Seriously. It is. February 5th…
Mind you… Randie heartily approves of such a “holiday”… here’s a few toons involving one of her favorite treats.
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- Lil’ Red Vespa: Ghent
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- It was cold in Ghent!
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- Parisian sticker
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- Kolon… train station
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- Parisian Graffiti
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- Picasso Musee, Paris
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- A Somersby Cider in Ghent
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- Penguin Band … also in Ghent,
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- Tomi Ungerer Musee in Strasbourg
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Hello, Squiddies! I am back! I must tell you that the last month has been a crazy wild ride of travel, traveling while sick… total sickness and recovery.
Let’s start at the beginning. I had an amazing trip of discovery. I so enjoy seeing how the rest of the world lives, thinks, eats and has fun. This trip was a discovery of how Euro countries do winter and Christmas. We stayed in France, The Netherlands, Belgium and briefly in Germany. So we got to see the way these places deal with wintertime… and I was impressed with the hearty drinks each place offered and the cheerful folks who served them. There was Belgian Coffee (served to us by Michel), Cours Cheval, Alsacian Coffee, and Schnapps. These all help you get over the winter cold outside…. The Dutch just throw chocolate sprinkles on stuff and magically everything’s better.
The surprises on this trip were Ghent, Belgium and Strasbourg, France. Both cities are university towns, and OLD World places with tons of history clogging up the streets. Here’s an amazing castle, AND here’s an amazing cathedral… and art museums and stuff… so much to see and do! Strasbourg had an amazing contemporary art museum… and we visited so many art museums on this trip! It was inspiring and fun-filled and interesting…
Then there was the downer, however, of getting sick in Amsterdam, and then continuing to worsen until I got home and couldn’t get off the couch for OVER A WEEK. I was lethargic, hacking up goop and not feeling at all hopeful, or wanting to do ANYthing… just sit on the couch. Okay, I did watch French cartoonists draw on YouTube…. I found an old TV program called Tac au Tac… and it was kind of like an improv cartooning show from the 70’s. Fascinating. Andre Franquin is my new hero…. Franco-Belgian Tooner who did a comic called “Gaston Lagaffe” as well as drawing “Spirou.” Anyhoo… pretty amazing guy.
And on the subject… French tooners who lost their lives for drawing what they wanted…. Really short response here… I would not buy a copy of Charlie Hebdo … I’m not confrontational… and their humor is anything but…. HOWEVER… if you say you support freedom of speech, you have to support even the stuff you don’t like… the stuff you find offensive. I am sad for the families of those who were killed. It is a tragedy and it shouldn’t have happened. Let it be said that I like “happy” cheerful cartoons… and that’s the stuff I buy.
Okay, letting off on a happier note… It’s good to be reasonably healthy again, and back in my office and at the toons. 2015 got off to a little bit of a shaky start… but at the same time, a great start… so off we go!
Actually, I HeART Art Day was January 8th. But since the comic broke today, January 9th, we’ll call it “I HeART Art Day, observed” … SO….
As it is such, you’ll need to do some celebrating today (or even tomorrow, if you’d like)! First off… you need to make a silly paper hat. That’s right, what would I HeART Art Day be without silly paper hats!? Mind you, it must be paper. You can make it as elaborate as you want, but creating in paper is part of the fun.The wackier the better… or not. Just make it YOU. I was able to find some inspiration on Pinterest by searching party hats (and Flickr, too). Also, here’s an interesting website where you may find some ideas… My Beautiful Paper Hat.
… here’s a simple paper hat template: [wpdm_file id=5]
How else might you celebrate this Art-o-rama Mama created holiday?
Immerse yourself in art today. Take time to visit an art museum in your area… or an art gallery. Really investigate the art you see. Observe the lines, colors, and composition. How does the art make you feel? Ask questions of the gallery attendant or curator… who is the artist that created the art? What is his or her story?
CREATE! Once you have your silly hat (and hopefully, there are a few of you celebrating together), then you are set to make some art! You might start off by venturing to an art store and trying something new… experimenting is part of the fun! What’s gouache? find out and play… buy a new sketchbook and play with new art pens… Make an art journal by using an old book and painting or watercoloring and collaging right into it! Go into a hardware store and buy weird materials… and make something from stuff you find there… get in a creative state of mind. Use unconventional things to make art.
IDEA: How could you make a robot out of hardware items? Or a bird? or a cat?
Make art with kids or old persons! No arm-twisting here… kids love to make stuff! All they need is a cardboard box, markers, scissors, some glue and paper scraps… see what they come up with!
You’ll need some treats while you make all this art: How about sugar cookies in the shape of artist palettes … or just frost cookies with Nutella! Nutella and candy canes are Randie’s ideas of Art Party food. Enid made a Heartichoke dip with chips and crackers. Trawl the internet for ideas… search art party and see what comes up!
Whatever you do for I HeART Art Day, enjoy it! This day gives you total permission to be art-filled, silly, inquisitive, creative, wacky and free-forming. Art is about exploring. So see what you can get into!
