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The kids are all right...

Uncompaghre on the left and Mt. Antero on the right

I spent part of my week helping the kids in my son's class make these little beauties. My friend Dia (see her amazing jewelry here) and I cooked up this project as part of a fund raiser for the school. The kids wrote poems about several of Colorado's "fourteeners" - mountains 14,000 feet or higher (there are a bunch of them, you check them out here if you are interested). They put the poems into little books that I made and then embellished a doll that I also made to go with each poem book. They are quite stunning I think. I am always so inspired by children's art and their free-wheeling, yet creatively considered choices. Here are 2 of the books and the poems that go with them.

Mt. Antero

Mt. Antero likes open space with clean maple air.
His turquoise eyes made of glacial lakes glimmer in the sunlight.
His short miner's candle hair blows in the wind and tangles in itself.
His cloak smells of pine trees. The tip of his cloak slowly turns white in winter.
He wears a red rock baseball cap that cracks and crumbles.
The wind and the butterflies frolic and play with him the spring.
In the summer and spring, picas and marmots annoy him, but he tries not to care.
At night the red tail hawks sing him to sleep with their beautiful call.
Antero's mellow voice says, "Go with the flow, man," to the climbers on his back.

Uncompaghre

My skin is green.
I sound like "whoosh" and "crunch" as the king's crown leaves
get crushed and the wind blows.

My arms are covered in lichen growing on stone.
At night, eagles perch on my trees.

My flowers cover the side of my face.
The snow makes my slopes soft as my Douglas fir trees.
The downy woodpeckers make their home in my rocky maple.

Slim strands of shimmery white poplar hair flow down my calm, sea-smooth back.
Cedar waxwings chirp a mellow curved hymn as the sap-sweet wind caresses the rapidly flowing diamond-cut water.

Through the endless seasons of jeering, tormenting weather, I have held my solemn word to protect the opalescent rivers and lapis lazuli lakes, never stopping.

I whisper to the wild, "You are revived. You are the sage of the wild, a legend."

The gamble oak forms Uncompaghre's mitten.
The ragleaf forms a tattered scarf.

This is the work table as we got started. Believe me, it didn't look this organized for long.

Hastening the drying process.

Sewing on the Uncompaghre doll.

I hope you liked this little peek into the kid's "studio" this week. The poems are heart breakingly beautiful. It's hard to say which part of the project I liked best. Parents get out your check books and start writing. Add lots of zeros and take home some amazing art.

Want peace? Send the artists.

I don't know if any of you have been following the New York Philharmonic's trip to North Korea, but I have been inspired by this little ray of peace and hope. Nay sayers (and there are plenty of them), see this only as a public relations ploy by North Korea's President, Kim Jong Il. While I was running errands yesterday afternoon I caught WNYC's show, Soundcheck (the best thing about driving around town on my endless loop of kids, errands, etc. is getting to listen to the Public Radio station on XM Radio - see my side bar on What I'm Listening To) and I was very moved by John Schaefer's report from the concert. Devoid of politics during the moments they made their beautiful music, all I heard was beauty and the stirring human connections that were made between the artists and their audience. It was a goose bump kind of story for me. I believe that kind of artistic connection makes a difference in this crazy world. Give the story a listen here and see what you think. For those of you who think I've gone a little woo-woo on this, John's story is followed by the pundits doing their nay saying thing, so this story has something for everyone. Actually, what follows John's man-on-street report, or in this case, man-in-the-orchestra-pit report, is an interesting discussion about what the Philharmonic's role in this is, and does cultural diplomacy make a difference.

And guess who's up next? Eric Clapton. Yep. He's been invited by the North Korean government. Who knew Kim Jong Il had a hankering for the ol' Slow Hand.

Travel Journal Kit

“For every traveler who has any taste of his own, the only useful guidebook will be the one which he himself has written.” Aldous Huxley

I thought I’d jump right in and respond to Michelle Ward’s wonderful GPP Street Team Crusade No. 17 – Pandora’s Box – Make a Journal Kit.

I have had the great fortune in the past few years to do a bit of traveling and I’ve been keeping a travel journal for most of my adventures. I really like a spiral bound journal because you can fold one side under for when you are in small places wanting to write or draw or paste down ephemera, when there is little or no room. Like in a ridiculously small airplane seat or a lovely small café table. It’s interesting how sometimes small and cramped is criminal and sometimes it’s charming. Anyway, it fits nicely into my travel bag along with my little kit of supplies which I have pared down to include:

Little pointy travel scissors
A Scotch brand paper cutter for when the airport takes away my scissors – very random
A couple of water pens to use with watercolor papers
A regular writing pen
A couple of colored Gelly Roll pens
My trusty Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen in the “S” size – super fine – filled with black waterproof India Ink which I can watercolor over without smearing – that’s why it’s my trusty travel pen of choice
A mechanical pencil with an eraser
A Uni-Ball Signo white pen
A small cocktail napkin, usually from the plane, for drying my water pen
Nicholson’s Peerless Water Color papers
Making Memories Alphabet rub-ons
Small glassine envelopes for treasures

All these supplies fit into a “Kokuyo Kaddy Supply Tote”, which is a mere 7 ¾” X 4 ¾”. Voila! Travel journal kit.

Travel journaling has allowed me to actually remember what I did on my journey and more than that (although sometimes that’s plenty), it has deepened my experience while I’m there. There is there, there, and journaling helps me appreciate it, as well as remember it. I think about my children and grandchildren someday reading about these adventures and realize I’m creating a family narrative as well as just journaling my journey.

I realize after perusing other crusading journaler’s on-the-go kits, that I need to create a version for my bigger, ongoing journal. I usually work on that in my studio where I have everything at hand. But I think I’d like to get braver and head out into the world for a different kind of everyday journaling. There’s lots of there, there….too. I’ll keep you posted.

A big thanks to Michelle for this inspired crusade, I have really enjoyed checking in with other people and seeing their journaling kits.

Launching.....

Well gang, 1,2,3….here I go. Just like my son launching into the great blue below, I’m taking the leap into the world of blogging. Thanks for visiting. Come back often, I’ll share my life and what I’m working on. I’ll share my journeys with you and let you in on all (well most) of my cool finds. Poke around my sidebars to see what I’m reading and what inspires me.

One of my big inspirations is a poem a day at The Writers Almanac and I love listening to Garrison Keillor read to me each day. You can find him here. Take yourself away to the land of the spoken word in poem form. I've linked you to one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems, but he reads a new one everyday. Check it out! And I’ll be seeing you around here!