Do you have a favorite children’s book?  

Don’t miss Danville’s Village Theater Gallery’s show of The Storybook Makers.  Last night Bill and I attended the opening night and we were entranced by the art by children’s book illustrators on display.  Our friend, Constance Anderson, just published a book, Smelling Sunshine, and you can see one of her illustrations from the book.  Rakestraw Books in Danville sells her book, as well as other books from the show.  Don’t miss the exhibit!

www.candersonart.com/blog/books

www.danville.ca.gov/Things-To-Do/Art-and-Culture/Village-Theatre-Art-Gallery/

www.rakestrawbooks.com

The show brought back memories of my first children’s book that I collected, Orestes or the Art of Smiling by Domenico Gnoli. 

 What a beautifully illustrated book by an artist who used pen and ink and watercolor drawings to gratify the imagination of a teenaged girl.

My next set of books was Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights by the Bronte sisters.  The books were filled with wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg and helped define the mood of the stories.

When Theo was born, we increased our collection of children’s books many times over.  Now that he is grown up, I have been torn about giving them away.  The illustrations still grab me, the memories of reading the stories to him hundreds of times over and over again still flood me, and the connection to the mind of another person is still present.  The debate between ‘real’ books and Kindle-type books is mute to me.  What is important is sharing and being inspired by the thoughts of a writer.

If you have a favorite children's book, let me know and I will make a list here of all the favorites that we remember. (Your name will not be included!)

The year of the Introvert. 

The Rhodies in our backyard don't fit the Introvert profile.  They like being noticed.

Have you seen the introvert quote that seems to be all over the internet -- what's an introvert like me supposed to do with that! All that attention!  What I like is the last sentence:
"And if I open myself up to you, know that means you're very special to me."

 Are you mainly an introvert or extrovert?  I'm INFJ according to Myers/Briggs: Introvert/Intuitive/Feeling/Judging.  I still don't like the word Judging, even though the authors of the test claim they don't mean judgment -- too close for comfort for an introvert!  Happy Spring Day!

Doesn't Spring remind you of butterflies?

The lightness of the air, the warm sunshine, cool breezes.

I'm still thinking in poetry-speak. Being around young people is another sign of Spring. I seem to see many young women lately who are in bloom.  Would you want to be young again?

SPRING BEAUTIFUL

She stood tall, dark hair cropped short, soft curls full.

Dark eyes, filled with life, newness.

Young body, smooth skin.

Sundress dipping down over the small mounds of her breasts.

I stood next to her.

Comparing.

Thinking myself young still.
I thought, "It's so easy being beautiful when you are young."

“My parents are celebrating my mother’s 50^th birthday,”

She said. 

I knew we were years--a different generation--away.
Her mother was young too.

Wonderful Rainy Day!  
The birds have started making nests in our backyard.

Our two cats love to roll on the floor or snuggle in a box.

My poetry class at Stanford Continuing Studies is finished.  One of the forms I worked on is the Triolet, which just fit this poem.  The poem only works if you live in California!

King Daffodil

The rain comes only in February

To beat the daffodil down.

Yellow head, be wary,

The rain comes only in February.

Spring up, daffodil, don’t tarry

Burst forth quickly, golden crown

The rain comes only in February

To beat the daffodil down.

What's a Triolet?

The form: an 8-line poem with only two rhymes used throughout, with the first and second lines repeating in a particular pattern----

ABaAabAB

---where capital letters represent repeated lines, and lowercase letters represent rhyme words.  (Brittany Pelham, Poetry Process, 2014)

The old forms, such as the triolet or sonnet, are much more mathematical than free verse:  geometry in words.  You have to figure out the pattern as well as something meaningful to say without the poem sounding 'sing-song.'  What a process!

CRAFT DAY

We had a lovely day last Friday for our monthly Craft Day where friends get together, bring a craft each is working on.  We chat, we get things done, we eat, and we encourage each other.   The quilt includes photos of the group as well as each of the postcards we made the first time we met. Now some of us do calligraphy, others make jewelry, some quilt, some make paste papers.  Others knit, stamp, or make paper crafts.What a wonderful way to be together!

I'm back after a long hiatus. 

What a wonderful world this is -- filled with quirky birds and other animals. Hope you enjoy my imaginary and not so imaginary friends!

 Butterflies are some of my favorite things to draw.  These are mixed media  -- acrylic paint, napkins, letterforms, and beeswax.

Don't you like to ride a carousel?

Now, for some real birds

 My Mosaics I made with the help of Big Labs  bighugelabs.com