A creative endeavor

Yesterday, I decided to stencil my downstairs bathroom.  I have for some reason been feeling kind of glum.  My daughter keeps asking me "what's wrong?"  I don't know, except can you have the "summer blues" maybe?  I am so used to running to classes every day and preparing my own class, that I think it's hard for me to just sit.

I have been cleaning closets and cabinets, and that's kind of creative, but I guess I am missing the kind of creative that I am used to.  I had cut this stencil and had used on this room when we first moved into this house.  Years after, when we had it painted again, I had them paint over it and was always sorry that I did that.  So, instead of cutting another one, I used it again.

Got a little daring here and came down and around that picture.  It's a Tasha Tudor print that I know I will never take down...

and back up on the next wall...

and along the top again, over one of Laura's collages, "River's Edge", that I love..

My sheep are very happy to have all this excitement going on around them.  And I feel a little happier too...

Little books

This past Monday I went to Marge's "travel journal" workshop at The Center.

She had some pretty papers for the covers...

And the pages of the book are made with envelopes so beside writing or printing on the pages when you are traveling or whenever you want to use the little book, you can also put little papers or memorabilia inside the pockets.

Tuesday was a summer meeting of our poetry class at Lois' house.  We had a great time with an added treat - her cow, that she had painted for the "Cows on Parade" exhibit in Chicago has been brought back home.

"Planet Chicowgo"

Thunder Moon

July's full moon is the Thunder Moon.  True to its name, we did have a thunderstorm here last night when the moon was at its fullest.  It marks the middle of summer and thunderstorms are most frequent at this time.  It's also called the Full Buck Moon as this is the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. 

The easeful days,
the dreamless nights;
The homely round of plain delights;
The calm, unambitioned mind,
The simple stuff of summer time.
                                 Aster Austin Dobson

another Thursday

The weeks of summer are breezing by!  It was a hot day and the sun was waiting for us, as yesterday was summer art class and Leslie had invited us to her beautiful garden...

and it WAS beautiful!

Her colorful flowers were an eyeful in all their glory...

and all the niceties all around, making every little scene a painting.

I loved this scene with the artist sketching under the umbrella and the pretty little chair in front; a little remembrance of the day.

Tish and Peggy found their place under the umbrella tables...

 

Joan and Sandy found a lovely shady place to sit...

there was plenty of shade for us all.

Marge paints some lovely pots.

I decided to try some flowers too...

Soon it was time for our "pot luck" lunch and the critique...

Lois shows us Sandy's work...

...as we all ooo'd and ahhh'd.

Peggy sketched one of those lovely windows with the lush flowers hanging from it.

Marge's beautiful watercolor of the pots.

Another lovely window by Tish...

and a sweet rooster!



Here are Joan's wonderful garden watercolors.

Leslie has been doing some beautiful pencil drawings, and here is her peaceful birdbath scene.

And our teacher, Lois, always inspires us with her wonderful pen&inks!

where's Mary?

Last week, art class was held at Resurrection Cemetery.  We watched and listened for "Resurrection Mary", the well-known Chicago ghost.  Maybe she was watching us, but she didn't appear. 

It's a beautiful cemetery with rows and rows of beautiful monuments, it was a beautiful breezy day...

and I found some beautiful shade under one of the big old trees.

and on to the critique...

This picture came out kind of "ghostly".  Was Mary passing through...?

The legend says that Mary had spent the evening dancing with a boyfriend at the Oh Henry Ballroom.  At some point, they got into an argument and Mary stormed out.  Even though it was a cold winter's night, she thought she would rather face a cold walk home that spend another minute with her boyfriend.  She left the ballroom and started walking up Archer Avenue.  She had not gotten very far when she was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, who fled the scene leaving Mary to die.  Her parents found her and were grief-stricken at the sight of her dead body.  They buried her in Resurrection Cemetery, wearing a beautiful white dancing dress and matching dancing shoes.  The hit-and-run driver was never found.  Since the 1930s, several men driving along Archer Avenue between the Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery have reported picking up a young female hitchhiker.  This young woman is dressed somewhat formally in a white party dress and is said to have light blond hair and blue eyes.  There are other reports that she wears a think shawl, dancing shoes, carries a small clutch purse, and that she is very quiet.  When the driver nears Resurrection Cemetery, the young woman asked to be let out, whereupon she disappears into the cemetery.