michelle ward

beer bottle angels

Another case of cleverness.  Enjoy!  Happy New Year!!

nativity story

Love this.  An old story, with a modern twist.  It was a youtube link in an email from my friend Lynne, who got it from her friend, Donna....and I hoisted it to share here with you. 

 

 

I'm about to bake our cake, a tradition started when the kids were little to remind them of the real meaning of Christmas.  We take baby Jesus out from the nativity, nestle him in frosting, surround him with candles, and sing Happy Birthday.  It was an idea I hoisted from my childhood church - they presented cake at the children's mass each year.  I shared the concept with our current priest....I wonder if he'll serve cake tonight?  Last year he gathered all the kids at the alter and had them assist in opening a gigantic gift.  Out came a helium balloon in the shape of a star.  He let it slowly rise while narrating the nativity story.  So simple.  So clever.  He connected what-they-know with what he was trying to tell them.  Not unlike the video clip, right?

 

to you and yours

 

With all the muchness that this holiday brings, I wish for you some peaceful moments to reflect on how much we have already.  Family, friends, full hearts, warm homes and health.   

I hope it goes without saying, that if you don't celebrate Christmas, I wish you a happy whatever-it-is-you-honor.  xoxo

20_-_Trans-Siberian_Orchestra_-_Christmas_Canon

(my favorite track this year)

 

tues times two

 

I worked on pages last week, but never uploaded them, so today I'm showing two spreads.  I've enjoyed playing with the spheres - this time with color.   To work with xeroxed images it is best to water down your acrylic paint, then iron dry before attempting to cut.  Way below you will more peeks at the Bergdorf Goodman windows that inspired the pages.

 

 

 

 

I promise to show more of the windows soon!  Had a wonderful day with friends in the city Saturday.  Andrew guided us to places I had never been like the Chelsea Market, and the High Line.  So fun to be with creatives!  You get used to visiting the same old destinations, then suddenly it is like a new place.  I was worn out, and trained it home many bags of goodies.  Thank you friends for a real blast.  Pictured here:  Katherine, from my much-talked-about-favorite-place Valley Ridge, Beryl Taylor, and Andrew Borloz.

 

speechless

This is amazingly clever.  Such detail in the choreography. Watch all the way through.  Warning:  you will have the song in your head all day.  Not such a bad thing.

turning pages

I would love to be sitting under a blanket on this blustery day, turning pages of a good book.  Instead, I turned over the last page of the wall calendar and felt the panic that unsues upon seeing *December*.  Yikes.  It feels like there is so much to do, doesn't it?  That is exactly the reason I started my Ruby Tuesday journal, November 2009.  I was searching for creative therapy to maintain my sanity - not that the holiday season makes me crazy, but shelving my art does.  Keeping a weekly appointment with art-just-for-me-because-it-feels-good-to-have-messy-hands was a rewarding experience that continues today.  Yesterday, being a Tuesday, I gathered imagery inspired by the windows at Bergdorf Goodman.  Other things came up and distracted me but that's ok.  This morning I enjoyed the process of transferring, cutting, and playing with composition to create a RT spread.  It's Wednesday and I am not even close to being done but I prefer to leave things unfinished in my studio - it motivates me to get back there, and to pick up the momentum upon my return.  Here is where I left off....

 

Maybe I'll be done by next Tuesday.  Maybe not.  The hour spent *in process* was not only a step toward completion, but it opened my mind to many other related ideas.  My wheels are spinning, and sometimes that is enough while I tend to real life deadlines. 

I wish you a happy December, a happy Hanukkah, and a peaceful moment each day to catch your breath and believe it will all get done.