The 2010 Olympics

The 2010 Olympics
Because we have a projection TV that we can project onto the wall with a picture of 5ft X 8ft. Having such a blessing I invited my dear friend of 42 years who is an avid sports fan to come and enjoy the 2010 Olympics with me. While we are not watching the games we have done several other activities. One we have been listening to mood soothing music. Chopin, Puccini, Verdi, Beethoven. One day we thumbed thru old magazines and tore out pictures and made personal collage. It was fun to see just what appealed to each of us.


On another day we were reminiscing about days that were much livelier, we made a paper-mache pig. When my daughter was in Campfire Girls I was the guardian. On one occasion we had a Lieu. For the center piece I made a pig it was a big hit. Cass still remembers the pig and thought it would be fun to re-create it. We used two balloons and a 2oz cup for the snout and toilet paper rolls for the legs to make the form, and then we covered it with glue like substance and strips of newspaper, and paper towels. Then we covered the whole form with a thin coat of Elmer’s glue and allowed it to dry. After the form was dry we painted the pig with acrylics. Now she will have a pig for her summer cookout.
We have been watching the Olympics faithfully but are disappointed at the way NBC are presenting them as we are interested in skating an they are feeding us one skater at a time until 10:00 P.M. after this old woman’s bedtime.

Snow Days

I did not go to my painting class this morning. I am snowed in. I have a rule that I have lived by since 1977. “Ice on the ground I stay home“. This is the biggest snow fall ever in North Texas. We have about 9 inches in our driveway. But the record snow that has fallen in Dallas is 12.7 inches as of last midnight. It looks like a winter wonder land. It is suppose to freeze this evening. We lost a large limb out of our big magnolia tree. That makes me sad. My friend was supposed to come from Frisco Texas to visit me to watch the Olympics on the big screen but the roads are terrible. Frisco is about 40 miles from us, and the freeways are traitorous.
I have accomplished quite a bit however this week. I got out my notes from Jane E. Jones’s watercolor classes from 1988-1990,the cover came off the book from much use, so I am transcribing the notes into a word document. I have done five I have much, much more to do. I am having such fun planning the Creativity Classes. Last week I started by having the students draw a simple drawing in several ways. This week we were to start with pictorial organization. I am excited to watch their imagination growth.
Be Blessed

Teaching Creativity

I know reading this it may sound a bit boring, but what can I say. I believe given the tools one can do amazing things. My children never had a coloring book, but they had a THINGS TO DO box. They had the encouragement to invent, to use their imagination. In the box were crayons, colored paper, bottle caps, cute jars, colored string, beads, clay and loads of paper that their daddy brought home from work. They were free to use the backside.

I started my lesson plans yesterday for teaching Creativity. I know 10% of creativity is inborn but with encouragement I believe you can bring out 90% amazing qualities. Like harvesting wheat, you plant the seed, water it and watch it grow to ripening and then you harvest.

I will teach all the basics, give assignments and watch them interpret the assignment. I started with drawing. I ask them to do a simple drawing, one that they could re-draw in many ways. (ie) vertical, horizontal, oblique and on and on. We will go on to color and pictorial organization some rules. I wrote a notebook on the principals and elements of design in 2008. I will be using that as well. I will teach technique in watercolor.