Bryant and May

I love to read. This is a great series that I have recently found. My friend Caitilyn likes it too, and so I KNOW it has merit, because she has so much more going on in the literary department than I do. (Those are her girls in the last post about piano.)

These books by Christopher Fowler are a quirky take on historical/modern mystery fiction, peopled with unusual, likeable and nearly believable characters. A complete fictional community is created along with enjoyable forays into present day and historical London. Really great writing. Slyly humorous. Read them in order if you can, but they can also be "stand alone" reading.

For example:

"Everyone talks about the unpredictable weather in London, but it actually has a faintly discernable pattern. At this time of the year, the second week in May, caught between the dissipation of winter and the failed nerve of spring, the days were drab, damp and undecided, the evenings clear and graceful, swimming pool blue melting to heliotrope, banded altostratus clouds forming with the setting of the sun. You can forgive a lot when a dim day has a happy ending."

Superior Pianists

L. and M had their piano recital competition Sat. We saw their K. friends there. All four earned "superior" ratings.

Miss W. did not play because she is only in her first year of lessons.

Drawing Mechanics

This week we simply drew in my art classes. I wanted to give the kids some lessons on the mechanics of drawing. We practiced some of the techniques while drawing cat and dog faces. We looked at pictures and used 4 steps to draw:

1. Shape-Study the picture and see what shapes the object you want to draw is made up of. Most "how to draw" books will use this method. In this case, the heads of each animal was round. The dog head also had a flattened triangle under the chin area.

2. Features-using proportion and measuring. Add the main features of your drawing. In this case it was the eyes, ears and mouth. Where are they placed? Are the eyes 1/2 way, 1/3 of the way, above or below half way on the head? Also note where the features are placed on the picture in relation to each other. The ears start above the middle of the eye and end lining up in a curve above the outside of the edge of the eye. Also measure with your pencil to see how big features are in relation to other parts of the drawing. For example, the cat's ears are not quite 1/2 the size of the cat's head.

3. When you get the shape sketched in and the features added, you can start adding details. Are there whiskers? Lines along the nose? Ear flaps, fur?

The last step is shading, which we will tackle next week.

We did one directed drawing of a cat head and one of a dog head, and then I handed out magazine (or other reference) pictures of cats and dogs and let them try it by themselves.

I keep trying to train them to sketch lightly, so that things can be more easily changed. They seem to feel that each line should be etched in and perfect the first time. I also talk to them about it taking years of practice (the same as mastering any skill) to get good at drawing. Another thing I keep talking to them about is that artists need to OBSERVE. Looking at something is not the same as observing it. How is it put together? How long is one feature in relation to another? You have to know how something looks in reality to make a convincing picture of it.

Wedding Shower

Thursday night we had a shower for our niece Ashley who will be married in July.

Sis-I-L Gaylin, Ashley and Andrea

Sis-I-L's Dena and Karen helped with the shower. Yummy food. We had about 30 women attend.

Daughter M. and Auntie K. whom she is named after. See any resemblance?

A batch of the women from our family visiting by the bookcase. (from L.-L., M. Meg, Dena, Karen, Bekah, Iversyn) With the three in the first picture (Gaylin, Ash and Andrea), and 5 more not pictured (Mother, A., W., Lauren, Mac), we had a great turn-out of our family women for the shower. That's 16 of us that are just immediate family. Love our big family who is so good and loving.

Bright and Pretty Sisters

Felt Easter Fun

A few more Easter bunnies. On the second picture of the two hot pink bunnies, I redesigned the second one to suit my own tastes. On the third picture, note the tail. I did a traditional pom pom, but used small cut strips of felt instead of yarn. Line them up and sew through the middle and wrap around with thread. Pull tight and trim to make a cut tail you can sew on. In the last picture I drew my own pattern. His tail is just a bump in the pattern that I clipped and fluffed. Very simple and works pretty well. This pattern has separate ears that are stitched on each side before sewing the two body pieces together. I leave the bottoms open so they can be used for finger puppets. If you made them bigger, they could go over eggs. You could also stuff them and sew up the bottom. (See earlier post, "Spring Happiness" for basic pattern links.)

Surprise!

The party's on! There was excitement in the air!

Daughter A. arranged a surprise supper party to celebrate my half century of living!

Opening presents with Sis and D.

Blue birds from D and Mac-adorable, as the girls would say. Also, room scent essential oils and gift certificates!

All my kids! What could be better?! The best gift of all. I am a rich woman!

The boys take off after the party. Husband missed it all. He was in Washington, DC on Soybean business.

Birthdays

Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and today is mine. Here is a picture of him and my mom with my little sister who had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. She must have been about one or two. She is 34 now! This morning on the phone she pointed out that I am half a century old! Wow! Thanks Sis!

These pictures are some of me when I was a kid. In the first one I was six, the next I was maybe seven. The last one was taken at my Aunt Marilyn's when I was nine. I'm sure my cousin K. will remember this look. (Check out those pants!)

My birthday started out this morning with breakfast in bed from my girls! The big girls got me this beautiful Peruvian bird sculpture from Ten Thousand Villages. My "Baby" made me a darling bunny with tea and carrots sculpture. Husband left me a book, tea and card under my pillow when he left for Washington, DC on Sun.

And now we are leaving for a mystery supper arranged by A.

Friday Classes

W's class has been studying Africa. Last week they had a local man who was from Africa come to speak to the class and share some artwork from his homeland.

My older class made this flutter of butterflies which I will mount this week.

The younger class studied Monet and Impressionism. We looked at examples of his art and tried our hand at some oil pastel resist/watercolor wash waterlillies in the Monet style.

Valentine's Banquet

Our men from church put on their annual Valentine's banquet. We all enjoy this special night when the men cook and serve a meal and pamper the women of the church. (Above-heart felt decorations on the tables. Daughter A. Betty, Brenda and Myself.)

Above: from back r.-A., P. J., Holly, Jessica

Above: l. to r.-Bekah, Tina, Dena, Debbie, Misty, Bren

Above:L to R-Mother, Sharon, Paula,Gaylin, Judy, Argie

Above:L to R.-Shirley, Janice, Bonnie, Brittney, friend, Patti

Husband's brother Brian and brother-in-law David are in a men's singing group, and they provided the program. You can't beat men in tuxes singing show tunes and classics! Very good!