Madrid and Art

Small town girls enter the big city.

This is the subtext of the Madrid leg of our adventures in Spain. Not so much culture shock (more on those issues later) as size shock. Our Pipe Creek life is quiet and rural; even San Antonio reads as small ciy with its familiarity of 40 plus years. Madrid is major, we remind ourselves as we walk past amazing monuments,more museums than I ever remember seeing in a city, more plazas and churches and cafes and people....When faced with such abundance of sights and sounds and input, I have learned to go for deep rather than wide. I don't feel compelled to see or sense or experience as much as I can in three days, an approach that makes me crazy. Rather I find the one or two do-not-miss experiences for focus.

We saw two exhibits yesterday, went to the bullfights and ate at the San Anton Mercado. The art exhibits were both incredible, and the photos on this post show my attempts and learning as I use the iPad for art and journaling.

First, a Chagall exhibit at the ThySsen-Bornemisza Museum. I rediscovered my love and affection for Chagall, and also acknowledged how much his work influences my own narrative work, with flying figures, rich colors, textures and interlocking stories and images.

Next we went to see Guernica at the Reina Sofia. I had seen this monumental and powerful painting in New York several times, before it returned to Spain. Although the gallery was crowded with school groups and the San Isidro visitors to Madrid, the painting holds its presence. Of most interest to me we're the sketches and related paintings in the adjoining gallery and I spent about an hour making iPad sketches, to much interest of bystanders, I admit. We had to talk our tablets into the musueum as photos are not allowed, and the guards were suspicious until I explained that this WAS my sketchbook.

PS
I also have art news:

+Susie Monday is the featured artist on the d@8 artists blog http://dinnerateightartists.blogspot.com/

PPS Linda has more to say about the bullfight here: http://cuellarsblog.blogspot.com.es/

España en la mañana (almost)

We are off to Spain, with family and friends entrenched at home for dog , cat and bird duties. Even that will be a vacation in itself. I am giddy with the travel bug and have plans to keep my travel journal this year online, a big and different step, but one I think I'm ready for.

In the past I have taken a small, but substantial bag of art supplies and a blank sketchbook; this year I am taking an iPad. An adventure in itself. In case you want to peek at my tools, I am going to use PAPER 53, a sort of free app (you really need to buy the $8 worth of expanded tools to make it worth while) Max journal, a really nice interface for a diary format, easy to add photos, download,etc; and a slew of photo and drawing apps, I will try to keep notes on the tools I use and how I find them, but my focus will be on the travel experiences and how they give me ideas and inspiration for art work when I get back home.

I thought about taking a back up stash or "real" art supplies, but figure if I give myself that out, I won't really experiment with the digital ones now available. My iPad is not G4 enabled, so I will be dependent on wifi, but, from the travel notes on the hotels and the Camino, I don't think that will be much of an issue.

In the Trenches, Teaching via Video, en español.

The catch-up: The past two weeks we've been working on the global stage, as part of a teaching team at Palo Alto College, one of the Alamo Colleges in San Antonio. One of my hats this year is as a creative learning specialist for international programs here. I've been working with this program for about 10 years in various capacities -- some of which relate to my fabric/textile life, but most to my creative process and arts education interests.

Teachers from Central American and the Dominican Republic come here for scholarship residency education programs, funded by USAID to us through grants from Georgetown University SEED/SEMILLA project. I also work with teen youth ambassadors from the same region, and these two weeks, through distance learning via computer, with 6 univerisities in the border areas of Mexico. Whew....

This most recent project also involved our teacher/students as demonstrators of activities on our little makeshift television studio in the portable buildings at PAC that we are lucky to have use of for the program -- this is only the second year we have had permanent space at the university and it's been wonderful as we can use the design of the space, changing the space and making exhibits of work that mirror the kinds of classrooms our teachers go home to -- a portable here is a space that in most cases would be a luxury classroom in their rural hometowns.

Our new website is in progress, but you can see more here -- take note of the student blogs! And here.

Here's one of the videos informing this work. It's quite controversial, as you will understand when you see. it

New World Kids (1) Now on Sale!

My co-author Susan Marcus and I and Dr. Cindy Herbert, another colleague from LAL days have been working on a rewrite/expanded new book for parents, to be released this fall by Greenleaf Book Group. It will be titled "The Missing Alphabet." (Isn't that cool?) 

And to get ready, we are having a great sale on the last book for our readers and supporters., So if you would like another (or a first) copy of NEW WORLD KIDS, and the accompanying teacher's guide don't miss this special deal. If you are interested, please order through Foundry Media directly -- the info is in the letter below (YOU ALL count at "a person at one of our events" since I consider reading this blog an event, so you are eligible for the special pricing):

Dear New World Kids reader:

This Fall, the authors of New World Kids, the Parents Guide to Creative Thinking, will be publishing a new book, The Missing Alphabet, a Parent's Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids. In preparation for the release of the this book, we want to extend a special offer to of our customers:

Now until  May 30 we are offering New World Kids, The Parents' Guide to Creative Thinking at $7.00 per copy and New World Kids, The Teachers' Guide at $10.00 per copy both with free shipping! That compares to the list price of $14.95/$19.95 + shipping! This offer is being made only to those people who purchased from our website over the past couple of years or in person at one of our events.

Texas residents will have to pay 8.25% sales tax (sorry!) and we will only accept checks. Purchases will be shipped Media Mail.

Please place your order by replying to this message to  foundrymedia@me.com, calculating the total cost (with applicable sales tax per above). We will ship your books immediately and you can send us your check.

If you have any questions, email us at newworldkids@me.com or call us at 512-328-1920.