Posts tagged ‘travel’
It’s the classic story of child meets balloon; child get’s balloon, balloon brings great joy, then balloon goes away. Except this story is about a 31-year old woman and her dog (who happens to be a balloon).
In a grocery store in Oklahoma City was a bin of helium balloons that instead of floating to the ceiling are weighted with legs that allow them to “walk” along behind you.
I played with one for a bit, put it back in the bin, made my purchases and moved on with my life.
But the next morning before heading home to Kansas City my sister and I had this gut feeling we needed to go back to the store and “adopt” a souvenir. I gravitated to the little dog with blue bows in her hair and my sister settled on a more stout pug. She called it Pickles. Mine became Robin.
Walking the dogs through the store turned a lot of heads and had people smiling and joking. Kids looked on in envy and adults seemed amused. When we walked outside they took to the air like kites and we joked about our new pets needing to settle down from all the excitement of leaving the store/pound. 
We stuffed them in the back seat and set out on the interstate. When we cracked a window the air flow sent them rushing to the front seat just as nervous little dogs do when they get scared. We talked about them and gave them personalities. They became very special.
We stopped for food in Wichita and by this time of day it was surely about 100 degrees. We ate lunch in a restaurant, walked around downtown and returned to our car to find our happy doggies in their backseat spot. 
We made one more stop before leaving Wichita. We went back to the doughnut place to pick up treats for the family back home. We were only in there a couple minutes. But it was a couple minutes too long.
After getting back in the car my sister looked back at the pups and screamed. The look of shock on her face said it all. I already knew.
But I looked anyway and saw my Robin’s head had burst open. It was the heat. How stupid of me! It’s a million degrees in the car and I should have never expected them to survive. I was cry-laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. My sister grabbed her Pickles and hugged it.
But Pickles’ story doesn’t end well either. About an hour past Wichita my sister noticed Pickles looking a little thinner. He was losing air. Further inspection proved several small holes developed on his head. By the time we got back to Kansas City Pickles (who always was a bit lop-sided) could barely stand. 
It’s hard to describe without sounding cuckoo-crazy how happy those two dogs made us feel. They were silly and cute and totally over priced but they were worth the pain. And I think anyone who has ever loved anything (if only for a moment) understands that.
I knew when I got home that I would want to paint something to remember Robin and Pickles. I cut out a doggie-shaped stencil and developed this painting, a little lady swept away with a little balloon magic.
The wonderful wizards of Art…
The Magic Mile 2.5"x3.5" watercolor painted in NYC after a visit to the Met
Most of you know that when I am not painting far too tiny artworks or cooking new dishes I spend a lot of time in my art classroom trying to give 5-12 year olds an art education. As a professional in the field I feel it’s my duty to develop my skills and learn from the experts….let’s say wizards of art.
Tomorrow I will whisk away to New York City to attend a conference of Art Educators. I’ll be traveling solo and as you might remember from my notorious #eatpaintNYC trip in 2011 I’ll be anxiously tweeting away my nervous tension that comes when traveling alone. My husband and daughter enjoyed my tweets from last time and I find it a very cozy yet public way to keep up with what’s going on. Follow me on the twitter at www.twitter.com/eatpaintlauren (you don’t need an account to read the tweets).
Wish me luck! And with any luck at all I’ll come home a smarter better educator and an inspired painter of far too tiny artworks 
Near the corn fields of my Dad’s house is Davenport, Iowa on the Mississippi River. They have a great museum there, the Figge, (like Figgy) with an impressive collection of artworks. Artworks like Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park #17. Don’t you just want to jump in and swim inside those yellow pinkish gray blocks? Of course not because this is a small picture and to truly love a Diebenkorn (or any painting) you have to see it with your own eyeballs and breath the same air that it does. It’s the rules. Read more
Last weekend I found myself in the middle of a Thomas Hart Benton Painting. Or perhaps more accurate would be a Grant Wood painting. I visited the wonderful land of Iowa; home of a zillion corn fields and the cleanest interstate restrooms in all the land. It only took me 6 hours in the car. Luckily my child in tow was sleepy most of the way there and she did not blow chunks in the back seat (thanks to Dramamine). We were visiting family and relaxing and enjoying ourselves. I got to go to a museum – my new favorite thing to do. The kid got to play in a pool with her cousin. Grandparents were in charge. Win-win-win situation. Oh and there was pizza. Very delicious juicy pizza.
There was only one major setback for me. What started as a serene and peaceful stroll through a mid-west mid-century landscape painter’s dream turned quickly into a nightmare, horror movie style. More on that soon. Very soon.
It’s 487 degrees outside. And it’s only 8am. So you might want to think about having something cool and delicious in the fridge for later. Maybe something in ball form?
Let me back up a little bit. When I was wandering through New York City I was feeling particularly defeated by the monster city after mis-judging a train ride and completely getting lost in the southerly un-numbered part of town. I missed a chance to have tea with a friend. I screwed up big time. So when I finally figured out which way was north (thanks, Chrystler Building for being tall and pretty) I started walking. And walking. And walking. It was hot. I was sad. But then like a magnet…I was pulled into Strand Bookstore along the way. It was cool in there. There were endless shelves of used books…not just any books. All kinds of books. And particularly…food books. One book seemed to jump off the shelves and into my hands. I snapped this pic:
I knew Juliet Elkon’s 1973 The Chocolate Cookbook would be mine. It was small and perfect for traveling. I don’t believe in such things but it sure felt like a magical match made in heaven.
So back to the balls. The cookbook is great. Filled with recipes I will never attempt because they are too complicated and/or I can’t afford the fancy ingredients. But there is a chapter called “Beginner’s Recipes” and that seemed like the perfect place to start. No-bake Cocoa Orange Balls was a title I could not resist attempting to make.
With a rolling pin make:
3 C. crumbs from vanilla wafers*
Then combine with:
1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. cocoa
1 1/2 C. finely chopped walnuts**
3 T. corn syrup
6 to 8 T. frozen orange juice concentrate
Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar***. If necessary store in air tight container and re-roll in sugar before serving. Makes about 4 dozen balls.
* I didn’t have vanilla wafers so I used graham cracker crumbs.
** I didn’t have walnuts so I used 1 C. of almond flour
*** “shaping” with my hands proved far to messy. I ended up dropping by spoonful into a bowl of powdered sugar to coat and that was much less messy. I also put my finished balls in an air tight container in the fridge to keep solid and chilly.
Having only seen pictures in Art History class I was more excited about seeing the Guggenheim inside and out than the artwork it holds. That turned out to be a good thing. I visited during “Museum Mile” night when the major museums along 5th Avenue were open late and had a festival atmosphere outside with chalk, families, music, and food vendors. For better or worse, it eventually poured rain on the outside activities which brought a massive amount of folks inside to see the free art.
Aside from the closed ramps cutting off most of the collection and thousands of people swarming the art I enjoyed what I could see. They had a Kandinsky Bauhaus show up with major works like Composition #8 and Several Circles. Every time I see Kandinsky stuff it makes me happy.Who doesn’t smile at all those colorful shapes and lines dancing all over the canvas? I’ve never seen so many in one room. There wasn’t much room in the room though.
I made my way to a cafe area where I grabbed a seat and began to appreciate the design of the space. Frank Lloyd Wright does not disappoint. In my notebook I decided to describe the way the windows and chairs looked. “Windows like this” was scratched next to scribbled drawings of the modern decorative design and notes about the gloomy but pretty greens and grays dripping outside the window over Central Park. I was having a moment with the atmosphere.
The best surprise was the top floor exhibit of student work. The kid kind. The BEST kind. And unlike the rest of the gallery I was allowed to photograph the kid art. Created by New York public school elementary students and taught by museum teachers, I ooed and awed at paper sculptures, cardboard creatures, and something called inside out self portraits. I hope those teachers don’t mind me stealing all their ideas. You bet I did!
I didn’t realize as I followed the herd out the door that I was walking into a good hard rain. No umbrella for me so I dashed between fancy apartment awnings for cover. When the rain lightened u
p I took the opportunity to stroll down the middle of 5th Avenue because the road was blocked. I enjoyed feeling like no cars would run me over that night.
I painted that night back at my hotel. Here are two paintings both drawn up after my circular-Kandinsky spiral-building and natural light adventure at the Guggenheim.
Of course I will have more to say later. I’m home from my trip to NYC and am typing as I get ready to sleep in my own bed for the first time in 5 nights. The only thing on my mind right now is how good I know my bed will feel and how good it felt to tuck my kid in again. However – as I go to sleep I know my mind will reel hoping that I remember all the amazing things I was able to do in just a few days. I visited 7 museums. I walked for miles every day. I ate things I only dream of (yes, I have food dreams). But most importantly I did it by myself – which allowed for the careful time and thought I could put into the things I saw and felt. I painted 7 (or is it 9?) new paintings that I am excited and nervous to share. But now, it’s time to rest. And begin saving up for another Eat. Paint. [Somewhere]. next summer. Suggestions?
PS: I tweeted my trip – so feel free to read the backwards ramblings of my twitter feed to catch up on my adventures: www.twitter.com/eatpaintlauren
