Into Plein Air

On the way to preschool early in the morning, my son and I rode next to the San Gabriel mountains near Eaton Canyon. Sage speckled the hillsides with blooming purple spires. Orange poppies fluttered like tethered butterflies with wings splayed open surrounded by the pervasive yellow dots of mustard blossoms. My youngest son asked to pull over immediately, hike a path and paint. I explained we weren't prepared for a painting hike today but we could do it tomorrow. "With snacks?" he asked.

Absolutely. We dropped his big brother at school the following day and headed straight to the area around Eaton Canyon that spoke so clearly to his imagination the previous day. A four year old with a paint brush is a beautiful thing. He paints with such intention yet filled with freedom. A lesson to all.

Painting has it's pleasures and rewards, but really, it's all about the snacks, the open air and adventure.

May this notebook (and many more) be filled with the celebrations and commemorations of being out in the places that call to you mixed with the calm complexity of all that is within.

I Want to Be Here

Setting aside a little daydream time to wander around this picture.

Planet House Sculpture

Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, my oldest son created a model of his own planet heated by two volcanoes, one inside the house and outside the house. His favorite friends live with him there. The bat to the right of the door.

His dear friend Sharpie (foreground). Avatar of my son in the background.

And YarYar (background) and his dog Joy. All pictures represent actual stuffed or plastic characters in my son's life who pretty much accompany him on all adventures, especially in pictures. Sharpie and Joy were both hand sewn by my talented sister-in-law the force behind ketch-i-kreatures.

Silent But Busy

Although these pages have been silent, Camp Ramshackle kept a steady buzz of activity. The small, the fantastic (for the young ones doing the creating), the mundane. This weekend, I dealt with a Halloween fairytale pumpkin. I bought it from my youngest son's preschool fundraiser with the intent of eventually baking it. Two weeks ago, I stuck the whole thing in the oven after cutting the top & removing the seeds for roasting.

I've never baked an entire pumpkin by shoving it in the oven like an uncarved jack-o-lantern before. Usually, I use smaller pumpkins and cut them in halves or smaller. But the method worked well although it took hours to cook. After it cooled, I pulled off the skin and stored it.

This weekend, I pureed the bejezus out of a mountain of pumpkin and scoured recipes.

I made a variation of Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread, which received a thumbs up rating from Eric and my oldest son. I am recuperating from a noxious cold that stole my taste buds, so I couldn't tell, although it baked beautifully. I used a conventional oven (the linked recipe is for a bread machine) and baked it for 55 minutes. All worked well. I will make again and again and again until the pumpkin supply runs out or everyone in the house screams "NO MORE".

And another loaf of the fantastic Flying Apron Bakery house bread. I was happy to see Jennifer Katzinger has a new cookbook. Evidently, it's been out since August, but I've been living under a rock since then. Two loaves of bread did nothing to my mountain of pumpkin puree (as expected), so I froze them in 1/3 cup measured scoops, since my favorite recipe with pumpkin (see above) uses 1/3 cup portions.

The delicious carrots keep growing.

As do my boys, both very interested in sculptures small...

...and large. Built quite spontaneously by my youngest son. I love his design and style. He has been building sculptures since he could move. Watching his work change as he grows older is such a treat. I make an effort to photograph them, although it is hard to keep up.

And I have been sewing shelters. This one is for a silent auction at my youngest son's preschool. Eric has been tackling some much-appreciated work around the house too. I plan to share some projects of home improvement in the upcoming days...not weeks.

Ramshackle Graffiti

My tagged trailer/studio. Is it wrong to imagine your seven year old with a tattoo that looks just like this?

Wooden Marble Maze

To celebrate the start of summer, I like to introduce a new toy for play. This year...enter the marble maze. I picked this up from Back to Basics Toys. I have long since had a geeky affinity for marble maze games and toys. I nearly burst with delight when my sons started to show interest themselves. This summer, the toy decision was easy.

For inspiration, we have delved youtube for inspiration including Marble Machine 3. Forgive the video production, if you can stick out the narrative and slow unfold, I suspect you will be delighted by the wonders of the creation. It keeps these kids (and me) aware that much more is possible if you dream it & then make it.

Lorri Deyer's Idea Truck

Los Angeles artist Lorri Deyer has an idea...an idea to create an Idea Truck. Based on the increasingly popular taco truck model, Lorri's truck will roll through Los Angeles offering ideas. Good, bad, million dollar ideas and more. How do you pay for an idea? With idea of your own. The truck is currently funding via Kickstarter.org.

Discloser: I'm a backer...then I'm always up for a good idea.

El Rio Charter School's Art Auction

Sage Vaughn, serigraph & hand painting, 36"x48"

A preview of some of the art to be auctioned this Saturday, June 11th, 2011, at the El Rio Launch Party to be held at Tiara Cafe in Downtown LA. Learn more about the event at www.elriocharterschool.org. Tapas tickets for $40 are still available. The dinner portion of the fundraiser.

Ron Russell, "Novenpus", acrylic on masonite, 4"x4"

Seonna Hong, "Into the Forest", giclee print, 5"x8.5"

Andy Mueller, "Mercedes Benz", photograph

More information on the artists and tickets to the event at the El Rio blog.

Spontaneous Journal

Oldest son: "Mom, do we have a sketch book with no pictures?"

Mom: "I think you have a sketch book on the shelf with very few pictures."

Son searches for sketch book on shelf. Finds it. Rips out the pictures & gifts them to mom. In a flurry of focused activity, the "Journal" is created. A day spent at youngest son's preschool carnival is documented fondly.

"I really had a good time making this."

Today another entry was made. Image used by permission.

Owl Bird Control

Each year around mother's day, a sparrow family starts making a nest in the tent. Often, they are successful despite our best attempts to block the entrance of the tent and make the location inhospitable.

As the birds began to craft yet another nest this year, Eric resorted to his art degree for some bird control measures.

Eric used a recycled cereal box for the body and head and some scraps to make the eyes and nose. He drew the body using markers.

The owl now hangs menacingly in the tent. If you were a sparrow, you'd be shaking with fear. Actually, after Eric hung it, I watched the sparrows enter the tent without demonstrating the proper fear and trepidation. I went back and tried to remove hospitable nest making areas. For all I know, the sparrows may be back right now with a nest of cuties.

Aliens of the Scariest

On tap today: attending the premiere of Aliens of the Scariest, the stop motion film created by my oldest son's class.

Charlie Bucket's Humble Home

The tight floor plan.

Model crafted by my oldest son.

Through the front door.

Grandpa Joe, Grandma Josephine,

Grandpa George & Grandma Georgina's bed.

Through the passageway.

The Bucket's dining table with a bowl of cabbage soup.

Alas, never enough soup to fill the seven family member's bellies. Charlie's life is about to change. He found a dollar in the snow, bought two candy bars and found a Golden Ticket. He is one of five lucky children who enter Mr. Willy Wonka's factory and receive a lifetime of candy.

We are reading Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And only have two chapters left. After finishing the book, we might watch the film version starring Gene Wilder which contains perhaps my favorite movie quote ever.

"Charlie, did you hear about the boy who got everything he wanted? He lived happily ever after." -Willy Wonka

Hoping you find your Golden Ticket.

Art Supply Organization

Living in a very creative household where art is created daily, the art supply box can get jumbled. Every so often a thorough reorganization is needed, some items are donated, pencils are sharpened and materials cataloged.

Then the boxes go from a busy mess...

...to a much neater easily accessible supply box. We dug in yesterday with new projects and plan to do more today.

Red

Bottlebrush (Callistemon)

Art instillation at the Audubon Center at Debs Park

Cataloging Art

Shantyboat by Harlan Hubbard

I had not heard of Harlan or Anna Hubbard and their journey drifting down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers when our friend David loaned me Shantyboat. He's from Kentucky where the story of Shantyboat is more well known. My attention was hooked after just a few minutes of looking at Harlan Hubbard's hand drawn map at the beginning of the book that details six years aboard their homemade shantyboat.

The Hubbard's built their boat just east of Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Harlan finishes the making the boat in 1944. The river rises floating the shantyboat off the land. They moar their boat there at Brent, Ohio, before casting off down the river two years later, drifting with the current of the river during winter and harboring each spring and summer to grow food, can and restock their provisions for the following winter of drifting.

Their story captivated my imagination and shared the rewards of a simple life unfolding via an extraordinary slow journey of mindfulness. Theirs is a journey of drifting but it is not aimless or lacking intention. And while they are adrift, they nurture a rich social life building community with others who live with and near the river.

I gifted the book to Eric for his birthday and to my father for Christmas. Shantyboat is a wonderful read.

LACMA Art of Looking

Over the summer, the boys and I stumbled upon a lecture at LACMA on Paul Cadmus's Coney Island painting. We sat down in small foldable aluminum stools and listened to perhaps twenty minutes of lecture before my youngest needed to move. My oldest stayed on and finished the lecture.

When I saw that LACMA's Mary Lenihan was going to give an Art of Looking discussion on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, I thought the kids, especially my oldest, might enjoy it. In the Resnick Pavilion, we first viewed some works by Henri Lehman as an example of the establishment art to get a sense of what was popular when the Impressionists were the avant-garde.

In the Ahmanson building, Lenihan directed us to some paintings by Claude Monet, including In the Woods at Giverny & Nymphea. I love the talks at LACMA. The art educators really encourage the art of looking and present the works so that you as the viewer use your own eyes to see the painting and witness the perspective of the artist. Mary Lenihan provides the history that puts the painting in context. The Art of Looking discussions happen every second Thursday of the month.

My kids lasted a good half hour before the large elevator and Jeff Koons's Balloon Dog beckoned them.

Although they both sat and listened for the discussion, I think they had the most fun in the Boone Children's Gallery for Korean brush painting.