The art lesson showcased three ways to portray horses. Paintings which use various lines, colours and have backgrounds.  Line drawings are flat with straight and curving lines but no background.  Finally sculptures (or statues) which have dimension, curvy and straight lines but no background.  This seemed a good time to play with polymer clay and make some charms.  We didn't try to make horses though.  ;^)  I expect next week we will be bending end pins and stringing cord for fun accessories!

Papers were also flying as I sorted through my neutral papers to add a few more signatures for a journal I'd made but not really used. It has mostly neutral pages with texture and some have text.   It seemed skimpy and the spine needed more to fill it out.  I needed two more signatures to make up a journal to explore my 7 main archetypes.  I am kinda excited about that.  :)

I can't wait to fling a new way to make a journal to hold the papers my friend  and I made mono printing last week.

I'll hope for less flakes tomorrow but more fun flinging creativity around.  :)

Back to school

I enjoy teaching my grand children.  Truth be known; I probably learn more than they do!

They are keeners!  Joshua is in grade 3.   Eliana is in grade 1.  Jolina is a tag along and hasn't officially started.  lol

I am 'the art department'!  And this year I am the Literature Appreciation department as well.  Not exactly sure how I went from pre reading their books to teaching them to appreciate them but...

Last year's Smash books are done except for extra embellishments and space has been cleared on the bookshelf.

The planners are in the old binders and now I need to figure out how to save/store the old ones.  There is only so much room on the bookshelf their mom/teacher tells me.  :O

We only had time for a short story about Nancy and the artist before lunch and recess.  But the Smash books are done so next week is colour mixing which pleases them.

In the afternoon we switch to reading.  The photocopied drawings from our book study are going to work well.  We got 3 chapters read before it was time for swimming lessons.

I made lots of notes for things I forgot to do/bring.  A few modifications and  I have the next month up on my work space.   I think we have made a good beginning.

Stick'n to it!

I have spent some time gathering a selection of monoprinting techniques into a binder.   I was ready for a bit of play time and it was also time to let the grand kiddies get messy in art 101.  With their planners still at the forefront of my mind, and a few Avery label sheets on hand, I decided that we'd make our own stickers.

I had the various circle labels which are an easy peel away sticker.  But I also had some plain sheets for customizing.  I got my samples prepared for class.

 Adding an extra student to the mix made it somewhat harder to stick to the plan.  sheesh!  This was the calm before the paint got on my good sweater!  :(  DD was hiding out in a quieter corner but to be fair, she had hinted at the new dynamics this young lady added to the mix.  We cleaned everything up.  Washing the gelli plates and supplies proved more fun than anything previous. :O

Once we were relatively dry we started cutting stamps.  Some of my punches are second hand buys and are not too very sharp which is challenging for the kids.   But it introduced them to future creative options. 

I did bring Jolina home with me and we stopped off to buy an art supply that I'd been contemplating.  ;^)  The Big Shot, which should help out future classes!  These two wee dies were extras and way too fiddly for me but they were definitely a hit with the youngest grand kiddie.   Now we can really roll out stickers!

family art 101

Putting a long shelf board across the two cupboards has been a perfect solution to working on my journals and the grand kiddies smash books.  I am so pleased with my new art room.

And after a long day everyone came home with me including their mother as we have an early appointment in the city tomorrow.  A good opportunity for a family art photo and we were so busy I forgot!   oops!