Little red bird under a chair
Waiting for the crumbs to fall
Daddy said "Get a job"
Well don't you see, Daddy, how good I am at catching crumbs?
Those are the lyrics from the Dave Matthews song, "LIttle Red Bird"
I just happen to like that song, I'm not quite sure why. It came into my head when I was hurrying to get this picture before the bird flew away.
This little red bird happens to be a male cardinal, sitting on the branches of a palo verde tree. Great contrast of complimentary colors.
I do wish that Mr. Cardinal happened to be looking my way but you take what life hands you and you make the best you can out of it.
Maybe that's what the song is about.
It's that time of year when we start going crazy, trying to get all the shopping and cooking done. It's during this time especially that I try to remind my boys what the real spirit of the holidays is all about.
Yesterday we takes about compliments and how nice they are. A simple "I like your scarf" or "you look nice today" can warm a person's heart. You can see it in that smile they give you in return. So, we challenged ourselves and we are to give out as many compliments today as we possibly can.
Want to take the challenge? When was the last time you complimented someone? How many people will you compliment today?
BTW, Thank you for reading my blog. :)
It was not so long ago that a small ball of sunshine had a frown upon his face. He came home from his preschool class and announced that he could not draw things. Now as an artist, this is absolutely heartbreaking. How could my son not know how to draw things???
Well, until this very day, he was not interested in art, drawing, coloring etc. I'm sure this had something to do with it.
No matter, his statement broke my heart. That day I sat with him and tried to teach how to draw whatever he wanted.
The next day, he didn't care again.
Fast forward.... 6 months.
He is now in kindergarten and I emptied out his take home folder the other day. And to my great surprise, I pulled out a beautifully drawn picture of a sailboat.
When I congratulated him on his wonderful drawing, that beam of light shone through again.
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I took my own advice the other night and just doodled. I was much to tired to be in my studio and felt like I needed to just be a blob in front of the tv. Yet, I felt like I needed to put a pen on the paper. So I did both! I took a very simple shape and filled it with bubbles of all sizes. It is a repetitive process that needs no thinking but yet satisfied my brain.
It is a fun shape that I will probably cut out and use in an art piece down the road. But for now it will sit in my small collection of images just waiting to be used.
We recently went on a multi-family camping trip. The most wonderful thing happened...all the kids played wonderful together and I actually got 2 hours straight, uninterrupted art time! Absolutely amazing, really but let me tell you, I am signing up for this trip next year. FOR SURE!!
I would love to say that this piece developed from all the birds fluttering about but unfortunately, no birds. I just happened to have this little guy precut in my art bag and stuck it right in there. The baby one the trip named it "The Surfing Bird". Good enough for me.
I have been anxiously waiting to start this piece. A few months ago I visited a friend and she made me a homemade, cafe-tasting latte. Complete with a heart froth on top. I was very impressed!! I just had to take a picture and here it finally is, recreated in mixed media.
This one is nothing more than free play with moulding paste, pan pastels, and layering. It was a great lesson how all three can work together, or not.
