Art Tones of Tuesday
Book Love Art
Reading about the French Revolution inspires my Bohemian side. And though my art is a little more old lady and not a lot Bohemian at all, I got to painting this morning.
Of course, no painting experience is complete without literary inspiration, and today it was that of the illustrative genius from the author of Gossie and Friends
Pig Art
Piggie #1
Book Love Art – Ophelia’s Quote Mugs
Previously featured as Book Love Art was the fabulous photography of Joel Robison. In that post I mentioned Ophelia’s Quote Mugs, and in this post I’d like to share with you Ophelia’s Literary line. From C.S Lewis to Ray Bradbury, Ophelia’s Quote Mugs combines beautiful art work, meaningful quotes, and the practicality of something in which to drink your coffee or tea. Priced roughly at $14, they are comparable in price to Starbucks merch, but offer so much more.
And an even cooler feature… the art doesn’t stop on the outside of the cup. Take a close look at the insides of these:
Buy one for your cozy reading time from Ophelia’s Gypsy Caravan on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/OpheliasGypsyCaravan.
Book Love Art
I have always been a lover of books, and of art. If you’ve followed my blog for very long at all, you’ve seen lots of Bryan Collins pieces floating around. I’ve even encouraged the purchase of his bookmarks in a previous post. Its why I am completely obsessed with Ophelia’s Quote Mugs. With that in mind, I’m sure you can only imagine my complete and utter joy when I saw this:
This is the photography handiwork of “Boy Wonder” Joel Robison. Joel lives in British Columbia Canada and apparently is self taught, playing with his camera and computer to master the self portrait. I love his stuff. He has work available on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/people/boywonder, and I hope everyone who reads this post takes a look at what he has for sale and finds themselves a treat.
The Enrichment of Eric Carle (at Half Price)
Today is Wednesday. Wednesday has a new ring to it now that I’m hosting story time every week at 10:30 am on behalf of Half Price Books in the Humble location’s Half Pint section.
It was a quiet crowd today, only three children munching on the provided snack, listening to Duckie Duck by Kate Toms and Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle, to name a few. It is always a pleasure seeing the younger crowd fall in love with books and enjoy a calming sit down with the work of our favorite authors, but today I found myself doing what I used to love best about working in a bookstore again – I was educating.
Kids and parents alike enjoy someone guiding them in their discoveries, just as when I am shopping, I too love for retailers to point out their favorites, clerks to tell me what they’ve been reading lately. Today as I read Mister Seahorse, I got to share the fact that Eric Carle has a museum in Massachusetts, a fact few families seem to know down here in Texas, but almost all respond with wide eyes and dropped jaws. ‘That sounds amazing!’ I often hear people saying. I agree, and I plan to take my daughter there one day on a vacation.
The beauty of The Eric Carle Museum, which feeds my desire to take my child there, aside from the art itself, is their mission:
The mission of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is to inspire, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book. In fulfilling our mission, we aspire to build bridges to an appreciation of art of every kind and to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy. We deliver this mission by collecting, presenting and celebrating the art of the picture book from around the world and by providing interactive experiences and programs that are engaging and educational.
Humble HPB Half Pint Section
That same mission, building a bridge of art appreciation and developing literacy, is how I choose my child’s books in the first place. It’s not enough to have an amazing story but boring art, it’s also not enough to have amazing illustrations and a terrible story. The building blocks for enriching a child’s mind are in a smooth marriage of those two things and Eric Carle has always seemed to manage that joining.
I hope, by choosing books to read and presenting them to children each week as part of my Event Coordinating duties, Half Price Books can be a venue for which I can share these kinds of books with new minds, and this mission with other parents – at half the price.
Gift Ideas for the Masses
Half Price Books has these fabulous little polar bear reuseable bags for $1.98 and all these cool odds and ends (like cards and calendars) to go with them. My idea: buy the bag and stuff it with goodies and put a big matching bow on the top. You’ll probably save lots of money (only buy one bag per person on your list) and you wont have to wrap a thing.
What I plan to do with the bags I buy (shhh, don’t tell my friends and family – good thing they don’t read this!):
Find a book at Half Price that you think they might enjoy, its Half Price – so it wont cost you much! Find a movie to match the theme of the book. Ie: if you buy them a copy of Atonement by Ian McEwan, buy them the movie with Kiera Knightley as well!; if you buy them a Civil War Coffee Table book, get them a documentary too! For kids, maybe get books that have Polar Bears in the story or on the cover: Pullman’s The Golden Compass series and maybe the movie to go with. Obviously, there’s still space in these reuseable bags. Bake some cookies, fudge, or candies (don’t know how, I bet Half Price or Amazon has a book on that too!). You might also want to add a small bit of artwork from Bryan Collins, he has small easily frameable prints for sale at bryandrinkscoffee.com. This will make these gift bags more personalized and family friendly – and you’ll still save lots!
Anakalian Whims 