Artist of the Month - Robyn Greenhouse

My friend Robyn Greenhouse is starting a new journey in her life and I would like to share it with you for this month's artist post. Robyn is a writer, a photographer, a wife and mother.

This year she jump started her journey with a wonderful blog called Adventures in Laughter, Exercise and Eating Well. Robyn has always wanted to be a writer. When I asked Robyn what motivated her to start her new blog, here is what she had to say:

"When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer. I use to envision a window at a book store filled with my books! The top book would be turned with my photo showing. On my 45th birthday, something inside of me reminded me of that dream and I started writing again and am loving it!"

Robyn's new blog is heartwarming, insightful and funny. She gets a lot of her ideas for her writing from her everyday life with her three active boys, ages 10, 13, and 15.  One of the things that I really enjoy about Robyn's blog is the way she looks at the world and then shares her thoughts through her writing. Here is one of her blog posts that will give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

What's in a name?

The day to pick up our puppy was quickly approaching! Put up the fences! Get dog bowls! Get dog toys! Now we can bring our puppy home. But wait! What should we call her?

We spent a lot of time thinking our puppy's name. I believe names can influence our personalities. For example, with the last name “Greenhouse” my husband and his Father are both excellent with plants. They know how to arrange them in unique settings, and more importantly, they also keep the plants alive! If you’re called Greenhouse everyday of your life, surely it has to sink into your subconscious and affect you!

At first I wanted to name our dog “Read”. I thought if I was going to have to call for her throughout the house, wouldn’t it be good for me to be shouting, “Read. Read. Come Read.” Could you imagine years of my kids hearing me shout this? I envisioned them suddenly saying, “ I don’t know why, but I just want to get a book and sit here quietly reading.” All three boys on the sofa, quietly reading the great classics.

Then someone pointed out that during those first few months of puppy training I might be saying things more along the lines of, “Don’t Read.” “NO Read!” “Bad Read.” Suddenly, that image of them reading the great classics was shattered. They had become delinquents. And, why not? Didn’t their own mother run through the house shouting not to read? This would be the one time they decided to listen right away!

If Read wasn’t going to work out, then I still wanted something bright and cheery.  So when our puppy with the jet black fur joined our family, we settled on the name Sunshine. You can imagine how many times we had to explain why we chose that name. Kids were so confused when they first met her. They just couldn’t understand her name!

And then came our next dog to keep Sunshine busy and we named her Puddles. We’re not obsessed with the weather although one might think we were!

Sunshine was like a first born. When I took them to the dog park, I kept her on the leash so afraid that she would dart away. Puddles? She got to run off leash!

If they could talk, I’m sure Sunshine would be saying things like,”It’s so unfair. You let Puddles get away with everything. She didn’t have to learn to Sit. Lie. Stay. Just to get a broken piece of a doggie treat. You’ll probably let her sleep on the bed sooner than I was allowed to also.”

While I’d love to know what they are thinking, sometimes it’s good to have a few less talkers in the house.

Finally, I had to let Sunshine’s leash go. It was time. She needed to explore the park and run with the big dogs.

We’d been cooped up inside for about 5 days because of rain when finally the weather improved. Gathering their leashes we raced over to the dog park! It was beautiful out! The sun! The trees! The blue sky! And I couldn’t resist taking off Sunshine’s leash.

She loved it! She chased Puddles and Puddles chased her! And then, my heart dropped.

Squirrel!

Sunshine was off! She chased that darn squirrel everywhere, including right out of the park into the neighborhood next door!

I ran after her!

“Sunshine! Sunshine!” I shouted over and over!

Finally, she began to tire and I caught her.  With shaking hands, I put her leash back on her and headed home.

It wasn’t until later that I thought back over those events and became totally embarrassed!

Imagine ~ you’re sitting in your house starting your day maybe reading the paper or having that first cup of hot coffee. Then you hear someone, it sounds like Paul Revere, running through the streets letting you know that the rain has stopped and today there will be Sunshine!

They must have thought I had gone crazy during those days inside!

So be careful the names you pick. Not only could they possibly influence personalities, you may need to run through the streets shouting those names someday!

 

1      See what I mean? I love how Robyn can look at everyday situations and see humor in them in a way that most people wouldn't. Robyn is also working on several Children's books and has dreams of getting them published. I have to say, I got a sneak peek of one of her books and I loved it!

      Robyn also loves photography. She just started this group on Flickr called Love that Photo where you can find a few more of her photos. The group is open for other photographers or want to be photographers as well, so go ahead and join! Robyn would like to incorporate photography more into her life and dreams.

1    " I want to carry my camera with me everywhere and try to capture life, and funny events as they happen. I would like to be able to take those dramatic black and white photos. Plus, I’d like to learn how to use something like photoshop to add some finishing touches!"

Robyn also has taught yoga for children and adults and worked in women's retail. When I asked Robyn her dreams for her writing, this is what she had to share:

"I am working on a children’s book, and some other children’s book ideas so I would love to have them published. I enjoy writing my blog, so I hope to keep that growing. It would be fun to have a column sometime down the road." 

You can find more of Robyn's writing and photos on her blog, Adventures in Laughter, Exercise and Eating Well, her Facebook Page, and her Flickr group .

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Robyn today.  Thanks again for joining me for the artist of the month post.

"An open mind is an open thought." by Madi

 

Artist of the Month - Madi Spencer

This month's artist is my 10 year old daughter Madi.  Madi loves to create, sing, dance and act.  Today we are going to view some of her artwork and talk about her creative process.  I interviewed Madi last week on take your child to work day.

When  I asked Madi how she knew that she was interested in art, here is what she had to say:

"First I only used to draw stick figures. Then my school counselor said not to draw stick figures, but try to draw to more detailed figures. So, I thought “This is fun.”  Of course, the other person who got me interested in art is my Mom."

Madi began her creating her beautiful and colorful artwork when she was just about 2 years old.  She and I would spend hours together in my jewelry studio.  She loved to paint with watercolors and would sit for a whole afternoon just painting.  As she grew, I introduced her to different techniques and art supplies.  Above is a Zentangle that she created over an alcohol ink painting.

I asked Madi how she comes up with her designs.

"I honestly don’t think about them too hard. I just draw what I want to draw.  For colors, I pick what I like and they usually go together.  For example, I like blue, orange and yellow."

These are Madi's favorite art supplies:  sparkle spray, alcohol inks, Copic markers and Pitt markers.  Madi has joined me in a few lessons from different on line art classes.  Here is a piece that she did for Life Book:

Over the years Madi has participated in many different charity events, selling her wonderful artwork and donating the money to charitable organizations such as Lily's Hope.  I'm so proud of her in so many ways.  I'm proud that she is so dedicated, creative and generous.  I have to say she is the most inspirational person for me personally regarding my own artwork.  She always has something positive and motivational to offer.

Speaking of motivational, some of you may remember Madi's famous quotes.  I asked her how she comes up with such amazing and interesting quotes.

"Well, I take the happy moments in my life and in other people's lives and put them into quotes. Then I think, why is it a happy moment? What is happy about it? And I put it into quotes.  Sometimes I just lie down in the grass and look at the sky, feel the breeze and think of quotes that way."

For those of you who may have missed Madi's quotes in previous posts, here they are again.

So, what does the future hold for this talented girl?  

"I’ve always wanted to be a quadruple threat:  actress, singer, dancer and acrobat.  I plan to try to get famous by practicing all of these talents anywhere I can.  Right now I am taking 5 different dance classes and would like to audition for the FX dance company which is part of my dance studio.  I would like to audition for a commercial when I am older, maybe in 10^th or 11^th grade.  I don’t want to get famous when I’m young, because that’s just a pain in the butt."

 

"If I didn’t want to be a movie star or a pop star, I’d totally want to be an artist.  My Mom said when I was little, I had so much creativity in me, that I didn’t know how to express it."

 I asked Madi what advice she would give someone who is interested in art, but afraid to try to learn new things.  

"My teacher for dance says, if you try to do a stunt and you are afraid, you will fall.  If you are out there and want to create art but are afraid, just create a piece of art. No one is going to see it, if you want you can even put it in the trash.   Don’t let your worries get the best of you."

 I hope you enjoyed getting to know Madi and her artwork a little better today.  Thanks so much for joining me for the artist of the month post!

"Sometimes we get so caught up in our art, we forget to enjoy the journey." by Madi