evening winter skies

Glorious sunsets set our imagination sparkling at the end of a happy but long day trip. I love to see our world drenched in the gorgeous colours of a cold winter sunset but it is such a shame that my camera isn't showing just how stunning this one was.

Have a beautiful day :)

and now for something a little bit different....

The weekend just passed I had the most amazing time with a small group of other like minded souls in a little coffee shop down town. But as strange as it sounds, we weren't consuming steaming hot beverages and indulging in idle conversation. So what were we up too?

Learning, creating and pushing our artistic boundaries.

Our little town isn't conveniently located by a large metro area and any courses that we may want to participate in at the local college, are scheduled during the day, which is absolutely the wrong time for a stay at home, homeschooling mummy. Instead, I've been satisfying my need to learn from an art teacher by taking advantage of this wonderful little coffee shop, come glorious bookstore and art gallery combined. Heaven! The lovely lady who runs this inspirational shop also adds to her stores versatility by organizing a variety of courses run by professionals for the public to enjoy.

This has been my second time at such an offering. So lucky. Pictured below are some of my creations. But before viewing, I'll share with you a hard lesson I learnt from the inspiring and talented teacher.

Don't create to please another. The intention is dishonest and it interferes with the work you are producing. Create for the pleasure and be in the now and have no fear or worries about what you are doing. Did you know that Picasso would paint enormous works of art only to paint over them and start again! Horrifying, but the motivation of his pieces was from the process and he would push beyond his boundaries and learn from that. The final element I took away from this course was, let your subject speak in your work. What does that last phrase mean? The easiest way for me to explain it is through an example. One of the many subjects presented for us over the weekend was grass. An enormous, dense clump of grass. Heavy at the bottom but sparse at its height. Tall grass, with great soft clumps of seeds gathered at the ends. There was movement in this grass. I could imagine the wind whispering as it passed through its strands. Sharply spiking and falling gracefully, were thin, pale green leaves tapering to sharp ends which I thought I would feel catching on my skirt if I brushed past.

So for the subject of the grass to speak, my creation should have had the elements of density and space, movement, softness and sharpness. There's a picture of my grass further down.

Throughout our time together, the class experimented with a variety of drawing medium and methods. Just a quick mention on a method called contour drawing. I had heard of it but before this had never done it. Contour drawing means (my understanding) to look at your subject whilst you're drawing on your paper. By running the eye carefully and slowly around the edge of the subject we can then communicate what we are seeing with the lines of our drawing... the catch is, you don't look at your paper whilst drawing and the pencil isn't to leave the paper either. Hmmm. Fun to think about.

Here is an example of contour drawings of an iron. The beauty is that the drawing is simple and can communicate the essence of your subject.



Other pieces of work from my weekend of exploration :)

An Ink water wash, a twig as a brush, and a contour drawing of pears with ink.

Charcoal and eraser.
Firstly we blacked out our paper with charcoal and then we were given a subject, in this case a jug. We then 'carved' out the picture of the jug from the charcoal with the eraser.

And this was my final product for the weekend in which I combined several of the different skills I had learnt, to create my interpretation of the 'grass'. What do you think? Does it 'speak' of the grass?



I do know that it was fun, kind of hard and definitely completely unexpected.

Kookaburra was buzzed when he saw all that I did and had been excited before this . He'd been with me when I shopped for art supplies. So in our homeschool this week ,we took to the park so he could get a chance to learn from my new skills.






Kookaburra used an ink water wash for his background, then he did a charcoal rubbing of his subject and then finally our budding artist applied ink on the tip of a bendy twig and painted his lovely palm tree. Unfortunately we had to leave before he could finish but that's on our 'to do' list over the weekend. So far it looks great :)

Kookaburra loves art. I wonder where he gets that from :)

So what does Kangaroo do when he doesn't want to join in with the art stuff?



Climb a tree of course :)

A parting wish from me to you, try this 'out of the box' art. It was truly liberating after years of not truly appreciating gallery offerings beyond 'as the eye sees it' contributions.

who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? who me? couldn't be? then who....

And what am I doing to help?

And I would turn on the TV, but it's so embarrassing,
To see all the other people, I don't know what they mean.
And it was magic at first when they spoke without sound,
But now this world is gonna hurt.
You'd better turn that thing down.
Turn it around.

"Well, it wasn't me," says the boy with the gun,
"Sure I pulled the trigger, but it needed to be done,
Because life's been killing me ever since it begun.
You can't blame me, 'cuz I'm too young."

"You can't blame me; sure the killer was my son,
But I didn't teach him to pull the trigger of the gun.
It's the killing on this TV screen.
You can't blame me; it's those images he's seen."

"Well, you can't blame me," says the media man,
"Well I wasn't the one who came up with the plan.
And I just point my camera what the people want to see.
Man, it's a two-way mirror and you can't blame me."

"You can't blame me," says the singer of the song
Or the maker of the movie which he bases life on.
"It's only entertainment and as anyone can see,
Its smoke machines and make up man, you can't fool me."

It was you, it was me, it was every man.
We've all got the blood on our hands.
We only receive what we demand,
And if we want hell, then hell's what we'll have.

And I would turn on the TV, but it's so embarrassing.
To see all the other people, don't even know what they mean
And it was magic at first, but let everyone down,
And now this world's gonna hurt.
You'd better turn it around.

Turn it around.

honesty

A beautiful and sad song. I'll let it speak for itself.

Look at all those fancy clothes,
But these could keep us warm just like those.
And what about your soul? Is it cold?
Is it straight from the mold, and ready to be sold?

And cars and phones and diamond rings,
Bling, bling, those are only removable things.
And what about your mind? Does it shine?
Are there things that concern you, more than your time?

Gone, going.
Gone, everything.
Gone, give a damn.
Gone, be the birds, when they don’t wanna sing.
Gone, people, all awkward with their things,
Gone.

Look at you, out to make a deal.
You try to be appealing, but you lose your appeal.
And what about those shoes you’re in today?
They’ll do no good, on the bridges you burnt along the way.

Are you willing to sell, anything?
Gone, with your hurt.
Leave your footprints,
And we’ll shame them with our words.
Gone, people, all careless and consumed.

To care for others, first we need to care for ourselves

This one is for my spirit :) What do I mean? Well, a couple of posts back I mentioned a reevaluation on my priorities, of the five, the first one is spirit. I want to care for my soul, to nurture and cultivate my spirit. I'm doing just this when I recognize the great things and wonderful people that touch my life in a day. I hope that it will be a kind of talisman for when I slip into negativity and allow myself to become overwhelmed. Feelings of inadequacy do twist my spin on the world. But every moment I breathe, I have the opportunity to control those feelings. I have also been known to offer up a prayer to angels and God, and have asked for people to pray. I find that it does help :)

So tonight, even though its nearly ten pm, am recklessly tired, and have a sink full of dishes awaiting me, I first want to share the moments that have fed my spirit over the course of my Wednesday. Be warned, they aren't grand things, just happy moments and little finds, but it's the small things that are often the best.

Mr E, my hubby, is away with work for a few days and even though he is incredibly busy, I'm glad that he makes time to call us as often as he can and enjoys my calls to him. I try to share the funny little things our boys do when they happen, so he feels involved. Even though he's not physically here, Mr E is able to laugh over our boys everyday doings at the same time I am. Todays' call concerned Kangaroo needing to go to the toilet and being a typical boy and our upstairs just being way too far, he peed on a tree, that's not the funny part though, the dog joining him at the same tree was. It was horrendous and hilarious.

Kangaroo doesn't get the time I want him to have from me. There is always something that seems to need me more, how crazy is that?! My child, my little boy, is more important but striking a balance between giving Kangaroo what he needs from me and all the duties that I perform like some crazed circus acrobat... can be hard. Books really get inside this little fellow, and one of his favourites from the library of late, has been the adventures of a dashing, seafaring hero named 'Captain Horatio Fleet', who saves damsels from mortal danger and is thanked with a kiss on the cheek. Going into town today Kangaroo has donned a flowing, red cape, announced himself as being the afore mentioned hero, and was suitably equipped to save us from any peril which may dare come our way.

Kangaroo has a nasty cough which he can't seem to shake and has been plagued by it for about a month and our trip into town was to be our second appointment with the doctor. When we arrived, I asked what the wait may be and unfortunately it was going to be about an hour! So understandably, we rescheduled for Friday and went bargain hunting at the op shop next door.

We love to hunt for great books that cost only my spare change and I really enjoy the way our boys pour over any lucky and wondrous finds. Today, in our op shop hunt, we were fortunate and scored a number of books. For three dollars we picked up, 'The Reluctant Dragon' by Kenneth Graham, the very same author of 'The Wind in the Willows' which Kookaburra in particular enjoyed. A copy of 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams for fifty cents. 'Tuppeny, Feefo and Jinks' by Enid Blyton for twenty cents and a new favourite by Arthur Lobel, who wrote all those lovely 'Frog and Toad' stories; 'Mouse Soup' for fifty cents. This book is a real gift, Kookaburra is just finishing up 'Mouse Tales' by the same author and having a great old time reading them too. I really recommend the op shops for books.

A late lunch of croissants with my boys before picking up their cousins from school. Sharing half a chapter of 'Mr Meddle's Muddles by Enid Bltyon before the girls were let out from school, have both my boys intent on finding out what silliness Ms Blyton's odd little character will be up too.

My little nieces are always great company. More children does make it harder but I've found the benefits of having them as often as we do well worth the little bit of difficulty I might experience and I'm sure we bring something to them too;)

Wednesday night is my night. Dancing and piano lessons. My Aunt and Uncle who live in a small town near our little city, still a good twenty or so minutes away, spent the late afternoon and evening caring for our boys. Bathed, fed, copious amounts of books read and the best is my sweet Aunt has taught my eldest, Kookaburra, to knit with a french knitting Busy Bee. Kookaburra kept at his new skill for most of the evening, only stopping for food and happily continued on to make this very exciting 'tail', pictured below. Kookaburra has grand plans and has declared the results of his knitting will be a scarf for his kitkat Merlin.

Seeing friends at dancing and *learning* to dance, it is honestly going to take forever if I don't remember the steps :( but on the up side, creativity on a larger physical level despite the fact I'm over thirty.... pretty happy with that :)

Piano lessons with my lovely friend, just beautiful. I'm so lucky to have this special girl in my life, I've talked my heart out with her over the past year and learnt music to boot. Who could honestly ask for more?!

So like I said, all small things, but important. Family love in forms encompassing more than our immediate foursome and valuable friendships through which I gain so much.

My spirit, that number one priority, is nurtured everyday. I'm just about recognizing those moments. Even right now, with my boy Kangaroo in my arms, in complete happy, trusting, peaceful repose, my needs are also being met.

Annes' Wisdom

I've finished reading the Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott and have now begun an adventure with Anne of Green Gables. Other than the movies, I have sadly never had the pleasure of Ms Montgomerys' extraordinary little character of Anne but already within the first few pages of her lovely story, I have been captured by Annes' heart, enraptured by the vivid detail and description of scenery and by this little girls desiring for a home.

I want to store away, in this holey memory of mine, such beautiful phrases as:

"Isn't it lovely? Don't you think it must be glad to be a rose? Wouldn't it be nice if roses could talk? I'm sure they could tell us such lovely things."

Who thinks of such things? Surely it hasn't been so long since I was a child that I don't remember such wonderful imaginings.

These roses are from our yard. I can't claim to have a garden really when I've just placed plants in the ground wherever I've seen fit. There is no border to define and none of it really makes any sense but the plants mustn't mind if they are willing to bloom like these roses, in the heart of winter.

Another small drop of wisdom from Anne I want to appreciate and remember, in application to myself, are these beautiful two but so important sentences;

"It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. Of course, you must make it up firmly."

There is so much I want to take away from the great books I read, to store theses nuggets of insight away and be able to draw on the lesson in its time. To understand and hold the valuable messages they have to share when I need strength to go on as I know I should or require wisdom in helping our boys grow.

So much is to be gained from the company of great books. The sages tell us so, and they are wise for good reason ;)

'Books are the quietest and most constant of friends: they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.'
Charles W. Eliot

Will there be enough time to read them all....

Sweet Things

Today Kangaroo was with just me. The two of us together and it was absolutely lovely. Kangaroo is charming and bright and I love him so much but because our time here gets so crowded sometimes I don't get to see this and we definitely don't take time to simply be. I didn't necessarily plan today but I knew Mr E and my brother had big post birthday plans for Mr E's bday but they were only able to take Kookaburra and my niece, so I knew I had Kangaroo all to myself. I was nearly the fool and thought to burn this precious time on what I viewed was necessary but fortunately a new resolve on priorities made this past week, came to our rescue. I'll post them here so I will remember....

1. Spirit
2. Husband
3. Children
4. Home/Family
5. Friends

Having these priorities listed is going to help provide the clarity I need over what is important and what can wait.

So today, Kangaroo and I escaped our house and had a milkshake and donuts and a lovely conversation over his new 'Roary the Racing Car' colouring in book which he had paid for himself at the bookshop. He charmed everyone everywhere we went and was praised repeatedly for being so good and chatty. I desperately need some nice new clothes, so Kangaroo helped me shop and his endurance whilst a woman tries on clothes was admirable and I just know his future wife will be thankful for the training I've put in ;)

Naptime seemed so long as I really missed his company but when Kangaroo did finally rejoin me I asked if he would like to walk to the nearby park, just he and I again. Such lovely chats about this and that on the way. A horse and its rider ambled past us, the sky was crisp blue and the company and chatter was so sweet, all of this was only marred by the gradual increasing length of our shadows reminding me to really enjoy this precious time.

I want to remember pushing my beautiful boy on the swing and listening to him hum and sing, and recite nursery rhymes. Possibly my favourite thing has been Kangaroo beginning to recite 'The Swing' with me by RL Stevenson and making letters in the sand because he wants too.

Today was so happy, no housework was done but my baby boy and I, we made time to be still for a bit and play.

I vow to make it happen often.

We made a song for the swing and he was obviously happy because he said this is about me with his smug happy smile:

One, you're lots of fun
Two, I love you
Three, happy as can be
Four, it's you I adore
Five, it's great to be alive
Six, pick up stix (?)
Seven, we're in heaven
Eight, great mate
Nine, we're feelin' fine
Ten, do it all again?

'Yep!' says Kangaroo.

And the icing on the cake has been whilst I was dressing Kangaroo after bath, "Mummy, did you like going to the park with me today?", to which of course I replied, "I certainly did!" and what did my sweet thing say to that? "My pleasure," with that lovely little grin of his.