Mt. Rainier

I painted these last week for my mother-in-law's birthday.  On a clear day, they can see Mt. Rainier from their house and have often enjoyed family outings at Mt. Rainier National Park.

Finished shoes.

still in the process....

(Above is the entrance gate to the park).

Today's Special: homemade Christmas decorations

Every year when I lived at home with my parents, I loved putting up Christmas decorations with my mom.  There were two things in particular that I loved putting up, the mistletoe and all of her nativity sets.  I love the tree and the other things like wreathes and garlands, but for some reason those two were my favorite.  I guess it is no surprise to me that for some of our decorations, this is what I found myself making this year:    

Anyone on a tight budget for the holidays could have fun making decorations like this for their house/apartment.  As you can see below, all of the supplies are things that you could almost just find around your house, or pick up for just cents... :)

Supplies needed:

Nativity: (I made this my freshman year at BYU...and I still have it)

marshmallows

pipe-cleaners

Holly berries/Mistletoe :

green and red construction paper

green paint

scissors

hershy's kiss rappers (provided with love by our neighbors' Christmas present)

ribbon (also from the present)

Star:

yellow construction paper

Anyway, the point of all of this for me wasn't really to give a tutorial, I just wanted to share a little of what I have been up to lately.  I am so happy with the way the mistletoe turned out especially, it reminds me a little of one of my favorite children's book illustrators, Eric Carle.  He uses the same technique of painting paper different colors and then cuts it up to make images.  

The History of Creativity

Many of you may be familiar with the class "History of Creativity" at BYU, and may know that at the end of the semester, each student is required to complete a project that demonstrates creativity.  I am not exact on all of the details, but this is what Dane came up with for his project:  (His class was studying the history of time through 1500 A.D....which includes the Greeks.)

I helped him mix the colors and a little with the sketching, but he did most of the painting himself, and it was all his idea.  I am so proud of my little painter, husband!

Springville Museum of Art: Educators of Utah Show

Hey, just wanted to let you know about some of my work that is up in a show right now at the Springville Museum of Art.  The show is a juried collection of works done by Utah educators.  This is what I have in:

   

I have had a thing for pandas lately...

Featuring Some of My MOST Favorite Artists:

For those of you wondering how student teaching is going, I thought i would give you a little fill-in.  I am having a great time, and have just started working at my second school this week - and it's JR HIGH...!  I will miss the elementary students, but I think that jr. high is going to be a lot of fun.  Here are some of the masterpieces that my first graders created:  self-portraits :)

Afternoon Activity

Some of you may have seen the shoes I painted a few weeks ago for Dane.  I have been trying to figure out a design for me.  This idea was inspired by Joanne and her boys.  (Although she doesn't know that.)  I am just going to try and build up a portfolio for now and think I will paint myself another, less batman-y pair.  Oh yeah, and I am no where near charging the price Dane listed before.  Anyway, these were kinda fun.  

p.s. these shoes were a much cheaper alternative to Vans:  $5.99 at Rite-Aid.