WAR HORSES, etc! 
April 11, 2012 

Fall's my favorite...colors are spectacular! 

Inspired by INSPIRATION AVENUE challenge blog's call for art about FOLIAGE, my thoughts turned to Fall, my favorite time of year. It's lovely to travel by train the see all the gorgeous fall foliage...heaven sent artists paint our part of the world with a multi-colored palette!!
TAKE A WORD, another challenge blog, asked that participating artists do something SKINNY in a little 3X5 skinny format. My interpretation flashed to a vintage cabinet card I had from the early 1900's...a photo of a very skinny lady... She's  MY "skinny!" 

Darcy's ART and SOLE POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012  had participants journeying to ICELAND this week...and what an interesting place it is! It's so much fun traveling to all these different countries via the internet... research uncovers so many little known  facts, customs and traditions. For example:

1- Many Icelanders believe in elves. In fact, certain roads have been re-routed to avoid disturbing areas where elves are thought to live. 

2- An international study done in 2006 ranked Iceland as the 4th happiest nation in the world.  

3- Iceland's main industry is fishing.

4- The Icelandic language has been unchanged for the past 1000 years. 

5- Iceland has twice as many sheep as people.

6- Icelanders consume more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation. 

7- Iceland was the first country to have a female president. 

Between September and mid-April, the Aurora Borealis is visible in Iceland...this is my book page! 

 

Finally, this past weekend, we were in Toronto visiting with our daughter and her family. We had our theater subscription tickets for WAR HORSE, a show that we were all looking forward to! It did not disappoint... the emotional impact was tremendous! I actually can't ever remember being so stricken in the theater...especially considering the fact that the main characters, the horses, were PUPPETS!! The play is based on a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo. He chose to tell his story through the horse's eyes to convey the universal suffering of that war in which ten million people died, and unknown millions of horses. It's the story of JOEY, the horse. Joey is living a happy life in Devon, England with his young master, Albert, when World War I begins. Joey is sold to the cavalry, takes part in horrific fighting and is captured by the Germans. Albert, still too young to fight, lies about his age, signs up anyway and heads to Europe to rescue his Joey! 

Joey and the other horses (a total of 9) in the show are each  operated by three actors/puppeteers and it's done so seamlessly that you quickly forget that they're not real. Their sounds (made by the actors) and the movements of their bodies are real, authentic and certainly believable!! Even their ears move as they hear sounds from a variety of directions.  Here are some pictures I played with to honor and express my feelings about these brave, loyal and beautiful animals...

 

Wishing you a safe, gentle but fun week... I hope you'll join me again next week. Thanks for stopping by...

Hugs,

abbyj

BUSY WEEK...off to SINGAPORE  
April 5, 2012 

 "Umbrella's up...but not for rain!" 

THREE MUSES challenge blog asked artists to create a piece of art with an umbrella. I like my little BLOSSOM...do you? 
Hope you're doing well this week and that the warmth and sunshine of spring has kept you in good spirits. It's been a busy week for me, but I did get to "travel" to Singapore for ART and SOLE POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012. I'd like to share the continuing correspondence between Bahati and Jarrod...

SINGAPORE seems like an interesting place... with too many strange rules. I'm not sure I'd like to spend a great deal of time there, but there are some wonderful sights to see!!

Until our next meeting (or journey...)

xox,

abbyj 

 

New Quickie Challenges 
April 1, 2012 

From SUNDAY POSTCARD ART, a challenge to create a piece of art around a Venetian Mask theme...

TAKE A WORD had Easter in mind when they declared their theme to be EGGS... but, I was thinking PENGUINS that, unfortunately, have nothing to do with Easter...

Finally, 4X4 FRIDAY didn't care what we created as long as it was FRAMED!!

Thanks for checking out my weekend play...

Hugs 'til my next,

abbyj

HELLO SPRING and 

A TURKISH JOURNEY

March 30, 2012 

 "Gentle April showers nourish and refresh"

Hello family and friends. I hope you've had a joyful and productive week!  Still coping with the loss of my dear friend...it will be a long process for a forever loss. Audrey's loss was balanced by the birth of her new great great grandchild, born on the day of her passing...a reminder that life goes on and hope is eternal!!  April showers and the beginning of Spring always seem to suggest promise... William Shakespeare said  "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything!"  Indeed, it does!
Challenge blog, INSPIRATION AVENUE, has inspired this week's 6-work memoir above with its Stormy Weather theme... here's another Stormy Weather piece...

PAPER TRADERS ART and THREE MUSES, two more challenge blogs, are also in the swing of Spring with their Hello Spring theme... 

"Vibrant and fresh...Spring and Youth" 

TAKE A WORD challenge blog,  in the spirit of Spring as well,  asked us to design a hat...I did one for Easter for our friend, Mona... 

 

This weeks travel with Art and Sole's POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012 took participants to Turkey...home of the very first Santa Claus...St. Nikolaos of Myra... born in what was then Asia Minor, in the early 4th century...AND home to the very first human settlement/community in the world. Here are my correspondence cards-  between my two friends, Bahati and Jarrod (now found after Bahati's friend-finding-mission to Paris and some intelligent investigative work!) Jarrod's   in good health and doing fine. He was sequestered for a few weeks of intensive training in the field of agricultural terrorism. This isn't common knowledge by any means, so please keep this privileged information to yourself...! 

This is the book page that holds my postcard from Turkey... 

I wish you a gentle week with many happy moments and optimistic,  forward-looking days. I hope you'll return next week for another visit...

Hugs,
abbyj

 

 

Springtime in Syracuse/Anytime in Israel 
March 23, 2012

"Spring's fresh gifts breathe new life"

*original photo by Michael Lazar  

The photo for the 6-word memoir above was inspired by the CREAVIL CHALLENGE BLOG whose emphasis this week was on pastel colors...lovely, soft, springlike! Thanks, Creavil!!

COLLAGE OBSESSION challenged participating artists to make posters...I couldn't stop!! 

Finally, this week ART and SOLE: POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012 traveled to ISRAEL...

This is a quickie entry...not much to tell you. Hope you've had a good week...wishing you a happy, productive (or not...as you wish) weekend!

xox,
abbyj 

It's Friday...This Must Be Holland  

March 16, 2012 

  
 "old life gone...

awaiting spring renewal"  

I spotted this sweet young deer outside our bedroom window this morning. He or she seemed to be waiting for spring...or perhaps, a friend with whom to share some R&R :)  I did catch him/her nibbling at the sparse grass that blankets our lawn these days. With the fresh loss of my dear friend, seeing this young life renews MY hope and makes me smile. 

Today is the day for participating artists in the cyber blog, POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012, to post their weekly postcards. This week, we journeyed to the land of windmills ... Holland/Netherlands. Here are my cards...

The journey continues for both our correspondents in the Postcard Challenge and for me as I struggle to cope with my loss. We'll see where next week finds us...

Thanks for stopping by and checking in!
xox,
abbyj

Rest in Peace, dear Audrey... 
March 15, 2012 

After three months of fighting, Audrey has lost her battle with cancer. A brave, strong and vital woman, a pillar in her community and a personal role model for me, I can't imagine my life without her. My heart goes out to her family with whom I seem to have grown up...my friendship with them continues and my memories of many, many years of happy times with Audrey will be forever in my heart.   

Rest in peace, dear Audrey. I wish you a safe journey and a wonderful reunion. You will be remembered always...with love and respect.

xox,

abby (guy ya da ha)

A Personal VINTAGE commentary... 
March 14, 2012 

  "YAHOO groups

Cyber friends...

life's joy!" 

This week, two of my Yahoo art groups have inspired me to embark on a quick retrospective of my early childhood... VINTAGE looks with personal VINTAGE photos: 4X4 FRIDAY and INSPIRATION AVENUE! I thank them both for the inspiration to take a quick walk down memory lane. This is for them, for me...and for anyone else who would like a glimpse...   

This is me at the age of 6...

 and here I am with my Mom and Dad. I was an only child... 

The heart of my life was my Nana...my maternal grandmother with whom I shared a room for as long as I lived at home...actually, until I married and moved out to make a home for an US rather than a ME. Nana taught me how to love...she was my confidant, my protector and my best friend. She planted seeds of goodness, encouragement and confidence in my heart and soul...as well as a strong faith in our Creator. She taught me to value truth and family... 

Every Sunday, Nana and I, dressed in our Sunday best, would walk many long city blocks to get to her mother's... my great grandmother's... home. We crossed lots of very noisy, busy streets with cars, taxis and buses whizzing by... many needlessly honking their horns! But Nana always had a tight hold on my hand so I was safe.  On the way, we passed some of my favorite places...the store where I got my bubble gum and chocolate soda, St. Margaret Mary's church that was cool, dark and peaceful inside and the church playground across the street from our apartment building. That's where the big boys played basketball and Nana took me to ride my tricycle. It always seemed like FOREVER 'til we got to Grandma Klewan's building. As soon as we entered the lobby, we could hear the laughter, the singing and the piano playing...and we could smell all the good things  cooking. Grandma Klewan's apartment was right off the lobby. The door was always open because there was  a big crowd there on Sundays... aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends...

Grandma Klewan was very old, but her wrinkled face boasted very bright, blue eyes. She always took my face in her hands and kissed me and talked to me...but I could only understand her smile and her kiss- she didn't speak English. I was her first great grandchild.

Then, there was Uncle Al, Nana's brother. He always saved his cigar rings for me...I loved the smell of his cigars and was proud to wear the cigar rings on my finger...he made me feel special!

I was the only child at Grandma Klewan's Sunday get-togethers for a long time but I loved being there... the singing, dancing, great food and all the love that this family shared with one another... they were good years and made for stellar memories!!   

Thanks for stopping by once again and sharing some of my happy childhood days...VINTAGE, for sure!!

Until the next,

xox,

abbyj 

 

 

VINTAGE, STEAMPUNK and BIRD
March 13, 2012  

 HOLY STEAMPUNK...a veritable visual feast!

I must start this post with a rave review of the Award-Winning movie, HUGO! Although it's billed as a family film, it's ideal for audiences from 12 to 100+...and although it has a young protagonist in Hugo Cabret, it's a story that touches on very ancient and eternal mysteries. Imagination is the currency of our dreams; literature and film are keys to the kingdom of our hearts. The brilliant Martin Scorsese understands this... I think that in HUGO, he shows us the importance of preserving that which makes us truly human... our imagination!! Visually, the film is extraordinary... especially if you're a lover of the STEAMPUNK genre of art. The sets are detailed, dazzling and very clever...a real reflection of its time.

The acting was equally marvelous... can you tell how much I enjoyed this movie??? It inspired me to do a little steampunk art of my own...

On to some art challenges... vintage seemed to be a popular subject this week... for both 4X4 FRIDAY and INSPIRATION AVENUE... here's one for two!

Carrying on the pen thought, here's one for THINK MONDAY- THINK ATC...

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART may have been thinking about SPRING when they declared their theme to be "our feathered friends..." and since I was in an ASIAN mood, it was reflected in my art!

Finally, this week's country for my POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012 is the Netherlands/Holland. Did you know that its capital city, Amsterdam, is know as "Venice of the North?"  I'm working on my postcard and will post it this weekend. As the story continues between our two friends who are corresponding, one seems to be in some sort of trouble... more later!!

All for now. Glad you stopped by...Happy to "see" you!!

Hugs,

abbyj