"Arts to Remember"

Today was my last day creating art with residents at various assisted living centers in Olympia as part of the "Arts to Remember" program. Selected art pieces will be on display at the annual Arts Walk in downtown Olympia October 7th and 8th.

This year I went to two locations, Merrill Gardens and Olympia West. We created mandalas and several different still lifes in craypas and watercolor. The challenge was to relate that everyone can do art and that the art does not need to be realistic. I even got to a point where I "outlawed" any negative talk about one's art creation. But, that was short lived.

Today, I brought a bouquet of strawflowers from my garden. First time I have grown them and what amazing plants. The shape of the leaves and flatness of the stems are as as unique as the flowers themselves.



Here is a close up view of the strawflowers



The bouquet that became the subject matter of today's session.


Closer view



I attempted to explain that we would be doing an Impressionistic version of this bouquet; my demonstration....


Anyways, they said that they had fun!

New Challenge

Thank heavens for good friends to stretch you! Thank you, Ellen.

I entered the 30 Day Art Challenge which is in its eleventh year. Artists who enter create 30 works of Art in 30 days, during the month of October, for the Annual December Show held at the T.K. Artist Lofts in Seattle, Washington.

The 30 Day Art Challenge is an open group show with at least 75 total spots available. Each artist is provided with 30 identical canvases (8” x 10” canvas board)and have 30 days to produce 30 pieces of new artwork.

The curators will sort, organize, photograph, and install the artwork for the annual Exhibition Sale Event at the Tashiro-Kaplan Artist Lofts. All displayed artwork will be for sale at the Annual Gift Show. The event will be held during the 1st Thursday Seattle Art Walk, December 1st 2011.

Canvas???

30 paintings!!!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H....

What shape will this artist return to?

Sunday Sketches

Have you had the opportunity to smell a Stargazer lily?

What a treat! The fragrance is delightful.

I must add, the color of the Stargazer is magnificent.

I cannot resist the Stargazer; the subject of this week's sketch.

Clever Posters

What to do with hands and a phone.....

Could this be a new genre, Phone Art?
























I apologize for the advertisement,
but the creativity and art is exceptional!

Sketchbook Project 2012

My good friend an gifted artist, Ellen Miffitt, encouraged me to enter the Sketchbook Project 2012 sponsored by the
Art House Co-op.

First you choose a theme for your sketchbook and Art House Co-op will send you a sketchbook. I picked "Along the Line" and not sure why, but it will unfold (pun intended!). Your sketchbook must be postmarked by January 31st 2012 in order to be on the 2012 Tour. The tour begins in April and thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the world.

You can find out the which cities are participating in the 2012 tour and a recap of the five month 2011 tour at the website.

After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view. Many of the books will be available by digital image too.

2011 Sketchbook Project Tour Seattle from mightymoss on Vimeo.

Dream Time

Yes, being a new grandma my thoughts are centered around children and so are my friends who send me fabulous baby images.

Adele Enerson, is a computer specialist from Helsinki, Finland. While her baby daughter is sleeping soundly, Adele creates worlds from whatever she can find around her home.

Second Mural in Rafah

The Maia Mural Brigade was super charged at the end of our time in Gaza and painted two murals in one day. This one was created at Tuyou Al-Jenna school which is one of the sites of the water purification systems so badly needed in Gaza. Bringing awareness to this important issue was one of the main objectives of the
Maia Mural Project.







The Inspiration
Mohammad, Awesome Palestinian Artist