Category: art

Pumpkin: Not Just A Term of Endearment

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Happy almost Halloween! Gone are the days of triangle eyes, square noses, and gap-toothed smiles! As I’m sure you’ve seen, pumpkin carving in this millennia is next level. Here are my kids’ pumpkins. Pretty basic compared to the others you’ll see in a moment.


If you’re confused, you’re not alone. The far left pumpkin reads, “MEIJER,” (the hockey team my daughter plays for), the middle is a face, but with a black eye (pumpkin hockey fight), and the far right says, “PIG” (not hockey related. Just. Random.) Last year, my middle carved “TACOS!” into her pumpkin. We really love words in our family. And tacos. Obviously.

My cousin and her family live in Thailand, where pumpkins aren’t easily accessible, so they get creative in their carving mediums. Here are a few food items they’ve carved in lieu of pumpkins.


How cute are these?! 


Back to pumpkins. If we’re going to have a post about incredible pumpkin carvings, we first have to talk about Ray Villafane (www.villafanestudios.com). Villafane is an American sculptor that SLAYS the pumpkin carving scene. No plastic knife, choppy mouth, uneven eyes from this guy. His pumpkins are scary cool.

Look at the detail on the snake skin! Almost TOO lifelike! 
So clever! So fun!

We don’t have all day or I’d post a hundred more of his creations. Give yourself a Halloween treat and Google his other works.

If you like a more classic pumpkin, fear not. Maniac Pumpkin Carvers (maniacpumpkincarvers.com) has got your back. Their pumpkins have been featured at MoMA, the Whitney, and other such commonplace museums. Every year they feature a famous piece from a classic artist and blow everyone’s minds.

Picasso so cool. 


This is not a pumpkin.

Finally, the Pumpkin Geek, aka Alex Wer (www.thepumpkingeek.com). Another amazing talent, and will also take orders if you want- say, your kid’s face on a pumpkin! Or your pug’s mug! You get the picture! (groan.) You must visit his website too. I wanted this post to be at least a little scary, so I was going to post one of his horror movie carvings, but honestly, they creeped me out too much. This was the best I could do for you:

I feel like Edward would also be good at pumpkin carving.


If Covid was a person.

Whatever you do this Halloween, whether it’s trick-or-treating, or dressing up to pass out candy, or tailgating in an ice arena parking lot between your kids’ hockey games with cider mimosas, I hope you have a moderately spooky day!

Next Generation Art

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I love it when my favorite things collide. Peanut butter and chocolate, Diet Coke and pretzels, wine and dancing, hiking and friends…. in fact I was able to enjoy that last one on Monday! My friend Carla and I went for a hike at one of our favorite places (Lincoln Brick Park- if you’re in the Lansing area, be sure to go!). After, we decided to walk around downtown Grand Ledge a bit and grab coffee.

But first things first, I had to run into the library for a second, where to my delight, they were featuring local high schoolers’ artwork! Books and art! Another amazing collision! Here are a couple pieces that were on display:

I know, right?! That is talent!
I want to live there!

I cannot get over these beautiful works of art. There were certainly some talented artists in my high school, but I wasn’t one of them, My daughters and I discussed later, and my 6th grader pulled a few things out of her art portfolio that I thought were fascinating. I think I’ve mentioned before that Art class for kids now is waaaaaay better than it was for me. While I was rubber cementing magazine clippings to a piece of computer paper, they are doing more useful things like this:

My favorites are “wash,” “salt,” and “thick paint”

That’s right. They are learning actual techniques! It’s a little sad they will never know the cell-killing, heavenly odor of rubber cement, but I rejoice in the knowledge that our Art teachers are raising up a generation of da Vincis! Degas! Pollocks! Hoppers! Today: the Grand Ledge District Library, tomorrow: The Met!

A Prodigy and a Prince

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There is a Molly shaped hole in my house (and heart!) this week because my oldest daughter is at her middle school retreat. She was so excited to go, and I was excited for her. It is her first year of middle school and the retreat is a big rite of passage at her school. I know she’s having a blast. Without me. Hard to believe, but I know it’s true.

I miss her, but I wasn’t worried about her going. Her class is a great bunch of kids; not to mention, I know the chaperones and they are keeping me posted on all the things. I’m pretty sure I was never as cool or confident or smart or artistic or, or, or, as Molly and her classmates. Middle schoolers now just seem more advanced than back in my day. Probably thanks to Fortnite.


It reminded me of Akiane Kramarik who, by the time she was in middle school (3rd grade, actually) had painted Prince of Peace, shown below.
Akiane used a carpenter (of all people!) as a model for this painting.
Again, she was 8. Just as a point of reference, I made a shoebox diorama when I was 8 and my teacher told me to take it back and try again. Prince of Peace became famous not only because of her age or it’s beauty, but because it was mentioned in “Heaven is for Real,” as an accurate portrayal of the Jesus that Colton Burpo met when he died. On her website, you can search her gallery by age to see what works she accomplished at each stage of her life. I’m pretty sure she would have been a huge hit at the crafts table at her middle school retreat!

Piet Mondrian Sure Can Boogie

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Artists, cover your ears. Everyone else, you know the art you see and think, “Well, I could make that!”? We’ve all said it, right? (Right? When you first saw Jackson Pollock’s work, for instance?) Anyway, here is the gentleman that made me re-think that.


Some people call that moustache “The Charlie Chaplin” but I prefer “The Toothbrush.”

Piet Mondrian. A Dutch artist who lived from 1872-1944, which shocked me because I really thought his art was waaaaay more contemporary. Take a look at my favorite “cube” piece he did:

Broadway Boogie Woogie

Is that funky or what?! Clearly he was not only forward-minded, but also great at naming his pieces. It just looks like I would imagine Broadway Ave. in 1943, and it really does make me want to Boogie Woogie! Or play Frogger. This is the kind of thing I used to look at and think I could do, but guys? I can’t. I totally cannot. For you millennials, I can’t even. But here’s what really kills me. He also made this: 

The Red Tree

Isn’t it gorgeous?! I never would have guessed it was a Mondrian! Don’t you love an artist that can paint an entire tree series (Yes! There are more!) that is somehow colorful and spooky at the same time, then turn around and make totally progressive cubes? Mondrian’s talents are far and wide; his trees are exquisite, but I am so thankful he decided to branch out.

Putting Stephen Wiltshire on the Map

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The second season of one of my favorite Netflix series starts today! Atypical is about a teenager on the autism spectrum (and his family) navigating life, and specifically, romance. It’s a little like The Rosie Project, if you’ve read that book. It’s sweet and serious and funny and I’m hooked. Check it out if you are so inclined and let me know what you think!

The most noteworthy painter (that I know of) who is rumored to have been on the spectrum is Michelangelo, but more recently Stephen Wiltshire has rocked the world with his cityscapes. Wiltshire is autistic, and a genius with buildings. He was commissioned at age 8 by Britain’s Prime Minister for heaven’s sake! 

Can you get over this detail?!?! The soft waves! The Eye! The buildings!

And did I mention he does much of his work from memory? He takes a quick helicopter ride, then draws these perfectly detailed cities and we commoners fall flat on our faces over them. Wiltshire has drawn other big cities like New York, Sydney, Rome, Hong Kong, and the list goes on. If you haven’t heard of Stephen Wiltshire yet, you will. He is getting more and more recognition city by intricately drawn city.

I Hate to Harp On, But….

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As we happily determined yesterday, it is most definitely September! I won’t bore you with more praise for my favorite month, but I will just give you one more reason to love it: hummingbirds. My heart’s delight! I swoon over these little flutterlovies all summer and especially this time of year because they visit me more frequently to beef up for their upcoming migration. I see my little hummingbirds multiple times a day throughout the summer, but get excited every time. And can we all just agree that JK Rowling must have fashioned the Quidditch snitch after a hummingbird?

Charley Harper is an artist who appreciated a hummingbird too. All birds, it seems were muses to him. His work is lovely and respected, but what I love most is that it can hang in the most highly regarded museums, and is also cheery and fun enough to put in say, a baby’s nursery. (In fact, that’s a real option if you like- just do a quick Google search!)

I think I’ve seen this guy at my feeder!
If you think of it this December 8th, know that while all the birds he may have fashioned his art after are down south, the city of Cincinatti is celebrating Charley Harper Day! 

Wave, Hello!

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I’m not going to lie- much of my art knowledge comes secondhand from what my kids are learning about in Art class. (By the way, their Art teacher is amazing. Gone are the days of making collages with rubber cement [which I’m pretty sure isn’t even legal in schools anymore. It smells too good to be legal.]) These kids are learning actual things. It warms my heart. My art heart, if you will.
Last year Adrienne came home and told me to Google The Great Wave.

What did the ocean say to the shore? Nothing! It just waved.
It turns out The Great Wave isn’t just a fun stadium game at sporting events! It is a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai between 1829 and 1832; the print is fully named, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” and is just one part of a series showing Mount Fuji from several angles. Frankly, I never realized what an influence Japanese art had on…. well… art! I’ve been reading about Mary Cassatt lately and when she discovered Japanese art, her paintings quickly took on an Asian “feel.” Among others, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec were also enamored with Japanese prints, and (wisely) let them influence their work.
When I read up a little on The Great Wave I learned Claude Debussy composed “The Sea” after being inspired by Hokusai’s print. Don’t you love it when art inspires art?! More importantly, I found The Great Waveis a popular tattoo. Way to go Hokusai, almost 200 years later you still aren’t washed up!

A Visit to The Art Institute of Chicago

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The girls and I recently tagged along on one of Jim’s work trips to Chicago. He loved having the four of us there as he worked. He acted like he didn’t love it, but I know he did.

One of our first stops, naturally, was the Art Institute of Chicago. Dreamy! I had only been there once before (in high school) to see a visiting Degas exhibit, and that was all we got to see. I didn’t know that ALL the amazing things were there!!! Name an artist. Go on and name one. Not DaVinci. Another one. That one had art there!! Thankfully my daughters’ art teacher is incredible and has introduced them to artists I didn’t have the slightest clue about at their ages. Picking a favorite is too overwhelming, even though I forced the girls to do it (sometimes motherhood means being a hypocrite) and here are their picks.

Molly picked Monet’s Water Lily Pond, because duh. Last year this was their main art project at school, so she was pretty familiar with it and pumped to see it in real life. I sang Jessie J’s “Price Tag” the rest of the day. (“It’s not about the Monet, Monet!”)
Adrienne was super excited when she learned the museum was home to The Wave by Katsushika Hokusai. Unfortunately, it turns out it’s almost never on display it because it is so old and so fragile. I’m going to write about it more tomorrow because it really is beautiful. Happily, A is also a giant fan of Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte because ohmygoodness, how can you not be?!

CeCe loved the Degas ballerina statue, (Me too. That ribbon in her hair about does me in, I love it so much.) but somehow, we didn’t get a picture of that one so here are the girls playing air guitar in front of The Old Guitarist by Picasso.

This last one is a pictures Mols took on the sly and later showed to me proclaiming this is what I look like before my coffee in the morning. Funny girl, that one. 

We can’t figure out who painted it though! Do you know? If so, clue me in!