Constructed Heart #25

Just days before Christmas the sister of one of my students had an accident on an icy road and died. Any death is difficult, but a 24 year old young lady just days before a holiday is particularly difficult for family and friends. My heart and prayers have been focused on the family. This heart is dedicated to my student and her family.

The dark colors and words common in tragic situations reflect the "darkness" that we feel during such times. The dry brushed silver paint makes the blue/black look like cold, hard metal. Yet in tragedy there is hope and time heals all hearts. Metallic teal and words of hope and love are spreading up from the bottom of the heart. I pray the family will feel the healing presence of God and that rays of love will help heal their pain. We never forget a loss, but we go on with the strength of our loved ones.

Constructed Heart #24

I've needed a clock in my studio for quite a while. I did some prep work on this heart recently and finally got it made yesterday. I wanted to keep it whimsical as well as functional.

This is one of those pre-cut wood shapes from the craft store with a short-stemmed clock works. I painted the background with liquid acrylic red and stamped with Lumiere metallics. Numbers were painted with white first, then with the metallic teal. Small holes were drilled around the edge for wire stitching. I found I couldn't see the gold hands well, so I added black triangles of paper to make them more visible.

Constructed Heart #23

This isn't really "constructed," but it is the only heart I made Wednesday. My younger daughter gave me a new sketch book and pen for Christmas (my old one was nearly full).

Anyone who can count to 31 has probably noticed that my "daily" hearts haven't been so daily lately. Sure, I have been busy at work and with Christmasy stuff, but I'm normally busy with something or other. After pondering this for a bit, I realized a couple of things.

I had anticipated this thirty days of "constructed" hearts, imagining wonderful 3D creations of clay, polymer clay, knitted wire with beads and even some stuffed hearts. What I found was that most of my ideas for constructed hearts require much more time than I had or than was intended for the "daily" art projects. The point was for a bit of time playing with various materials, experimenting and (hopefully) developing my skills. The constructed hearts have become more frustrating and burdensome because they require more planning and time, though there is still some "play" involved.

I find myself longing for the little 3" felt hearts and the journal pages. These were quick. The felt hearts were portable. I loved dabbling with various paints and mediums on the journal pages (especially recycling old printer cleaning papers). And this is all very good! Since I love so many things, I often felt frustrated by lack of direction in my art. I still love to dabble in it all, but I'm happy to begin to identify some passion areas. As soon as my 30 constructed hearts are done, I'm back to felt for a while!

Constructed Heart #22

I bought some heavy interfacing and wanted to try drawing on it. Wanted to experiment with using this as a surface to show instead of just a filler between layers. Had an "oops" with my new Pearl-Ex powder. This needs more experimenting.

Constructed Heart #21

My daughter's friend was admiring my Peace heart outside, so I made her a tiny replica to take home with her.

Constructed Heart #20

Okay. So where's the heart? I decided to liberally interpret the concept of "heart" yesterday. (Actually, since I made the "rules" for making the hearts and they are just for me, I am free to interpret them in any way I want.) :-) It is art. It is constructed.

I work with the most amazing people. They come from a variety of cultures, backgrounds, experiences and opinions. We can have some great "discussions" in which there are few agreements. From the outside it would seem we have little in common and are unlikely to be friends.But we are. I am fascinated that we are so closely knit - even with new faces joining the staff. I can only surmise that it is our unified commitment to providing the best education for our students that binds us together. We can set aside our personal interests (at times) for the good of the kids. I am blessed to work with such a great group of individuals.

Most of you don't know that one of my creative mediums is food. My younger daughter and I cook competitively and invent recipes. This little creation was in honor of my colleagues. We have had a tough year with many changes and challenges. Yet they continue to put the students first and support each other. I wanted to invent a new holiday recipe and dedicate it to them and name it in their honor.

The delight pictured above is a Panther Holiday Dipper. It consists of apple-chipotle seasoned ham bites and a special cranberry-ginger sauce (made from fresh cranberries). - a bit of heat and spice, familiar holiday flavors and enough of a twist to make it uniquely theirs.

My heart is definitely "in there."

Constructed Heart #19

Most of the time she teaches writing to ungrateful teenagers. Though a few are writers themselves, most teens don't relish getting their nouns and verbs to agree nor all those other rules of English. She also teaches drama to students with a wide range of abilities. Tonight is the closing night for "The Outsiders." She puts her heart and soul into her work and into our students. She is an amazing lady who doesn't always have the time to devote to her own writing talents. This "Writer's Heart" is for Gayle. The small journal is attached with hook and loop tape, so she can read quotes about writing or jot a note of her own.