"....wherever you may be.... "

Here's one of my latest assemblages ... if you recognize the lyrics to the song in my title of this piece, you'll get it more.



... Here are lyrics to the song "Lord of the Dance".

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

Chorus:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:

I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

Chorus:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Note Added at a Later Date:  Check out the liturgical dancer we had that danced to this song at Christ Church for Easter Sunday here

My Husband's Assemblage Work...

The Church that we are members of has been undergoing major renovations and remodeling the las 10 - 11 months. A half wall in the nave of the church was removed to make the area more handicap assessible. John used the pieces of the wall to make some lecterns/podiums. He is also making an altar for the Chapel.

Here are the podiums he made from the reclaimed wood of the walls. GREAT work John, I love them!! xoxoxox

St. Patrick & St. Joseph Table Fellowship & Fun

This morning at Church we are having a delicious pot luck of ethnic appetizers, celebrating St. Patrick and St. Joseph, since their saint days fall close together near this date. We ask everyone to bring a dish to share of their favorite ethnic recipe. I made a deluxe version of an Irish cabbage and potato dish called COLCANNON. I add carrots, and shredded corned beef to it, along with some spices .. it's pretty delicious if I do say so myself! *S*



Here is my donation to the pot-luck, staying warm in the crockpot for our gathering in a couple of hours. If you are in the area, come on down to our temp. Christ Church location (221 E. Walworth Ave.) and enjoy all the goodies and blarney that will be flying around after our 10 a.m. worship!

All are welcome!

Art & Fun with the Grandson continues...

It was a fun morning with Josh ... after breakfast we played a rousing game of "Catch Phrase" ... here are some descriptions of items Josh had to give me and I had to guess the word or item.
Josh - "You're happy! And it's on a beach".
Me - "Sand? Sun? Water?" ...
Josh - "Nope, a clam!- you know Gramma, happy as a clam?!" .. *L*

Josh- "Something you count" ...
Me - "numbers, money, things?" ...
Josh - "well Gramma, maybe you should remember to count this - it's CALORIES!"
... arrgghh.. *L*



Last night we had fun drawing cartoon characters, Josh is a great artist! It's been fun to do things together that we both have a passion for. So he was anxious to pull out his artcase of crayons, markers and paints again.





Today Josh asked me to think of some character to draw ... I said, "Why don't we draw a still life, do you know what that is?" Josh said, "Of course Gramma! We studied that in school too!" ...so, we looked on the internet and Josh picked out this still life for us to try to draw, it's called "Still Life - Naples".

Here are our renditions of the still life in marker and crayon. Josh did a GREAT job!! I plan on keeping this in a safe place so in 30 - 40 years when Josh is a famous painter, it will be worth millions! *lol*




A fun Saturday morning with Josh for sure!! After a quick trip to the dollar store, and picking up mashed potatoes & gravy and chicken at KFC for Jeff (some of his favorite things - and the potatoes and gravy should feel good on his throat)..we headed back to see how Jeff was doing and drop off Josh. Glad to see Jeff still doing so well, and he even ate chicken!! *S*

Grandson Overnight: In Search of the Beast ... Art Nite with Gramma ... Super Moon viewing thru the eyes of a 6 year old...

Our youngest grandson, Jeff, had his tonsils and adnoids out early this morning. It is same day surgery, and he was home, after spending a few hours in the recovery room, by about noon. Glad to see he was doing so well, although not talking so much yet, when I went to visit around 4 and pick up Josh for an overnight. Thanks to those who offered their prayers for his surgery and recovery... it seems to be going well!

So tonite it's Josh and I enjoying fun stuff! Josh brought his art books and art case with his crayons, paints, pastels and more! Love that he wanted to make it an art night! *lol* But first he had to watch a show on the Nick TV Channel about Big Foot. When I told him that there was a legendary beast like that around our area, he seemed interested, so I told him about "The Beast of Bray Road"! And then, of course we just HAD to go in search for him .. so off we went, as long as it was still daylight, I told him, we'd be safe...bwhahaha! *S*



But, alas, we only saw some tracks along the road in some melting snow, and couldn't be sure if they were squirrel, deer, raccoon, or some other kind of animal tracks.. *L* But, Josh was a bit relieved that all we saw was the Bray Road sign I think.. ha!

So, after making a stop at Josh's choice for dinner (Taco Bell to go and a McDonalds shamrock shake!), we headed home to eat and make some art.



What fun that was! Josh is a good artist, and his cartoon character renditions seem to have a Picasso-type element to them..*L* He chose what characters he wanted to try to draw, and we both tried our hand at it. I mostly drew the heads on mine, but Josh finished off parts of the body and some other details on mine too.



After the art fun, and a few games, we decided to look outside and see if we could see that "Super Moon" that was suppose be happening tonite and tomorrow night... It was a pretty bright moon, fun to see Josh excited about it too... *L*


(Note: turn off my playlist song to hear Josh on this short video clip.)

A supermoon is a new or full moon that happens to coincide with a close approach of the moon to the earth. Saturday's full moon will be the closest it has been to Earth in 18 years, according to Spaceweather.com.
The distance between the Earth and the moon during the event will be about 221,567 miles, as compared to the average distance of 238,000 miles, according to Space.com.
That may not seem like much of a difference (and compared to the distance it's not), but the diameter of the moon is only 2,159 miles. That means the moon will be over 7.5 diameters closer to Earth than average.

If you miss seeing the "super moon" tonite, you should still be able to check it out tomorrow night too!

It was a busy, and fun night... Josh is almost asleep, and I'm not far behind him! Thank you Lord for grandchildren!! ... and for Jeff's continued recovery!

NEW ECVA Call for Entries....

Open Studio 2011 is an opportunity for ECVA artists (those members of The Artists Registry @ ECVA) to submit their newest, favorite, or "best" work. (Images must not have been shown in previous ECVA exhibitions.)

Open the doors to your studio, we can't wait to visit!

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DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS APRIL 17, 2011

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Artists who are members of The Artists Registry @ ECVA may submit one (1) image for this exhibition. It's easy to become a member of the Artist Registry at ECVA, go to their website to find out how!

These images must be in either GIF or JPEG file format and sized so that they are at least 600 pixels (8.33 inches) on the SHORTEST side, when displayed at a resolution of 72 pixels-per-inch (ppi).

Check out the website at ECVA for more info!

Adelaide's Diet Aids

Seems that diet fads back in the early 1900's were a bit bizarre.... Sanitized Tape Worms that helped banish FAT, easy to swallow and NO ill effects either!
And La-Mar Reducing Soap, guaranteed to wash away fat, and years of age too!

Poor anorexic Adelaide seems to have gone overboard on both products!



This fun Shadowbox Assemblage includes a skeleton body (from my grandson's Halloween lollipops), with a vintage head (formerly a pin). Adelaide has a vintage bead heart, and beaded brass umbrella. Her dog (brass) eyes one of the brass tapeworms warily. A fork and knife, along with remnants of a piece of La-Mar reducing soap, and vintage ads are featured inside as well. On the outside of the box, which sits on a distressed pedestal, a cloth tape measure lines the box sides, and another brass tapeworm sits on top.

Finally I am fully into the year 2011!!

Even though we are 2 1/2 months into 2011, I was still back in 2010 ... but finally, I've finished getting all my 2010 tax papers in order and took them to our tax man this morning. A job that I am glad is over, at least on my end. I do our books for the business throughout the year, but there is NO way I would do our taxes... not with all the changes from year to year.

Also today, our internal audit committee finished up the annual church books audit for 2010! This year we have been "awarded" a limited audit because of the good job we had done in the previous year... so it is much easier this time around... about 20 hours less work for the internal audit committee and myself!



Thanks to Barb and Bill for their time volunteering for our Internal Audit Committee too... we appreciate YOU!

SOOOOOO, now I can advance fully into this year...(a burden lifted!) YAY and PTL!!!

Conjoined Trinity .... unfinished

This is something I have had sitting around, wishing I could be inspired to finish it and put it into something. It was originally a vase with joined handles, and three different places for flowers. I added some old doll heads, some shoes from clown dolls, and some wire and shoe charms around each neck. I think it looks like conjoined triplets... what kept coming into my mind while I was putting it together was "the trinity", but not sure where that idea will go from here?

I was also considering putting this into a box that would be decorated like a circus tent, and finding some old vintage freak show posters to add to it. The round ball thing on their heads is just sitting there, not attached, I kind of like it. The trinity piece is on a turntable, so it can spin all the way around, I'd like to decorate that also with some kind of beaded fringe perhaps?

Anyway... I have quite a few things here in the works... just haven't had much time to get any art done lately...

2010 Tax things however ARE getting done, and almost ready for my meeting in a few days.. and then the annual audit of the Church books from 2010 will get done this week, and perhaps then I can finally get into the year 2011 fully! *L*

Early Celebration of St. Patrick's Day with Friends...

The Delavan Lion's Club annual Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner was today. Our friend Randy has treated many of us to the annual event for a number of years...this year was no exception! THANKS RANDY!! We gathered with others at Randy's before heading over to enjoy the Lion's Club dinner held at the Village Supper Club. It was a fun afternoon and early dinner... delicious food too!




Camera-hog Ron and me posin...*L*
And, yes... as you can see... some of our friends (Rocky!!) like to dress a bit over-the-top..*L* ...Gotta luv em!!

Tiny Tim ... unfinished

God bless us every ONE! A damaged doll, limbs missing, canes, crutches .... this reminds me of tiny Tim, the crippled boy from "A Christmas Carol".

I'm not finished with this yet... but kind of liked the assemblage of things together...


.... more to come on it at another time....

Shrove Tuesday - Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday - Pancake Day!!

The day before Lent begins... At our Church we have the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. This year we had to host it at our temporary downtown storefront location since the major renovations on our church building are still going on.

It turned out to be one of the best crowds we've had in the last few years... but I think the fact that there wasn't a major snowstorm tonite also helped over previous years!

Lent, which starts tomorrow, usually is a "season" of self-denial, more prayer, worship events, etc... well, I guess you could say I started some self-denial early since John and I, along with Randy and Sue gave up our Tuesday Nite "Support Group" dinner at Tubbys and had pancakes instead of our lobster or shrimp dinner ...yep, that was indeed a sacrifice! *lol* But the pancakes were delicious too!




Here are a few photos from tonite...

My Dad was part of the Pancake Crew, again washing dishes and helping out, along with Bob Britt, who has been part of the Crew for over 70 years! His son, Mark, took over as "head chef" for this year's event.






Ron and Mark had to hustle to keep up with the pancake eating guests!! Dad takes a break from dishwashing to enjoy some pancakes too!




Thanks to the men for all their work in our Pancake Supper!!

Temporary Office - Shrovetide - Pancakes & more ...

As some of you know, the Church I work for has been undergoing some major, MAJOR renovations. And we've been in a temporary, downtown, storefront location since May 2010. We actually started packing for the move over a year ago now... but soon, in less than a month (hopefully!), we'll be starting to move back to our newly renovated Church building! Yay!!! I'm looking forward to getting out things that have been packed away, and getting into a new office space and new worship spaces. BUT, I'm not looking forward to the actual repacking up and moving, reorganizing, and all this huge move-back will involve.. ugghh!




Lately I haven't had much time for assemblage art ... been spending a lot of time in this little cubbyhole space and getting things done for the coming Lenten Season - which starts this coming Wednesday - Ash Wednesday!

Right now, we are in Shrovetide!

The Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday are known as "Shrovetide," from an old English word "shrive," meaning "to confess," a name gotten from the tradition of going to Confession in the days before Lent started. Shrovetide is traditionally the time for "spring cleaning," and just as we clean our houses in these days in prepation for Lent, we also "clean our souls" through confession so we can enter the penitential season fresh.
Shrovetide is the last two days of "Carnival," an unofficial period that began after the Epiphany and which takes its name from the Latin carnelevare, referring to the "taking away of flesh" (meat) during Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, the day following Shrove Tuesday.

The Tuesday of Shrovetide is a particularly big party day known as "Mardi Gras" (French for "Fat Tuesday") -- or "Pancake Tuesday" because fats, eggs, and butter in the house had to be used up before Lent began, and making pancakes or waffles was a good way to do it.




In many places, especially in England, pancake races became popular and remain popular today. In these races, women must run while flipping a pancake so many times, and whoever crosses the finish line first wins. The largest pancake race in England is in Olney, in Buckinghamshire. There, the women must wear a dress, apron, and bonnet, and flip the pancake three times -- while ensuring it is intact after they cross the finish line, of course. The story told to explain the origins of this race is that in 1445, a homemaker heard the shriving bell (the bell rung to summon people to confession on this day) as she was busy working in her kitchen. Not wanting to be late, she rushed about and ran off with her skillet still in hand.

Our Church is having the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper tomorrow night, (ALL ARE WELCOME!), we had hoped to be in our renovated Church building by this time, but unfortunately we are still in the temporary site.




However, the tables are set-up there, awaiting those who want to come and have some delicious pancakes, sausage and beverages! If you're in the area on Tuesday, between 5 - 7 p.m., stop on in and enjoy some food and fellowship!!

Happy Shriving!!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

A nice day off! John & I spent part of it going to see grandson, Jake's hockey game, and spending time with grandson Josh watching it. Since it was a tournament weekend there, there were basket's for drawings, and other chances to win things. A lollipop tree caught Josh's eye, as he hoped to win $20 if he picked the right sucker. He tried several times, but alas, all he got was a lollipop and an empty sucker stick. *L*





Jake and his team had a good game! They won 6-3! Good going Beloit Blades!!
Jake was a real go-getter, even against some bigger players who liked to shove a lot.



It was fun watching Jake play, and fun spending time with Josh too (such a goof!) *S*.




Our other grandson Jeff, was at a birthday party, so we missed spending some time with him, but next time we will!

He's Baaacckkk....

No, not this terradactyl.. *L* ... one of several things I photographed at the Milwaukee airport this noon. Some cool facebottomed sailboats were also displayed there.










John is the one who is back home. I picked him up at noon at the airport today, along with his sisters, Mary & Sherry. They had been in Texas visiting their Dad. It was a nice visit, it sounded like from the stories they told on the way home, and Paul was very happy to have them there. Unfortunately he is still going downhill, and this may have been the last time they'll get to see him alive, (at least in this world), so I'm glad they had the time together.





Glad to have John back home too! He had friends come yesterday looking for him... heh heh..*G* .. yes, they're baaacckk too - the maurading band of wild turkeys were hanging around the yard again ... I threw them out some leftover bread sticks, which they pecked at, but didn't like much I guess, since they are still in the yard with the melting snow ..*L* John told me not to feed them, he didn't want to be attacked by throngs of wild turkeys when he goes down to the garage in the dark.. haha!!

Dancing Flowers Assembled ... Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate..

Okay... this just makes me HAPPY!! *lol* And makes me wish for Spring! Yesterday was Grandson Friday, and all three grandsons were here for the morning due to vacations from school - Teacher's Convention. So of course, it included a trip to the Dollar Store... and look what I found!! Solar Dancing Flowers... SOOO Cute!! (And only $1 each - such a deal!)

They only had three left and I bought them all, but am hoping to find more for the Sunday School class and Easter gifts for some of the nieces too...and for ME! *S* Doesn't take much to amuse me, eh?

I decided to see if they danced better to this old song.... And they DID! ha! I think the flower in the red pot must be "Kate"!! She seems to shimmy her leaves a bit more than the other two. *lol*

Check out the short video clip of them dancing. (don't forget to stop my playlist song before playing the video so you can hear the video song too)...ENJOY!

Beloved ...Let us love one another ... for love is of God...

... anyone else sick of all the political BS going on? It's so divisive, and some are just so nasty, mean spirited, and horrible in their comments... even church people. Where is the love one another aspect? I don't see it if it's there. *sigh* Lord, help me to show Your love, where I am wrong, correct me, and no matter what, help me to love my neighbor as myself, despite our differences. Asking this in Jesus' Name. Amen.


I think I need to focus on art that I hope will be God-inspired, rather than follow the political mess.

Hoping to be able to do so later this week, into the weekend.