Judgement call?

Recently I received a phone call from a young woman who has just moved here from another location. She was very friendly on the phone. She has a degree in art education and had been talking and asking about art opportunities here. My name came up quite often as THE person to talk to about art in Carroll. Anyway she said she had been all over my website and noticed that I do "crafty things" with kids and was wondering if I would be interested in her coming in and team teaching with me but on an art level.

 Am I being too sensitive?  Because I was kind of offended.

All she had to go by was my summer classes which I will admit are more crafts based because parents don't want to commit to 6 or more weeks of classes in the summer. Plus I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of summer craft classes as do the kids.

During the school year it's all art. Every lesson reviews the basics- line, shape, form, color- we discuss horizon lines , foreground, middle ground and background- we make sure to draw what we see. We use watercolors, pastels, ink, acrylic paint, pencils and charcoal. We discuss famous artists and what it was like to produce work in their day and what their style of art is called and then try to imitate it.

Please don't label me as craftsy.

Or artsy-fartsy.

Or arsty-craftsy.

I paint. I draw. I create.
I am a creative person and I like to share my creativity with kids.

The Butterfly Project

As some of you may already know I am participating in this incredible blogging trip around the world until February 17th. I have seen some amazing artwork and have "met" the most generous people. This post really caught my eye "the Butterfly Project" at the two dresses blog.

 Each year I try to do a project with my art students that makes them think about the impact their artwork can have. Last year we participated in the Global Art Project for Peace. When I read about the Butterfly Project I knew we had to contribute.

 "The Butterfly Project" is hosted by The Holocaust Museum  in Houston Texas, USA. The Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, we teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy.

Stop Hate. Starting Here.

yeah~

On my other blog outside-the-lines I wrote about the give a damn campaign so I knew I had to not only get involved but help spread the word.

What is this all about?

The Butterfly Project mandate is to remember the 1,500,000 innocent children who perished as a result of the Holocaust by collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies. In Spring 2013, these butterflies will then become an exhibition to serve as a memory of this event.
Why a butterfly? Good question. They chose a butterfly based on this poem:

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow

Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing

against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow

Is carried lightly ’way up high.

It went away I’m sure

because it wished

to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here

Penned up inside this ghetto.

But I have found what I love here.

The dandelions call to me

And the white chestnut branches in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.

Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Written by Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942

Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.

Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.

Died in Auschwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.

My oldest daughter is the same age as the young man who wrote this and died at the age of 23. I have three other children...living their lives in freedom....I see a butterfly as a symbol of hope and beauty in an ugly world. So many dreams died with each child ... so much potential lost.

I have to make a butterfly. My students will be making butterflies too. (They have a wonderful curriculum for educators here) I will tell them a little bit about the Holocaust - about the children. You see children are innocent and tragic casualties of war. Not just a war that happened 65 years ago but the wars that are happening today.

So, I am inviting each one of you who read this to take the time to make a butterfly.

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”

John F Kennedy

Will you join me? Make a butterfly? This link will take you to some wonderful free butterfly patterns

With a nod to Gandhi- I am going to be the change I want to see in the world.

This is what I want to do. I want you to make a butterfly. Follow the instructions as outlined by the Holocaust Museum highlighted in green below. When your copyright free butterfly is completed, pop it into an envelope including your name, email and blog or web address and mail it to:


Artworks Studio
PO Box 74
Carroll, IA  USA 51401
Artworks Studio DEADLINE -  May 1st 2012!!!!


I would like to take a picture of each butterfly I receive and post them in my art room for my students to see and on my blog. As soon as your butterfly arrives I will take a picture of it and then email you that it arrived safe and sound. I will also let you know via email when I post the butterflies on my blog.  I will then send off ALL of the butterflies to Houston. (I have borrowed this idea from Trudi Sissons - Two Dresses Studio)



If you want to borrow this idea from me and have your own Butterfly event please feel free to do so. Let me know about it so I can see how your project is coming. If you just want to make a butterfly and send it directly to the museum the address is below. Butterflies need to be received at the museum by June 30th, 2012.
Holocaust Museum Houston
c/o Butterfly Project
Education Department
5401 Caroline St.
Houston, TX 77004

~Instructions for Making the Butterfly ~


•Butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches.


•Butterflies may be of any medium the artist chooses, but two-dimensional submissions are preferred.


•Glitter and all glitter-related products should not be used.


•Food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables) also should not be used.

hit the wall....it's time to quit

I am passionate about children. Period. I believe that every child born has a gift to give the world. I am also passionate about art, theatre and libraries. There is one more thing I am passionate about and that is giving back to your community.
There are too many people who have forgotten about this and yet they still expect this same community to support them. I am just as busy as the next person. I am raising a family and running a business- both are 24/7 occupations. But because I am passionate about children and art and theatre and libraries I volunteer  time in those directions. My life would be a lot easier if I did not volunteer and there are times when I regret saying yes and get a little cranky about it.

Why volunteer? Why get involved?  ???

Because I care about children. Children live in my community. Therefore I get involved. I have one child left at home and in a little under two years he'll be gone and off to college. Does this mean I get to stop being involved? NO!

But there are times when I feel like I am banging my head against a wall. I am president of the Carroll Arts Council/Community Theatre (CAC/CCT). I have been president for 7 maybe 8 years? I don't know I've lost track. In that time I have seen the organization through some very rough times. I had some goals when I became president and I reached them. My biggest goal was to create a 50 seat theatre in our building for small shows. We've been using the Black Box Studio now for over a year. Another goal I had was to create a summer program for high school and college age kids who are interested in theatre to experience theatre outside of a school setting. We had our first  program this past summer and I think it was successful.

Yesterday I told my board that I am resigning. It is not a decision that I made lightly. The biggest question back at me is WHY?!?
It's not the lack of funding or resources. Unfortunately the arts seem to thrive on shoe string budgets. It's not the work- I love costuming a show, making a set come to life and creating a mood with lights. It's not working with kids because I LOVE working with kids! So why am I leaving something I feel so passionately about?
There is no COMMUNITY in the Community Theatre anymore. Recently the CAC/CCT was asked to collaborate with the Public Library for a fundraising event for our new library. ( YES! A NEW library!!!!)The Library wanted us to produce an audience interactive murder mystery. I spent hours online searching for the right play, talking with the head librarian and the Friends of the Library Board. I spent more time promoting auditions and beating the bushes looking for people to fill all the parts. I still have 3 parts left to fill and will more than likely step into one of the roles myself because the show must go on. So I will be spending another 20 hours next week rehearsing the play and getting it costumed. When I asked one person who has an interest in BOTH the library (serves on the board) and the theatre to be in the show the response was:

" No, my schedule is insanely busy and I can't do it"

That stopped me so short I actually hit that wall I have been banging my head against.
This is for a good cause. This is for our COMMUNITY. This is for our CHILDREN!

I just can't do this anymore.

Peter Pan was right.....don't grow up

Once in awhile you come across something that makes you think and smile at the same time. Like this:

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" ~Howard Ikemoto"


The Pirate Bunny by Ben age 6



 Yes grown ups forget many things. Like how to look at the world through the eyes of a child. At least three or four times a week I get an adult in the studio asking me if I teach lessons to adults. My answer is always no. I used to work with adults but I just can't do it anymore. Adults are so wrapped up in all that grown up baggage that they are very difficult for me to work with.  Many adults go through their adult life with blinders on-too busy to stop and notice little things like the color of the sky as the sun is setting on a winter day. Or how brilliantly red a cluster of tulips can be on a sunny day in spring.

Too often I hear a child show a grown up their latest drawing and the adult says "That's wonderful! What is it?"  Art doesn't always have to be something you recognize right away. You want total realism take a photograph. Art should make you think. Art should connect on so many levels with you. Even art done by a child. So the next time a young person comes up to you to proudly show you what they have drawn. Please, take a moment and really look at it. Give it some thought instead of an absent minded "....that's very nice" and say something constructive and real about it.  You might miss a delightful drawing of a  "Pirate Bunny"!


"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."  Pablo Picasso