… that caught my eyes and made me pause as I raced across the Public Garden. Already late for a meeting, I had had no intentions of pausing or pulling out my camera. But how could I not as I looked more closely at what lay before me?
Remember the post with individual petals? Well, here is what they looked like before they fell apart. 😉
I don’t think that I would describe myself as a collector but in the past year or two, I do seem to have … collected … quite a few stones. Each has a different shape or thread of color. I can’t remember where I picked them up. I don’t expect to keep them forever. I like to give such things to little friends of the four to five-year old variety. Maybe one day they too will photograph their stony treasures.
What IS the art of wrecking, you might be asking yourself? Well, let me tell you…I have been asking myself that very same question over the last couple of months–after stumbling upon Keri Smith’s “Wreck This Journal.” After browsing the pages at a bookstore, and later returning to purchase Smith’s “How to be an Explorer of the World” (another highly recommended buy!), I decided that the “wrecking” activities in Smith’s journals could be PERFECTLY applied to artful explorations in nature (and the art classroom in general)!
Many, if not most art teachers have some sort of sketchbook for their students. These are often used for practice sketches, free draw activities, and notes. What if, instead (or along WITH) these sketchbooks, students had a Wreckbook for explorations? Once a week (or more) students would be given a prompt for one or two pages in their Wreckbook. This could be used…
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I have finally returned from a most relaxing vacation on Isla Mujeres, an island near Cancun, Mexico. Along with finding time for snorkeling, visiting parts of The Underwater Museum (AMAZING.), and exploring the island via golf cart, I spent time artfully exploring the island–Where’s Waldo-style!
During the last week of my stay, the weather took a turn for the worst (thank you, Hurricane Ernesto!). After the storm had passed, birds (particularly pigeons) seemed to swarm the beach! Thus, the inspiration for my artful explorations hit! Most of the birds were brown and black–or some combination of the two colors. So when I noticed an interesting black-and-white spotted pigeon, I knew I had found my Waldo (or “Paco”).
Here is the resulting composition, titled “Where’s Paco?”:
Along with hiding “Paco,” I also hid (true to Waldo drawings) 10 keys, 15 other birds, and a few other comical characters. As I was…
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Ingredients
3 leaves
stone pebbles
water
sunlight
Mix and photograph to your heart’s content. Add dash of imagination to taste. Who knows? You might see dragon’s eggs, bright shining eyes, and flowing cityscapes.
While doing some very late spring cleaning, I came across two butterflies I created a few years ago. At the time I think I was at a multi-pronged fork in the road. As my mind mulled over next steps, I needed to keep my hands busy. This is what I produced.
I once wrote a short story that had so many different shades of blue sprinkled throughout that an editor wrote to ask, “Cynthia, do you think you can insert one more shade of blue?”
Now, she may have been kidding, but I can be slow about things like that. So I went online to a site (probably Pantone) and after careful consideration decided that the sea in my story would be cerulean. She accepted it.
Growing up in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, it is hard not to love blue. Plenty of blues in New England of course but …
… I look forward to visiting the mountains of my childhood, and seeing if I can capture with my camera the beauty I remember in my dreams. You know I’ll be sure to share. 😉
Tracey in Maine 