Florida Fun

Gladys Heron and her Pips

Well I just flew in from Florida and boy are my arms tired. I know... bad joke. That could go along with the ones that the flight attendant was telling as we were taxiing into the Nashville airport.

What did the fish say when he swam into a concrete wall?

Dam!


Where do you find a turtle without legs?

Right where you left him.



How do you make a tissue dance?

Put a little boogie in it.

My very generous sister and her husband had rented a house on Little Gasparilla Island and invited us to come down for a weekend. It was so fun! You have to take a water taxi to the island and the only transportation is golf carts. No stores or restaurants. I took this picture while I was sitting on the dock watching my hubby fish. I kept walking closer and closer to this heron and it just stood there. I guess they know no one will bother them there. While we were on the docks, three dolphins where swimming around. They didn' t stay up long enough to have their picture taken.

I guess that it's back to the real world now.

Sketchbook

I have been trying to get over my fear, block, hesitancy, or whatever it is of drawing people. Lately, each evening that I get to sit and watch TV I've been sketching. This is one that I did last night. The face was from a jewelry advertisement. When I finished the face, I thought she looked middle eastern so I gave her a paisley head covering. I think I will name her Esther.

Travel

This is a dangly that I just finished. The image is a transparency over a page from a hundred and twenty year old book, sewn over a map of Mexico, on a watercolored and stamped background.

Good Fortune

Here is a group of charms that I just finished for an ICE charm swap. The theme was Asian Good Fortune and the charms were to have a red theme and include a fortune in the packaging or on the charm. The charms have a red jasper bead, a black glass bead, and a Chinese coin charm. The package is made from a tag that is painted with red watercolor, with a hand carved stamp. The stamp is supposed to say "harmony" but I forgot to carve it backwards. There is an origami crane in each holding a fortune in its wings.

Very Old Art

I was looking around in some drawers at my mom's house a couple of days ago and found something that brought back old memories. I found a painting that I did when I was 5 years old. I thought that it had gotten thrown away. I was so excited to find it! My parent's had decided that I would take art lessons from a man named Mr. Luby. I don't remember his first name, but I think that he was German. I remember an accent. Mr Luby lived several houses down the street from us. When I went for my first lesson, I remember that he was quite agitated because my set of watercolors included purple. He said that I should learn to mix my own colors. He drew this picture and had me paint it. I remember him telling me about highlights and shadows. Even though I was just 5, he treated the lessons seriously.

That was the beginning of a lifetime of making art. From then on, my parents gave me art lessons from everyone in the county that they could find to teach me. I remember taking a course at the community college when I was 14 and being the youngest one in the class. I changed high schools because ours no longer had an art teacher. Then, it was on to college.
I don't consider myself a great artist, but I cannot imagine my life without art. Nurture the creative in your children. It will enrich their life.

Blessed Sukkot

It is the wonderful season of Sukkot, or in English, the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a time of Messianic hope for both Jews and Christians. For the past 6 or 7 years, my family and I have been observing Sukkot and I have begun to cherish it. I had a sukkah that I could put up each year and take apart when it is over, but last year the wind blew it down (a testament to my bad carpentry skills.) This year, with everything that has been going on in our lives, I didn't have time to build a proper new one, so I stretched sheer cloths from my top deck down to the patio below. It gives a feeling of shelter and festiveness but is not quite what I would prefer. It will have to do for this year. Saturday evening, both of our boys and their wives came and dined with us in our sukkah. It is a wonderful feeling to all be together.

In some of my research, I found that more than likely, Yashuah was born during Sukkot and definitely not in the middle of winter. The king would not have required the census that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for in the winter. Most likely it would have been after the harvest at the time when Sukkot falls. I guess carols would be appropriate at this time, though it will take some getting used to.

On the news Thursday, I heard of a sukkah that they are building in Jerusalem this year made of 2 tons of candy. They are giving out candy for free to all visitors. If they can build one of candy, I guess mine will do, though we can't eat it.