Clayton Valentines 2011 Edition

Well here it is, photos of our family’s annual valentine exchange. Over 20 years ago, our daughters who were then in grade school wanted to purchase valentines to give to the family. Tom and I suggested that we each make a valentine and the idea caught on. Through the years, the valentines have had many messages, heartfelt, poignant, silly, corny, political, cultural, and of course those involving sports. Although not photographed, I heard there was a Justin Bieber themed card this year. Here are some of this year’s editions.



Love the pun and the 3D effect of the Biden figure. It had to come in a special box



Like I said, every theme, even the kitchen sink



My valentines usually show the techniques I am practicing in my studio



I had to alter the front of the card to avoid copywrite infringement



Now the inside, definitely a homemade appeal



More corniness



From our daughter who works with iPads in the classroom



sketchbook practice



front of card


and inside. Those are silly bands attached to the card.

I don’t know how many more years we will do this, but we are still having fun.

Pop-up Valentine card

A friend showed me how to make a pop-up valentine last year, and when I got a call to teach children’s Sunday school last night, I knew I had to use her idea. The children were amazed at how the valentines popped out, and I have to admit, I was too. I was so amazed that I came home and made a Valentine thank you card for the friend who taught me how to make them.

Here’s how

Take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper (cardstock is good), and fold in half both lengthwise and widthwise.

Fold in half lengthwise and position a half-heart template on the bottom half of the card.

Making sure the center of the heart template is on the fold, you will cut your heart shape from the top and from the bottom to the x’s on the template. Don’t cut all the way around, or your heart will just fall out. It needs to stay attached to the sheet of cardstock.

Open the card flat again

Then fold the top half to the back along the widthwise fold line, and gently pull the heart out away from the body of the card as you close it. When you re-open it, the heart pops out.

I cut my cardstock in pink and glued one of my zentangle hearts to the pop out heart

and wrote a simple message on the front, to thank my friend for the idea.

Tarpon sculpture dedication

It’s done! The city held a lovely dedication ceremony yesterday. it was a beautiful day, and everything went well. The local paper had published a nice article the day before.

 

 

 

 

Many friends and family were present, the artist spoke about his vision for the artwork, and we had an opportunity to express gratitude to our parents and the community that was important to our formative years.

 

Here are the four siblings.

Valentines ala Alisa Burke

After reading the talented Alisa Burke’s blog post on Friday, I decided I had to make some of her valentines. I’ve already made my valentines and they are in the mail, these were just for fun.



I cut the valentines out of construction paper, then drew on them with a fine Pitt artist pen, colored them with Derwent watercolor pencils, then to finish, painted them with water. when the water hit the pencil marks, they became much more vibrant and intense. They were fun to do, almost like a Zentangle valentine.

Art of Paul Baliker part2

Installation day. The tarpon arrived on a truck, tied down and lying on a pillow. The artist, Paul Baliker is in the blue jacket.



Straps were attached and the fish was lifted off the truck and driven 50 yards to the site.



It took teamwork to get it in place





Just add water and let the fountain play. 



The city workers were very efficient. While one crew installed the tarpon, another crew was laying down new sod. The whole process took less than two hours. When we left for the day it was only going to be a few hours before the tide came in and filled the pond again.  It should be completed by Saturday.

The Art of Paul Baliker

When my mother and father died, we had memorial services, their bodies were cremated, their ashes were scattered in places where they enjoyed spending time. Those were their wishes, but there were no headstones, no markers, no cemetery records, nothing to commemorate their lives. To honor them and recognize the contributions they made to their community, my siblings and I decided to fund a piece of public art in the city of Ormond Beach, Florida, my parents home for many years.
We met with city officials and engaged a local artist, Paul Baliker. The city agreed to do all the preparatory work, and we agreed to commission and pay the sculptor. Paul’s design is for a leaping tarpon that springs from a pond on a popular riverfront park. A fountain will be installed to give the illusion of movement of the tarpon.

First the city drained the pond



Then they began the concrete and plumbing work



Here’s an overview of the setting for the tarpon



The city will continue concrete and plumbing work this week and on February 3rd, a crane and the tarpon arrive. The artist will supervise the installation of the sculpture and fountain. There is a wedding in the park on Saturday, and the city plans to have the sculpture and fountain fully operative and all landscaping completed by then. My two sisters and brother and our spouses will celebrate our parents’ lives this weekend.

I’ll post some more pictures later in the week.

Ephemera and Closet Cleaning

Every January I do a bit of clearing out. Thrift store, Friends of Library sale, consignments shops and the curb are where items go that I no longer need. This year I opened a trunk that has been stored in the attic or garage for at least 40 years.
Here’s a sample of what I found
A Beatles Concert ticket stub from their Philadelphia concert in 1966 (yes, I was there)













75 of so Beatles trading cards like this gem from 1964

Fan magazines galore

And a program from an Independence Day address by President Kennedy that I attended in 1962.

and a menu from the same day

This year I have a new outlet…Ebay!
I suppose the Beatles items are copy write protected, but feel free to use the others in your artwork.
I’ve got a lot more clearing out to do, so I won’t be doing much artwork until I make my valentines.

Sketchbook Challenge Entry

Here it is, my sketchbook challenge entry for January. I drew the camellia with a #2 pencil, then colored it with CARAN d’ACHE Neocolor II watercolors. They are a lot of fun to work with. You color your picture, much like you would color in a coloring book, then take a wet paintbrush and paint the crayon marks. They blend and take a look much like watercolors.



The theme for the January sketchbook challenge is “Highly Prized”. I don’t have the skills to draw those people in my life who are highly prized, so I picked a flower that was highly prized by my late father. Camellias are blooming in Florida now, I need to plan another trip to Leu Gardens in Winter Park.

Wizardly Cookery

Today I had the fun of spending time cooking with my friend Franky. She and I share a love of all things Harry Potter, so we had to try some recipes from her new Harry Potter cookbook.
She selected Pumpkin Juice, a favorite with the Hogwarts crowd and Knickerbocker Glory, a treat enjoyed by Dudley Dursley.
The pumpkin juice was a blend of three fruit juices mixed with baked pumpkin strained through a sieve…juice part was easy, but scooping the baked squash (we couldn't find pumpkin)  and sieving it required some persistence.
 

 
My friend Joanna joined us for part of the fun

We put the pumpkin juice in the refrigerator and took a break for lunch. Then we tackled the custard for the Knickerbocker Glory.
It was a basic custard recipe but required some kitchen skills like separating eggs (Franky’s way is easier than mine) cooking sugar, cornstarch and milk and adding the hot milk mix slowly to the beaten eggs. I had forgotten that the term for this is tempering.
While the custard chilled, we watched some football with Tom, (Franky’s team won, not Tom’s).
Then Franky prepared the whipped cream with my new Christmas present, a stick blender with a whisk attachment.

Next step: assembly. Ice cream in the bottom of the glass, followed by strawberries, jello custard, nuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Can’t say I ever had jello and chocolate sauce in the same recipe.


We set the table, used crystal for the pumpkin juice and enjoyed our afternoon snack.

It was delicious

and clean up was easy

Beau - ootiful Soo - oop!

When I put this combination of beets, and carrots in the pot today, I couldn’t help but sing the Mock Turtle's song.

Beautiful Soup, so rich and red,
Served tonight with crusty bread!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Beau - ootiful Soo - oop!
Beau - ootiful Soo - oop!
Soo - oop of the e - e - evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!
Apologies to the Mock Turtle and Lewis Carroll for adaptations.
It’s a dose of anti-oxidants, perfect for a winter evening, Beet, Carrot and Ginger Soup. After it simmered for a couple of hours, I whirred it with my new immersion blender. Yum!

Who says you can’t give a woman an appliance?

My new immersion blender is awesome! I made two soups this afternoon, and in a wink they were beautifully blended with very little extra clean-up. Move over Cuisinart, you have competition.


My husband is definitely not in the doghouse for giving me an appliance, as is the man pictured in this promotional for jewelry sales.

January Sketches

I’m being brave here in posting some very rudimentery drawings. But the sketchbook challenge is fun.  These are two quick sketches I did this week. The first one was a copy of a graphic that was in my newspaper, the second one was of some red threads I put on a table in my studio. When I finished the drawing, there was so much white space, I started drawing lines of stitches. I did the first one in a number 2 pencil. I did the second one in pencil, then colored it with red colored pencils.







I'm warming up for the January challenge sketch. The theme is "Highly Prized."

Do you know about Dover free images?

Every Friday the good people at Dover Publications send me the sampler for the week, showcasing their publications. I almost always get something fun from the sampler. Here’s an image I downloaded last week.

To quote a recent email, “There's a wealth of free samples from new titles to explore this week, giving crafters, designers, literature lovers, history buffs, and colorists hours of fun-filled activities. You can enjoy clip art of Japanese women and Wizard of Oz characters, excerpts from books about the Roaring 20s and slang, sample pages from four new coloring books, and more. “

Sketchbook Challenge

I have joined the sketchbook challenge beginning on January 1, 2011. I’ve got the book, now I just need the discipline! Mind you I’m a drawing school dropout, so perhaps an online coach and community will help me stay focused.

I understand that drawing is a learned skill,  so if learning to draw is  practice and discipline then I should see improvement. Right? I’ll keep you posted. If you want to join the challenge too, just click on the badge on the right sidebar.