The Festival of Venus

The Festival of Venus

Oil on Canvas

12" x 16"


September 26th was the ancient Roman holiday of the festival of Venus.  This is a time when the summer cycle is at an end and the apples weigh heavy on the trees.

Happy Venus day everyone!

My Book, "Art Stories" is now available on Amazon!

Big news!  My first book, "Art Stories, Folktales to Inspire Creativity for Teachers and Art Lovers," is now available on Amazon.

The inspiration for this book came from my work teaching art for children at the Indianapolis Art Center.  Every day I would start the class with a folktale related to creating art. 

In this book you will find the story of the Greek Muses, Pygmalion and more.  Each story inspires artistic creativity and hits on what it means to be an artist.  This book is perfect for reading aloud in art classrooms or alone to awaken your inner muse.

Broad Ripple Canal

Broad Ripple Canal

Acrylic on Canvas Stretched over Frame

8" x 10"

One of the best things I love about my new neighborhood is the canal.  The teal bridge is the college street pedestrian bridge.  I love it for its color. 

SOLD!

The original painting has sold, but you can purchase a reprint through Fine Art America.

Aphrodite Sowing Seeds

Aphrodite Sowing Seeds

Acrylic on Canvas Stretched over Frame

24" x 36"

Inspired by all of the flowers that are in bloom in my garden I decided to paint Aphrodite as the creator of all this beauty.
This painting will be in a show during the month of October and available in November.

The Kiss

The Kiss

6" x 6"

Acrylic on Paper

Are you feeling romantic?

Narcissus

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a man who saw his reflection in a pool of water. He fell in love with his own image. Here I have depicted Narcissus as a woman. I enjoyed the challenge of painting a reflected image in water.

Book Recommendation

I can't recommend this book highly enough!
Doorways to the Soul, 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Davy Pearmain has been hanging out in my purse for the past month ready to be re-opened at any quiet moment.
In it you will find a wonderful collection of thought provoking stories that hint at morality without being overly didactic.

One good thing about the Super Bowl!

Indianapolis will be hosting the Super Bowl this year. 

One good thing about it (other than the ranch dressing) is that we will soon have 46 NEW MURALS about town! 

The Arts Council and the City are commissioning these works from artists.  Thank you, Thank you!

To find out more visit:

http://www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org/murals/

Who is your Muse?

The Story of the Muses

In the land of ancient Greece there was a natural spring where water bubbled up out of the ground. The winged horse named Pegasus flew down to this spring. As he drank the water his hooves gently touched the ground. From his footsteps nine beautiful women were born.

These women became known as the Muses. Each of them had a special talent. One was a poet, one was a musician and one was a dancer. When they created their art, new ideas would come to humans. These inspirations began guiding artists all around the world. Zeus, king of the Gods, gathered the Muses to his side. They lived in the heavens of Mount Olympus.

You can read more about this story and how the Muses inspired the Sphinx in my new book, "Art Stories, Folktales to Inspire Creativity for Teachers and Art Lovers." It will be available on Amazon in just a few weeks!

If you are curious to find out which Muse speaks to you follow this link for a fun online quiz:

http://www.blogthings.com/whatmuseareyouquiz/

 

  May the Muse be with you!

Daphne

Daphne

Acrylic on Paper

15 X 22
Reprints available on Fine Art America

In Greek mythology Apollo, the sun God, fell in love with Daphne when Cupid's arrow struck him.  But she was afraid of Apollo and prayed to the river God to help her escape.  Daphne was changed into a tree.  This painting depicts the moment of her transformation.

Prints and cards of this painting are available at:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/daphne-addie-may-hirschten.html

Painting of my daughter, Emmaline

"Emmaline in August 2011"

Watercolor on Paper

11 X 17

Venus Painting

Inspired by the "Daily Painters" I am going to start posting paintings as I produced them.  This one depicts Venus.

The Fall of Icarus Painting

I created this painting to illustrate the "Fall of Icarus" story. I am compiling a book of folktales for artists. It is a big project and I am almost finished!

And the winner is....

This year's winner from the CYPD conference of a Fantastic Fables storytelling program is the Avon-Washington Township Library!

Congratulations Chris! I look forward to the performance.

Art Prints Available!

Prints of my Paintings are now available through Fine Art America!

The Indiana Storyteller's Workshop and Retreat 2011!

I had a wonderful time hosting the Indiana Storyteller's Workshop and Retreat this past Saturday. We had a nice mixture of storytellers who enjoyed a relaxing day swapping stories and ideas.

And what about next year? Currently we plan to gather again a year from now.

If anyone has an idea of where to locate the next retreat I would love to hear your thoughts!

The Tortoise and the Snare?

I screeched to a halt this morning after my car came inches from a turtle that was trying to cross the road near the White River.

I hopped out and ran to save him from the peril of the road. Yet as I lifted him he drained a large amount of pee all over my foot!

As gracefully as I could I took him to the far side of the road and set him down in the grass.

Would the tortoise have accepted our assistance on his race to the finish line against the hare?

I suppose that turtles and tortoises alike take pride in their independence?

Weaving Webs

The Greek "Arachne" spins forever cursed as the form of a spider.

The Japanese "Crane Wife" yanks her own feathers to spin into her creations.

The Navajo "Spider Woman" spun the world out of her sacred web.

Along with Rumpelstiltskin I am finding more and more tales that contain weaving in one form or other as a central element of the plot.

Meanwhile I have re-learned how to knit! Will this slow and steady process win the race? We shall see.

Changes!

I have just moved into a new home in Indianapolis... I have a new address, new phone number, new neighborhood, new everything!

Whoever said "the only constant is change"?

Actually the only constant is my email! So friends and clients please contact me there.

I am ready for spring!!!

As the air turns to spring I am ready to plant seeds in my new garden in Indianapolis. The irony is that I am creating Jack's beanstalk for my summer shows at the same time!

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
-Cicero

Big News! It is moving day!

I have just been offered a new job working at Nora Elementary in Indianapolis!  I am very excited to roll up my sleeves and work in the trenches of a school library.  It promises to be a rewarding learning experience for me.

And... I will have most of the summer free for my performance events for Fantastic Fables.  Perfection!

It is very sad to leave all of my fun-loving co-workers at the Monroe County Public Library.
Change is always bittersweet. 

Does anybody have any boxes?

Bloomington Storytelling Project has created online archives!

Thanks to the hard work of my friend Laura Grover and her crew of folks at WFHB, the Bloomington Storytelling Project is officially archiving true stories online. 

For this project I shared the story of a chance meeting in "Are you Linda Rudd's Daughter?"

You can now tune in every Saturday at 5:30pm for the new program, The Porch Swing, featuring local Bloomingtonians sharing stories from their lives.

Artists and their Children

As a child I loved the picture books of Robert McCloskey. I always wondered if some of his characters were inspired by real people. Well today I had my question answered!

McCloskey did have daughters named Sal and Jane. To what extent Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine were based on real incidences, I still don't know.
(If you do- please tell me!)

So far- none of my stories are based on my daughter, Emmaline, but she is the official taste tester of all of my tales. I take note of what she requests over and over again. Her current favorite is "Hansel and Gretel."
Thank you- Em!

I need all the inspiration/input I can get.

Evil Eyebrows

My new friend Robin Lee Holm of Adzooks Puppets gave me a wonderful tip for making my characters look more evil. Point the eyebrows down!

So my new evil witch for the story of Rapunzel has got some thick slanted eyebrows.

I decided to leave the eyes soft because I think that this character secretly wants to be a mother. She is lonely. Her problem is that she doesn't know how to love. Through her actions and her face, she sends a mixed message.

Thanks Robin for the tip!

And the lucky winner is....

The winner of the CYPD conference drawing for a free show from Fantastic Fables is...

drum roll please...

The Marion Public Library Children's Department!

Congratulations Cheryl and Company!

Napoleon?

Cough, cough...

I am now going to quote Napoleon:

"What is history but a fable agreed upon?"

Indeed.

Photos from the Odyssey Show (Thanks Adrienne!)

Quote of the Day

Surely the job of fiction is to actually tell the truth. It's a paradox that's at the heart of any kind of storytelling.

-Jeremy Northam

The Face of Penelope

Of all of the puppets I have recently created for my retelling of Homer's the Odyssey, my favorite is Penelope. This character is the gentle and loyal wife that Odysseus pines for during his long arduous journey. She is the root of his homesickness.

The Boy and the Ghost

The Boy And The Ghost
I have discovered another folktale that is found all over the world under different pseudonyms!

Sometimes called Jack and the Ghost, Tinker the Ghost, Esteban and the Ghost or simply The Boy and the Ghost this is a tale of a poor character who goes off to seek his fortune and encounters a ghost who helps him find it. The ghost appears bit by bit as his body parts fall down the chimney in all of the versions. Why the ghost haunts the house and how our main character handles the apparition, however, differs greatly from tale to tale. The subtle variations to this story leads me to wonder about what those alterations might say about the cultures in which it is found.

I especially loved San Souci's The Boy and the Ghost with illustrations by Pinkney.