Fine Art in the Library ~ Class 5

Can you guess who our featured artist was this week?
Yep, it was Andy Warhol.

We started the class by watching an excellent DVD entitled Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Andy Warhol. Then everyone got down to work and produced some pop art of their own!

We had soup cans, Coca-Cola cans, Tim Horton's and Starbucks cups on hand as reference material. We decided that if Andy Warhol was alive today he would probably be painting take out coffee cups!














It's hard to believe that next week is our very last week for Fine Art in the Library. I'll have more photos to show you of the kids work then.

Roses are pink

These are the perfect pink tipped roses my husband gave me for our anniversary ...


and then they blossomed like this


and then they looked like this


and this


and this ... beautiful at every stage. Don't you agree?
(even if my lighting was different from one shot to the next)

A thrifting we will go!

Yesterday on our jaunt to Leduc, Zach and I hit a couple of thrift stores.
Here are a few photos of some of the things that our eyes beheld ...

Aliens-in-a-Jar??!


World's ugliest clock. It appears to be a cross between a horrid leather shield and a 80s designer sculpty clay apparition thingie. Ghastly!

And up-to-date computer software ... Windows 2000!

Zach also discovered a Master Chief Helmet which was an add on to a popular videogame series, Halo.

He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt the need to purchase this baby.

And here are our other purchases at the end of the day ...
A gigantic koala bear, retro suitcase, Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul (a little something for my mother-in-law who loves the series), 3 volumes on the history of the Province of Alberta (late 1800s - 1914). A 25 cent bunch of fakies (flowers), an adorable hand-stitched bunny, and of course, Zach's helmet.

Fine Art in the Library, Class 4

Our numbers were few today as school's are out for Spring Break this week. Nevertheless, a few eager kids came to the class to learn about our artist of the week, Canadian Ted Harrison.

The Leduc Public Library has a Ted Harrison limited edition print (30/150) which the kids were able to view his work up close and personal. The print is entitled Winter Day ~ something we're all very accustomed to around these parts.




We found out that although Harrison's work looks easy to duplicate, that his simple lines are not that easy to reproduce.

Where's the fridge light?

One friend describes our home as "a cool museum". My son's college buddy said: "I like your house. It's cool ... it's not normal." Naturally, I took that as a compliment. If all this sounds sweet, if somewhat odd, then you'll enjoy the funny exchange I had with my son Zach last night around midnight.

Zach: (in panic-y voice, outside my bedroom door) The light's out in the fridge!
Me: Yeah I know.
Zach: I can't see anything! What happened to the light?
Me: I needed it for the lava light.
Zach: Whaaaat? But I can't see in the fridge!
My hubby: Zach go to bed.
Me: I'll get a fridge bulb in the morning.
(Sound of lights flicking on all over the kitchen and fridge door opening ... again)

Perfectly normal, right?

And the winners are ...

Today Greg and I celebrate our 23rd anniversary!

Wow ~ hard to believe that it's been that long already.

And today I'm announcing what I'm giving away for
my 4th Blogoversary prize.
As I was deciding what that should be,
I thought since it was my Blogoversary and Anniversary,
I should award not one, but two prizes.

For last week's Fine Art in the Library, I created two objet de'art
imitating the style of Marc Chagall. These are the pieces that I will give away.

The first, a 10"x12" acrylic painting, on canvas
"Angel of Peace" goes to
Karyn Hutchinson of Musings from Me

The second giveaway, an 8.5"x11" soft pastel on repurposed card stock
"Evening Song" goes to
Kel of My Ladies Fine Designs and The Holy Land

For Karyn

For Kel

Karyn and Kel, please contact me so that I can send these out to you.
And thank you to everyone else for your comments and best wishes!

Garage Sale & Good Will treasures

I just wanted to share a couple photos of some things I bought today. One is a jam jar and the other is an "authentic" ceramic Hunny jar. Oh bother! How exciting!

Fine Art in the Library, 3rd week

On Week Three
we discovered the work of
painter Marc Chagall (1887-1985)

First we painted our canvases blue,
and let them dry.

Then some of the kids looked at some of the reference materials to be inspired
to create their own Chagall-ish paintings.

We talked about how and why Chagall used a lot of symbolism in his work.

The Eiffel Tower showed up in many of the paintings, as did Roosters, Flying People and Violins. One of the students even did a painting of a stained glass window.

Next week is April 1st ~ come back and see who our featured artist is next time round!

Chagall study

This coming Wednesday, our class with be learning about Marc Chagall with the kids.
With that in mind, I painted this small 9.5" x 11.5" painting this afternoon, using
Chagall's Le Champ de Mars painting as inspiration.

Blog Interview #18 ~ The Farm Chicks, Serena & Teri

I'm sure many of you have heard of The Farm Chicks (aka, Serena Thompson and Teri Edwards). I am so pleased that Teri has graciously agreed to do an interview with me this morning.

Thank you for being with us today, Teri. Please tell us a little bit about The Farm Chicks.
Serena and I started our business in 2002. In addition to producing an antique show, we're also contributing editors to Country Living magazine and just had our first book released [entitled] "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen".

Why did you decide to blog?
Although we have a website that shares information about our business, we knew that a blog would allow us to interact with visitors on a more personal and creative level.

What date did you begin The Farm Chicks blog?
It was the end of October 2008 so we're still newbies at this!

What did you talk about on your very first post?
It just so happened that I was on vacation when we went live so Serena did an introduction post. We were so pleased that it was so well received and everyone made us feel so welcome to this new and unknown world of blogging.

Do you prefer to blog with words or pictures or both?
Both. Words are necessary, but pictures really help to tell the story completely.

Have you met people through blogging?
We've met a lot of really nice fellow bloggers!

Can you describe a friendship you've established through your blog?
Christina from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho has become a blogging friend. We found out that she's been to some of our past antique shows and even asked her doctor to postpone inducing labour so she could attend our show last summer!! We recently featured how Christina decorated her daughter's bedroom and we just met her in person to discuss photos (she's an amazing photographer) over a cup of coffee.

Did you design your blog or did you have it professionally done?
Oh gosh, we had it done professionally ~ we're not very techie!

Have you ever been featured in Artful Blogging?
We don't believe so.

What does your "About Me" (or in your case, "About Us") read on your blog?
We talk about our childhoods, how we met and got our business started. "Our childhoods couldn't have been more different. Serena bounced through the first years of her life in a hippie gypsy wagon, wandering the back roads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Teri grew up in tiny White Swan, Washington, herding geese, doing farm chores and kneeling in daily prayer. Who would have guessed that 30 years later, an Irish Nun would bring us together, seeing instead our many similarities...."

What feature do you like the most on your blog?
We like that readers can comment. It's a great way to not only interact with guests to the blog, but it really helps us to see what they'd like us to blog about.

Is there anything on your blog you'd like to change?
I can't think of anything, but that's probably because we're still so new to all of this. I do wish that I could post better photos. Many times, there's something I'm excited to blog about, but because the photos don't turn out well, I just skip it.

Do you ever blog when you "don't feel like it"?
We're really fortunate that two of us are responsible for the blog. We've never set a schedule, but decided that if we feel like blogging, we will, and if we're just not in the mood, then we don't. Nothing is ever good if it's forced. We usually always post at least once a day and sometimes twice, but never on the weekends. It works best for us to keep that time just for family.

What words or themes would best describe your blog?
Well ... I like to think it's happy, colourful and fun!

Do you have any interesting directions you want to take your blog in, in the future?
Right now we're just really working on getting to know the blogging world. There are so many amazing and creative women out there sharing what they love to do and inspiring others to search out their creative dreams. We're thrilled to be a part of it!
Well I'm thrilled that you took time out of your busy schedule to talk to us, Teri. Thank you so much!

* * *
Teri and Serena's brand new book, The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen is flying off the presses and can be purchased online at Chapters or Amazon!

The Farm Chicks Annual Antique Show takes place on June 6th and 7th, 2009 at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, 404 N. Havana Street, Spokane Valley, Washington. Admission is only $6 per person, and kids are admitted free.