Creativity – Valerie's Voice

It’s Only Paper

It is said, trying new things actively rewires your brain cells. It is healthy for us. I decided to try something I haven’t done before. When I arrived at the art class the first thing I read in the info pack was, “you don’t have to be the best (or even good) to enjoy doing something”. So, I was hopeful I would enjoy my new adventure, along with rewiring some brain cells!

I took a beginner’s watercolor class. We have bought several watercolor paintings from a local artist in town and when she offered a beginner’s watercolor class I thought “why not?” Actually, she started classes a few years ago, but the dates never worked out for me until this year, so I was excited to finally get to try this new endeavor.

A few things stood out from the instructions, for instance: relax and let it flow (water is boss anyways), don’t compare your work with others, and it’s only paper. That became my mantra because I felt I could try this technique and if it doesn’t work out it’s not a huge investment…it’s only paper…I can try to correct a mistake or throw the whole thing out and start over because it’s only paper, and I can experiment a lot since it’s only paper.

Different cards to make…examples made by the instructor/artist, Kathy Miller.

I didn’t know what to expect from this class. It was very interesting and I feel I learned a lot (one thing I learned is I have to practice! ha). Kathy told us a student from a previous beginner’s class had expectations of taking home a piece for above her mantle. I didn’t have that kind of expectation; I didn’t even bring home a completed greeting card.

The hours flew by. There were six of us in the class. I learned where to begin with watercolors and that is enough. I now need to practice…which is always the tricky part (out of sight, out of mind) …but I have had one practice session and I plan to practice more. My goal is to make some greeting cards that look nice enough to send out.

The instructor held up her good ol’ color wheel (in this case triangle).

I hope my brain cooperated and rewired some cells because of this new adventure. I can say, I did enjoy myself very much, even though I’m not very good at it.

Voilá

Several years ago I found a painting of red geraniums on a framed, window screen in a thrift store. I thought it was a clever idea and it would look good on our front porch, so I bought it. It has hung on our front porch many times over several summers, and it started to lose its pizazz.

Instead of throwing it out I decided to try touching it up myself, with my acrylic paints.

I put on an old t-shirt, squeezed paint onto a paint palette, and did my best. I filled in the reds, and mixed red and yellow paint for orange, and blue and yellow for green, and repainted the pot and added a bit of color here, and a bit there. It was a fun, creative endeavor!

And I think it turned out very well. The painting has found new life and is hanging on my front porch once again.

Painting Rocks

On our recent trip to visit our son and his family in North Carolina, I brought along my rock painting materials. I had collected several smooth stones for the grandkids to paint, and I prepared them ahead of time by painting the background black.

We set up our work area by placing a cheap, plastic table cloth over the kitchen island. We put on old t-shirts to protect our clothing.

We took out the paints and put a few drops of paint in each indention of the little palettes I brought along. We set out our paint brushes, and a glass of water in a plastic glass to clean our brushes in-between colors. Then we sat down to paint.

We each painted about 6-8 rocks with non-toxic acrylic paints. We painted some designs but mostly words (and some design with words). Our intent was to bring them on our next hike and place each stone strategically along a path for others to find the painted rocks.

The kids loved that idea, although they did want to keep a couple rocks for themselves. I sprayed lacquer, to set the paint color, on the two they wanted to keep.

The next day we went to the near-by nature preserve, which we visit often. On our hike we stopped occassionally, to place a painted rock on the ground next to the trail, hoping someone would enjoy finding these special treasures.

I know I always enjoy finding positive messages in unexpected places. A good time was had by all, and hopefully for those who find the rocks.

A Gingerbread Manger Scene

When our sons were growing up we had an annual tradition, with another family, of decorating and assembling a gingerbread manger scene. Our friends had the cookie cutout kit that included cutouts for: a stable, Joseph and Mary, Baby Jesus in the manger, kings and camels and other animals. It was a fun activity for the whole family. Then, the five kids grew up and went their different ways.

When my friend moved from her home of 30+ years the gingerbread manger scene resurfaced. And she made the gingerbread manger scene with her grandchildren.

The first step…creating the stable from gingerbread…”glued” together with royal frosting ahead of time.

I asked her to outline the pieces of the set for me so I could try to recreate it with two of my grandchildren who were coming to stay with us for the holidays. I made the gingerbread dough and “royal” frosting (the glue) and cut out the stable pieces. Gary assembled the stable ahead of time to let it set.

Second step: After baking, we all helped decorate the manger scene cookies.

Then I cut out the paper figures my friend had given me, and placed them on the gingerbread dough and tried to cut around the outline. It was not easy, and when I pulled the paper up from the dough, some of it stuck to the paper. The pieces were a bit mangled, but then… Mary and Joseph were probably a little mangled when they finally got to the stable. I persevered, and continued cutting around the paper patterns.

Third step: Pasting the figures to the stable with the royal frosting.

The figures turned out ok – although I reduced the numbers to one king and one camel (not three), and two animals (not several… ) I baked them ahead of time so all that was left to do was decorate and assemble.

The finish: A very creative gingerbread manger scene.

We had a lot of fun creating our masterpiece, that depicted the wonderful story of Jesus’ birth.

Christmas Cards

The “old-fashion” Christmas card is not as prevalent as they used to be. Many of us have started sending photo cards, which we find are easy to create (after a time when they were not so easy to create) and now are readily available.

For a while we slowed down on sending Christmas cards, but when the grandchildren came along we decided to make photo cards to share pictures of them with our family and friends (since I think they are the cutest grandkids in the world)!

A fun favorite this year since I’ve been helping to feed horses on a farm, and discovered a newfound liking for these beautiful animals!

But, there are still so many traditional and beautiful Christmas cards. I enjoy looking at the myriad of designs: from doves to the Christ Child, Snoopy to Santa, snowmen to Christmas trees. A relevant message inside is welcomed too.

Christmas cards are hard to throw away, however I can’t keep them either. I already have boxes of cards and letters I’ve received over the years…from Gary, family and friends.

A three- dimensional poinsettia on velvety card stock.

This Christmas card is unique with a wonderful picture and an Irish Blessing on front.

One way I extend the joy of Christmas cards is by using them as name tags on presents the next year. They really do dress up a package. This year I’m using the pictures from last year’s beautiful cards.

I enjoy using last year’s Christmas cards for this year’s gift tags.

It’s fun to see them again. This was not my idea. My mother did this when I was growing up, and so I’ve continued the practice.

I recently used the picture from a Christmas card to write out a recipe. I cut the card to the size I needed and wrote the recipe on the blank side, the back side of the picture. The recipe was requested from a Christmas brunch so it seemed fun and appropriate.

I’ve used blank sides of picture cards for sending notes to others, too.

I hope I can think of more ways to use these lovely cards.

Art In Bloom 2023

Creativity was all around at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The annual Art in Bloom exhibit opened on Thursday, April 27^th and I went on the first day, while the blooms are fresh.

This stunning bouquet greeted people as they entered the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The concept is for floral designers to pair with a piece of artwork in the museum, to create a floral arrangement to compliment the work, usually attempt to represent the art piece using flowers.

A great representation of the idea behind *Art in Bloom*, including the color of the vase.

It is a very popular affair… lots of traffic, buses, etc… but, once inside this free event, people are able to spread out throughout the second and third floors and it doesn’t feel crowded.

I liked this arrangement for *Immaculate Madonna*. I have always liked white flowers.

We meandered around and enjoyed the floral designer’s creations, taking photos of some, but not all – over 100 displays.

A beautiful portrait, a beautiful flower arrangement.

Occasionally the floral designer is standing next to their creation, ready to answer questions. That is a nice touch.

It’s always fun to try and see how the flowers compliment the artwork…sometimes using the imagination to make it work.

It is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, walking among great artwork and seeing so many beautiful flower arrangements at the same time.

This is lovely, but some folks commented it needs a stand alone flower to represent the dog in the painting. I agree. 😉

It’s also a great way for MIA to highlight its many art pieces.

I had to include this photo because the designer said it’s the only Norwegian painting in the museum. I liked the use of evergreen trees.

This was fun because the painting is entitled *The Birthday Party*, and the floral designer used a cake plate as part of her creation.

A dramatic dragon spiting fire made of flowers. This was next to a Chinese mask.

I forget what a gem the institute is to Minnesota…with or without fresh-cut flowers.

Ordinary Days

Our trip to North Carolina fell over our grandchildren’s spring break, so they were off school the ten days we were there. It was a special time, especially celebrating Easter with them, but it was an ordinary time too.

The kids watching the rafters and paddle boarders at Whitewater Center.

We didn’t do anything spectacular, it was nice just hanging out. We did visit Whitewater Center, a national training center for whitewater rafting, paddle boarding, kayaking, rock climbing and mountain bike riding.

The first hurdle in the children’s challenging obstacle course.

Mastering the children’s obstacle course at the Whitewater Center.

Whitewater Center was very interesting place, and the kids had fun tackling an obstacle course geared towards children.

We always explore the nature preserve that is close to their home, and this time we used walkie talkies that we brought along from Minnesota. That was a hit.

Before we left home, we asked the kids if there was anything they wanted us to bring from Minnesota and Ezra immediately said, “a snowball.” Although he was thinking the real thing, we brought a dozen soft, cotton-ball style snowballs and had a surprise snowball fight one warm and sunny afternoon!

Our outdoor workspace, creating fun pictures.

Another time Zoey and I sat on the back veranda and made paper-cut-out pictures. It was fun to sit and create something out of nothing. We both enjoyed it, and I think I want to continue doing more of that.

Displaying “my” picture on our refrigerator. 😉

I just need to give myself permission to sit down and do it by myself…either use color crayons or colored pencils, cut out paper, or use markers, try drawing…just being creative. It was fun, relaxing and fed my soul, and I hope to do more of it.

Stone Apron

We always enjoy our trips to Lake Superior. We never grow tired of sitting on the rocks, watching the waves roll in. Or crash in…depending on the weather.

And I seem to always get caught up in looking at the rocks…large and small, that roll onto shore with the waves. I love how the rocks feel so smooth after years and years of tumbling in the water. I like their colors too.

For years we had a great spot, near a cabin we rented, where we could collect fairly large stones and brought them home; a few each year. We used them to line our back garden.

Lake Superior rocks lining our garden in the back.

I also have accumulated smaller rocks that I pocketed here and there. They were adding up so I started to place them around our front flowers, but due to some work we had done recently we had to remove them. I took the smooth stones and created a new apron for our shed.

The original shed apron was a conglomeration of pieces of limestone and other rocks I’ve found in the area. Over the years I just started putting them by the door of the shed and it eventually formed an apron. I liked the idea and decided to pull out all the old mismatched rocks and remake the apron with our pretty Lake Superior Rocks.

The new stone apron. This will grow larger as more rocks are collected!

It was a fun project and I was pleased with the result.

A Social-Distance Baby Shower

I was invited to a baby shower recently. A baby shower during a pandemic is difficult to plan. Originally it was going to be held using Zoom, the communication app that has become popular these days. However, as the date grew closer and the weather became nicer the event planners figured out a way to bring people together for the shower.

The hostesses created a festive atmosphere that adhered to “physical distancing” guidelines…(I heard a commentator say it’s not really social distancing but physical distancing – we still need to continue socializing). They also had Zoom up and running since there were out of town guests participating.

So, I put on a dress for the first time in months and added a touch of make up and headed out the door for an exciting event that almost felt “normal”.

It was a lovely Minnesota morning. The gathering was outdoors. Chairs were set up in a circle, all 6 feet apart, in a beautifully landscaped front yard.

Next to each chair was a white paper bucket filled with ice and a small bottle of prosecco and a small bottle of orange juice and a plastic flute glass to make our own mimosas. I thought that was a clever idea.

The individual goodie box placed on each chair.

On each chair was a box with a muffin from Martha’s (a local bakery), a jar of yogurt, a clementine, a cookie, and the paper and pen needed for games. No prizes were awarded however, due to the participants on Zoom…how would they get their prize?

The mom-to-be was able to enjoy opening her gifts with others surrounding her with love and attention.

People are definitely finding creative ways to make things work in this strange world we are living in right now.

Fair Time

Even though I’m not much of a fair-goer (because of the crowds) we heard about the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna so we decided to check it out. When our sons were young we would go to the Dakota County fair – it was a nice size. And we did go to the Minnesota State Fair a couple of times for the experience of a big state fair.

Gold Star Amusements at the Steele County Free Fair.

The Steele County Free Fair was a nice size too. We watched youngsters enjoying the rides in the amusement park. We meandered through the indoor arenas where exhibitors set up booths. We ate some “fair food” from the many food concessions stands. We walked through 4-H and fine arts buildings, animal barns, produce exhibits and flower displays.

Red Kanagaroos. There are 50 species of Kangaroos.

As we walked around looking at the animals I kept thinking it’s a very good idea for folks, especially town folks (like me), to see the animals and be reminded of how creative God is…There are so many different types of animals, each one unique and amazing in its own way.

That applies to flowers too. I love flowers. Flowers can be so intricate and delicate and there are so many varieties.

And vegetables…so many different vegetables.

We didn’t get to see everything at the Steele County Free Fair but we saw enough to want to go back next year…and maybe we’ll go to a zoo in-between time to see the long necks on the giraffe, the pouches on a kangaroo, a llama’s big bulging eyes with long eye lashes, a pig’s snout, a bird’s feathers, fishes scales…o my.

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:31 (NLT)