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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Spring flowers and "The Littlest Dragon" story...

This was my Monday morning post which didn't get posted that day after what happened in Boston. It just didn't seem right to blog about beautiful Spring flowers after such a horrific event. And someone on the radio this morning was discussing how more 'resilient' the American public has become.  I'm paraphrasing and probably not doing it well, but the gist was that although Americans are far from the resilience of those living in war torn third-world countries, we seem to be more so now than after 911.  People Tuesday were still out on the streets running in Boston and people were still watching the news of the tragedy in airports and not cancelling their flights, etc. So-oo (I thought) this means what?  I'm still not sure...


Tulips at the Dallas Arboretum

A butterfly on a Mountain Laurel at my daughter's house

I worked last Friday morning at the studio - partially on my chess board - getting ready to under glaze so doing some test tiles with colors (black, rust, black brown, and mahogany). But I also made a few 4x4 tiles with leaves on them to use in my hall bathroom. There's an area between the counter and the wallpaper where the paper has come away from the wall a bit. I plan to scrape that area off and add some of my own tiles. The wallpaper is very muted green/taupe with different shades of green leaves, so I thought I'd make the tiles similar.  While I was doing this, I got the idea to make some small tiles (1.5x2), put holes in the top that I can run a cord through, and then wrote saying on the tiles, like "Take Joy", "Smile", etc. I plan to use blackbird stain on these and then maybe a little clear glaze.





Next is a story  (The Littlest Dragon) that I wrote a while back about a young girl heroine and a dragon. I also sketched out the dragon so that his tiny size would be evident.  It's not an especially good sketch, but it gives you the idea...




and here are some of the children's books I did make for my grandchildren when they were small:




and a page example:



It's all great fun...  They say 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and this is very true, but I also believe that joy is hidden away in the heart and soul of each of us and is found and expressed in so many different ways.








15 comments:

  1. Those children's books are awesome. You are incredibly talented! I am writing hunt and peck style on my iPad so this is short.

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    1. Thank you, DJan. So glad you are back home safe and sound.

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  2. I LOVE the tiles..what a grand idea. The books are great. I bet the grands loved them and found lot's of joy while looking at them.. I am glad you kept them in good condition. I am sure they will treasure them one day.

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    1. The tiles are an experiment. We'll see how they turn out, but we learn by doing, yes?

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  3. I wish you would stop telling us that your drawings "aren't very good" when they quite clearly are good. Girl, you have talent. Accept it, be grateful for it, and celebrate your good fortune. Lecture over.

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    1. Thanks for the lecture, Nana. I think it's hard for some of us to think that other people might actually *like* our endeavors. Because I do it for the joy it brings me, it's an extra boon to know that someone else might take pleasure from something I created.

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  4. Rian, You are so talented...how wonderful that you can draw, write and take gorgeous photos!!!

    I don't know what to say about what happened Boston.I just wish that the hate could stop but sadly, this doesn't really seem like it will ever happen~

    Hugs,
    Jan

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    1. I've heard the saying, "Replace hate with love"... such a simple statement, but so hard to do.

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  5. That's fabulous that you illustrated and wrote some children's books. Your grand-children will cherish them. Deb

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    1. The oldest two did enjoy them when they were small. And my grand daughter who is 11 has taken to writing her own stories. We encourage her as not only does it give her an outlet for her feelings, but she is getting very good at it.

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  6. you are sooooooooo talented! i can't say this enough. and not just in one form. which is even more wonderful.

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  7. "Americans are far from the resilience of those living in war torn third-world countries, we seem to be more so now than after 911."

    no doubt about it. boston did not effect me, like twin towers 9/11 did. 9/11 CONSUMED me, for years!!!!!!!!

    a newspaper column today, says we must not let ourselves, accept random acts of terrorism. of course not.

    but, since it has come to our shores, don't we have to somehow 'accept', the fact of it? at some level. even in order to be personally hyper vigilant...

    every time i see pics of that package (of pre-exploded bomb) lying right there, in plain sight, i wonder how SOMEONE didn't notice it????????? we must never not notice, again.

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    1. I guess we do have to "accept the fact of it"... what choice do we have? There will always be 'crazy' people around (and I use that word here meaning people who have no respect for human life - because 'in my perspective', something has to be psychologically wrong with them to hurt innocents - even for a cause)

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  8. Those books are truly wonderful, Rian, both words and drawings. I really love 'The Littlest Dragon'. :-)

    Your flower photos are so pretty too. As for the comment about resilience, I think it means that by carrying on as usual and not changing your way of doing things because of what has happened, you're refusing to let the bad guys win.

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    1. Perpetua, I think you are right in what it means. We can't be made to be afraid. IMO *fear* is never a good thing. It immobilizes people, brings on anxiety, and does untold havoc to our physical and mental conditions. Fear can stop you from living fully. That's not to say we mustn't be cautious and aware... possibly more so now than ever before.

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