Playing with Clay

Yesterday was a cool day with just enough rain in the air to make you want to stay inside. It seemed like the perfect weather to cook up something on the stove. We decided to make something of the inedible variety--that being a batch of play clay. It is so easy and you can't buy the consistency of the homemade version.

Here's the recipe we used:

PLAY CLAY
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup water

1/2 cup salt

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Food coloring (we use cake decorating pastes)

Mix the flour, water, salt, oil, and cream of tartar in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it holds together (keep mixing or it will stick to the bottom of the pan). When the clay is cool enough to touch, knead it on a floured surface and add food coloring. Store in an airtight container. We tripled this recipe which made more than enough for three eager kids.

With many of my kid's projects I remind myself that it's the process not the end product that is important and makes the little wheels in their mind spin and their creativity grow.

Play clay is all about the process--the squishing, bending and manipulating. Then there's the ease of crumbling it all up and starting over again.

A batch or three of play clay easily consumed over two hours of art time--which means no computer, tv or video games. Ahhhhh...tell me that's not worth every grain of salt!

Our School Rules!

The older kids are at school today, but not at this school. This is the satellite institution we've put together in our basement. Classes don't start here until after the real school gets out. This academy opened shortly after I found myself at an auction at an old neighborhood school that was being demolished so that it could be rebuilt. Everything had to go. Entire classrooms including all of the contents (whatever you could carry away or remove with your own tools and sweat) were being auctioned for as little as $10.00. I ended up with desks and chairs, maps, tables, books, a metal file cabinet and more. I can't tell you how much fun my kids and their friends have down here taking turns being students and teachers. And nothing makes me smile more than when they "play" school.

One of my favorite details of the kid school is this little "classroom rules" sign that popped up one day. Mind you I have said these things over and over again to my kids (with the exception of rule #4...which isn't an issue considering we only have one child that can read.) It is reassuring to know that the rules are floating around in their heads even if they don't always follow them. These are good statues for adults too. It's pretty easy to forget "be nice", "we are all friends" and "do your BEST!" Actually if I would change one thing it would be to capitalize the "your" in "do YOUR best" i.e. no one else's best. Otherwise I think my third grader has it down. What a ruler! : )

Solving the Puzzle

Believe me I know. My posts have been a bit few and far between the last few weeks. It's a matter of all of the blank spaces that need my attention...soccer, basketball, pumpkin patches, classroom volunteering, design work, hugs, art, bedtime stories, plumbing issues, homework, meals, date nights, dance lessons, laundry, birthdays etc etc.

However, I think I found some answers in a 1926 crossword puzzle book I purchased coming back from St. Louis a few weeks ago. Initially I picked it up because the patterns fascinated me, but as I peeked inside I discovered so much more. "Do's and Don'ts For Solvers" applies to more than crosswords. Click on the photo at the very top to read for yourself.

And then I started to wonder about the first owner of the book. A gal named Nancy who wrote her name in the front. She seemed to have figured out many of the answers, but maybe she peeked at the completed puzzles in the back of the book. Kind of like a home-cooked meal vs. "cheating" with take-out. Does it really matter in the end? Isn't the point to not stress so much over one problem, but move forward in the puzzle? "Don't spend so much time with the long words unless you are sure of them. They will appear when the short ones have been solved." Shortcuts taken to complete the less important tasks allow us to move ahead and spend more time on the bigger and more important challenges we face. Perhaps some spaces will be left blank for the time being. "When you have written in all the words you are sure of, you will have plenty of clues for the unknowns."

"If you are hopelessly stuck try another puzzle. Inspiration sometimes waits for a return engagement." Maybe tonight one of the short answers is spelled P-I-Z-Z-A so you can solve and complete one of the more important answers.

Space Crunch

We remodeled our 1940s kitchen almost 10 years ago. That was before kids. We knocked out a half wall separating the eat-in part with the kitchen part. The change certainly allowed for more counter space and a more open feel, but we still have by today's standards what is considered a small kitchen. Our love for the neighborhood makes that small kitchen easier to bear as does the latest seating solution my Dad crafted for us. We are determined to use ever square inch to the fullest and this wrap around booth style seating arrangement does just that. Before we had a table for four in the center and had to pull in another chair from the dining room to eat. There is no way I'm serving dinner to my kids in the dining room until they stop dropping and spilling things. Not that our dining room is fancy-smancy but it does have a rug vs. ceramic tile. So suddenly with the booth we are able to seat all 5 without bumping elbows. We can even squeeze in a couple of extra friends.

My clever father also added seat storage which is absolutely wonderful. Here we store our coloring supplies that are easy access whenever someone gets the urge.

I was snapping these pix around evening snack time. The funny thing is when Brendan came in and instead of utilizing all of these new seating options, decided to "share" a seat with Nora. I think it's so cute that they want to be close to each other. Who needs a bigger kitchen anyway?

Country Living

This past weekend I couldn't resist climbing out from behind my desk and getting to the Country Living Fair. It was held at the Workshops of David T. Smith in Morrow, Ohio. The ads had been running for weeks and as hard as I tried to ignore the promos, it beckoned. This is the second fair that Country Living magazine has sponsored with the first being in Chicago. We went this past Sunday which was the last day of the fair. Not only was the weather beautiful, but vendors said that the crowds were the thinnest. I heard stories of people waiting for two hours just to get off the highway exit the day before! Yikes! The only regret my husband and I had was the choice to bring three kids. While they were generally well-behaved it was pretty boring for them with the exception of a mini-hay maze to crawl through. We would have loved to have spent more leisurely time browsing and listening to the craft, food and decorating demonstrations (esp. me!), but this was not an option. So enjoy this photo stroll through the grounds with no one pulling on your sleeve asking if it's time to go home yet.

I love the albino pumpkins. And I think I'm going to use this guy for carving inspiration this year.
These stuffed fabric pumpkins are on my to-do list. You know the one that includes everything I'm gonna do as soon as the kids all hit college?
Cara can't resist touching!

Maybe it's a good thing the kids are pulling at our sleeves...I could have spent a fortune here.

I want those flashcards for some new work that I'm doing. However I've seen them at yard sales for MUCH less than $4 each. I ended up making it out with a FarmChick necklace (well two, but one's a gift!) from the pix way top and then a painting by artist Irene Gates. All justified. My birthday is next week!

"Rooster for Ransom"

Would it be odd to admit I kind of miss him? I haven't seen Reece the Rooster since June when I shipped him at a package/ship place. I made the package guy swear that he would package Reece up like he was his own child. I can't blame the nice package man for looking at me strangely--like "who is this eccentric woman shipping a bound-and-gagged rooster to Chicago?" I had brought a kid or two with me that day so police and the mental health department wouldn't be notified.

All in all the project was a fantastic experience. It was the ultimate crossword puzzle for stretching my brain in new directions. The mental challenge included how the whole thing would be constructed and pieced together, how the palette from the cans would color the piece and how I'd make texture from aluminium. I made the old time cut letter ransom note completely out of Red Bull cardboard packaging. I used a mix of every type of carton I could get my hands on...4 packs, 12 packs and the case packs. By the way you can click on the note to make it bigger.

The most frustrating part of the chicken making process was the sticking. I purchased and experimented with at least 6 different glue products. In the end--after losing my fingerprints to gorilla glue--I think I figured out what sticks aluminium and what doesn't. Next year I'll be ready.

By June deadline, 128 Red Bull masterpieces were submitted from all over the world with 38 being chosen for the Chicago exhibit. To see the '07 show in its entirety go to http://www.redbullartofcan.com/. Click on Chicago exhibit and then gallery. You'll see who the Rooster will be hanging with in Chicago at the River East Art Center when the exhibit runs from November 9th-18th. You can enlarge the works of art and spin them around 360 degrees. I confess I get a big kick out of making Reece spin until he's dizzy and begging for mercy. You can also read each artist's bio which incorporates their inspiration. My piece did not place in the top three (shhhh...don't tell the chicken) which include "Vitalized Dragon", "Inside Out" and "A Casual Toss". Incredible, incredible work. Not just the judge's top three, but the entire show. I am completely honored to be a part of it.

Now for the shameless plug for my blog readers: VOTE! You can give the chicken a rating (I'm recommending 10) and then hit submit. Two prizes remain including the Internet vote and the People's Choice at the show. Regardless of prizes, the experience has been and continues to be absolutely amazing. Reece-you're still number one in my book. I'll see ya soon.

How to Birth a Chicken

The next question I get after the "how" is the "why" when my entry into Art of Can comes up in conversation. "Why a chicken?" I know whoever is asking is also curious as to 'why a bound and gagged chicken', but perhaps they are frightened to hear that reply so most start with "Why a chicken?" I was contacted about Art of Can quite late in the game. When I found out about the contest I only had four weeks from start to finish to meet the June 25th deadline. So I went with my first idea and didn't over analyze it mainly since I didn't have time.

I had just been to a farm with my kids. And if you don't have any of these borrow some. Seriously. Kids make you stop and look at things that we--as adults--have become desensitized to over the years. Like the chickens freely roaming the farm grounds. Chickens are hilarious. They were so busy pecking here and there in this fast forward constant motion. My two year old Nora especially got a kick out of those chickens. She giggled as she unsuccessfully tried to catch one. And since Red Bull was already on my mind I was wondering how much those chickens had had. Click.

After returning from the farm I knew that I wanted to do something with a chicken. How the rest of it materialized I can't fully explain--some of it is genetic. However, a month ago I had been rejected (it happens) from an art guild I was interested in joining. They called my work "special" (which I detest almost as much as "cute"), but not fitting "the fine art aspects that we require." This had been on my mind and then more generally how society wants to make us conform to fit into one group or another. The chicken became my vehicle to express that. He's been bound and gagged with a ransom note. Whoever kidnapped the bird wants that energy drink...they want the bird to settle down and be more like them or perhaps they want to try whatever he has that makes him so different. So here's my original, very hurried sketch. I named the chicken Reese (welsh name means enthusiastic) and I admit that after spending 80 hours of construction time together I started talking to him. Originally I had Reese on this platform, but that got nixed pretty early in the project.

After the idea, came the problem of getting enough cans. I didn't realize at the time how many I would need, but I did know that Red Bull cans were small to start with so I would probably need "a lot". My Red Bull contact provided me with major help, but I also posted fliers for empties at the local bars. If I would have known in the beginning that it would take 274 cans to complete Reece I'm not sure that I would have gone ahead with the project. My hands ached from cutting all of those cans apart. I had battle wounds and I started to dream about can cutting. Shards of metal were showing up all over our house. It was quite a month to say the least.

I had wired friends helping drink too. One morning I woke up to this (photo below). This is a photo I took from the second story of my house (through the window screen) of the Red Bull fairy. I had mentioned to friends that they didn't need to pull in the driveway with cans "just toss them in my front yard." Apparently they couldn't wait to do this. This was so funny I had to share.

So there you have the highlights of the "why" and more insight as to the "how". I'll post the finished project in the next day (or two).

The story behind...

This is old news, but since it is the story behind the Red Bull story I have to share it. I think if you click on it it will become bigger and hopefully readable. Apparently many people missed this article that ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer back in March. Not that it was small...we're talking half a page here...see I can't fit it on my scanner! I will say that it ran on a bad day. The first beautiful Saturday of spring. Birds were chirping, leaves were budding, garden stores were bustling and no one (besides me) was reading the Saturday paper.

I share this because this is where my first mention of Red Bull hit the press. Because I named my drugs that day (Sudafed and Red Bull) another opportunity came knocking on my door. Those Red Bull people are everywhere I tell you and one came calling because of this. I became involved with Red Bull's Art of Can and "Rooster for Ransom" was born. I'm still waiting for Sudafed to contact me. Perhaps they were out enjoying that first spring day too.

p.s. More on this tomorrow if I can get blogger to cooperate. We've been fighting all week which I really don't have time for.

Happy Fall

Today marks the official first day of fall--my favorite season of the year. I am hopeful that mother nature clues in soon and drops the temperature down about 20 degrees. The past few days have been in the high 80's which is so unfalllike. I want that crisp, invigorating air that fall brings. I'm ready for sweaters, sweatshirts and jeans. I can't bring myself to buy my favorite purplish-colored mums until the weather allows for more infrequent waterings. And pumpkins! Pumpkins shouldn't be hanging out in 80 degree sunshine should they? It has been such a dry, dry summer. Hopefully the leaves will still put on their color show, but I'm thinking that dry summer means less color? Did I read that somewhere? It's a hazy thought...I'm coming off my sick bug so pardon me if I sound a little incomprehensible not to mention a bit whiney.

Atleast my plates know that it is officially fall. I designed and painted these plates years ago with the exception of "winter". My husband and I made it a pottery painting (wine included) date night. As for that winter plate, I wrote the word "winter" to keep the writing consistent, but my husband did the cute snowman and snowflake border with just the smallest amount of art direction (I couldn't help myself and besides he asked). When it came time to figure out a way to display the plates I searched for a wrought iron 4-plate displayer and could only find a 3-plate displayer. I was too impatient to continue the search for long so I decided it would be fun to feature "the plate of the season" separately. Now we rotate with the season getting a special spot on the sidebar in our dining room. My woodworking Dad made the sidebar along with the majority of furniture in our home (look for future posts!) I found the Mexican horse marionette in a New Jersey antique shop last year. I thought this was a fun place for the horse to literally hang out.

Here's to crisp nights, campfires, scarecrows, the color orange, Halloween, pumpkins, gourds, leaf piles, hayrides, mums, apple picking and football games. Happy first day.

Still dragging

Happy birthday today to my dear husband. Unfortunately, your cake is going to be coming from a bakery this year. I just have to see if I can find one that delivers.

cough, cough

ugh. I'm sick and cranky and feeling sorry for myself. And I'm mad at Airborne. Does this stuff work? Apparently not. Or maybe I didn't take it in time when I felt the bug coming on. Or maybe I didn't take enough or maybe I would be even sicker if I hadn't taken it. Which leads me to the question, how do you know if Airborne really works? I've taken it before and it seemed to help make me less sick, but perhaps that particular sick bug wouldn't have been too bad even without the pricey--cough--Airborne. I want to believe, I really do. I'm sure the school teacher that created it had my very best interests at heart and with the kids back in germ central a.k.a. school I need immunity (and just how cute is that packaging?!) Regardless, now I'm officially sick with a very nasty cold and cough.

As I look inside my medicine cabinet, I'm wondering what is going to help without putting me into a nonfunctional sleep coma. Not that that doesn't sound appealing at the moment, but I have a two-year-old I'm responsible for so sleep coma is not an option.

Alright I've medicated. Now I'm going to try to talk Nora into a morning of uninterrupted cartoons in bed. Thank goodness for television. Now there's an invention you can count on.

I see spots

Did you know immediately what this abstract was of when you pulled up this post? Nature's art is happening right here in my kitchen--brush marks that start off slow and then suddenly spread before your eyes. The process always makes me a bit nervous. It means "they" are now beyond eating. Something has to be done or this new modern art is going to be wasted. So I pulled myself out of bed a few minutes early, stumbled down to the kitchen and started work on the transformation.

If you haven't guessed by now I'm talking about bananas. Apparently no one in the family has been in the mood to eat them this past week. This means it's time to make banana bread. I use Betty Crocker's recipe, but I hold the nuts to please the kids. I also stray slightly from Betty Crocker's version by adding cinnamon to the batter and sprinkling some extra on top.

Here it is. Piping hot and fresh out of the oven. And now I hear little feet waking up. Obviously they're excited about breakfast because they know that cereal doesn't smell this good. Happy Monday. May all your spotted bananas end up in a better place.

(EXTRA) CREDIT: My Dad made that wooden two-tone cutting board. He is so talented.

Magazine Madness

It's that time of year again when the reality of having kids enrolled at a private Catholic school comes home in a big envelope. It's the annual magazine drive. A slick sales representative patiently explains the ins and outs of peddling magazines at an all school assembly. Then the magazine guy talks about the best part...those tantalizing prize incentives including such can't-live-withouts like a gas pump that dispenses beverages and a monkey alarm clock that you apparently have to throw against a wall to shut off (I kid you not). While I'm rolling my eyes at the majority of these kid gimmicks, I do appreciate that we're selling magazines rather than overpriced gift wrap. I can vividly recall my grade school sale days some 25 plus years ago. Let's face it, the magazine drive is exciting for a kid. We didn't have quite as many fancy prizes back then, but I do recall the little stuffed animals. You would be awarded one animal for every Catholic Digest subscription sold. The challenge was finding a faithful Catholic Digest subscriber. I remember the neighbor kids and I literally running to get to a little old lady named Marie first. She would always buy Catholic Digest and therefore was a big score. The poor lady must have chuckled to see four out-of-breath kids scrambling from the bus stop to her house on the first day of the sale. Reader's Digest was good for a candy bar per subscription and was a far easier magazine to sell, but the stuffed pets were more coveted. I guess we know which magazines ruled the sale way back then.

Several years ago my eldest child brought her magazine kit home. I'll have to say I was shocked to see the order forms. The 3 part forms--white copy publisher, yellow copy school and pink copy customer--were almost identical to what I used 25 years ago. A design that has remained consistent for 25 years?! How did magazine drive forms manage to avoid the improvement of time when since then we've seen computers, compact discs, cellular telephones, the internet and remote control? Was the magazine form designed so well from the very start that there was simply nothing that could be done better? My congrats to whoever first designed this genius form. Admittedly you can order mags online now, but my kids don't trust that they'll receive proper sales credit so we're still using paper. The real test will be if my grandchildren come calling with the old three-parted forms.

Speaking of magazines, here's my monthly stash. Unfortunately, I can't buy Cloth Paper Scissors or ReadyMade through the school sale. I really have to hold myself back to keep my subscriptions down to a readable number. To be quite honest, poor Cooking Light is not getting much of a look these days.

Sooooo.....anybody want to buy a magazine? : )

Souvenirs

souvenir (soo"ve-nir') n. 1, a memento or keepsake. 2, a memory.

One of the pleasures of my St. Louis excursion had to be discovering a Blick Studio less than a block away from the art fair. To top it off, Blick was having a major sale on canvases and paint. This means that the majority of my "souvenirs" are incomplete. I am certain that every one of the ten canvases I brought home will be influenced by the weekend in ways that may not even be clear to me. This is not about copying anything I've seen. Souvenirs are also by definition memories that we take away from vacations and exposure to new places. Souvenirs are impressions that mark areas of your brain that you can't touch, but influence how you see in the future--a texture here, a taste from there and a color from somewhere else. Then it all has to process in the nooks and crannies of the individual. Days, weeks, maybe even years later something will come out from that experience that is unique and fresh. Right now I have so many ideas that my problem is settling on one to start on.

And I did manage to come away with the first definition of "souvenir". It's concrete and I own it, but it isn't mine. Debrorah Banyas captivated me with her 3-D mixed media pieces. This fun mermaid gal is at home in our kitchen hanging over our back door. Thanks Debrorah.

And now for all of those blank canvases. I certainly can't have my souvenirs collecting dust.

St. Louis Art Fair

This past weekend I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri with an old (well not that old!) college chum and colleague. Our main destination was the St. Louis Art Fair, a trip to step away from the everyday (mainly that computer screen) and recharge our senses. The St. Louis Art Fair is ranked as one of the best art fairs in the country. I can see why. Despite some rain and overcast skys we had the pleasure of taking in a plethora of color, pattern and texture. Kudos to all of the hardworking, amazingly creative artists that participated. Here's a few of my favorites...
(above) fiber art by Chris Robert-Antieau Manchester, MI

(above) painting by Stephen Baldauf Winter Springs, FL

(above) 2D Mixed Media by Dolan Geiman Chicago, IL

Speaking of color, pattern and texture we had to take a break for gelato from a little shop along the way...

More art...who can get enough!(above) 2D Mixed Media by Mary Beth Shaw Wildwood, MO

(above) 3D Mixed Media by T.P. Speer and Deborah Banyas Oberlin, OH

On the way back to Ohio, a roadside sign lead us to a quaint antique store (above) nestled in a small Indiana town. While we browsed, records--that's way before CDs kids!--played on a restored phonograph bringing us back in time. My purchases included a reader from the 1800s, a 1926 crossword puzzle book, sheet music and an art catalog from the 1960s.

My mind is refreshed with inspiration from the weekend adventure. I can hardly wait to start creating new art of my own, but first I need to attend to laundry, clients and most importantly my family (I think I was missed!)