tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80356218762842173762024-02-19T22:26:41.466-08:00Me Being CreativeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-31902124145182520922018-08-02T09:13:00.001-07:002018-08-02T09:35:17.302-07:00A Day at the Met
Katie and her mom, two new members of the Met
Yesterday was a day of inspiration in a way I wasn't expecting. We boarded an express train in New Brunswick, making a speedy trip into the city and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Entering the building as members, Katie and I bypassed lines, received discounts in the Met Shop and felt very entitled. We met up with our camp friends and spent Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-4040083801174907452018-07-24T04:06:00.001-07:002018-07-24T14:03:13.342-07:00A Gift for an Artist
Today, our Steinway piano leaves the house, sold to the highest bidder by Dot. I woke early this morning, ready with a title for this essay and a mind filled with words too scrambled to do justice to the scope of my emotional feelings. Dorothea Lippart was the music teacher at Ranney when I began teaching. Dot is a talented and lovely person, a beloved mentor to every youngUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-60862432304840997912018-07-15T17:38:00.000-07:002018-07-16T11:57:53.674-07:00Maggie the Eighth
Painting of Maggie signed, framed and delivered to the Bubers this week
One month as a retired art teacher. Thirty days. I have to be thankful that each day has been filled with things to occupy my mind and has kept me physically moving. Zach and Michele are officially engaged and a date is set for their wedding. I bravely faced retirement with a rush of emotions and busy work. I cleared Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-10902366835124927242018-07-12T14:13:00.000-07:002018-07-12T18:12:35.409-07:00Let Them Draw Cake
Sketch of cake by artist Wayne Thiebaud
I just enjoyed a great day of inspiration for any artist. My trip to the city was a lonely one, but it was a trip I was happy to do for myself. If an exhibit looks promising, the weather fair, and no other pressing needs were keeping me home, why wouldn't I make the $6.80 senior fare bus trip into Manhattan? I tried reaching out to a few friends Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-72562098921594048442018-07-11T13:06:00.000-07:002018-07-12T14:20:16.601-07:00A Day with Georgia in the Bronx
A gift from my thoughtful husband this year was a pair of tickets to see Georgia O'Keeffe at the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. We spent a magical time together in one of the best weather days of the summer. And I got much needed inspiration for my own life as an artist.
We began with a stop on Arthur Avenue for an Italian dinner. That made me nervous since we are talking about Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-52599648963633723142018-06-26T08:16:00.000-07:002018-07-09T16:47:19.642-07:00Hold that Pose, Please
Katie and Zoe with my Zoe Painting
For the last 15 years I taught young artists in Ranney how to create an old fashioned selfie. We worked on circle portraits, Mona Lisa inspired selfies, Andy Warhol style portraits, paintings of portraits, drawings of portraits, photo manipulations of portraits and even iPad portraits. The smiling faces of our self portraits filled the gallery at school Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-65474519620569632872018-06-18T11:57:00.000-07:002018-06-18T15:27:59.533-07:00I am a retired art teacherThis is what Day 5 of retired life looks like. I am sitting in the den going through bags of stuff I brought home from Ranney. Some of the toiletries have been in my desk at school for 15 years. Do you think the Aleeve is still potent or the bandaids still stick? I am breezing through papers, cards and notes written by students, teachers and parents. Some of the letters make me smile, and almost Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-71367291731343072632016-01-16T14:05:00.000-08:002018-07-09T16:50:26.525-07:00Gloves for hand quiltingLiving in the Northeast means dealing with dry hands every winter! Even more unforgiving is that my hands are in water all day, washing the brushes in my classroom, or just washing the winter germs off my fingers when my classes are over. Dry hands mean the top corners of my fingers crack and bleed. I try to put on lotion, honest I do, (just ask Norm how I feel about lotion!!) but even with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-81943904011068133872015-12-30T08:26:00.000-08:002015-12-30T08:36:46.671-08:00Drawing with thread in the city!
Close up of "Starry Night" block center
Well, it was Katie that started me on this quilting journey after all.
I completed 3 quilts and 1 quilted pillow over the last couple of years, learning very different techniques with each one. I thought I might as well continue to experiment with this art form on my kids. They are always happy to be on the receiving end of one of my creative whims... Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-58794342034651691692015-12-29T15:45:00.001-08:002015-12-29T15:48:32.793-08:00How do I sign my quilts?I am an avid listener of Abby Glassenberg's podcast, "While She Naps." It is the conversation that accompanies me to school just about every day... especially when I was binge-listening to the last two years of her recordings! Now that I have caught up with all her back episodes, I eagerly await her new podcasts each week and try to entertain my trips with other podcasters, some of who are Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-25131245805165395752015-12-25T16:55:00.000-08:002015-12-25T16:55:01.848-08:00Bringing art to life!
My grand-niece Emma with her Emma doll
I listen to a wonderful podcast on my way to school in the mornings. Abby Glassenberg, "While She Naps," is a softie and doll designer. Lately her interest runs more to the business end of creative careers as she takes us along on her journey of turning her creative skills into a marketable business. What I love the most, though, are her conversations Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-89352508234672864342015-12-23T16:01:00.003-08:002018-07-09T16:40:24.347-07:00Making someone happy!
Norman is a tennis player. Even seeing out of just one eye, he is a tennis player. If he did not enjoy watching the game, playing the game, beating his opponent, or simply hitting the ball for the fun of hitting the ball, he would not be a tennis player. And as a true player, he collects all things tennis, like this multi-colored collection of tennis sneakers and the antique racquets that fill Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-79930057008333470502015-12-22T10:59:00.002-08:002015-12-22T11:11:36.634-08:00Returning to my rootsFalling in love with fabric, thread, and the quiet motion of hand stitching has become somewhat of an obsession for me, again. It is what I loved to do when I was young. There was something magical about touching the fibers and the process of creating something beautiful with them. My father built a huge frame in our basement for me to do my rug hooking, as he would do with anything that I might Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-58340991176921237362015-04-06T16:08:00.000-07:002015-12-25T16:59:14.145-08:00The One Block Wonder that wasn't!
How can you be creative if you haven't the energy to feel excited about much of anything? This was a long winter filled with too many snow days, too many sick days, and a lack of enthusiasm on my part. To welcome the spring, I had parathyroid surgery and I spent the last two weeks (my spring break from school) recovering from the surgery. With just enough energy to stare at HGTV with Katie,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-31662301694507258452015-01-04T10:05:00.000-08:002015-01-04T10:05:05.503-08:00Taking a Creative VacationWhat did you do on your time off? This winter break for me was all about resting up, going to see a few Christmas movies, napping, cooking, sleeping late, playing with my dogs, napping, spending time with my family, and napping. See a pattern there? How I will wake up tomorrow morning at 5:15 for school is beyond my vacation brain to imagine! I never did get to write those art report cards I was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-20278773439638196462014-10-01T06:54:00.002-07:002014-10-01T06:54:17.857-07:00Gluten Free Challah Bread... a work of art!
I was born in 1957. If, like me, you are a child of the 20th century, Norman Rockwell's painting of Thanksgiving often comes to mind when you picture a holiday dinner. This painting, created in 1942 for a cover of the Saturday Evening Post, is one of four paintings, "The Four Freedoms," inspired by the State of the Union Address given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This scene depicts "Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-70091385505106144022014-09-15T13:07:00.001-07:002014-09-16T10:03:15.211-07:00Ranney School Faculty Art Exhibit
I always have to remind myself to step back every now and then and look at what I have been creating from a different perspective. It might simply be that I have to walk away from a painting and look at it with fresh eyes the next day. Sometimes I take a photo of the canvas with my phone or iPad and see how it looks on a small screen as opposed to real life. Does something need to be a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-61873316425413344422014-08-28T18:44:00.001-07:002014-09-16T10:08:09.972-07:00a day of inspiration: grounds for sculptureThree days left to enjoy my summer vacation with my daughter Katie, and on this beautiful but hot day, we decided to visit Princeton for breakfast at our favorite pancake house (PJ's) and then make our way to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. The sculpture garden is on the grounds of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds and is the most amazing place to be inspired by both nature and art. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-2445746712388372942014-08-21T07:57:00.000-07:002014-08-24T04:32:30.624-07:00My father, the artist
When you think back in your life to your earliest memories, it can be confusing what is a real memory or what you might have seen captured in a photograph and claim to remember. My mother kept a shoe box full of black and white early photos of our family in the closet, so there were certainly many of those moments saved for prosperity. But my first 'actual' memory and the one there is no photo Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-91113036602650748442014-08-19T05:56:00.000-07:002014-08-21T03:49:50.579-07:00Quilting, a new art form for meFor my birthday, Norman gave me a gift certificate good for a beginning quilting class at my local fabric store, Fabric Inspirations. I have always loved creating things out of fabric, yarn, or any kind of fiber, and although I learned how to sew as all of my generation did in an 8th grade home economics class, I never did try my hand at quilting. I adore handmade quilts, soft and cuddly ones Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-14446629072105005562014-08-18T14:01:00.000-07:002014-08-18T14:01:54.852-07:00COOKING WITH GLUTEN FREE PASTAWe have a pasta dinner at least once a week in my family. Before my diet became gluten free, a favorite meal for us would either be a baked pasta like ziti or lasagna and we would have delicious leftovers for another day, or I would cook a pot of fresh pasta and pair that with a hearty meat sauce. Before the newer versions of GF pastas came out on the market, I could never just substitute brown Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-87345061796225113412014-08-17T13:54:00.002-07:002014-08-17T20:11:10.256-07:00YES, YOU CAN HAVE GLUTEN FREE PANCAKES!
The only way to wake up Sam on a Saturday morning is with the aroma of pancakes cooking on the griddle. My children grew up enjoying everyone's favorite "Aunt Jemima" buttermilk pancake mix. My only concession to using the store bought mix was to never succumb to the complete version that only calls for water. Mixing in my own eggs and milk seemed to make it more homemade somehow, especially Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-40066490779020969522014-08-17T13:44:00.002-07:002014-08-17T13:45:52.642-07:00MANDEL BREAD
Mandel Bread is not a bread at all but a cookie. It is a Jewish version of an Italian Biscotti cookie. This recipe is based on my Aunt Elke's traditional Mandel Bread recipe that started off with a few simple ingredients. Of course, once I started revising it with gluten free options and healthier fats and sweeteners, it became a bit more involved.
The almond flour and coconut oil thatUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-24758551286482504742014-08-17T13:35:00.001-07:002014-08-17T13:35:59.979-07:00IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE CHEESE BLINTZESThese can really be made by one person, but it is so much more fun with someone else on hand to help. Katie usually helps by arranging the crepes on the kitchen towels. She also eats the extra bits of crepes that form on the outside of the circles, and helps me roll them around the cheese filling. With my daughter away at college, my husband came to the rescue. Here is Norman making perfect Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035621876284217376.post-12053041076958241782014-08-17T13:24:00.001-07:002014-08-24T04:41:52.389-07:00BLUEBERRY CRISP
FILLING:
4 cups fresh or frozen, unsweetened blueberries (delicious with peaches too!)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup honey or coconut palm sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
TOPPING:
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup rolled GF oats
3 Tablespoons coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In an ungreased Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0