Teachers for TEachers makes the news!

Well local news!  If you aren't local, here's the article from the paper. If you are, check out page a14 in the Putnam villager from March 4.!

Last nights gallery reception was amazing!  Thank you to everyone who came out!
If you want to see the show, stop by between now and March 27th!

All profits go to benefit Teachers for Teachers!

‘Teachers for Teachers’ art benefit starts in March
PUTNAM — The Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam, is proud to host
“NICA: Teachers for Teachers,” an art exhibition and sale to benefit a
newly founded charity supporting education in Nicaragua.
This photographic essay by Putnam-based artist Lindsay Shaw
Lehmann will be held in the Downtown Putnam Gallery from March
2 to March 27. All are welcome to an Opening Reception on Friday,
March 4 from 6 to 8 p.m..Sales of artwork in this show and all donations
will directly benefit the teachers of Cincoyo, Nicaragua.
Photographer Lindsay Shaw Lehmann, who teaches at Pomfret
School, traveled to Nicaragua last February with an outreach group
from United Methodist Church in Putnam. She expected to find poverty,
sadness and desperation. What she discovered during a visit to
Cincoyo’s small school, however, were “smiling faces of beautiful children
forever burned in [her] memory” and the desire to help these
children get a decent education.
Lehmann witnessed teachers working long hours for $25 a month in
100-plus degree rooms with no air conditioning or fans. She learned
that due to a lack of government funding, the school could not afford
to teach children above third grade. Families pay $1 a month to send a
child to school. Many could not afford this yet the school would not
turn children away. Lehmann was deeply moved to find that despite
these difficult conditions, the teachers were still passionate about
teaching, the children truly wanted to learn, and the families cherished
the opportunity for an education. As a teacher, Lehmann was
inspired to help these educators. As an artist, she was inspired to illustrate
through her photographs the people, their stories and the world
in which they lived.
Lehmann founded “Teachers for Teachers” upon return from this
trip.
“Even if I had to find a way to support it single handedly, I was going
to make a difference for those poorly paid, hard working teachers in
Cincoyo,” she said.
With initial help from teachers at Pomfret School and a rapidly
expanding base of supporters, Teachers for Teachers has raised
enough money to reinstate Cincoyo’s fourth grade and double the
salary of teachers to $50/month…closer to Nicaragua’s average pay of
about $70/month. Lehmann’s next goal is to reestablish fifth grade,
raise teachers’ salaries more, help purchase school materials, and provide
fruits and vegetables to supplement government-supplied meals
for students. Her long-term goal is to expand Teachers for Teachers
support to include schools beyond the small community of Cincoyo.
Lehmann’s photographic essay features some of the thousands of
images she captured during her 10-day mission.
“I believe that the photographs of the children show their love, innocence,
faith, appreciation and most of all hope. Their eyes, their
smiles, they tell the stories,” she said.
Money raised from the sales of these photographs and any donations
will be sent directly through the United Methodist Church to
teachers in Cincoyo, Nicaragua. Donations are tax deductible and can
be made by sending a check to the Living Faith United Methodist
Church (53 Grove St., Putnam). The check should be made out to
“LFUMC” with “Teachers for Teachers” in the memo.
Visit www.silvercirclestudio.com for more information.

Check out the site! Order an image from the pdf! 

Flotsam & Jetsam

So I love Flotsam and Jetsam.  I'm a Tchotchke whore.  Things get me going, have you ever been to my house.  You'll see how much I love it! 

Tchotchkes are:
(Typically pronounced as "Chach-Kah") are small toys, gewgaws, knickknacks, baubles, lagniappes, trinkets, or kitsch. The term has a connotation of worthlessness or disposability, as well as tackiness^[1][2], and has long been used in the Jewish-American community and in the regional speech of New York City.

So in an attempt to "clean out" after my latest trip to Nicaragua, I decided that if I photograph my jetsam, my tchotshke's then I can get rid of them.... well some of them.

So I've got a show that will be up in September from the 25-26 in the SOWA art walk in Boston.
Here's the postcard for the show....

So, I did this when I moved too, got rid of six bins of stuff from when I was a kid.  I have to say I've gone back several times to find that stuff, and it was gone, so I'm not so sure it was a good idea, but I did it, and my house is lighter for it.  So perhaps it will work again..... though my home is not sterile, and I like it that way... so all you neat freaks that like tidy stuff, get over it, I am who I am, and it's gonna stay that way... just a little more refined.

Alright, I got it off my chest.  Now come to my show and have fun!  It's gonna be a blast!

Paint By Number Kits!

I know, a blast from the past.  But I was on vacation 2 weeks ago in Cape Cod and my friend Martha had this very vintage painting on the wall.  I said to her, this looks like Paint by Number and she said in fact that it was a paint by number that her mother had done.  It was really cool to see it, and then discover that it was indeed a "Sissy original" paint by number.  So I went online to see what I could find on Paint by Numbers.  Perhaps do one myself this summer.  I found this great website : Alibris.  It has this kit (which I also found at amazon) but it was cheaper here.  This paint by number book has 8 vintage kits inside to paint and comes with the paints.  Though it doesn't look like it has a lot of paint for 8 vintage paints, but perhaps they're small.  We'll see: yes I ordered one.  Guilty as charged.  Then I found this book as well. Paint by number: by William Bird.  It's description from Alibris is as follows:

"What is the fascination of paint by numbers? Is it the intoxicating and compulsive act of filling in small pools of color? Or the easy thrill of creating your own impressionist masterpiece? Or a fond nostalgic yearning for a craze that cut across national boundaries and age groups? Invented in 1951 by Dan Robbins-based on an idea used by Leonardo da Vinci to teach painting-the paint-by-number craze reached its zenith in the 1950s but continues even today as paints and kits are avidly collected, exhibited in galleries, and traded on eBay. In Paint By Number, author Larry Bird takes us on an unbelievable journey where art meets kitsch and popular and high cultures collide in a collage of home economics, leisure time fun, and art education, Bird revisits the hobby from the vantage point of the artists and entrepreneurs who created the popular paint kits, the critics who reviled them, and the consumers who enthusiastically filled them in and hung them in their homes. Paint By Number includes over 200 examples of paint-by-number ephemera and two pull-out paintings ready to be filled-in!"

The best part is that the book is only $3.00 from both Alibris and Amazon.  Great coffee table book to take you back to the day.  There are of course other books on paint by numbers but they're much more costly: "Real Art".  But I'm not about to drop $23 on a book right now, so those of you who have it, let me know what you think.   

So for those of you youngin's that have no idea what a paint by number is: it's a canvas: or board, that has a drawing on it, but there are numbers inside the lines and they coorespond with a particular paint number.  You simply paint within the shapes and when you're done, you have a very vintage painting, which you kind of did yourself!  For someone who likes to paint, but can't paint: like me, this is so much fun!  Brainless art you can do while you're watching television!

Check out this article too! Here's an exerpt:

Vintage Paint-by-Number Paintings Make a Comeback

Art Business News, July, 2001 by Vanessa Silberman

As the demand for retro art continues to surge, vintage paint-by-number paintings are coloring the market like 1-2-3

Kitsch is back, and nowhere is this more apparent than with the recent craze for vintage paint-by-number paintings. Dating back to the 1950s and `60s, these works, once reviled by the art world, are now considered icons of post-war American pop culture and are valued collectibles. Made for the most part by anonymous amateurs--average suburban wives or Sunday hobbyists--paint-by-number kits such as Craft Master promised that anyone could "be a Rembrandt." In doing so, they helped bridge the gap between the elitist and John Doe as millions of Americans picked up paintbrushes for the first time. Subjects ranged from picturesque landscapes, cowboys and kittens to still-lifes, ballerinas and old Master knockoffs such as da Vinci's "Last Supper." And believe it or not, the art world is starting to take these "objects d'art" seriously, as collectors scramble to find undiscovered pieces and an increasing number of galleries hold shows.

Consider the recent exhibit at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), which hosted an exhibit of vintage paint-by-numbers to rave reviews. Or the new, high-profile exhibit currently on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, called "Paint by Number: Accounting for Taste in the 1950s." In addition, plans are in the works for an upcoming exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
A Cultural Phenomenon
Paint-by-number, or PBN, was the brainchild of artist/designer Dan Robbins with the support of Max S. Klein, owner of the Palmer Paint Co., in 1951. Although earlier examples of PBN existed during the 1920s, these were marketed to children. Inspired by a story about Leonardo da Vinci assigning numbered portions of paintings to his assistants to complete, Robbins believed such a paint system could appeal to adults. The timing was certainly perfect: Following World War II, Americans experienced an age of prosperity and an abundance of leisure time. Millions moved to the suburbs, and signs of conformity were everywhere--from the mass-produced homes in housing developments to the shiny red Fords parked on the curbs. Why not standardize art as well? The numbered canvases, colour-coded to tiny pots of paint, guaranteed satisfaction.
Sure enough, PBNs caught on. With an average price of $2.50 a kit, popularity was so high that by 1954, 12 million kits by Craft Master, Masterpiece and other labels had been sold. Critics complained that more PBN paintings hung in Americans' homes than original works of art. Even Pop Artist Andy Warhol got in on the fun. During the early '60s, he created a series called "Do It Yourself" which were recreations of a paint-by-number style.
The craze peaked from 1953 to '55, but like all fads it began to fade by 1957 due to overexposure, according to Robbins, who is the author of Whatever Happened to Paint-by-Numbers?. Finished paintings soon ended up in basements, attics, trash cans and thrift stores, where they sold for as little as a nickel.
The New Appeal of Paint-by-Numbers
A yearning for the past plays a big part in today's craze for vintage PBN paintings. "The appeal is primarily nostalgic ... There's something uniquely post-war 1950s American that was typified by this stay-within-the-lines approach to art," said collector Larry Rubin of Miami, Fla. "I was attracted to them because they reminded me of the Venus Paradise pencil-by-number kits I did as a kid."
Rubin began collecting vintage PBN paintings about five years ago and has since amassed a collection of more than 300. He also publishes a national quarterly newsletter called "By the Numbers."
"Americana has been in for quite a while, and this is iconic ... You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't have some connection to the medium," he added.
Trey Speegle, the creative director of YM magazine in New York, has a collection of about 500 PBN paintings which he hangs according to theme in his 19th-century home. He caught the collecting bug after inheriting a collection of 250 from his friend, "Saturday Night Live" writer Michael O' Donoghue, who died in 1994.
"As a graphic artist, the graphic qualities of paint-by-number paintings really appeal to me. Some of them are quite intricate ... I like seeing them grouped together; then you see the diversity of the imagery and how beautifully they were designed," said Speegle, adding, "The designers who created PBN's were fine artists. Someone else would break down the colors."
Robbins feels part of the trend is due to the fascination of retro art by today's 20- and 30-somethings. "I think the renewed interest in PBNs has come a lot from a younger generation who has decided that paint-by-numbers are suddenly kitschy, a piece of Americana," he said.

 

Some examples: 
A computer rendition:

So obviously there are a ton of different kinds of paint by numbers, just google image it and you'll see, but I think they're fun and mindless, and they make me happy, so today my post is PAINT BY NUMBERS!  Just do it! It's fun!

Rain!

Rain makes me happy.... but there hasn't been any in awhile.  Not only are we in a water ban here in Putnam, but my plants are thirsty too!  It's been HOT!  Really hot, and that's okay.  But I love rain!  Rain is relaxing, rain makes me want to sleep some more.

When I was little I loved rain when we were at Alexanders Lake.  If it wasn't thunderstorming, we'd run into the lake (cause we were wet already) and it always made the water feel warmer.  (Now I know it's because the air was so much cooler when it rained) but either way, it was magical swimming in the rain.  We would go under water and look up at the rain hitting the top of the lake.  The fish loved it too and they'd always come out and swim with us.

That aside, when it rains it means we can't go outside and play.  So for me, it's easy: put on the tv or do a project with the kids.  There are fewer options and I don't feel guilty for not getting them outdoors for the day.  When I was little it meant that I could do a craft project or watch a movie and I loved that feeling.

So, bring on the rain!  Water the earth, our ponds, oceans and streams, and fill our pools!

YUM, POTATO SALAD

Well, it's almost that time of year again.  That 70 degree weather Mother Nature teased us with last week really got me thinking about summer.  We had 2 cookouts, well one cookout and one steak and potato salad since and man, I love my recipe for potato salad.

My sister and I tried something out last year for fathers day and it was amazing.  We cut the mayo in half and used some sour cream (full fat, the reduced fat is gross).  We added garlic powder (or Tastefully simple Garlic Garlic) and salt.  Then use a huge amount of dill (the fresh stuff is best but dried dill will be fine).  This week I added a bit of lime juice to the mix too and it was delicious.

So, red bliss potatos cooked until tender
drain.
In a separate bowl while the potatos are cooling mix

mayo, sour cream (equal parts- for 5-6 red bliss potatos, use 1 cup each)
salt and pepper to taste
a little bit of lime juice
a bit of garlic powder or garlic/garlic
a ton of dill

This recipe reminds me of the nursery school cookbooks we did when I was 3.
Something I should blog about another time: so cute!

So mix all that up together and add warm potatos.  They will absorb some of the flavor as they cool.  Oh it's so delicious!

Enjoy and tell me what you think!

Air Dry Laundry

There is something about the whimsical nature of clothes hanging from a clothesline.  It brings me peace to see these articles of clothes bouncing and flitting about on a line as the wind passes through it.  There are a few homes around my town that air dry their clothes and it's always comical to see the undies hanging, children size to papa size.  Talk about hanging your "dirty laundry".  I don't have a clothesline myself, but I hope one day to have one.

There's something so classic, natural and green about airdrying your clothes!

Scratch & Sniff Stickers

So my son came home from school with some scratch and sniff stickers on his project.  While they did not look the same as the ones that I got when I was in school, the smell took me back to my childhood.  With a sensitive sniffer, I have this acute appreciation for scratch and sniff.  I loved scratch and sniff books when I was a kid.  The markers and stickers, mmmm, I have a special place in my heart for those too.
 
I began investigating scratch & sniff stickers.  There's this whole following out there for scratch and sniff stickers, especially the ones from the 80s.  I found a great site appreciating Vintage 3M Scratch & Sniff stickers from 1974-1984.
 

I thought I had a bag full of stickers, and my sticker book, but somehow I've misplaced it.  I can't believe that I would have tossed it when I moved, but who knows.  (onward and upward) So I thought I would check into how I could acquire some of these yummy scratch and sniff antiques.  I found a bunch on ebay: where else right?  But some are going for over $3 a piece.  Others even more than that!  I was shocked.  There is also a book, which I purchased, but was very disappointed.  It's pretty much a book that they expect you to put your stickers in, printed in black and white as placeholders. 
I will be returning it.

 

They should have made it a scratch and sniff book with color photos, like a Smithsonian special!
Oh well.  I will have to smell my sons scratch and sniffers and remember the good ole days through him.

COLORS!

How I love color!  While black is always slimming, and probably looks better on my chubby bones than any other color, I love color on walls.  Some are too bold, and anyone who has been in my house knows that there are a few very colorful walls.  There is a time and place for every type of color.  I love colorful earrings, necklaces, scarves, socks, wallpaper, and STUCCO walls!  The textures and designs within some colors just bring out incredible excitement in me.

So what is my favorite color you ask?  Well it depends on the day really.

Sometimes it's blue, or a green.

My sister would tell you which pantone was her favorite color, but not me.  I like to match colors to something I already know.  I would rather say, his hair was like the color of chef boyardee tomato sauce.  To me that is more descriptive, but not very professional and most of my friends think I'm crazy.

Where can you find incredible colors?  All over the place really.

Light is the most important thing when viewing color and really photographing colors.
Bright light reflects too much off the color and so you won't get deep saturated tones if it's too sunny.  Overcast days are best, and if you're taking photos, my former workshop teacher Alison Shaw would tell you to underexpose just a little bit to get the best saturation. (of course there are more tricks to the trade than just that)

The caribbean has a lot of really great colors, and I hear that Puerto Rico has the greatest colors.  I've never been there, but it's now on my list of places to visit before I die.  That list is getting longer, so I hope I don't expire too soon!

Below are some photos from Nicaragua when I was there at the beginning of the month.  Leon is one of the oldest cities in Nicaragua, and the colors of the walls and doors and windows are just amazing.  As we drove through I had to cover my eyes because I could not see them all without taking photos.  What I should have done was savour the moment.  Dummy.  I saw enough though, and here are a few when I escaped during lunch.  I just fell in love with this vibrant blue door and I had to photograph it for prosperity!  Am I crazy?

I once learned from my dear friend Regina that the color that you choose to wear a particular day, or the color that you feel yourself drawn to at a particular moment has something to do with the different chakras in your body.  http://www.threeheartscompany.com/chakra.html  This website give you the different meanings of the different colors.  Apparently, my favorite, blue means

Blue is the colour of the spirit and relates to self expression - speech, communication, the ability to communicate our needs and requirements; Spirit of truth and purpose.  This is a mentally-relaxing colour. Blue has a pacifying effect on the nervous system and brings great relaxation - ideal for sleep problems, and hyper-active children. Connects us to holistic thought, and gives us wisdom and clarity enhancing communication and speech.

positive aspects of blue                                                  

            - loyal 
            - trustworthy
            - tactful
            - calm     

negative aspects of blue     

            - unfaithful
            - untrustworthy
            - self-righteous
            - cold     

(info from http://threeheartscompany.com/chakra.html#blue)

This is really interesting, and I can see how some of it is true.  Today I'm wearing brown, what in the Lord's name does that mean.  I'm feeling poopy?  Ha,

Indigo relates to self responsibility - being responsible for one's own life, responsible to oneself to follow the soul's path and needs and trusting one's own intuition. (the ability to see things from a 'higher' viewpoint rather than purely for satisfaction of the ego or one's material comfort.).  The indigo energy connects us to our unconscious self, and gives us the experience of being part of the whole universe. Strengthens intuition, imagination, psychic powers, and increases dream activity.

 positive aspects of indigo                                                        

            - highly intuitive
            - faithful
            - clear sighted
            - integrity 
            - orderly mind

negative aspects of indigo

            - inability to trust intuition
            - scattered mind
            - inconsiderate
            - blinkered vision                 


(info taken from http://threeheartscompany.com/chakra.html#blue)


Now this photo has been my favorite from the trip, and the colors in this particular church really spoke to me while I was there.  What an amazing color.  It is not quite blue, in the color spectrum, but more indigo and what the indigo chakra represents is very similar to what I was feeling while I was there.  It is very inreresting as well.


So still no info on what brown means.  I guess it's just a blah day.  Oh well, sometimes vacation days are blah!
I'm good with a few blah days here and there. They allow you do to things like BLOG!

To find out more about this cool color website visit the link above.  It's really awesome.

Smiles

I recently returned from my trip to Nicaragua where I spent nine days on a mission with my church.  WOW!  What an experience.  While I really felt as though I was going to encounter a lot of sadness because of the conditions that they live in there, I actually found the opposite.  The people that we met, those we knew and those we didn't know, are so incredibly happy.  They are not sad for the things that they do not have in life, they are appreciative of those things that they do have, however small.  For them, the small things are big.  It was my first realization that there was too much crap in my own life.

The thing that struck me most was the smiles that the children have.  I brought tons of lollipops- or bon-bons they're called in Nicaragua.  When I encountered children I presented them with a bon-bon.  Of course I asked the parents first, they always seemed shocked that I was asking, but here in the states you don't dare present a child with candy without asking their parents first.  My own kids, I could care less, they're children and we brush their teeth, but someone elses kids- always ask the mom.

They cherished those bon-bons.  Some didn't even know how to open them, I wonder if those children ever had a bon-bon before.  Others knew just what to do, but they savored it for forever.

The smiles that the children showed us were like no smiles I've ever seen, except maybe on my daughter.  She has a great smile.  Her whole face smiles.  But the smiles on these children were smiles of love, laughter, hope and happiness.

Her smile may not be in her mouth, but her smile is in her eyes.  Look at those eyes. Aren't they amazing!   WOW!

SUPERWOMAN!  My smile after 

This was my zip-lining trip.  the last thing we did before we left for home.  It was like being reborn again.  flying across the lake it like a bird.  I took a deep breath and told myself this was the new beginning. The new beginning of worrying less, taking deeper breaths, and smiling a whole lot more.  It's time to appreciate what we have.  It's time to love life a little more. 

WELCOME!

I'm so excited about my first posting of my new outlook on life! 

Devouring Nutella is such a perfect title to my new blog.

If you've ever devoured Nutella, you know what I mean.  It's creamy, rich, chocolate and hazelnut!
YUM! 
 I love to eat it on Strawberries, cherries and yeah, on a spoon.
Pretzels are great too, and I'd welcome any new ways of devouring my favorite treat..... NUTELLA!


I just can't get enough of it!!!!