Week 6: Greenfield Village

I know this is Monday and not Friday (when I usually do my weekly review) but being off on Friday for the Easter holiday threw me off a bit!  It was a good week, though, so I wanted to be sure to review it.

I'll be writing about part of the week later, but for now wanted to focus on a big highlight - Greenfield Village is open again!!!  Hallelujah!  It reopened last week on Tuesday, but due to crummy weather I decided to wait and go on Thursday.  It was a good decision!  The weather was perfect on Thursday.  I spent about five hours there, ate lunch outside (a delicious flatbread sandwich bought from the "Taste of History" cafeteria), made a mini brass candlestick (I had NO idea you could do that there - it's AWESOME!!), chatted with some docents at the chapel, journaled, searched for cool doorknobs, and sat and contemplated life. ;)  It was wonderful!  I love it there - an outdoor museum, surrounded by history...is it any wonder it's the subject of my current series of paintings (and one of my favorite places)?  

Here are some photos from my day there...you might see a familiar...face... in some photos:

Skull's Day Out

I have been giving private art lessons to a middle school student the last few weeks, and we're working on drawing the human figure.  We've been starting from the skeletal system out, and I knew that the best way to do it would be to have an actual skull from which to work.  Thankfully Keith, the graphic designer and watercolorist at 212, has a skull (named Skully) that he let me borrow.  (It's a plastic skull, thankfully...!)

Skully certainly came in handy for our lesson (drawing it from lots of different angles), but the fun (for me) didn't stop when the lesson was over.  I stuck Skully (and an animal skull Keith had leant me) into a bag, went to grab some lunch, and walked down to 212 from my studio.  I had some fun with photos in the process...  I've been researching skull models now and may need to buy one.  This was just too much fun.  

I had a professor once who said that he hated it when people said that art should be fun, that you don't always have to be having fun when you're creating art.  I disagreed with him - I'm not saying I'm always having fun, but I know that when I'm not, it's time to take a break and/or make a change!  After a frustrating session with a painting earlier this week and some miserable weather yesterday, I needed this fun distraction today!

Skully, ready to be drawn

My "skullfie"...creeeeepy

Skully in my bag - walking down to 212

Skully went with me to get lunch at Detroit Dog Co. Yum!!

Posing with the cemetery across the street

Back at 212

Skully taking a watercolor class