action painting

Artist, Mauro Bonacina, fills balloons with acrylic paint and pops them on an adjacent canvas. This sounds much more fun and a little more exciting than the boring, over-used Jackson Pollock methods. . .

patio uniform

I cannot wait to spend lovely, summer evenings in Arizona in my patio uniform! I will be renting an adorable, TINY studio for the next year while I begin my first, permanent teaching position as a Middle School Art Specialist! Yahoo! I am thrilled for so many reasons, but even more so, most recently, as I secured an adorable home for myself, which, albeit, is probably the smallest, oddest living space I have ever seen, but it has a ginormous backyard with loads of beautiful cacti and a pomegranate tree. . . and potential for a "patio"!!!

‘Tis the season for leisurely lazing and for parading about in finery that's nothing short of amazing! The patio is no place for sloppy regalia. Au contraire! The occasion begs for celebratory paraphernalia. It's best to dress in various layers; a ritual exercised by only the most seasoned patio players. You'd never step foot on the patio without the perfect caftan. I'm thinking that special vintage one Aunty brought back from Pakistan. A proper patio is equipped with an appropriately shaded zone meant for long term lounging on a chaise-like throne! No stint on the patio is complete without leisure entertainment, such as a good book and a handful of cocktails for necessary sustainment. A hand-held spray fan is an absolute must should you go topless you'll want to cool off that bust! And there you have it: the patio uniform demystified; consider it your how-to-properly-leisure guide!" -Mrs. Lilien


{studio and backyard}


{studio and pomegranate tree!}

group learners

Here goes another random thought for a lesson. . .
Ask students to collaborate in groups to stage a modern day scene of an art historical image, which would then be photographed!! I think it could be genius!

Fyi: many contemporary re-conceptualizations of Johannes Vermeer's, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, have prompted this lesson idea.


via Caitlin Joan

doilies as canvases

via where the lovely things are

the weekend, briefly.

This is slightly delayed. . . however, last weekend was so wonderful, I wanted to share some images. The days were filled with cottage gardening, a road trip back to Philly, and an Indian wedding!! :)


{baskets}

{baskets}

{dirty hands}

{poppop working on the lower bed}

{finally, sun!}

{grandma and grandpop coombs get flowers}

{filling up at the gulf for the ride home}

{jesse gets bedazzled}

{me, not sure what's in store}

{sisters and myles!}

{being tied together}

{married!! ...commence throwing tumeric stained rice and flower petals}

{having fun feeling included!}

{donna got all the bling because my wrists are too big for the bangles :( she was happy}

{seven steps}

{nattamai, silver, jakobi family}

{hindu dance club action}

{masterful bollywood dancers}

Ward Combination Record and Plan Book

Ward Combination Record and Plan Book (910-16) - Genuine School Supplies

This is the perfect old school teacher's planner for me: 6 periods and 9-10 week marking periods! YES! Thank you for always guiding me in the right direction, Marissa! :)

blind contour drawing... literally

I have this idea for a lesson that I need to write down before I forget! This happens to me all the time, and normally I just don't write my idea down and totally forget about it. However, I've been contemplating lesson ideas very intensely, lately, so I really want to document this thought!

I believe in using sketchbooks in classrooms and have been pondering the best ways to create and utilize them in the classroom with children. In thinking about sketchbooks, I had an idea about contour drawing in which students are blindfolded (I think middle schoolers will pretend to hate this, but actually love it), students would draw an object from a sack, and then using their fingers as their tools they would feel the contours of the object and draw the object from their observations. This would be a fun introductory activity to contour drawing/still life/etc.

Too, here is a great resource for utilizing sketchbooks in the classroom via Sketchbooks in Schools. I LOVE this site!

collaboration

Todd Oldham plus Charley Harper equals amazing glasses that I'm certain are screaming to live on a shelf in my soon-to-be-new kitchen!


via fishs eddy

summer skin

via creature comforts

warmth

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about sunny, Arizona weather and am very inspired to create a lesson surrounding cyanotypes! I love this printmaking process and feel that children would enjoy the gratifying process and product of creating cyanotypes! I especially love to utilize natural materials in art-making and feel that we could make some beautiful prints that document the plant life within our natural surroundings.

Here is an inspiring image by photographer, Rinnie Allen:


Speaking of sun and warmth, yesterday was a beautiful day, here in PA! The grocery store had beautiful Athena melons that were crazy cheap- .99 cents a pop! These are the kind of melons that are uber succulent and refreshing, with their high water-content and great sweetness. Too, at home, I had a block of tofu and some bok choy to use, so I adapted a recipe from 101 Cookbooks (I heart this website!) and the result was DELISH! ...one of the best recipes I've made thus far! This makes me a happy camper! I think next time, I may use a bit of sesame oil to saute the veg, but it was yummy just how it was, too.

Caramelized Tofu w/ Bok Choy (instead of Brussel Sprouts)


I'm off to mow the lawn in the amazing 80 degree weather! Yippee!
Ta-ta for now :)

child art

sweaty, sunny, glorious summer

Signs of summer are emerging!

{cue fresh, ripe peaches on oatmeal with chia seeds and walnuts for breakfast}


{next, cue chambray shorts and easy cotton plaids}

{I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to rotate this image. . . sorry.}

{. . .my Wiksten style inspiration for shorts, plaids, glasses, and sneakers}


So. . .my Dad works at Time, Inc., and we get lots of Time publications, such as Real Simple. So, I want to share some fun facts about summery things that I recently learned from Real Simple!

First, did you know the best way to catch fireflies is with womanly wiles?! Hilarious, no?! "Fireflies blink to attract a mate," explains naturalist Lynn Havsall, director of programs at the George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History, in Bar Harbor, Maine. "Males fly around while females sit in trees, in shrubs, or on the ground. So find a female and watch her blinking pattern. Then imitate the pattern with a pen flashlight and the males will come to you." Interesting, eh?! The bugs move slowly, so they're easy to trap in a jar. Punch some holes in the lid and add a little grass and a piece of fruit for moisture. Admire your pretty night-lights till bedtime, then let them go. Fun!!


Next, the best way to make cut-offs: Slip on your old jeans and mark the desired length on one leg with chalk. “Take them off, fold the leg at the mark, and iron the fold,” says Caroline Calvin, creative director of Levi’s. “Then cut just under the crease with fabric scissors. Lay the short jean leg on top of the other side and cut to evenly match.” Repeat as needed to get the length you want.

Bring on the heat! . . .and all the watermelon you can find!


-a :)

news!... and it's good :)

I have the day off :^) Yippee! So, I thought I'd spend my morning doing a little bit of blog updating. Then, I intend to go for a bike ride because it is absolutely beautiful outside, today! Thank you-- the 80's have arrived in southeast PA, which makes me one happy gal!

On another note, I have more exciting news. In discovering that my body no longer tolerates dairy products, I still didn't feel right... my digestion improved for a bit, but then I was back to where I started and I just felt terrible and confused about what was going on... something wasn't right. So, I began researching my afflictions, which led me to understand that it was very likely that my body was resisting animal proteins, altogether. After a great deal of research, I decided to eliminate all animal products from my diet. This Friday will mark my second week as a vegan. I cannot find the words to appropriately express how wonderful I feel-- after just 2 weeks! My body no longer feels slug and/or sloth-like. I feel normal, again! In fact, I feel better than normal; I feel fantastic, energetic, light and alive!!! This all probably sounds overly dramatic, but the way I had been feeling was dragging me down in a horrible way, so I am totally celebrating this new vitality!

I've been having a blast cooking (and, baking!) in this new, plant-based way! I thought I'd share some of my adventures, lately :)

Grilled Hummus, Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper, Red Onion "Pizza" (see Ina's pizza dough recipe; substitute AP flour w/ wheat flour)


Black Bean Tacos with Cabbage Slaw + Guac! (omit feta cheese, add 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)


Impromptu Bean & Veggie Burritos and Dark & Stormies w/ my lovely sister, Donna!


Rhubarb is in season = Rhubarb Pie! (I am still a baker at heart, afterall!)


Veggie Burger, Tomato, Fennel & Orange Salad


My lovely, beautiful, newly-wed friend, Jesse, is also a vegan and has an amazing blog called The Happy Go Lucky Vegan which I have been using as a major source of inspiration, as well. I'm so happy to be a happy-go-lucky vegan, myself! :^) Thanks, Jesse!!!

Time to hit the road (in my gigantic, majorly nerdy bike helmet!), but not before I go make some brunch... I know it's 10 AM on a Wednesday, but it was a lounge-y morning, okay?! :^D

Ffwd!

After a bit of repose with the blog, I'm back and would like to share some of the images of Ffwd recipes I've made, but haven't posted over the past several weeks, beginning with this week's Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli. Please forgive my absence! Though, I will keep things short and sweet, as each one of these recipes were wonderful, as is! (No complaints from my household!! :)) Sorry about my poor quality iPhone photographs. I will step it up for next week's post! :)

Dilemma!

I have been super neglectful in terms of not utilizing this space. . .at all! This is because I have discovered tumblr, where I have created a space and began posting/sharing. I am struggling with what format of blogging I want to use, as tumblr is akin to the lazy. Haha~ I kid. Actually, it's very user-friendly and makes it very easy to share images, thoughts, quotes, media, etc that I discover from other people I'm following. Alas, I regretfully find that I virtually never blog from scratch about things I'm experiencing, researching, etc. What to do, what to do?! I suppose I will just try to be more active about posting here in order to share thoughts and projects.

FFWD people- I have taken a break from making our dishes for two reasons: my household is not full of extremely adventurous eaters and I am experiencing some troubles with consuming dairy products, which has ensued much difficulty! However, I am making a more conscious effort to follow everyone's blogs and comment on your experiences!

Here goes an effort to blog more in 2011 :)