Fine Art in the Library, 2nd week

Today we looked at some of Henri Matisse's early paintings and followed the progression of style over his art career.

Then the kids made their own cut outs.


Everyone seemed to enjoy "painting with scissors".












It was impressive how all the young artists worked with the contrasting colours as well as with positive and negative space.








Some of them even remembered to do their homework from last week by completing a self portrait, and bringing it back to share with everyone.

In our next class, we will discover the art of Marc Chagall.

Faux Gogh completed

My Faux Gogh chair (#2) is completed ~ yay!














What's next?
Look for another chair ~ and perhaps someone who is interested in purchasing a one-of-a-kind piece of fine art furniture!

Blog Interview #17 ~ Heidi, Dreams Intertwined

Blog hopping is a little hobby of mine. Usually I start out with blogs that I visit regularly and then I peruse their links and hop from one to another to another. This is how I discovered Heidi's lovely blog, Dreams Intertwined.

Thank you for doing this interview; please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a stay at home with 3 children, well not really, because I work for an estate sale company, have a booth at an antique mall, an Etsy shop, and I create little "handmades" and sell them in local boutiques, SO I am rarely "at home!" I come from a creative family. My father was always building something in his workshop (amongst other talents), my mother is a jewelry and fiber artist, and my sister makes cool jewelry out of vintage parts and works in the music industry.

Why did you decide to blog?
I started blogging to keep a "journal" and share my endeavors.

How did you decide on Dreams Intertwined?
I named it that because I wanted it to be a blog about all my dreams (or favorite things) concerning my family, my home, my finds, my craft and business endeavors, and my faith and ideas, and coming together, intertwining...

What date did you blog for the very first time and what did you talk about on your very first post?
I read others' blogs for about a year before I took the plunge in December 2007. My first post was entitled "Welcome to my blog!" original, huh? I talked about why I named my blog dreams intertwined and what my plans were for blogging.

Do you usually blog with pictures and words or mostly pictures or mostly words?
Both, but personally I am drawn to blogs with great pictures, so I try hard to post a lot of photos.

Have you met people through blogging?
Making new friends and cultivating those relationships online is an art form itself, no? I have met many new friends through blogging, which has led to swaps, and attending Silver Bella, where I met some of those blogging friends in person.

Describe a friendship you've established through blogging.
One friend I met through blogging I roomed with at Silver Bella last November. We keep up with each other through emails and our blogs, but have also talked about going to visit each other over the summer.

Did you design your blog or did you have it professionally done?
I have done my own "design", if you want to call it that ~ through Blogger tools. I have thought about having it professionally done, but haven't pulled the trigger on that mainly because I like to change things up.

Have you ever been featured in Artful Blogging?
Wouldn't that be a coup?

What does your "About Me" read on your blog?
"On this blog you will find Me, being Me. Part wife, part mom, art artist, part entrepreneur, and part decorator with a pinch of ADHD (not a joke). Focus is not my strong suit, but rearranging is! Here you will read, willy nilly as I write; about family escapades, tales of thrifting, adventures in arts and crafts, exploits of my home decorating, and anything new that catches my fancy! Hopefully, somewhere along the way, my contributions to my family, my friends and my community will be full of love, beauty, grace, gratitude and whimsy!"

What feature on your blog do you like the most?
I like the traffic feed, I am curious to know who visits my blog.

Is there anything on your blog you'd like to change?
Oh everything should change every once in a while. I like change.

Do you ever blog when you don't "feel like it"?
I can't think of a time.

Give me four words that best describe dreams intertwined?
Fun, flighty, artsy, whimsical.

Do you have any interesting directions you want to take your blog in, in the future?
I am thinking about opening a blog shop.

Is there anything else you'd like to add, Heidi?
I love feedback, so please comment if you come by my blog, even if it is just to say hi! Thanks. I really enjoy your blog, Dawn and have been loving reading all the interviews!

PLEASE NOTE:
1. Blogger is being nasty to me today. I am having trouble uploading photos, so I apologize for how Heidi's photos are all bunched together and the fact I couldn't include more. Would someone please fix the bugs on this Blogger program?!
2. Also, please add your name to my Blogoversary giveaway.
The draw will take place on March 29th.

My 4th Blogoversary is today!

Yep, today's the day of my 4th Blogoversary!
Hard to believe I've been taking up this little spot in cyberspace for so long, but it has been fun.

Speaking of fun, I am going to have a Blog Giveaway in celebration of blogging for oh, so long. What is the prize? Good question.
Let's just say it'll be something created by me.

Leave me a comment at the end of this post. Then, on March 29th, I'll make a draw and contact the winner. Simple as that. No need to link back and forth between my blog and yours, unless you want to.

Now let's take a look back, pictorially, over the past 4 years on ART of Humungous Proportions!

Blog Interview #16 ~ Lelainia Lloyd, Tattered Edge

Today it is great to finally have Lelainia Lloyd to interview. I met Lelainia when she invited me to join a Canadian online art group several years ago. She's a busy lady, and so we thank her for taking the time to do this.

Good morning Lelainia, please tell us a little bit about yourself...
I always cringe when I have to talk about myself. I never quite know what to say. I'm a Canadian. I grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved to the west coast of British Columbia in 1986. I've been an artist in varying forms my whole life. If it's in any way artistic, I've probably done it.

I've been married almost 19 years to the love of my life and we have a son who is about to graduate from high school. This past summer, my husband gave me the most beautiful black lab puppy. We named him Indiana Jones (Indy) because I've been in love with Harrison Ford since I was 6 and I love that line where Sean Connery says "We name the dog Indiana."

some random things most folks don't know about me are that I worked on a crisis line for 8-1/2 years; lived in Barcelona, Spain by myself when I was 16; been on TV several times and published not only for art (or writing about art) but also for poetry. There's a line from the Barenaked Ladies song that says "I'm the kind of guy [girl] who laughs at a funeral. If you don't understand what I mean, then you soon will." That's me in a nutshell.

Why did you decide to blog?
To tell you the truth, I don't really remember why I woke up one morning and decided to share my art life through the Internet. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I started blogging when blogs were relatively new and not too many people were doing it. But in the early days, it was really a great way to "meet" fellow artists before the artistic Internet community really got going and became as prolific as it is now. Getting my work out there, led to being asked to create art for other artists' books.

Your blog is called Tattered Edge. How did you come up with the name?
When I was coming up with a name for my website, I realized that most of the things I love are old, well loved things, full of soul antique quilts, vintage photos, old books, trims, buttons and bits of broken things. I thought about what things look like at first glance and the feel that my work has and the name just made sense to me. It also amused me that Tattered Edge can be typed using only your left hand. (Yes, I know I'm a bit quirky.)

When did you begin blogging?
August 2004, in what I jokingly refer to as the stone age of blogging. Hard to believe that only 5 years ago the blog world was a much smaller place!

Back in August 2004, on your first post, what did you talk about?
The work I was doing for Jan Bode Smiley's book, "The Art of Fabric Books: Innovative Ways to Use Fabric in Scrapbooks, Altered Books & More". It was my first foray into creating art for publishing.

Do you prefer to blog with words, pictures or both?
Well sometimes I have to work at coming up with a suitable photo to add to my blog but for the most part, it's a combination of both. Artists are visual people, so it doesn't make sense to post without some sort of photo included, even if there is only one photo at the beginning of the post. Some post have more photos than others, if just depends what I'm writing about.

Have you met people through blogging?
Tons.

Tell us about someone you've met.
One of the first people I ever met in the blog world was Deb Trotter (aka Cowboy's Sweetheart) who emailed me to say she liked my art. That evolved into an email conversation, which in turn grew into a friendship. Deb is one of my closest and most trusted friends. Not that long ago, I discovered that I actually had some of her first emails she ever sent me. I shared them with her and we had a good laugh. We've been through a lot together and I am forever grateful that she reached out and sent me that first email. She's very dear to my heart and one of these days one of us is going to hop on a plane so we can meet in person. It's only a matter of time.

Did you design the look of your blog yourself or have someone else design it?
Well through the years, it's been various templates that I have come across and then played with the HTML to get it to suit my purpose. I taught myself how to read the HTML because I like having more control over how my blog looks. Right now, it's just a standard Blogger template. I was tired of my blog being primarily black and went for a cleaner look in my signature colours. It's a work in progress.

Have you ever been featured in Artful Blogging?
No ~ but I am always open to the possibility.

What does your "About Me" read on your blog?
"I am a mixed media Artist, Writer and Designer happily creating on the West Coast of Canada." That's me in 20 words or less ~ which almost never happens! [laughs]

What blog feature do you like the most?
Probably the search box. It's a feature I'm not sure too many people know about, much less use. If you are looking for a post I made on a particular subject, you can type the key words into the search box on the top left of my blog and it will show you all the posts containing those words. For example, people often want to know what kinds of trades I've made for Artfest. If they do a search, they can see all the things I've made in the past. Or if they want to see what my studio looks like, they can type in "virtual studio tour" and the slide show of my studio will come up. It's pretty user friendly.

Is there anything on Tattered Edge you'd like to change?
At some point, I will probably bow to peer pressure and create a more artful header. All the cool kids are doing it.

Do you ever blog when you don't "feel like it"?
No I don't. I don't think those posts would have any value. If I'm going to post, it's because I feel I have something to say. One of my (pet) peeves is someone not posting for awhile and then saying "Sorry I haven't posted for so long." It annoys me because why on earth would you apologise for living your life away from the computer? Go! Be! Do! And when you have time and feel like it, come back and tell us about it. No apology necessary.

What theme would best describe your blog?
All art, all the time with occasional bout of reflection thrown in for good measure. My blog is mainly an accounting of my artist life, whatever that looks like at any given moment.

Do you have any interesting directions you want to take your blog in, in the days ahead?
Well, i am probably going to do away with my actual Tattered Edge website and house everything relevant on my blog. I just don't have the time (or energy!) to maintain my website anymore and I don't like the idea of it just sitting there and not being updated regularly. Sometimes less is more. It's about quality over quantity. I loved having a website while I had it, but it's time to simplify my life.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us today?
I just want to say that I appreciate when folks comment, especially when I've posted something that has touched them in some way. It's nice to know you're out there peeking in on my blog and getting something out of it. My guess is that only about 20% of the folks reading take the time to comment, but never underestimate how important that is to those of us who are faithfully writing blog entries. it's a connection that is so important, especially when you are working for hours in your studio on your own. While being able to do the work of your heart is rewarding, it can be very isolating at times, so it's comforting to know you're out there. Thank you for reading and for letting me know you do.

Thank you for such an interesting chat, Lelainia. We hope everyone will check out the Tattered Edge blog, and that they'll let you know they read this interview!

Fine Art in the Library

Here are some photos from the Fine Art in the Library class I am teaching at the Leduc Public Library. It's a 6 week class for kids ages 10 and up. We'll be learning about six famous artists with six very distinct styles.

There were 13 kids at this week's lesson which was on Vincent Van Gogh.












We used pastels which the kids really enjoyed ~ especially when it messed up their hands.













Everyone chose to either work from Starry Night or one of Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower paintings.






















The students were thrilled when Vincent even made a personal appearance in the form of an action figure!

Next week we'll be learning about Matisse. It promises to be a fun and substantially less messy experience when we do some "cut out" art.

Photo Tag

Want to play a game of Photo Tag? Here's what you need to do.

1. Go to the photo folder in your computer.
2. Go to the seventh folder of photos.
3. Go to the seventh picture.
4. Put the picture on your blog along with a description of it.
5. Invite seven friends to join the challenge.

Here's my photo from File 7, Photo 7. It's an ATC I swapped out in 2005. It was collaged on the card, and then I put an old greeting card transparency over top, punched a couple holes on top and tied them together with some sparkly tulle.



I am tagging:
Arlene
Maija
Jennifer
Nicolette
Laura
Kim
Brenda

Winter art

Today is the kind of day that American artist, Robert Duncan captured in his painting entitled Curious Onlookers (left). The snow has been falling for several days, and wind has been howling. Quite frankly, everyone around these parts is simply weary of winter! I have two prints of Duncan's that I hang during the winter months:
Curious Onlookers
and Winter Friends.

Usually around the first week of December, I bring these lovelies out of my basement for display in our living room.

Originally, I was attracted to Winter Friends because it reminded me of when David and Zachary were little. The boys in the painting look to be about the same age difference as our sons.

As much as I enjoy Duncan's winter paintings, I look forward to when the snow melts, the sap begins to flow and the ground begins to thaw. Then, I will put my winter art away for another season.

Of blog interviews and winter grub

The other day, my son said to me: "You should start a blog for just interviews, otherwise people will think that your Humungous Art blog is just an interview blog."

I explained to him that I was doing these interviews leading up to my 4th Blogoversary, to learn more about the blogs (and their creators) that I've included in my Beautiful Blogs section, and to share them with the readers of Art of Humungous Proportions.

So, in case you think that the only thing I do on this blog is talk about other people's art, it isn't the case. Read on.

Today is a blustery day. The snow just won't stop falling.
It's the kind of day that one simply wants to hunker down, listen to Vinyl Cafe, drink herbal tea and try to do something creative.

Seems during the winter months here in northern Alberta, when it's cold outside, all we do is eat (the rest of the year we spend trying to rid ourselves of the weight we've accumulated over the winter).

So, speaking of food ... what I'm thinking is, is that I'll show you an idea for a mid-winter lunch.

First fry up some perogies. I like to pan fry frozen perogies and then just before serving time, I slice up some onions and fry them in butter.


Next make a salad.
Lately I've been using Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil as my preferred salad dressing.


Oh! and don't forget dessert.

The Black Forest cake above is one of my mother-in-law's beautiful creations.