Landscape Art, I Have A Dream Writing and Freedom

Landscape Art, was our last drawing lesson. You can see mine below. I combined the Art lesson with the Freedom lesson, assigned to DJ. For me I feel free, anywhere there is trees, and water. Preferably at the ocean, but a lake or stream is just fine too. There is a pink lake in Senegal, that I think would be amazing to visit. I am not sure I would swim in it, very high salt concentrations, but to just sit there and read a book would be amazing. I believe there is a pink lake in Australia, too. So, that was my Freedom and landscape Art all in one. Caitlin drew out her landscape, and is currently turning it into a Minecraft world. I will share images of it when she is done. DJ finished his animal project, and still has to do his landscape. Hopefully, on Friday.

DJ was given the writing assignment, after watching videos and Martin Luther King Jr, and his, I Have A Dream speech, to pick a topic that he would want to conquer. He is currently putting it in outline form, one of the hardest things to do in the Writing Process, for him. Then he will put it into essay form. I won't say what his dream would be, but it will be on his blog when completed. I too, will be challenging myself, to create an I Have A Dream, essay. I can not decide what one topic I would want to stop if I could. There are so many that are dear to my heart. I would say ignorance, is at the top, but that is something you could beat to death and never change. It will be here on this blog, when completed, and this time DJ gets to critique my writing, grammar, punctuation, etc. This should be fun, lol.

Happy Wednesday!

OK, well Blogger has changed yet again the way in which I upload pictures, grrrrr!!!!!! Anyway now that I have that off my chest, on to the real good stuff. Yesterday, was our first painting class, with my mom, since before the holidays. Neither one of us had the time to do it. Even though Caitlin and I still paint, DJ doesn't do much, so it is nice when we all do it. He doesn't paint, he draws,and for some reason his fish he drew managed to not get in the pictures. He drew a pretty mandarin fish. Everyone got to do their own thing yesterday. My mom painted a huge pickle jar, that she will be putting homemade dog treats in to sell at the Farmer's Market. I have been cleaning and then upcycling old salsa jars into candles. First I clean them, paint them and then add the candle. They make cute gifts and reduce waste. I am hoping they will be popular in my Etsy store. I have done two Easter theme ones. One has a brown bunny, and the other this sable colored bunny. On the opposite side of the jar is a cross with a wreath of flowers. To see all the pictures be sure to visit Melissas Jewelry and Gems. Caitlin painted a picture of her very own bunny.

Then, later in the afternoon, we had our Earth Kids meeting. This was our second nature walk, and this time we went to Manatee Springs. They were supposed to be looking for specific leaves, but unfortunately there are not a ton of them out yet. However, we did see Manatees in the spring inlet, look you will see it. And a ton of deer, which are quite smaller than the deer I am used to in NY. They blend in so well with the drab surroundings, you could easily miss them if they were not moving around. Manatee Springs is one of the more dangerous springs to swim at. There are signs everywhere that say no swimming, and swim at your own risk. Yet, people still do it. There are a lot of snakes and even some gators at this particular spring. Last year, because there are diving caves under the springs, a diver got lost and died. We don't swim there.

All in all a good week so far. And tomorrow, which is Thursday, seems to be my day to relax from here on out. The only day we don't have something planned for the rest of the school year, or at least right now, lol! Kids of course continue with their book and course work, and the third semester ends in just a few weeks. Almost over, already!  Oh the first painting is my very first attempt at an abstract painting.  I kind of like it!

Creative Photography and Abstract Art

Ha, two posts in one week, lol! DJ is taking Creative Photography through FLVS. This is a fun class, and while most days we are limited to what we can take pictures of, DJ finds a way to be creative and complete the assignments. The other day his class, and him, had to browse famous photos from the Great Depression. Their assignment was to duplicate images, of children, that would fit into the Great Depression theme. He took the first picture using black and white setting, and setting the timer. I think it is such a beautiful picture even though the title was, two children looking for a better day. The second one is supposed to look like snow and the little girl is waiting for the snow to stop, so she and her family could go stand in the soup lines for food.

Since I have been painting, I have tried to figure out the art of Abstract Art. Honestly I don't usually see anything. Yet, I thought I should expand my knowledge and thinking, and try it. Yet still I thought I better do some research. In my research I learned that it isn't really supposed to look like anything in particular, and you are not supposed to get it. You are supposed to feel it. Huh? Yes, feel it. The image should make you feel some kind of emotion. Matter of fact the one website I was reading on said to paint to music, since abstract art is like music without lyrics. She suggested listening to music and just let your brush flow with the music, or whatever you might feel while the music is on. OK so Hip Hop my painting will be jumpy and hyper, Ozzy agitated and angry, Country sad and lonely, Classical soft and smooth, Opera hmm I don't know because I can't actually listen to it. Every high note will cause me to keel over dead. So, I might actually try this Abstract Art idea, to music. It might be quite interesting what comes of it.