°❀⋆.ೃ࿔Art Class & A Cactus:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Friends, it is the end of the week! How are you holding up? Has your summer officially begun? This week has been a bit of a whirlwind with everything going on. I taught my first youth art camp of the summer, we are preparing to have a rummage sale at the arts council this weekend (which has taken a bit of work to set up) AND I’ve been trying to work on, both, my own writing and my newest painting. It has been helpful that my kid’s went to their grandma’s so I could focus on this busy week. Next week will slow down a bit, thank the lawd.

The youth art camp this week was a success!! I had such a blast teaching it and the kids were SO receptive to the ideas that I was throwing at them. This class was a “Artists Styles Exploration” in which we used a popular character and applied famous artist styles to them. The first day we learned about cubism, impressionism, and surrealism. The kids ZOOMED through the project (and, I think, really understood the assignment) so much to the point where I had to make a whole separate rubric for the next day BUT that allowed us to look at EVEN MORE styles and apply them to our art. The second day, we learned about Baroque style, expressionism, and art deco, and we chose a whole new character to apply these techniques too. I also was a huge nerd and made them tests for each day where they had to view a piece of art and decided which style it belonged to. They did AMAZING with those and we had a really great discussion afterwards. Kids are awesome.

I know, I know, I KNOW, I promised to give you a wee sample of my writing. I had PLANNED to sit down and work on a short story this week. I HAVE the idea totally finished in my head BUT I only have the first paragraph of said story written out… But I’m willing to share that tidbit with you and will be happy to share more later on…. So here goes:

In a small, desolate corner of the old country, behind achromatic rolling hills and the forests of skeletal trees, situated a bleak town with the only attractions consisting of a butcher’s shop, a tavern, a cornerstore, and a library. The infrastructures themselves were all very dated, their colorful paint having long been dissolved into a most unpleasant color of grime. The buildings seemed to be in a state of perpetual dilapidation and, though there were inhabitants of this town, you would not know it by looking at the numerous shingles that continue to fall from their setting, almost like they too were giving up on this miserable place.

I’m also very pleased to announce that my “Butterfly-finned Sharky” is in an online exhibition through Exhibizone called Kingdom Animalia and you can now view the piece (and the rest of the gallery) here. Please check it out if you have the chance, any traffic on the website is good traction!

Photo captions— Cover photo: The youth art camp I taught, these are our works we created imitating styles of cubism, impressionism, and surrealism. I thought they did amazing! ♡ᴗ♡ Photo 1: Supplies I ended up having to snag from our art supply rummage sale…. even though I said I wasn’t going to bring any home. (◉ _ ◉) IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA, the rummage sale is happening TOMORROW from 8-4 PM at the ACWL-Nuveen! Photo 2: The set up of my classroom before kids came in! Photo 3: My Christmas cactus is blooming this season!! Woot! Photo 4: Our caterpillar has decided it’s time! We collected it off our milkweed that we try to keep available for the butterflies. All summer long, I check them and if we find a caterpillar, we bring them inside until they are safely transitioned! Photo 5: BB deer!! It was at daycare since the mama wasn’t around! (And by daycare, I mean the bush the mama hid it in. >ᴗ< Photo 6: I bought STUNNING firecracker begonias for an absolute STEAL. I’m sharing the location here because if anyone is interested in getting more flowers this season yet, PLEASE hit up John’s Home Grown Market and Produce in White Cloud, MI! They have an incredible selection, really healthy blooms, AND ALL PLANTS were on sale, including 50% annuals!! Hell, I need to go back still. For Photo #6. Which was the cutest metal watering can planter.

I hope you all have a fabulous week. The weather has been mild but that seems pretty good ‘round here! We are moving slowly on our renovation and NEXT week I plan to tune in to working on my newest painting, Pathogen, and I will get you a lil’ sneak peek! Behave yourself, babes, and HEY-to all the dad’s out there: HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! I hope you know your impact is immeasurable and your presence is all the difference!

xxx-Kanda ⚞^. .^⚟