Andy Warhol and cats

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This school year, I have been teaching in 3 different schools every week where I have to share the room with other art teachers.  In my Wednesday school the other teacher I share the room with left a picture book on the teacher’s desk, called Uncle Andy’s Cats.  I read it while I was waiting for my class to show up and was blown away.  Did you know that Andy Warhol (the author was the famous artist’s nephew, hence the “Uncle Andy.”) had 20+ cats all named “Sam” and one named “Hester”?  I didn’t until I read this book.  It fascinated me so much that I began to research his cat related artwork and immediately fell in love.  I had always appreciated what Andy Warhol had brought to art and the ways he changed it but I had never found a particular artwork I really connected to of his.  Now I’ve found it in his cats.

That brings us to this week’s quote.  It’s from this book Andy Warhol published in the 1960′s of his cat artwork plus quotes by himself.  I want a copy so badly.  My favorite quote is:

                                    “It’s all in your attitude.”

Sooooo true about everything in life.

Go ask Alice

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So, can I get an agreement that when it comes to colds, sharing is NOT caring?

Thank you.

Anyway, when I need a life lesson, I always fall back on Alice.  Here is some great advice straight from Chapter 1 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

“Come, there’s no use in crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply; “I advise you to leave off this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. “But it’s no use now,” thought poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!”

 

Vincent Van Gogh…No, he went!

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We are at the end of the school year which always brings mixed emotions for us teachers; happiness for the freedom of summer and sadness that all the fun with the kids has to end.  The biggest problem at the end of the year is how to wind down your lesson plans (let’s face it, lesson plans are a problem ALL year long).  Anyway, the heavens dropped into my brain a fantastic lesson plan for the end of the year.  It doesn’t require a lot a preplanning (well for me anyway) and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

I call it: Van Gogh Puzzles (catchy right?  If you don’t like it, make up your own title!)

There are 8 tables in my classroom so I picked out 8 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh that I thought would be interesting to draw.  I found them online and printed them out 2 per page because that’s a good size and saves on paper and ink.  Good, right?  Anyway…then I laminated them because I know how my kids treat their supplies and needed these pieces to survive two days of classes.  Then I cut each painting into four puzzle-shaped pieces and labeled each one with a letter.  Example: All of the “Starry Night” pieces were letter “E.”  When the kids came in, I gave each one a random puzzle piece, they had to find their matching pieces using the letters, then put the puzzle together, and finally redraw the painting on a 11×18 piece of drawing paper.  We then colored it in with crayons (because I had already put away the paint and had enough of the mess!)  The kids really enjoyed it because they got to get up, move around, and “play.”

Enjoy!

Quote

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Today’s weekly quote is another picture.  This one just appeared on my facebook newsfeed when I settled into my couch for the night.  It perfectly embodies all that I have ever said about the English language.

My poor English language learning (ELL) students were always so confused by how to say things properly.  I would always tell them, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t invent English.  If I did, it would be much simpler to understand I assure you.”

Who?

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I was speaking to my roommate about an unsuccessful conversation she was having with someone else.  This quote immediately sprang to mind:

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

~George Bernard Shaw

 

I have never read Shaw but I love the art of Mary Engelbreit and through that I have been exposed to many quotes I never knew before.  This is one of them:

Her artwork is amazing.  You can purchase this print and so much more here.

Mad as a Hatter

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As you can tell from the theme of this blog that I love love love the story, Alice in Wonderland.  I love all of the many versions but, as with most things, the original book is the best.  Every so often I get the urge to read it again and relive the “muchness” that is Wonderland.  To that end, tonight we have words of wisdom from the Mad Hatter.

“Really, now you ask me,” said Alice, very much confused, “I don’t think —”
“Then you shouldn’t talk,” said the Hatter.

Oh, if everyone could follow that advice!

Sometimes memory lane hurts your feet

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So I am a member of an international organization called Toastmasters (if you want to read about it, click here).  The point of this club is to work on the various areas of public speaking and interacting with others in a public setting so that you become the best speaker you can be.  Awesome, right?  Well, it is.

I’ve been in Toastmasters since 2007 when it was recommended to me by my student teaching supervisor in college.  Since then I can feel myself being more comfortable in front of people in general.  So, it works (just a little plug there).

One of the things you practice is preparing and giving speeches in front of the group.  On Tuesday, it was my turn to give a speech.  The problem is that the only speech I had left to give until I reached my next goal (Advanced Communicator Bronze) was the “Touching Speech.”  What, in heaven’s name, do I talk about?  There was one topic that kept coming to mind but it was the one topic I did not want to talk about…the life and recent death of my 17-year-old cat.  He was so much a part of me that even now, 6 months later, there is still a painful hole in my heart that aches as much as it did the day he died.

However, I sucked it up and I did it.  Have you ever done something you knew you couldn’t do but did anyway?  The feeling of accomplishment you feel afterward?  That’s what I felt on Tuesday and still feel now.  Not only did I complete the award I’ve been working toward for four years but I also managed to speak to a group of people about my beloved pet and feel good about it.  There was a strange, cathartic feeling afterward that I was not expecting.

Here are two pictures of him.  The one on the left is the oldest picture I have of Mr. Buttons (my cat) and on the right is the last picture I have of him.  In between he was a fantastic, annoying, adorable, aggravating, loving, and crazy cat but he was mine and I loved him with everything I had in me.

On this Good Friday…

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“Bring my soul out of this prison,

So that I may give thanks to Your name”

Psalm 140, Verse 7

I first heard this verse in a church service, called Vespers.  It is the evening service in the Eastern Catholic tradition, where we sing several Psalms although this particular verse is the one that has always stuck out in my mind.  It has become the inspiration for various of my creative outlets; artworks including my senior art exhibition in college and my first National Novel Writing Month entrance.  Every time I contemplate its meaning, I see a new angle, a new idea to explore.

I hope that it can come to mean as much to you as it does to me.

“We will not go quietly into the night!”

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One of the more annoying side affects of having bronchitis is the inability to sleep peacefully.  My 6-month old kitten is not appreciative of this side affect either as she was roughly moved off the bed by my constant moving, shifting, tossing, and turning.  So, in the random moments when I am awake during the night, wishing desperately to fall back asleep, I get some weird thoughts in my head.  This quote came to me the other night in one of those times and I remembered it because it’s my favorite moment in the movie, Independence Day from the mid-90′s.

The President of the United States (Bill Pullman) has assembled the rest of his forces for one last push against the invading alien army.  He steps up on a makeshift podium and gives this speech:

President Thomas Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!