Daily Paintworks

I have been looking at this challenge for a while now and planning to jump in.   Well, this seems to be the perfect time--the challenge this week is polka dots.

I wanted to do another version of my Bubbles painting.  The first one was on an orange background.

I would like you to tell me which one you prefer.

Memorial Day, Ft. Leavenworth, KS

"It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."  Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address.

Being Elmo

I downloaded this documentary onto my Kindle Fire for my "travel entertainment" home from Philly at Meredith's recommendation--and I can recommend it to you.  It is an engaging story about a young black boy living in low income housing in Baltimore that discovers the Muppets when Sesame Street hits the air.  He became completely invested in puppetry, which, as you may imagine, was not well received among his peers.  His parents, however, give him support and foster his interest, not because they think it will lead to big success, but because he is their son.  That simple thread runs through the film, although, even for the filmmakers, it seems to be an incidental side story.  When Kevin Clash is handed Elmo and told to do something with that puppet, Kevin goes home to Baltimore--to that same low income housing--and discovers that Elmo has to represent love.  Kevin becomes very successful, but the irony of that success is that it leaves him little time to invest in his wife and child.  The movie never asks the question, but I couldn't help wondering, How does one balance life so that success is more complete?  There is much more to this "puppeteer's journey," and it is a delightful documentary.

While in Philadelphia we watched Fantastic Mr. Fox because it was on Joseph's DVR.  I was completely unaware of this movie, I guess because it came out while I was overseas.  It is based on a playful, amusing story by Roald Dahl that, in order to make it a full length film, is stuffed with cliches.  There is the wife who wants a normal home with a gangster husband who can't give up crime, the son who can't measure up for his father who is more impressed with the athletic cousin, Hollywood explosions, and finally, strange talk about them being wild animals after all.  I thought with all of this going on, something clever was going to happen in the end.  It did not.  I prefer the book.

A Better Tree

While in Philadelphia, Joseph pointed out to me that the tree in my red tree painting was just not right.  He was right.  The reason I kept overlooking that is because I used a photo of a tree for reference.  I thought that would help me paint more realistically than free handing.  I decided to try free handing when I got home, and I  painted a better tree.  I was pleased.

So, I redid the red tree.

Van Gogh on the University of Pennsylvania Campus

When I saw this building,

I couldn't help thinking of this painting.

Church at Auvers by Van Gogh

Eastern State Penitentiary

While we were in Philadelphia, we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary--the oldest federal prison in the USA.  The architecture was interesting from the outside and from the inside, but the whole thing is in a state of "crumbledown."  This helps create the uneasy feeling you have when you walk around with your audio guide listening to the stories of people who were there.  As I was walking and looking, I began to notice how interesting peeling paint and rust can be.  Here are some close-ups I took that looked like modern art to me.

One cell was very nicely furnished--the one Al Capone stayed in.

Is It Really?

Sculpture in Love Park, Philadelphia

 We just got back from a week in Philadelphia to see Joseph and Megan graduate.  It was fun for them, and fun for us, too.  While I was there I decided to put the City of Brotherly Love to the test.  Is it really friendly?  Well, initially, it is as "loving" as any other city, but then I decided that I should be friendly and judge their reactions.  I greeted everyone I could from bus drivers to doormen to people on the street--and they get high marks.  Almost everyone responded, most people smiled, and some started up a little conversation.  It is true that you get what you give out, which means anywhere could be friendly, but I think Philadelphians made it a little easier to try. 

When I got back to Leavenworth, I discovered that I had sold my first painting at Scrivners.  You'll never guess which one--the red and yellow line painting.