Coloring pictures in coloring books, as well as drawing and coloring my own, occupied me extensively when I was a child.  My daughter and grandchildren have enjoyed coloring, as do many of the youngsters I have in school when I substiute teach.

I’ve also found this a great way to encourage children’s fine muscle coordination.  As I’ve substituted in kindergarten this year, and followed the youngsters throughout the school year, I’ve seen a great improvement in their ability to stay within the lines, even with small pictures.

Coloring is more than simply busy work. It’s a way to develop children’s coordination, a form of rehab after accidents and strokes, keeps arthritic fingers active, and often leads to a hobby in some form of art.  With Alzheimer’s patients, it helps keep their minds and fingers active.

There’s an interesting article, Coloring Pictures Is a Lot More Than Just Fun, at Better Parenting that explains the benefits of coloring for your youngsters…for learning and for fun.  I’ve even sat down with youngsters and colored, trying out various drawing/coloring items and materials.

It can become a grand experience in artistic discovery as well as muscle development and coordination.

How have you used coloring and art in your family or at school?

(Amazon image)

Washington DC’s Phillips Collection was one of the country’s first museum of modern art, opening in 1921 in what was the home of Duncan Phillips.  From its inception with merely a few paintings, the collection has grown until it moved to a larger space and officially became a museum.

At its current location among the brownstones of Dupont Circle (1600 21st Street NW, on the corner of Q and 21st), the Phillips has two buildings full of art and a outdoor courtyard for sculpture display.  The permanent collection includes works from American and European impressionists, post-impressionist, and modern artists.  You’ll also see some of the great masters, including Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Klee, Monet, Picasso, and Matisse.

Current exhibits on display are:  Early Moderns: A Celebration of Gifts from Gifford and Joann Phillips, running March 21-September 6, 2009, and this is not that CAFÉ, running May 7-December 2009.

The Phillips Collection has be reached via Metro’s red line Dupont Circle stop.

Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm.  Thursday night offers extended evening hours, and the museum is open until 8:30 pm.  On the first Thursday of the month, Phillips after 5 offers jazz performances, food and drink, gallery talks and film, running from 5 – 8:30 pm.  Sunday concerts are also offered October – May.

Weekday admission to the permanent collection is by donation.  Weekend admission and special exhibits are $12 for adults, $10 for student and seniors (62+).  Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or at the museum.

Photo credit:   daquella manera @flickr

Ann Kruglak, of Mystic Dreamer Art, creates beautiful polymer clay and mixed media works of art to benefit a land conservancy program.  I love seeing artist pick a cause that speaks to them and use their art to celebrate and support that cause.  Ann goes way beyond the norm though.  She writes:

Art connects me to my spiritual center, and the greater Mystery of the universe. I created Mystic Dreamer: Art for the Earth as a service project, and donate 100% of my proceeds to the World Land Trust in hopes of helping our planet survive and thrive. I hope that my art inspires others to bring their gifts of service into the world. Polymer clay is a compellingly fun and flexible medium. There is virtually no limit to the variety of effects you can achieve with it.

Dusk to Dawn Triptich (52” X 32”): Composed of 3 separate works: Sunset Symphony, Moonrise Sonata, and Sunrise Serenade, this triptych captures the feel of these primal, evocative times of day. Techniques include Mokume Gane and Skinner Blends.

Anemone Teapot (11” X 12” X 5”): This art teapot evokes the live, grace and movement of a sea anemone and touches on the natural intimacy of entwined tentacles. Techniques include Mokume Gane and Skinner Blends. This piece won 1st Place Sculptural Objects in the 2008 National Polymer Clay Guild competition and is currently on exhibit by invitation in St. Paul.

Rainbow Spirit (15” X 7” X 7”): Moving with the spiral energy of the earth and winds, this gentle spirit speaks harmony, kindness, and grace, as a blessing to the world.

As I look at this picture, the red fabric with larger floral design reminds me of the first apron and skirt I made when I was 7-years old.  My 4-H Club leader was teaching me to sew on her treadle sewing machine and chose easy patterns.

Image: sxc.hu

The fabric came from feed sacks my aunt had given me.  There was enough to make a drawstring apron as well as a skirt with a casing and drawstring to gather it around my waist.  I was so proud of these and wore the skirt in the Dutchess County 4-H fashion show our club participated in.

In fact, I still have the skirt.  I must get it out of the box of memorabilia and compare the fabric to that in this photo.

Do you have memory fabrics from earlier quilts and clothing?

I love art. Crazy, expressive, wild art. Our house is filled with folk art and comical pieces. We used to buy all sorts of paintings and sculptures in the days before Truman. Now we use that money to buy things like groceries and Timberland sandals and jeans that don’t hold up in the knees.

Through the wonder of Facebook, I was reunited with an old college sorority sister, Tina Mackin. It turns out she’s an artist (her Web site is www.SmackinArt.com) and her work is brilliant and colorful and completely fun. She copied me on a portrait of some friends she had painted and I knew I just had to have her make one of my family. The best part is that her original portraits are very affordable – ranging from $75 for one person to $250 for 10 people. She also makes prints mounted on mat board for $25.

I sent Tina the family portrait from our 2007 Christmas card, and then sent her a recent photo of Truman so she could super impose his face. Here is the result. Way cool!

(Photo of my portrait, by Tina Mackin, www.SmackinArt.com)

I love art. I love prints. What better way to decorate my house but with art works to give some life to my otherwise bland walls?

Here's an example of what you can win!

If you would like to have a limited edition art print to hang on your wall, why not join Arts and Crafts’ Art Print Giveaway?

The giveaway doesn’t close till the 4th of April so you still got time!

Good luck!

Image: Etsy Sinta

At the top of Telegraph Hill, in San Francisco’s Pioneer Park, stands one of the prominent buildings of the city’s skyline – Coit Tower.  Along with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid, it is one of the most recognizable sights in the San Francisco.

Coit Tower in San Francisco; photo from wikimedia

The art deco tower was built in 1933, with funds donated by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, after whom the tower was named.  Folklore claims that the tower was designed to look like a fire hose nozzle, and was a tribute to the firefighters of the 1906 earthquake fire.  Although this may be more urban legend than fact, the story is consistent with the quirky personality of the donor, and many people choose to believe that it’s true.

A sunny San Francisco afternoon is the perfect time for a tour of Coit Tower and its surrounding grounds.

From the surrounding grounds you have expansive views of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge, and San Francisco Bay.  Just sit and enjoy the sun, practice a bit with your photography, or stroll around enjoying the flowers and the view.

Inside the first floor of the tower are murals of depression-era art.  Although done by 26 different artists, they are all in a Diego Riviera style.  These murals of working men and women during the depression are considered some of the best of its genre.

Depression Era Mural at Coit Tower; photo from wikimedia

Coit Tower can be a bit confusing to get to as it is only accessible by one road.  There is a small parking lot at the top of the hill.  You can also get there by walking two blocks (fairly steep) up Filbert or Greenwich Street from Grant Avenue.  Or, take the #39-Coit Muni bus.  This latter option is especially attractive during the summer months when traffic and parking is difficult.

Coit Tower is open daily from 10 am – 6 pm.  There is no charge for entrance into the ground or the lobby level.  There is a small charge for the elevator to the top.

And if you can’t visit during the nice weather, don’t let that put you off.  The views are fantastic all year round (I love looking at the city shrouded in fog), and it will be much less crowded.

Truman rolled out of bed this morning and the first thing out of his mouth was that he wanted to make a flag of Africa. He got a globe for Christmas (to foster his interest in the planets) and he became fascinated with the continents and their countries.

My husband has been sitting down with him nightly and drawing the continents and telling Truman whatever he knows about the countries. Truman relays this information to me throughout the day: “Mommy, did you know it is very, VERY cold in Antarctica?” “Mommy, you know what Mommy? There is a really bad war in Iraq.” “Mommy, did you know people in Sudan are very sad?”

My husband has now taken the “world studies” with my son to the next step – flags. He has printed a list of the thumbnails from this FlagWorld site and my son has been coloring the different flags. Not to sound like the dumb-arse that I am, but I had no idea Tuvalu was a country. (And now that I know, I think I want to live there one day.)

Truman wants to know why each continent doesn’t have its own flag, which was a difficult question to answer. And so my son took it upon himself to design flags for each of the countries. (Here’s Africa on the right.) What a pleasant way to occupy my son’s overactive mind during the rainy days of spring break!

JWJourney

“Mary, I wish I could do the crafty things you do,” a friend remarked when my daughter was young.  “I’m not talented. I just watch TV when I’m not taking care of the boys.”

How sad, I thought, that this young mother of four boys didn’t feel she could pursue arts and crafts or anything creative.  How sad that she couldn’t find activities to interest her…and teach them to her children.

Creativity was instinctive when I was growing up in a household without much money and before television.  My siblings and I, with our mother’s encouragement, made our toys and dolls and games.

It seemed natural to include my daughter in the crafts I enjoyed, and quilt business I operated, when she was young.  If her cousins and friends were around, they became involved, too.  I had a 4-H club and found new arts and crafts projects for the youngsters.  My daughter and I have continued this with her children, their cousins and friends.

Some crafty ideas with inexpensive materials:

• Fabric and mixed media collages
• Creating paper dolls and their clothing from magazines and catalogs
• Making fabric postcards
• Making mosaic pictures with buttons, beads, and/or grains.
• Scrapbooking and card making
• Looping potholders on a loom
• Painting fabric with special crayons
• Writing and sketching in journals

What types of crafts do your children enjoy?
Image: sxc.hu

When was the last time you told your son or daughter that you were proud of them? Or a co-worker they did a great job, or your wife or husband that you love them, or your friend that you appreciate your friendship, or your customer that you appreciate their business?

A wonderful colleague of mine, from the great State of Georgia…expresses the above thought in his new blog Law of Attraction: Sending Cards.

In his daily observations, Richard disusses the importance of connecting with associates, friends and family in a more significant, and possibly a more profound way than through a cold e-mail or voice mail or text message (you already know how I hate those).

And that is by sending a card. When you get a moment, visit Send Out Cards, and I’m certain you will find selections that will give you an opportunity communicate with people with grace and dignity.

As a result of Richard’s experience as a saavy marketer, an intelligent business person, and all-around gentleman–we are able to learn about how to more effectively nurture our business relationships, develop more well-rounded friendships and how to make a genuine impact in the the world in which we live.

What would make your gesture even sweeter is to send cookies from Eleni’s–one of my favorite little shops in Manhattan.

So send your boss a card!