Squirrels in the Arb

The Arb is a 123 acrer park in the middle of Ann Arbor. A fabulous place to go and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Lower Michigan recently had an invasion of the Emerald Ash bore which crawls between the bark and cellulose of a tree and kill it. As a creative way to deal with the left over stumps, squirrel art was born! 

This other photo is a close up of a tree that has been killed by this bore and it's aftermath. People have also taken a little liberty with the lower part in the picture.

The Nina artist!

When I was a child, every Sunday meant there was a brand new search and find for me to do. I would ask my Mom for the New York Times Arts & Leisure section of the paper. Almost every week there was an ink drawing by an artist name Al Hirschfeld. He was famous for his portraits of folks performing on Broadway. You knew you had made it when he had drawn you.

My love of him began when my mom showed me that he liked to hide his daughters name in his drawings. I would look for his signature in the lower right corner and find a number just after it. This told me how many times he had hidden "Nina" in the drawing. Sometimes it was just a couple of times. Other times, in the more complicated drawings, there would over 20 Nina's. Those were the best! It was hard because I wouldn't mark on the drawing (I didn't want to ruin it), so I would have to remember which ones I had found and not count them twice. To this day, he is still one of my favorite artists. He passed away in 2003, so there isn't new work, but he produced so much work over an 75 year career that there is lots to enjoy!

These two pieces are good examples of his work. Charlie Chaplan from Modern Times reminds me of going to the silent movies with my Dad. And the Elvis Presley drawing is an example of his pieces with color, albeit just a little color in this piece.

Play with your food!

How well can you identify the food that you eat? These are pretty easy and clever. And two of my favorite foods! Eggs and tomatoes! Yum!

How about candy bars? If they were cut in half, would you be able to identify them? It's pretty fun. To find out, click here.

Don't play with your food?

Now this invention makes me want to eat meals with children! What a great idea!

My mom used to make me teddy bear pancakes for breakfast. She would use raisins for eyes, mouths and buttons. They were a real treat. Although when I ate them, I would start at the bottom and eat their nose last so that they could breathe up until the very end. My love and compassion for animals started at a very young age.

Latte as art!

For those of you that know me, you know my one true addiction are lattes. Yum! In my quest for the perfect latte, I encountered this video. It's fun to watch and makes me want to go make one right now. In fact, I might just do that....

New Fibers 2008 opens at EMU

Fiber Arts Network of Michigan presents a national survey of contemporary fiber art. 

New Fibers 2008 opens at the Student Center in Eastern Michigan University's campus in Ypsilanti, Michigan. 

The show opens on May 6 and closes June 12. Opening night when you can meet the artists' is Friday May 9, 2008 from 5 PM to 7 PM. 

Click here for directions. 

Come and see a sampling of some of the best national fiber artists!

Street art! Literally....

Julian Beever has been drawing on sidewalks for over ten years all over the world. This is an example of his work where he is real and the exposed water main is the drawing. You'll find he does this regularly in this pieces. If you click on this site, you'll find it has a repertoire of thumb nail images of his work that can be enlarged with the click of a mouse. Give it a try, it's fun!

Dirty Windows! Who would have thought....

This is the work of Scott Wade from San Marcos, Texas. He lives near a dirt road and has a rather unconventional way of dealing with the back window of his car. His work has been covered by many news organizations including, The Washington Post, American Profile, and has been featured on the today show. For more pictures here is the connection to his website.

Trash bags as art?

You bet! If you've been to New York City, you've probably seen the subway grates that line city streets. Well, one student artist has added something you probably haven't seen before. At first look, it appears to be a gray garbage bag on top of a grate, but then the subway train goes by an the air shoots up through the grate. All of a sudden trash becomes art! The inflated bag becomes a wobbly giraffe!

It's creator, Josh Harris, was inspired when see tape blowing up through the subway grates. In his quest for artist recognition, he literally took his art to the streets to create this piece. "You walk down the streets, and all of a sudden trash jumps to life", he said. "It's not what you usually see."

To see the giraffe in action, click here! (Note the commercial before the video is short.)

For more fun, some of his first pieces include polar bears. You can see them in action here.

DEVIL BABIES!

Is this art? Or something else at work?

I found this trio when I was working at the Peaceable Kingdom. They were hanging in the display window just like you see them now. I knew they had to come home with me. I don't think they would be as fun if they weren't a set and displayed like this. I was drawn to them and can't explain the attraction. I just know that they make me smile whenever I look at them! I especially like their multi-colored underpants.

Devil babies, devil babies, go go! Devil babies, go, go!

Meet me at the race track Jack!

Yet, another definition of art!

Dogs and art. A wonderful combination in my opinion!

This cartoon came from the cartoon bank at The New Yorker. I received a new cat/dog cartoon daily. For your daily laugh, press here!