Kings and Queens...

Today's lesson focused on George Henri Rouault's stained glass style paintings of royalty...we made playing cards with the kids as the Kings and Queens...finished off with gold foil crowns...rich!

Morning with Monet Projects....

We delved into a little Gustav Klimt gold...with his "Tree of Life" and then switched gears with a Picasso "Le Petite Fleurs" inspired bouquet....creativity flowing along...loving it!

Romero Britto Inspired Canvas Art..

Summer Art began with a burst of juicy colors today...we studied the paintings of Brazillian artist, Romero Britto...and the kids were off and painting...they had as much paint on their faces as their canvas boards but in the end it was well worth the mess...well done grasshoppers!

Gardenspeak...

Dad compared vegetable garden notes with Lauren and Leah yesterday in his backyard...Lauren has built up quite a plot in her own yard this year...if I play my cards right I can sit back, encourage them all and reap the delicious benefits ...(it's a good thing).

The new cousin....

Tony and Company decided to adopt this cute little gal, named Mesa. They fostered her for a couple of days but when it came time to give her up...well, you guessed it..they couldn't. So Mesa has happily joined in the fray...welcome little one.

"Stay on the Bus...gonna take you somewhere..."

A favorite lyric from a Patty Griffin song...I think it's time to hop on the museum bus road show again...summer is the time I like to get up in the Berkshires to visit Mass Moca and the Clark Museum...a visual feast for the eyes...and a photographer's dream!

Rainy Days and Thursdays....

...always get me down...enough already....summer should be sunshine and beaches and pools and iced coffee...not
dreary and soaking and hot coffee and stuck inside...so stop it already..you are ruining my mojo!!

My Father..the artist

On this Father's Day I turn my blog over to my dad....he has been a painter of weathered barns in the area for years...these are two of my favorite pieces....Happy Father's Day to my dad, from whom I probably got most of my talent!

Everyone Needs a Safe Haven....

A little sparrow's nest has suddenly showed up in my hanging petunia planter...it's covered by the shed roof and high enough to be hidden from the neighborhood cats...what a great spot to hatch...keeping an eye on it...imagine being born into a basket full of brilliant purple petunias...nice way to start a life.

Early Birthdays are the Best...

We like to keep our friends off guard...so tonight we celebrated Linda's birthday in the V.I.P. room at Cugino's...sure it was a few weeks early, but that's what made it such a surprise! The owner gave us the star treatment all around...chocolate mouse "rocked" our world!

A Basket of Puppies..

Had a fantastic time at Dish and Dat tonight. Our friends put on a great fundraiser to support Double Dog Rescue Shelter...and I won a basket full of yummy doggie cookies...what's better than that!

Sweet Emma....

Today, sweet Emma, our school's therapy dog, slept quietly next to my desk amid the students running about...she is a Katrina rescue dog brought up to Connecticut through Double Dog Organization...come support their fundraiser tomorrow night at Dish and Dat restaurant in Canton to help support this worthy cause.

Cover...Me!

This Sunday's iTown Magazine featured one of my collages on the front cover...always a nice thing to see one of your art pieces published.

Swedish Fish...

As Field Day approaches every class has to pick a country and a nickname to go along with said country...to that end our class chose Sweden...we are Swedish fish....so we spray painted 23 t-shirts today...banners and mascots to follow....mass production at it's finest...."GO FISH!!"

A Study in Contrasts...

Sometimes it's just the way two textures blend that catches my camera's eye...the weathered brick wall as a backdrop for the delicate scrolls of the dress form...yeah, I like that!

Happy Students...Happy Hearts!

This afternoon the young artists worked on collages inspired by Jim Dine's Pop Art Heart series...the results were so cheerful...happy students...happy hearts...happy ART!!

Perfect Shading...

It's like I drew this calla lily with colored pencils and shaded the pinks perfectly...life imitates art...art imitates life!

The presence of a cat...

"There is something about the presence of a cat...that seems to take the bite out of being alone."-Louis J. Camuti...Leah and Chloe spending some lazy summer quality time together.

Decisions...decisions...

Lauren, Leah and I spent a long time trying to pick out all the flowers for our garden tonight...we "thunk" and then "rethunk" it until we finally had a plan...got home and finished planting just before the moon came out...well done grasshoppers...thanks for all your help!!