Costumes

Thursday, 18 June, 2009

This is one happy boy: in a restaurant, in his Boba Fett (Star Wars) costume, with his "guys."

Raschka Art

Monday, 15 June, 2009

I love Chris Rashka's art, his wild, genius mind, and his cool, calm, gentle nature. I love how he captures mood and tone with a few brushstrokes and how he experiments endlessly with color and shapes. When he did the illustrations for Fishing in the Air, I was blown away that he had been able to render visually the very abstract process of how we imagine. His cover for Granny Torrelli Makes Soup captures the swirly relationships in that book. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, go. I think he will fascinate you.

The Blue Kayak

Thursday, 11 June, 2009

Twenty years ago, my husband gave me this blue sit-on-top kayak for a birthday present.  The kayak has been well-loved and well-used.  Normally it is tied up at the dock, not sitting on dry land like this. My husband has a matching white one. We are not white-water kayakers, nor twenty-mile-a-day kayakers.  About an hour's paddling in fairly calm water is just right for us. You can get up close to shore and see the ducks' hideouts, the catfish spawning, the long, narrow Muskies gliding through the weeds.

Kids in a Box

Monday, 8 June 2009

My niece and grandchildren had more fun in this storage box (first photo): hiding in it and surprising aunts, uncles and cousins as they passed by. We laughed so hard because they were laughing so hard.  The cardboard box (second photo) was one of those appliance boxes large enough to make a fort out of, providing days of play.

My own children loved boxes, too, and sheets draped over tables or behind sofas.  I don't remember making indoor forts when I was young, but my siblings and neighbors and I made various rickety outdoor ones with old lumber, branches and leaves.

Brutus

Saturday, 6 June, 2009

This is Brutus, my daughter's and son-in-law's and grandchildren's dog.  He is about the sweetest dog on this earth.  I love his expression here: one of quiet resignation.  It was the middle of a family gathering, with thirty-some people milling about, and fifteen of those were children jumping and leaping and squealing.  Ah, Brutus.  Patient Brutus.

More Diaz Art

Wednesday, June 3

Above are three of David Diaz's illustrations for Who's That Baby?  I'm not sure if it will be clear in the photos, but each has inspired the painted walls in one part of the house.  The Grandpa illustration hangs in the 'best' guest bedroom, where the walls are pearly blue-gray. The "Baby in a Basket" illlustration hangs in a golden hallway, adjacent to a wine red wall (not seen in photo).  The "Hold a Baby" illustration (also known in our house as 'Flying Lady') decorates a pale yellow wall adjacent to a coral one.

Here is the text for the poem that accompanies the 'Flying Lady' illustration:

"Hold a Baby"

Hold a baby 

every day:

dip and swing

and swoop and sway.

Hold a baby

every day:

that will sweep

your woes away!

Diaz Art

Tuesday, 2 June, 2009

Sorting through photo images today, I came across a file of David Diaz's artwork for The Castle Corona.  How I love these images.  There are about a dozen paintings repeated throughout the book: at the beginning of each major section, and at the beginning of each of the fifty-six chapters.  Some are full page and some are half-page.  Beautiful, bold colors.  I'm going to frame several of these.  

We framed six of his illustrations from Who's That Baby? when we renovated our house, and we based the house's entire color scheme on his artwork.  I'll gather a few photos of those for tomorrow's blog.

Stunning, stunning art!