I've got my head in the clouds!

 I don't know when I've been more excited about what I saw on a blog post than by this one right here: http://manualescanigo.blogspot.com/2013/05/sol-y-lluvia.html.  I have so many ideas as a result of this blog post that my mind is whirring.  I've chosen not to copy Cristina's photos to this post as I would not do so without permission.  But there are clouds of white fluff hanging from the ceiling, with all sorts of raindrops - made from stuffed felt, bottlecaps, and more.  There's smaller clouds that look like perhaps painted sponges, with raindrops (foil?) hanging from them.  There's a large table area covered with a painted pond, with ceramic ducks swimming, lily pads with frogs, and again, more. 

One of my ideas is based on an image from the blog of little wire people with their heads surrounded by white cotton fluff.  It's got me thinking of all kinds of 'head in the clouds' artwork, both 2 and 3 dimensional.  I see so many possibilities!

I know many of you already are regular readers of Cristina's awesome blog, but if you aren't, you are missing out on a blog by an incredibly inspiring art teacher.  You will be amazed by the fabulous student artwork.   And by the way, for those of you, like me, who aren't good at foreign language, there is a translator button on the blog.  The translation isn't great, but it does help (though it doesn't address the process or materials at all; instead it is more philosophical in nature).

By the way, I don't like to write a post without photos, so I need to give photo credit/explanation.  The photos in this post are both by my son, shot during his stay at Stellenbosch University in South Africa (Stellenbosch is near Capetown) when he was there for a college internship 3 years ago.  The top photo is him, shot via self-timer. He always takes a photo of himself jumping on tops of mountains.  I wish he had tied his shoelaces better, but he made it home safely so I guess I shouldn't complain!

Pretty Pansies!

 

In my opinion, there is no better flower than the pansy.  The rich vibrant colors make me happy.  Each year, we plant pansies along a slate path from the back of our house to our driveway.  On Mother's Day, we go to a couple of garden stores, is search of the selection of colors I want (everything!).  It's interesting that what they offer changes from year to year.  Last year, I couldn't find much red; this year there was a lot of red, but no peach or black to be found.  Anyhow, here's a little selection from what we bought.