BELLA IS WEARING PURPLE

Bella is purple but there are no more purple kitties! 

I also need more 'tracks' to put in the snow.

Time to get out the rubber stamps. 

CONSIDERING STORY

Continuing about the new snow book.  My grandson only had time to make 2 pages for the new snow story.  Kittykee is in both. This is one of the two.

I had in mind that the pictures made by my three grandkids would work into a new story. But I held the process loosely, having no story in mind.  So the 9 snow pages they made were done randomly - inspired by the materials I brought: snow fabric squares - prepared ahead, rubber stamped images (Kittykee) and painted papers.  We did not talk about story direction.  

In earlier books, Kittykee is the main character. It was not going to happen in this new book with only 2 Kittykee pictures pages. We did have 2 new characters, Sparkle and Bella though.  Keep up with future posts to see how the new snow story develops.

LAYING OUT STORY AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Continued the snow story book today. I did a lot of perking - tweaking the story, deciding about illustrations, laying the story out so I could see what is what. 

A simple children's book but a lot of thought goes into it - especially building a story with somewhat random snow pictures by my grandkids.

Tomorrow I'll rubber stamp more cats, move ahead on the illustrations and work more on the story. 

By the way, meet Sparkle and Bella, two new kitty characters in the Kittykee series. 

Til tomorrow...

TEACHING STORY TAGS IN GREECE

2nd post: Prep for Greece:
Martha will be teaching teens how to tell their stories on tags.  These are mailing tags that are purchased at office supply stores. (photo right) 

Though a very small space, I have seen simplified life stories collaged on these! (click for story tags in Asia)
Martha's goal this past weekend was to prepare painted papers for collaging the stories on tags and she did! Martha will return in a few weeks for more prep for Greece.

PREPARING FOR GREECE

1st post: Prep for Greece 

Winter continues, it's snowing again and the icicle outside my window, grew another foot!  Brrrrrrrrrrrr!  click on icicle to enlarge

Martha came last weekend, circumventing snowstorms! She goes to Greece for 2 weeks this spring where she and her team will present a program to the children of medical field workers coming from far and wide to attend a 2 week seminar.
We worked on preparing materials she will use for the 2 art projects she'll present to the early teens. So we painted papers for collaging as we talked about her presentation ideas. to be continued... 

WRITING THE STORY ON MY LAPTOP

Working on the text of the snow story after scanning art work by my grand kids, the artists.

WEST COAST MINIMAL

Our family on the West coast has a dining area with a wonderful minimal look. The Parson's design table and benches have distressed finish in driftwood, white and weathered copper green. On the wall, my Currents weather series in Ikea frames. Totally a great look!

Want to see the the art close up? Here are the blog links to the 4 pieces-left to right:

Be Strong,Down Pour!  Dry Earth  Sun Showers  Down Pour

WRITING THE STORY

Great morning in the studio! 

It was a challenge to work my grandchildren's snow pictures into a cohesive storyline. But the story elements came together surprisingly quickly. 

• a wintry snowy day 
• two kitty friends playing 
• scary footprints in the snow 
• an elusive wolf 
• Kittykee to the rescue  

The story needs tweaking, more images need to be rubber stamped and additional pictures need to be created, but this new storybook is coming together and that makes me happy!

AN ART STUDIO WHEREVER

I've been thinking about creating a collaborative snow story book by my grand kids and myself. We visited them last week. They do not live in snow country!  I brought art materials and snow photos and children's books to remember and inspire.

Into studio-mode we went!
We worked in 2 'art studios' - on the kitchen table and in their art room. 2 days later, I left with 9 snow pictures,  wondering how I would put them together into a cohesive story.

A few days later I spread out their art work in another art studio - the bed in our hotel room!  I began to think about a wintry story to fit the pictures.  A challenge !

Arriving home, I put their snow inspired art, on the tables in my own art studio.

This week I'll be working on the snow book and writing about the process. I'm happy to be back in inspiring snow country!