CartaBella

l'Artista Blog

June 26, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Friends. I DO have a treasure chest full of “silver and gold”! Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver the other is gold.

Summertime is when I get to spend chunks of time with friends. More time to linger since I’m not dashing around with “appointments” and classes like I do during the school-in-session months. Today was one of those delightful days. Watching D. demonstrate her creative talents while handcrafting an elaborate card for me. And visiting with E. as we gleaned inspiration from D’s techniques.

And now I see that another new friend, the little redhead, has a birthday today. Her blog entry made me wonder where MY baby book is now. Where have I stashed it? When I figure out how to add photos to my blog, that’s one photo shoot I’ll be motivated to pull off!

Now let me go see if I can find it….. And see if any of my “senior” friends can find theirs. We can have a Circle Time on our blogs (ladies, that means you have to have a blog!) and share our baby books. Not only with each other, but with some younger moms, too. A baby book exchange Tea Party? why not?!

June 24, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Little Redhead tagged me

Tagged! And now I’m “it”! Am I up for the challenge? You bet. My blogger learning curve needs to be stretched. Here goes.
1. WHAT DID YOU DO 10 YEARS AGO?
That was the year Dan and I were “in transition” from our life in Bell’ Italia to our life in the suburbs of Atlanta. Sure, we had been living in the suburbs of Milano, but still it was a Big Lifestyle Change for both of us. I lapsed into a bout of depression and was unable to paint, even tho’ everyone told me it would be “good therapy”. Watercolor painting requires speed and clear thinking, qualities which had temporarily diminished in my life. A sure sign that I had rebounded and recovered occurred the day I was able to open up my Winsor-Newton travel palette and begin a fresh start. . . .
2. FIVE ITEMS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST TODAY:
1. compose and mail out ministry letters
2. tell Lauren about the red-tag sale at Target for the “monkey” theme she adores
3. meet Patty at Einstein Bagels for our R&R celebration
4. simmer pinto beans all day to make a batch of refried beans for bean burritos
5. call Linda (my sister) to wish her Bon Voyage for their sailing lessons in the Virgin Islands
3. SNACKS I ENJOY:
an apple a day (confession: I’m a “granola”, attended college in CA in the 60’s!)
Trader Joe’s cereal fig bars
sourdough pretzels
new treat—my German grandson introduced me to yummy yogurt covered dried cherries
4. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE?
I wd. set up a Reformation study center, combined with cultural art events and studies, in a Tuscan farmhouse with a winery. Kinda like Agritourism, A Semester Abroad and Early Retirees meet Francis Schaeffer, Gene Veith and John Frame and interact with contemporary artists, musicians and craftsmen.

The following bloggers I pass this challenge onto are:

If you have been tagged recently and you don’t wish to join in on the fun, please don’t feel obligated!

parisbreakfasts

susankennedy
yumiyumiart
friestyle
happyhelms
Here Are the Rules: Answer the following questions about yourself. At the end of the post you pass on the questions to 6 other bloggers and list their names. Then write them a comment telling them that they’ve been tagged and ask them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know that you’ve accepted the challenge and refer to your post.

June 24, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Cartabella Art Camp1 was a rich learning experience. I could not have asked for a sweeter group of children for my first art camp. I loved the happy mix of quiet concentration and smiling faces as the children worked on their paintings and collages. Our end-of-the-class Drawing Games seemed to draw out their creativity even more . . . which always put a smile on my face!

But what a relief that it’s over! Now I can relax and review the Happenings. I want to be better prepared for the one in July. Procedure changes to make and lesson plans to modify.

Encouraging to get this kind of immediate feedback from one parent: “The camp was an 11…on a scale of 1-10 (smile)!” But I need to solicit more suggestions for improving it.

Lauren, my oldest granddaughter, was a big help with behind-the-scenes details. And Andrew M. lent a helping hand a few days, too.

Stacey, my daughter-in-law who is a preschool teacher, was “on site” several mornings. We have her to thank for the radiant “portrait” photos of each child.

Some of my goals for the children were met:
*Working together “in community”– building friendships and serving others
*Introduction to one European country/artist each day
*A mix of daily take-home projects and portfolio projects
*Instruction based projects interspersed with unstructured, creative activities

What will I do differently the next time?
*Separate boys/girls classes with a closer age span (ie., girls who have completed grades 1-3, etc.)
*Fewer projects with more instruction and more one-on-one guidance
*Specific procedures for meet and greet, arrival and departure, circle time, etc.

I’m asking God to help me create an environment that will nurture their creative expression while they learn concepts and skills.

June 13, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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A whirlwind week!

A whirlwind week! Wonderful, wonderful learning experience at an inner city church where I held an art class for middle school teens. Of course I was there to “teach”! But par for the course, the teacher was the one who had more to learn than her students did. Their good attitude and good behavior was a reflection of the expectations of the program’s leadership members. I’m so curious and eager to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes and who gets to attend, and what these young teens do the other days of the summer.

Intertwined with the art classes this week was a stopover visit with our Florida nieces and their daddy. Nora and Alysa’s creative energy gave me the spark I needed to pull off the last art class downtown and to give me inspiration for an art lesson plan for next week. Nora got revved up by thumbing through one of my art studio books, COLLAGE UNLEASHED, by Traci Bautista. And Alysa created an adorable cardboard doll with a “pocket skirt” for tucking in the mini-Bible story book she made, too.

My neighbor Carol popped over this morning when she saw me painting . . . . The neighbors are probably worried that this zany artist will end up painting a mural on the outside like she did on the inside. Not to worry! We’re just painting the exterior of our little cottage house. A conservative color with a restful name, Pacific Pines. [wouldn’t it be fun to have that job—naming all of the paint chips I linger over at Home Depot?!]

Now I get to paint some sample projects for Cartabella Art Camp. Let the fun begin!

June 10, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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First Time experiences are always a challenge

First Time experiences are always a challenge. I had a wonderful first-time experience teaching an art class in Miss Justina’s art camp—downtown Atlanta by Grant Park. Middle School age kids who were exceptionally well-behaved, good workers and bubbly personalities. They were delightful!

They were also good sports about what cd. have been a boring art project. Some of them had more fun trying to guess which of the fruit I had placed on their table was “real” and which pieces were “fake”! But most of them eventually got their creative juices flowing as I encouraged them to use the chalk pastels to create large Drama Fruit drawings. IE., fruit with layers of color that zing!

Nan went with me. Cheerleader and traffic navigator and helping hand. A heart full of humility. Frequent prayers her way of life. Such a good friend and co-laborer.

I’m grateful Molly nudged me through this door of opportunity. It finally happened!

June 7, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Fruits . . . like having their portrait painted

“Fruits . . . like having their portrait painted. They seem to sit there and ask your forgiveness for fading. Their thought is given off with their perfumes. They come with all their scents. They speak of the fields they have left. The rain which has nourished them. The daybreaks they have seen.” —Paul Cezanne

I’m back to painting fruit. Warm-up exercises for the waiting-to-be-painted pages in my new Kilimanjaro Bright White wc paper block. A calming break from my tedious lesson plan sessions.