Art Submission to Heirlooms for Hospice

Taking color highlighting to heart, and working more on the Red Claret Day Lily painting taken from this snapshot I took a year ago at an Aukland, New Zealand arboretum... the artwork continues.

This is the piece (after highlighting and a few more brush strokes) I will be submitting to Hospice next week:

Next month, in conjunction with the Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau "Arts, Hearts & Tarts" program, Heirlooms for Hospice will be hosting an art sale to benefit Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado.  Anyone who donates art to Hospice will become a member of the Hospice Art Guild.

Again, art submissions will be released for future use in the creation of cards or other applications, always providing credit to the artist.  Artists have until January 29, 2010 to submit their art donations to Heirlooms for Hospice to be included in this year's February Arts, Hearts & Tarts program. (All art sales benefit our local Hospice.)  The Arts, Hearts & Tarts program will occur in February, 2010 in Grand Junction, CO.

Arts, Hearts & Tarts in Grand Junction

Instead of starting a new painting project at the beginning of the year, I decided to dust off some previous oil paintings and make improvements to them.

For instance, here is The Poinsettia (an original 16" x 20"oil which I supposedly finished in 2006) that hung over our fireplace last month during the Christmas holiday season:

 (before tweaking)

After spending most of the morning and all the afternoon painting with friend Shirley last week, and with her helpful critique, more highlighting in yellows and oranges was added to the leaves. The center stamen was also expanded.  IMHO, this tweaked painting has more life to it:

(after tweaking)

This honing, sharpening and refining of the painting process  has led me to believe that there are a few more oils finished in my oeuvre that I'll need to review for additional brush and color work.

Next month, in conjunction with the Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau "Arts, Hearts & Tarts" program, Heirlooms for Hospice will be hosting an art sale to benefit Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado.  Anyone who donates art to Hospice will become a member of the Hospice Art Guild.  Art submissions will be released for future use in the creation of cards or other applications, always providing credit to the artist.

Hmm...which piece should I choose, perhaps tweak, and then donate for the art sale?  Artists have until January 29, 2010 to submit their art donations to Heirlooms for Hospice to be included in this year's February  Arts, Hearts & Tarts program.  (All art sales benefit our local Hospice.)

Again, it is for a good cause, and it should be fun!  (I'll start this week on polishing up another oil work for Arts, Hearts & Tarts.)

The Mother Bear Project for Children who are Victims of HIV/AIDS

Several years ago, Betty Christianson, author of Knitting for Peace: Making the World Better One Stitch at a Time (2006) introduced the Mother Bear Project.  The project has thus far gathered over 47,700 hand made bears for African children who are the victims of HIV/AIDS.

Why send bears to children in Africa when we could perform a similar act of charity here at home?  One of the major reasons is the high prevalency of HIV/AIDS in Africa which devastates many thousands of babies and children there.

Not only have children lost their parents to the disease, but they are sometimes victims of rape by an HIV infected adult.  Some say this horrendous act of rape on girls is a myth; nonetheless, according to this site sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

"A lot of it has to do with the myth that a man will be cured of AIDS by having sex with a virgin, and how much more virginal can you get than a baby?" Hatfield asked. Rather than decreasing with AIDS education, the myth has taken hold in South Africa, which already has the world's highest incidence of rape. Police statistics reveal that 21,000 cases of child rape or assault were reported last year. Most of the crimes were committed by male relatives of the victims.
Three days before the 9-month-old was attacked last week, a 3-year-old was raped, allegedly by her grandfather. In the same week, a 14-month-old was assaulted by two uncles. With one South African in nine living with HIV/AIDS, such attacks are often a death sentence for the victims, said Glenys van Halter of South Africa Stop Child Abuse. She said that while the AIDS myth is driving the rapes, unemployment, poverty and alcoholism are also factors.

Hatfield said that in South Africa, whose constitution is billed as one of the world's most liberal, progressive laws are often at odds with reality. "South Africa has a history of violence, we communicate through violence, and it will be a long time before we move away from that," she said.

Here is where the Mother Bear Project comes in.  Children in Africa who have been orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic or who are ill with the disease often have nothing of their own.  A hand made crocheted or knitted bear, including a red heart sewn to its chest, is a small thing that each of us can make and give to one of these ill and/or orphaned children.

The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear.  The simple gift of a hand-knit bear with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children with the message that they are unconditionally loved. (from Mother Bear)

Directions for making a.Mother Bear can be accessed here free of charge. Use up leftover yarns and contribute a bear!

From Ravelry, Dr. Gemma of CogKNITive, one of my favorite podcasters who combines knitting with psychology, says:

:**Send completed bears with $3.00** to cover cost of postage for shipping to Africa to:
Mother Bear Project
P.O. Box 62188
Minneapolis, MN 55426

Volunteers will sew a red felt heart onto your bear's chest. If you did not buy a tag from them, volunteers will also fill out one for you, with your name or anyone's name you suggest on it, to be attached to your bear.

**These bears are meant to be personal, so each child will know the name of a person who loves them and is thinking of them!**

The above is the front page of the December, 2009 issue of Mother Bear.  Note that volunteer Diana Psota (CA) was intereviewed last month.  She has knitted over 100 bears since 2005 and donated them to the Mother Bear project.

Think about making one and sending it. For about the price of a cup of take-out gourmet coffee, and a bit of your time, it is a personally satisfying uplift sans caffeine.

We Made it 20 Years!

Epiphany, January 6, the 12th Day of Christmas, is Gene's and my wedding anniversary. This year, 2010, makes it 20 years that we have been married.

Gene put together this video with pictures from good times over our two decades together.  It is sentimental, showing snapshots of our life when we were (mostly) smiling. If you have four minutes and care to look at it, click on the arrow.

(My favorite photos are ones of us at Dr. Sides' (my late mentor) Christmas parties in Denver and the one showing us dipping our feet into the River Jordan while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.)

Happy Anniversary, Gene.  Thank you for the past 20 years together, through both the challenging and the better times.  A toast to you for putting up with me!

Free Images!

Let me share a cool website found here that allows you to create a free account where you can download pictures from the internet.  Some are free, and some you can purchase for a small fee.

Here is a picture of snow covered cotoneaster (a prickly plant in our front yard) that came from The Dreamstime Site.

Nice, eh?  And it is a better quality picture than I could take and publish, plus the added feature that I did not have to get out my snow boots and heavy jacket to go out and take that picture myself in our frigid Colorado weather (it is currently 7 degrees!). More snow is expected today.

Just spreading the word of how to access images at no cost without copyright infringement!

Happy New Year!

SIL Jack sent this cool website.  Click and drag on the background at this link to start your 2010 with flowers.

Hope your first day of 2010 is a good one.

New Year's Eve, 2009: Dropping the Ball in Times Square

Have you wondered if the crystal ball traditionally dropped on New Year's Eve in New York City actually shatters when dropped? Here is the answer: no!



According to The Huffington Post:

Organizers of the celebration unveiled a new design Sunday for nearly 300 Waterford crystal triangles to be installed on the giant ball. The crystals feature an interlocking ribbon pattern, woven into a Celtic knot, to illustrate the theme for 2010, "Let There Be Courage."

Some 288 of the ball's 2,668 Waterford crystal triangles will be replaced this year with new ones featuring the Celtic knot design. Straus said it evokes the yellow ribbons that welcome home soldiers or red ribbons for AIDS awareness.

The triangles are custom-built to withstand high winds, snow, rain and temperature fluctuations in their spot 400 feet above Times Square.

More about the dropping of the ball from this site says:

2009 – The 2008 design is maintained, but is doubled in size and is 20% more energy efficient than the previous one. The new ball, a 3-frequency icosahedral geodesic sphere, incorporates 3500 lighting cues designed by Focus Lighting, Inc.[3] The new ball weighs 11,875 pounds (5,386 kg) and is now 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter. The flag pole on the top of One Times Square that the ball is hoisted atop was rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate the ball. When raised it is now placed 475 feet (145 m) above Times Square. As of January 6, 2009, the ball also now remains mid-way atop the pole in Times Square as a permanent fixture.

Very few times I have actually been awake at midnight on any New Year's Eve, but for those of you who celebrate, do it with gusto, but safely. I'd like you to be here for 2010, continuing to read these diatribes.

Photo courtesy of America.gov

Happy 2010 to all!

New Lamps from Old

Retrofitting tired lamps into a newer look is included in the comprehensive craft blog, All Free Crafts.

From the All Free Crafts Blog:

...don’t relegate that old, boring lamp to the trash heap just yet. Take another look at it, and think what a coat of paint, a fancy button and some new feet could do.

picture copyright by Susan Spatone

Spatore gives a tutorial here about how she rewired and created a new look for an old lamp.  These are the supplies needed:

Wood Lamp base of choice

White Paint
Decorative Button
Super Glue or Household Goop
Fine Sandpaper
Brass Corner Feet (optional)
Lamp Shade
Decorative Beaded Trim
Hot Glue Gun and Glue or Fabric Glue

Bookcliff Gardens Provides Poinsettias to Nursing Facilities

Marilyn B.and Nancy V. at Hospice & Palliative Care holding a Christmas wreathShown are Diana and Cindy at Mesa Manor

Patient (blurred for confidentiality) and staff at The Fountains

Many thanks to Bookcliff Gardens for their donation of beautiful poinsettias donated to local nursing homes. Although it was too cold to take Libby Sweetpea, our Therapy Dog International pup, on her regular rounds this week, the flowers and visits were still welcomed.  (Next week, Libby, it will be warmer and you can visit, too.)

Friend Starr provided the impetus for getting these cheery plants to The Fountains, Mantey Heights Nursing Home, Mesa Manor and The Hospice Care Center of Western Colorado.  She plans to deliver more flowers later today, along with her mother and teenage daughter, to Family Health West in Fruita, CO.

Fabriano: Adoration of the Magi

Another cropping of an iconic picture by Gentile de Fabriano (1385-1427) entitled Adoration of the Magi seems appropriate to display on Christmas Eve.  The entire panel is 300 x 282 cm and is housed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Double click on the picture to see the remarkable detail of emotion portrayed on the faces of the adorers.

Potica: Famous Christmas Bread from Russia

Our neighbor Mary, shown below with the pups, gave us her delicious home made potica bread.  I am eating it now (warmed) with coffee.  It is delicious!

This is a picture of the dessert bread:

This site gives the time and labor intensive recipe for potica. 

Mary was born in Denver, although her parents came from Russia.  Mary said her mother made this bread for Christmas both in the "Old" country and after they immigrated to the USA.  Mary and her siblings were reared in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Merry Christmas!