Tag: artist

Walt Disney’s Hometown—Where the Magic Began—Part 2

Walt Disney’s Hometown—Where the Magic Began—Part 2

Though Walt Disney spent fewer than five years in Marceline, they were formative years filled with people, events, and activities that remained pleasantly vivid in his memory his whole life.  Those positive memories took him back to Marceline many times over the decades:  Summer, 1946---Walt’s secret mission (learn more next...Read More
Artist Rita Trickel: Beyond Here There Be Dragons

Artist Rita Trickel: Beyond Here There Be Dragons

Ahoy mateys! Ever see an old sea map where dragons marked dangerous or uncharted waters? Pictures of dragons, sea monsters, or mythological creatures warned sailors to stay away. No telling what’s beyond. Shiver me timbers! If sailors got too close to these areas, trouble abounded. Danger was at hand. All...Read More
Master Gardeners: Beautifying the World, One Yard at a Time, Part 2

Master Gardeners: Beautifying the World, One Yard at a Time, Part 2

For years, every time I called my dad, he’d say, “Dave and I weeded this . . .” and “Dave and I built that . . .” and “Dave and I transplanted this . . .” Who is this Dave? I wondered. My siblings and I only knew him by...Read More
Master Gardeners: Beautifying the World, One Yard at a Time, Part 1

Master Gardeners: Beautifying the World, One Yard at a Time, Part 1

Last time I shared my own gardening tip: live next door to neighbors with gorgeous landscaping. Today you’ll meet one of the reasons for this tip. Over the years, my dad, Don DeNooyer, raised the landscaping bar so high, it’s beyond my reach. Though I don’t live next door to...Read More
Accidental Art & Inventions: Popsicles, Post-it Notes, & Parisian filmmaking

Accidental Art & Inventions: Popsicles, Post-it Notes, & Parisian filmmaking

What happens when cooked wheat sits too long? Or when the movie camera jams? When you run out of ice cream cups or baker’s chocolate for your recipe? When your science experiment turns out the opposite of what you expected? Or when your cleaning product becomes obsolete? Sometimes these mistakes...Read More
Artist Marie Scott: Painting Glimmers of Hope for this Broken World

Artist Marie Scott: Painting Glimmers of Hope for this Broken World

******************** “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” --Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, 1887 ******************** Two weeks ago, I discussed how the starving artist is not so hungry. I referenced impassioned honeysuckles and tulips. Here’s Mirriam-Webster’s definition of...Read More
The starving artist is not so hungry

The starving artist is not so hungry

[caption id="attachment_752" align="alignleft" width="231"] Via picksnoz on Visual Hunt[/caption] How long could you live in a sterile environment devoid of color, surrounded by stark whites or drab grays? What if your only food was rice, cream of wheat, fish, oatmeal, or bananas (without the peel)? Could any of us survive...Read More
Interior Designer Kaysie Strickland: Home as a Haven of Healing, Part 2

Interior Designer Kaysie Strickland: Home as a Haven of Healing, Part 2

How has your home or your art been a healing place for you? Kaysie Strickland, founder and president of Homes & Havens, is an interior designer who has mastered the art of creating healing home environments for wounded women. Last time, she shared her philosophy of home as a healing...Read More
Interior Designer Kaysie Strickland: Home as a Haven of Healing, Part 1

Interior Designer Kaysie Strickland: Home as a Haven of Healing, Part 1

Have you ever thought about the most healing features of your home? What in your environment brings you comfort and peace and reminds you to focus on the right things? These are questions that interior designer Kaysie Strickland might ask if you hired her. My daughter Kaia introduced me to...Read More
Artist/Teacher Laura Fesser, Part 2: Inspiring students

Artist/Teacher Laura Fesser, Part 2: Inspiring students

Artist Laura Fesser not only creates art but teaches art. My four children had the privilege of being in her elementary art classroom. In fact, I was thrilled because she had the uncanny ability to bring out the best in them. Because of her, for the first time ever, my two...Read More
Artist Laura Fesser, Part 1: Inspired by Polymer, Playable Guitars, & Portraits

Artist Laura Fesser, Part 1: Inspired by Polymer, Playable Guitars, & Portraits

Laura Fesser wears two creative hats: artist and teacher. Her lively artwork brightens our community at the local hospital, library, and gallery, as well as numerous homes. Laura teaches elementary art at Heritage Christian School where I started the secondary art program years earlier. Later, she taught my four children,...Read More
Backyard Art Fairs & Tie Dye Parties

Backyard Art Fairs & Tie Dye Parties

Tie dye, anyone? When my kids were little, we had the neighbors over for tie dye parties. In the backyard, we dunked T-shirts, pillow cases, and socks into big buckets of dye. My husband Tim monitored the garden hose as we rinsed the colors out. The alley flowed with turquoise,...Read More
In the schoolyard: R.I.P. Here lies imagination

In the schoolyard: R.I.P. Here lies imagination

“My legs have hiccups.” That’s how my daughter described muscle twitches at age three. “There a melted rainbow on that truck.” That’s her four-year-old description of a colorful array of fuzzy, blended images. “It’s the same sky over Milwaukee as in Michigan. God just spreads it over us all like...Read More