The new Art Hive is fabulous! Every issue keeps getting better and better, thanks to my hard workin' boss ladies (and pals!) Jessie and Angela. They keep outdoing themselves! Seriously...it's a good one. The cover is all shiny and fancy...the layouts are on point...and the COVER? Every time I look at it...makes me grin from ear to ear! I love it. Great ARTicles inside...including an interview by yours truly... So who did I interview? Myself...well kinda. Myself in 50 years...if I am lucky to be so AMAZING. You know who it is- my idol, Iris Apfel! (shrieks...passes out for a second...husband gets the smelling salts...I come to...back to keyboard) I have kind of been sitting on this one for a bit...didn't write too much about it, but back in the Spring I got a chance to interview Iris face to face when she was in town for the premier of her film, Iris, at the Miami International Film Festival. I even got to preview the film ahead of time...I think I watched it 2-3 times...literally crying at my computer...tears of joy...and tears because at the heart of the whole movie is a love story, the story of Iris and Carl...of real partnership...two cats on an adventure, traveling the world, cheering each other on...yeah, you gotta see the film! My one regret is that I didn't get a chance to take a picture with Iris...they didn't want pics back in the greenroom...and the red carpet was too chaotic...BUT...she sat about 2-3 feet away from me and we talked accessories for about 10 minutes...at one point she actually leaned in and touched my necklace creation and complimented it (passes out again momentarily...sorry, ya'll) AND...I gave her a piece my my heART!
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Hey, what's in the old Christmas paper Amanda is holding? My art? Maybe...come to the Anniversary Art Show and Hot Rod Round-up to see what I pieces I brought...along with AMAZING work by local artists, cool rides and beautiful tattooed folk!
You know that song is in your head now...don't front. Here ya go...just come back to the blog after you listen to this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdizL4on-Rc So we made our annual pilgrimage back to San Diego...to do pretty much the same things that we have done every year since we left in 2007...
My favorite thing about our trips is always our time spent walking on the boardwalk. It doesn't matter what the weather is like...this is always my 'perfect space'. I love it. My clock never did adjust to Pacific time...I stayed on 'Jenny time' meaning I woke up at 6am every day we were there (and have been doing that since we got back to the east coast, too...sheesh!) I walked the boardwalk almost every day by myself in the mornings, logging almost 3 miles each time...then usually walking it again with John later on in the day. I love it. Beach and ocean on one side, restaurants, little shops on the other...folks walking, riding bikes, skaterboards, roller blades...pups...an occasional Slo-Mo sighting (or sightings of things FAR MORE crazy than a dude rollerblading to classical music in slow motion...) I can't wait to go back and do it again next year!
And last up...you know there had to be some #AngelDropART on this trip. Had to happen. This time...it was a little different. My close friend thought she had lost her dog on a hike in Colorado...kind of an amazing story...the dog went in the stream to fetch a stick...got caught in the current and was carried off...swept under a bridge...everyone thought that the pup, Miakoda, had drowned. It was pretty awful. I could hear in my friends voice over the phone just...heart break. Loss. Defeat. And I hated that feeling, especially being so far away where I could not even comfort her. When I got off the phone with her that day, we were out thriftin', I told John about it...but we did not believe that the dog had drowned. We believed that she was still alive. We had hope.
Crazy, right? Yeah, crazy awesome. The local news even heard about it and did a segment on them. Here is a link to the story; http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/06/12/dog-swept-away-by-creek-reunited-with-owner/71153766/ So...that being said...here are some pics of just some of the angels that I gave out that Friday morning. Maybe they helped, maybe they didn't...but the folks that received them sure were happy to accept this gift of #heART;
One thing I do know. I will keep honoring my friend, on this day and every day...until I am old and grey, until I am no more. Happy birthday, Amy. I made some art for you. You can see it soon at your house, when you stop in to check on John and Jennifer, which I know you will. Love, Jenny
And I FINALLY got the back area of the room organized. Whew! That took some serious blood, sweat and tears but it's done. Here's a post about the room at the beginning of the year; http://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/archives/08-2014 ...and here are some pics of what I will be coming back to in August! Yippee!!! ![]() The back half of the room. (3D area) This was a work in progress all year but it is finally starting to be an organized studio space. I still want to streamline some of the containers and label things, and there are some cabinets I want to sort/organize more...but this baby's almost DONE! (Not pictured, the kiln area...much better than the beginning of the year but I hope to make it even better next year...gotta find a grant to get some more shelving.) ![]() And this...THIS was my major achievement- the storage area in the waaaay back. (where I basically stored/hid things as I was cleaning/organizing the OTHER sections of the classroom) Finally...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...some small piles to sort through on the back table but I can't wait to get back and tackle 'em! June is here...and with June comes the end of an AWESOME school year, some summer trips, MUCH time for art, and my new series...which also relates to a trip/event that will be happening at the end of the month... So, here it is. The new series for June 2015; I have much to say about this...and I suspect that I will write on it throughout the month, but yeah, June's pieces will be inspired by the songs of the the Grateful Dead, Psychedelic Art, The Fillmore Rock posters of the late 60's-early 70's...all of that. Now, I know what folks might be thinkin'... 'Whatchoo know 'bout the Grateful Dead?' I know that some of their songs got me through the toughest time in my life. I know that their music is appreciated by some of my favorite folks in this world, that we are connected by these lyrics and rhythms. I know that some of the folks I love most in this world share this love of music and I want to honor them this month, with this series. That's what I know.
...Last up, bottom right...John German, Amy's father. I love this man like was my own dad, and in many ways he is like a second dad to me. I am a product of a broken home, my own father...I don't know where he is now. I haven't seen him since I was five or six I guess. When I think about who has consistently been a father figure in my life- it's John. He is one of the smartest people I know, and one of the strongest. He has a pure, good heart and I love him for that. He has a hippie heart and could teach even the most devout Dead Head a thang or two about the music. The Grateful Dead are a part of his soundtrack, too. And there are other folks that share this soundtrack...and I will mention them along the way. But these are the main influences tied to this series.
Mermaids...done! I haven't been great about posting the final images to my gallery and FB page for a few reasons...
I don't post that often about teaching on my blog. For a while I had a separate blog page on the site but I didn't feel that I posted enough...then I kept thinking that my identity as an artist and as art teacher are so intertwined I didn't want to compartmentalize them...so gonna just add bits and pieces about my teaching on this here blog when the mood strikes me, I may change my mind about this but for now, that's how I am going to handle it. That being said...I had a great idea last week that really helped solved an age old art teacher problem- trying to get the students to actually take their work home. It baffles me, but every year I have taught, really at any level, the kids are so quick to just throw their work away. It is upsetting to me because I spent my time planning the lesson, teaching the lesson, and often times I may have spent some of my own money on the supplies. Even more frustrating is it makes me feel like they are saying that they don't value what I taught them, the experience of making those pieces of art. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but that is how I feel. In reality, the kids have other things on their minds or are just thinking they don't want to lug the portfolio around. Just some thoughts. So my idea was to challenge my students to not only take their work home, but to take photos of the portfolio and/or work at home with parents, siblings, pets, displayed around the house- whatever. Just SHOW THAT THE WORK MADE IT HOME. And guess what? Totally worked! I have had so much fun seeing the pictures and it feels great to know that the work made it home. Here are a few of the pictures that the students shared with me; I digress. Back to why I haven't been keeping up with my blog/final pics.
The other main reason that I haven't updated...I have been so involved MAKING the work. I had so much fun with this series! I love watercolor and my water soluble pencils...but the only problem is I just keep working in layers...I would start a piece and then work on several over a few days...layering and layering. But I will keep working with these materials...'cause I love them! So that's it. The May series is finished. I feel that overall there is a flow to the body of work...sometimes I went off on a tangent...got distracted...but the colors and the overall style are pretty consistent...and here they are;
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AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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