I have the good fortune to work with Tracie. She shared with us yesterday that this is save the bat week. Look at the heartwarming drawings of bats she sent and you will see why I feel so excited. Tracie seems to turn out these magical drawings effortlessly but I know she has worked for years to convey the glory of the natural world. The wonder is she is willing to share her work so generously..."it's all about connection," she writes.
" I am so glad you liked the bats! I love bats! They are fascinating creatures aren’t they? I love to watch them at dusk. I hope to put up bat houses this year to attract more!
My eldest daughter’s Chinese surname before we adopted her was also Fu which means good fortune but also sounds like the word for bat (biānfú or fú). On the Lunar New Year, households will have the character for Fu on their front door with couplets all around as a symbol of good furtune for the new year. Inverted characters are extra lucky! They also hang bats! Get it? It’s an inverted Fu! Puns are popular in Chinese culture. We have little red silk bats hanging in our house for good luck—and for Callliope. Calliope was born on Chinese New Year so bats have come to have another layer of importance in our family."
Enjoy the websites and the drawings Tracie sent. You can see more of her work, or be in touch here.
All drawings copyright Tracie Noles-Ross
And this from Amber...
"The three younger boys needed new copy books since we aren't using a handwriting curriculum this year. One way to encourage being a keeper is to use quality materials. I didn't want to use a composition book because we use those all the time and they have too many pages. I think it's important that your first copy book be small so you can enjoy filling it up. Their handwriting improves so much in the first year that it's also encouraging to begin afresh before too long. I had such a hard time trying to find a boyish solution that I finally gave up and made my own. I bought a Moleskine 3pack, printed out some antique illustrations and broke out the rubber cement. They can't wait till Monday...."
"I grew up in a house of books and art supplies, lucky to have parents who invested in quality creative materials. Though we didn't have cable TV or video games or the latest toys, we did have Prismacolor pencil sets, Klutz books, femo clay, and pattern blocks. I knew the feeling of buttery oil pastels under my fingers when most of my friends were playing with waxy crayons."
"I've always been a doodler, and I was part of the public school system art program throughout my elementary and high school years. My teachers helped instill a love of craft. I started journaling seriously when I was about 8, and filled 17 diaries over two years. I had stints in doll-making, beading, and sewing, all of which were self-taught and casual and, might I add, very fun. I was crafty in a way my parents were not--my mom can't iron or sew or bead or do anything with too much hand-eye coordination--but they way my parents lived and looked at the world, valuing books and art and filling the house with tapestries and supplies, supported me more than any formal teaching."
"In college, I majored in literature and art history, and academics sucked up most of my creative energy for those four years. When I moved to Serbia to teach English on a Fulbright scholarship in the year after I graduated, I brought along the barest collection of art supplies, thinking I wouldn't have time. But as it turns out, I did. Drawing became my primary means of understanding the world around me, condensing it into a sketchbook, and sharing it. Creating Snippets both helped me to understand for myself and to share with others the culture that surrounded me, and it completely shook the foundations of my career path. I'm setting out now as a cultural illustrator, hoping to make visual narratives of diverse lands a full-time vocation. "
***** Isn't that a wonderful big idea-- A "cultural illustrator?" You can see more of Emma's lovely work at her website or follow her Tumblr page: emmasylvie.tumblr.com . Thank you for sharing your inspiring pages with us, Emma!
All images and words copyright Emma Fick.
All images and words copyright Emma Fick.
Isn't this inspiring for the "Enquire Within?"
(Kajmak is a kind of quick Serbian cheese)
All images and words copyright Emma Fick.
All images and words copyright Emma Fick.
Julie writes:
"I wanted to let you know that I just entered my very first two entries in my Book of Centuries, and I was a little teary eyed when I did! Somehow, I just know that keeping these notebooks is going to be something really special in the life of our dear family! I was struggling with what to enter and kept putting it off. Then last night, I was curled up reading Anne of Green Gables, which is one of my very favorite books from my childhood, when I realized putting the year that this book was published would be a great first entry for MY Book of Centuries, as Anne has been a constant companion since my girlhood days. It's funny how now reading her books after having now begun my CM journey, I see how very CM Anne is! She LOVES the outdoors and is always observing and delighting in the natural world around her. I thought it such a fitting entry for my first! After that I entered G.K Chesteron's death in 1936, as I have been enjoying his writings of late as well.
Also, I was delighted when I was reading a recent novel by Alan C. Bradley, called the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, which is set in England in the 1950's, and found the characters trying to figure out how to write a proper letter to the King. They decided to look at their housekeeper's Inquire Within notebook, where they were sure to find it! I would have never know what that book was if I had not just read The Living Page! I am loving all the connections"
Nature Notebook photos courtesy of Windsor/Essex County CM Friends
Pamela drawing in her Book of Centuries at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.
Upper Year Book of Centuries This book has only been in use for two years. You can see that even though the student spent a lot of time reading in this century, the page is by no means full. The grid side of the book (not shown) may fill slightly faster but the Book of Centuries supports a lifetime of connections and there will be a unique unfolding of entries for each student. No need to rush!