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#1: As promised, the forgotten "What I learned Wednesday" photo

"Paper bags" - pastel charcoal and willow charcoal

It isn't really done; there are a few things that I need to touch up and erase, but I ran out of time in class. I was so shocked at how the erasing of certain areas really makes it pop out!

#2: The Dollhouse

So I'm making a dollhouse for my best friend for Christmas. The story is that when she was little (long before we ever met), her grandmother had this beautiful, huge, old dollhouse that my friend spent hours lovingly playing with every time she visited. She was absolutely in love with this dollhouse.

Secretly she thought of it as hers and knew in her heart that her grandmother, seeing how much she loved this dollhouse, cared for it and played ever so gently with it, would one day give it to her.

During one visit, while she was playing with this dollhouse, my friend let slip how one day she would love to have this dollhouse as her very own, but her grandmother exclaimed, "Oh no, this dollhouse isn't intended for you - I plan to give this to your cousin!" This cousin was mildly mentally challenged and always threw pieces around, trying to break things. My friend's little heart was broken, her spirit crushed and the next time she visited her grandparents, the dollhouse was gone, never to be played with by her again.

Upon hearing this story, my heart broke. After all these years, she still lamented the loss of that dollhouse (she's thirty now). I decided a few months back that I would find a dollhouse kit and make my friend her very own dollhouse. I found a kit for a Lafayette house on Ebay in September and little by little, as I can find what I wanted, I've been buying furniture.

I sat down last night and started to read the directions and familiarize myself with the pieces. As I looked at it I thought, "Well, maybe I'll just start the first couple of steps", then I did a couple more and a couple more until the first floor was almost finished! I'm so impressed with how easy it is! Take a look:

I just love the design! I'm thinking that I'll have to get another one and make it for myself! It's only 4 little rooms with a little spiral staircase and I'm in love with that little window seat (which will be the kitchen). Once I get the first floor partition in, I'll start to paint the downstairs. I'm thinking yellow for the kitchen (it'll go well with the green seat of the kitchen chairs) and the living room will be a victorian red. I haven't figured out the 2 upstairs rooms yet. Before I paint anything I really want to find out what colors she would like, but how do I do that without letting her know what I'm doing? I thought of posing the "What If" question of "What if you owned your own house, what colors would you use?" and follow up with "What would it look like? How would you paint the outside? How would you decorate?" etc. etc. but I couldn't just come out with that question. I need to be sneaky about it. I'll keep thinking on it and figure out how to get around to the House Color questions. I think I need to get her family involved!

Bummed

I had a great "What I learned Wednesday" planned for today, but I was running behind this morning and never took pictures of what I drew last night in class.

As you may recall, we were continuing with fully rendered value. We started with thumbnail sketches in the last class of paper bags and then moved to the big paper to sketch our favorite thumbnail. Last night's class, we were to move on to rending light and shadow.

I wasn't really grasping the concept...I thought I was. I thought I understood it, but I'll admit that I was wrong. I didn't know what the heck I was doing...until my teacher came to my rescue! She showed me how to properly add tone and how to take it away with my eraser. My paper bag didn't really look like much until she showed me how to make it pop. I was so excited that I was really grasping the concept (and she played much better music this week, thankfully!)

I'll take pictures of it tonight and show it off tomorrow!

What I Learned Wednesday

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show what I learned in class last night and that's only because you wouldn't really see much more than a bunch of lines and a bit of tone.

Last night, we were introduced to value rendering and drawing paper bags. I have to say, I really enjoyed it! I need to create a value scale though and really practice, but it was such a good class - even the Sunshine Sisters were in good moods last night! Until the radio came on and we were subjected to my teacher's choice of music.

Oh, Lord and Lady! It was some sort of Progressive Jazz Fusion with wailing saxaphones and blaring trumpets. It wasn't something I would have chosen...had she thrown in something along the lines of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn - some bluesy jazz - I would have loved it and it would have helped me with that creative groove...but it just didn't work for me. And I did give it a chance! There was a rendition of Take the "A" Train that I enjoyed but that was only one song. I know I know, to each their own - maybe it's my teacher's mood music, but I think I'll bring my mp3 player to the next class.

But the music aside, the class was great! We were missing about 7 people (though I think some dropped out), which gave many of us room to spread out and a chance to dialogue. I wish Adult Ed capped the class at 8 or 10 people to make it more intimate.

Gotta scoot! Got another meeting in Freeport - whoo hoo! Love being able to get out of the office to sit in on interesting meetings (Lands for Maine's Future this time) and still get paid for it!

What I Learned Wednesday

"still life - bottles on cloth" - india ink and china brushes

Yippee! It's back!

I missed two drawing classes in a row due to family gatherings on Halloween and then the David Bowie Disease, but I went last night. We started playing with India Ink and seeing how China brushes worked and the variations in the lines that it makes. I have to say that I didn't like the ink and brush at first. I felt that it wasn't a controllable medium and I was suddenly back to drawing like a little kid...but then, I let go. I stopped trying so hard make what I was drawing look so exact. I gave in to the flow of the brush and I really enjoyed the freedom of it, the shape of the lines and the texture.

My teacher then went on to discuss perspective (which we will be delving more into next week) and geometric shapes, letting us play with them by drawing stacked books. I wasn't exactly impressed by how my pictures turned out. I just wasn't getting the hang of it! I was having issues with the angles and trying to get them the way I was seeing them; they looked so skewed, but that was toward the end of class when I was feeling a bit dizzy. It was all that focusing, it made my head spin.

I really enjoy this class but...I'm a little disappinted. You see this was the first class of the second half of the course, so our numbers changed and a handful of the fun people from the first part of the course didn't come back. The change in numbers doesn't bother me, it's just...well, some of the people, 3 in particular, do. I like to call them the Sunshine Sisters ~ like rays of FREAKIN' sunshine, these women are. And if you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic!

To start with, they're all deaf, so you have to speak loudly and repeat yourself continously. And. They. Are. Sooooo. Negative! Everything they create is horrible and every other sentence out of their mouth starts with "I can't". I want to ask them, "Well if you can't, why the hell did you pay to take this course!?!", but I hold my tongue and try to ignore them. I'm in this class for me, to learn and hone a craft that I enjoy!

But last night was almost a "straw that broke the camel's back" moment. My teacher kept asking them to show her their work so she could make suggestions and help, to make them see what she wanted us to learn. They would hide their work and say they didn't need help, or complain that they just didn't understand what she wanted or just bitch saying, "Well I can't do that". We had the radio on just because it gets so quiet in the room and some christmas song started playing. It was random and kinda nice - a bit of a holiday jolt to get you in the mood for the coming season. These women were so vehement in their hatred of hearing Christmas music and kept repeating, "I just hate it - it's horrible. Nothing Christmas should be put out or played until a week before!" Being a lover of all things Christmas, it made me want to slap them! I am not a violent woman, I'm pretty easy going and laid back, but these women just get on my nerves!

I'm trying to see from their point of view that maybe something traumatic happened to make them hate the holiday season, or maybe they just don't like it on principle, but why spread your hate and discontent to others - does it make you feel better making others as miserable as you? And here I am blogging about it, spreading it even more by relating it to others around the world - okay, I'm stopping. They're hate and discontent is rolling off my back like water off a duck.

And on that note, I'd like to say...I love Christmas! I love the whole rosy feel of the season! And so long as I'm not battling traffic or shopping on a crazy busy day, I have a permanent smile on my face. I know better than to work in retail during the holiday season, or shop during peak hours during holiday. Some people thrive on that. I avoid it. I go out in the woods and collect pine & spruce boughs and twigs of red berries to decorate the outside of my house with. I cook, so the house smells delicious and christmasy. I watch old movies like Holiday Inn, the Bishop's Wife and White Christmas (they are my personal holiday mood booster movies).

So be prepared, I will be posting much about Christmas!

Have a wonderful day all! I have to go down the House of Reps and see if my friend's husband still has a job...oh the stress of working in an ever changing political environment!

What I Learned Wednesday, 100, 16 & 30

What have all of these to do with each other?

What I learned...

was that almost my whole class was off celebrating Halloween and that we would be having a catch up session next class, so off I went back home to the scents of chicken pot pie and magic bars, but my mother adjusted the recipe and instead of a graham cracker bottom, she crunched up pretzels! YUM!!!

My family stayed for a few hours and chatted while the dogs ran rampant through the living room, wearing little doggie witch costumes, stealing toys from each other. (Yeah, we're that sad family that dresses our dogs. Sadie has a santa hat and my friend, Juli, got Molly an elf costume - Christmas is going to be great).

100....this is post number 100!!Who knew that 100 posts ago, I'd still be blogging; I'd still have thoughts and ideas and pictures and recipes and craftiness to share; that I'd virtually meet so many interesting and like-minded individuals. I'm really happy to have found my way into this little Blogiverse!

16 & 30...in 16 days, I turn 30. The big 3-0! I haven't really stopped to think what turning 30 means. I still feel 25. Things haven't really changed...well, no that's not true. 5 years ago, I was going through a rough patch with the man I was going to marry (it ended with us splitting). I was working in a retail job that I hated, passionately (I'll give you a hint - it starts with old and rhymes with slavey). I was living with my parents. I had no social life (due to the job) and really wasn't the happiest, most fun person to be aroun. So yeah, things have changed quite a bit. But I don't feel *different*, I don't feel like I've hit a turning point or anything. It doesn't feel major yet.

But I am curious. What will the year of turning 30 bring?

Alas, it is time to pack up and head home for an evening of creating! I hope your Wednesday brings wonder and joy!