Tree Painting

I received a book of watercolor paper, technically it was called a block of watercolor paper that you have to use a knife to cut out each page from my mother-in-law. I was excited to use some paper, and I came up with an idea to paint one large tree and have it pass thru 3 pieces of paper kind of like a triptych. Temp and I went canoeing in southern Virginia to find the largest bald cypress in the state. This was a painting of a photograph I took of that tree.

PS Now that I have posted it, I am finding some parts I don't like so there may be some revisions!!

Student Work: Watercolors

I didn't do this lesson last year. Students had to pick out a color that represented their personality (yellow by research means energetic, happy for example). They had to find a portion of an image in a magazine with a viewfinder that primarily had their color and paint it. The project required them to use some sort of watercolor technique to provide texture like salt for a grainy look, dish detergent for a splatter of white, or a crayon resist for strictly white areas.






This student that did the blue one above has cerebral palsy. He is wheelchair bound and does not have use of his dominant hand due to a stroke. This is one of my favorite paintings due to his use of color.

Car on Fire

I just came upon this car on fire on the way home. Yikes! I just happened to have the Canon with me.

Photo shoot

Templeton and I wanted to do a make-shift photo studio and play with our cameras. I have a Nikon D50 that I wanted to get to know the manual settings better. Sal was my subject...he was really good actually!

Temp was trying to get him to pay attention!

no help

my attempt at trying to air out our bathroom mats...thanx sal

Kickball Weekend

So this has been a Crazy weekend. We had divisional playoffs on Saturday...basically our fall season ended, and it was the end of the year playoff tournament. Playing 3 games, and making it to the championship game, we got 2nd place to the undefeated team of the division. But we only lost one game the whole season, and qualified for the National Championship in Las Vegas!!!
Then today we played in a charity tournament, 4 more games. Tired, sore, exhausted. BUT, WE WON!!!! We won the whole thing!!
My teammate Dave and I decided today was the day to retire our cleats. He had his for around 8 years, and mine for 12 years of kickball and soccer since high school. They are so old, they were the first cleats that were made for women.

The picture is of us throwing them in the garbage after the big win. Go Crazy Kickers!

4 minute wait=stoked

A Shopper's Diary

On this Election Day, a day for big decisions...I ponder the jacket.

I had the day off, school was optional for Norfolk---uhh duhhh! So I slept in, had lunch with the husband, and headed to the mall.

Goal: Find a fall/spring jacket.

So I went to H&M, didn't find anything I was pleased with. So then I remembered I had store credit at Dillards from a year ago. I walk into the store and it's heaven. Tons of jackets and coats. I tried on maybe 10, then I tried on this one and fell in love. It's flattering, funky and the style I like.

Oh, but it's a COAT! I figured out in walking to my car that waist-length outerwear does not equal jacket.

I have a long black coat already that I got a year or 2 ago on clearance. It feels a little formal. Now I have got this one but I still spent a pretty penny on even with the discount. Do I keep it cause I am stoked on it? Or do I return it and get a stupid jacket. Coats just look so cute! I will have to discuss with husband, if you have any opinion let me know....
(and yes, i am thankful this is the kind of dilemma I am facing at this point in my life)