Art – Page 10 – Letters from Home

These look better in photos than in person

Our Girls’ Camp scripture was Helaman 5:12. It reminds us to build our foundation on the rock of Jesus Christ. I wanted to make a simple, inexpensive gift for the Young Women in the ward to remember camp. This was inexpensive, but not as simple as I thought. The rocks can’t be too porous or rough. I’ve had a 30-50% failure rate with this craft, which is pretty bad. When I get an image to work, it’s very satisfying and makes me want to keep trying. The rocks at camp wouldn’t work! These are Provo River rocks that I harvested with Mark and Timothy.

I printed a reverse image of the Savior on a laser printer and used a blender pen (toxic! smells like gasoline or paint thinner) to transfer the images. I love rocks. It has been so fun to make these, despite failure after failure.

Artist in Residence at the Gala

Paige was asked to demonstrate a painting to be put up for auction at the school district foundation gala. She and another student participated. Each painted during the event and at the end they were asked to come to the front and tell the audience about their paintings. Then they were asked to walk around the room carrying the paintings while people bid for them. This is NOT what she thought she would have to do! Her painting sold for hundreds of dollars.

There were speakers, such as Noelle Picus-Pace, and that cute singer, Lexi Walker performed. This was the flier for the event.

I couldn’t get a ticket, so I helped Paige set up and took a quick picture of her progress before I left. Maybe I’ll post a picture of the finished painting if I can get it from her phone. She painted another version of a painting she did earlier this year. It’s taken from a photo she took near Snow Canyon. Richard and I are the hikers in the distance. It’s blurry and hours from being finished and not everything is shown, but this is the beginning of her project:

Well done, Paige! What an adventure. You are talented and brave, beautiful and strong!

Art Exhibition

We visited Paige’s art project last night. It has been traveling for a month or two, but
now it’s back in town. It’s on display at a mall featuring high school level artists from several school districts.

I think it must be kind of hard to send off your art for the crowds to see. I think Paige is courageous and so talented.

We took some time to study the exhibit. As we finished viewing, Paige, Timothy, and I saw Richard slipping into a candy store with the other boys. We joined them and watched Mark and Timothy explore the store like a couple of pinballs ricocheting from bin to bin. They’ve never been on the other side of the candy store window at the mall.

It was a fun family night.

Our Week

These frames are at Michaels in the dollar bins. These are Easter time pictures of each of the kids when they were about two years old. They were all such little sweeties.

I still have so many blank walls in the house. It’s daunting for me to decorate because I don’t put something on the wall unless it is meaningful to me, and that’s a tall order. I’ve been working on a few photo projects to cover some of these empty spaces in the house. I found this collage frame and filled it with photos of Richard and me for our bedroom.

As you can see, it’s still not on the wall. I have so many ideas, but perfectionism gets in the way.

Look at this picture I found:

Tres chic, I know. The baby’s hat! The scarf! The distinguished young man!

In other news, Richard had a birthday.

I made him good things to eat. What did he ask for? Lentil soup, steak, and lemon bars. Steaks are for the weekend. The Young Men were short on rides to the mountains for a night sledding expedition, so that’s what he did on his birthday. He went night sledding with the neighborhood teenage boys.

Paige took her first sick day since going to public school this week. She’s working on an art project with this selfie. She’s feeling better today.

Daniel is working the microphones for the school play. He goes to school at 6:45 a.m. and comes home for dinner, then back again for the performance. He likes working on the stage crew. He got his first taste of it when Paige was dancing in Arizona:

He’s a lot taller now.

I am going to begin teaching violin lessons next week. You have no idea how I agonized over my inability, then my lack of time, and finally my monthly rate. All of my creative energy this week went into that decision and then I took to my bed for a day in exhaustion and with an upset stomach. I’m such a Victorian that I should carry around smelling salts. Despite my turmoil, I believe it will help me to be teaching again.

Music

I can’t remember a time in many years that I haven’t played the violin for church or a fireside for Christmas. What a nice tradition this is that I never set out to establish, but one that has humbled me and helped me to feel the sweet message of the season every year. I’m playing two pieces this Christmas and the arrangements are beautiful and the people with whom I play are some of the best musicians I have ever met. Where would I be without music and these friendships that come from it?

In high school I was surrounded by really talented violinists that made me see that I lacked in my ability. After 10th grade I no longer had a private teacher and I felt like an amateur among what I now realize was a remarkable and uncommon batch of gifted kids. It wasn’t until I moved to Texas in 1997 that I began to see that there aren’t many adult violinists. I began to appreciate that I could play well enough and not be ashamed of what I knew I still lacked. I am so grateful that I didn’t give up on my talent because of the greater talents of others. I have learned that my talent is enough. I’m the person in the parable who was given two talents, not five, but I have been diligent.

I drove to an elementary school a few weeks ago to introduce the violin to the student body along with other members of a quartet. I stood in front of hundreds of kids and played samples of many styles of music. I remembered my public school orchestra teacher and dedicated the effort to him. What a gift he gave to me with his teaching.

Last Sunday a grandfather approached me to ask if I would teach his granddaughter to play the violin. “She’s a great girl,” he said. I told him that I would consider it. I’m trying to decide if this elementary school performance and this conversation with this grandfather are the signs that I have been waiting for indicating that it’s time to begin teaching someone, even one person to play.

For now, I am being diligent about practice and trying not to get the shakes when I stand up in front of people to play. Richard says that he finds it odd that my confidence has not increased over the years after so many pieces in so many meetings. My confidence hasn’t improved because I think too much and my goal is to transport somebody in the congregation beyond their troubles. The result is the shakes and fear of fainting. But I haven’t fainted yet, so it would be reasonable for me to get over it. My nerves remain immune to reason and I predict that I’ll be a bit of a wreck for the next two Sundays and then feel great about the whole thing when it’s all over.

Simple things

If I could extend these years of piano practice in the living room every afternoon and evening, I would do it.

It’s that time of year when I begin practicing Christmas songs on the violin for church. I’m also playing in a quartet this month at an elementary school assembly to introduce string instruments. I’ve been practicing faithfully and it’s a wonderful outlet for me.

My ideal evenings always involve family and music. Simple.

Juxtaposition

Paige had to take some photos for an art class showing a juxtaposition of a person in an unexpected situation. We’re not sure what the neighbors thought of this late night photo shoot in our garage.

My life is a little like this photo right now. Sure, I’ll take on whatever needs to be done, but I’m fundamentally unsuited for many of the tasks.

If only I looked this poised as I tried to figure out why the outlet in the bathroom blew up today…

Baby Quilts Finished

I finished the two baby quilts I was working on this month. They are for a newborn and his big brother (age 1) who live in my neighborhood.

They are so soft and fuzzy on the back. Life just gets better when you touch that minky fabric. And look! My friend machine quilted them in a sock monkey pattern to make us smile.

I love that they are similar but each has a unique personality. The brighter one with the yellow back is my favorite.

Mark’s First Piano Recital

The kids are posing with their piano teacher at the Fall Recital, which also happened to be Mark’s first piano recital. The younger children in the studio played Halloween pieces and dressed up in their costumes. Mark is Boba Fett from Star Wars. He played a spooky song called If You Dare! and he did a great job.

Daniel played Rondo Sonatina Op. 20 #1 by Frederic Kuhlau and The Entertainer by Scott Joplin. Daniel is very expressive and I don’t think I will ever get tired of hearing him play Joplin.

Timothy played A Neat Beat by Mier and he rocked the house. He is a wonderful pianist. Just… wow!

This is a picture of Paige and her teacher rehearsing the Shostakovich Concerto No. 2 Op. 102 for two pianos before the recital. Paige has two performances in the next few weeks for this piece. It’s beautiful.

Paige played Sonatina Op. 88 #3 Mvt. 1 by Frederik Kuhlau for the recital. She did a lovely job and she always has the grace to smile and give a confident bow after her performances. That’s hard to do.

Watching our four children perform at this recital was really something special.

Baby quilt update

I’m making two quilts from the fabric I bought last week. One is for a new baby at church. I am not sure who will get the other one. I’ve been arranging the squares on the floor. I’m not loving the way they look right now. I don’t like the brown. Maybe that will change.