Doodling Tuesday #5

Oops! It's Wednesday already and Tuesday's Doodle is late! No inaugural excuses this week...maybe Wednesday is becoming the doodle-friendly day.

Painter tries to write...

There is this neat feature called "Word Clouds" over at www.wordle.net. I found out about this "word toy" through this great blog called the www.theteachingpalette.com on-line. It's an invaluable resource for teachers, especially those in the arts!
I decided to see what the word cloud would do if I fed it my personal statement I've been laboring over for a Graduate school application. It gives emphasis to more frequent words in the text you supply it. My arty brain definitely wishes it could just submit this image instead of a statement.

Doodling Tuesdays #4!

(This is this week's Tuesday-ISH doodle.) In the whirlwind of Inauguration Day and watching American politicians dance at the "I did something special to be here-Inaugural ball", I missed posting my Tuesday doodle. I understand that on January 20th, 2009, the world came to a screeching halt. I know it's not because of what Michelle was wearing or that Aretha's hat could be seen from the small village Obama's father is from. The world must have stopped spinning because Jean didn't contribute a doodle to cyberspace. Breathe easy, here it is! (By the way, Aretha's hat was awesome...and I use the a-word sparingly.)

I was recently reminded of the relevance of my Famous Chicago Graves Calendar and Barack Obama. Yes we can...connect these two seemingly unrelated topics.
In January of my calendar, I feature the grave of Marshall Field in Graceland Cemetery. (That's my sister, the debutant, getting pretty by the pool.) The monument for Marshall Field was created by sculptor Daniel Chester French and was designed with the well-known architect, Henry Bacon. Are you seeing where I'm going with this? Reflective pool? Classical Greek inspired monument? Bronze figure?
Yes, the LINCOLN MEMORIAL! Ding, ding, ding! Remember, it's on our 5 dollar bills:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_$5_reverse.jpg
These same guys created the Lincoln Memorial where Barack Obama just made another historic speech. So if you aren't in D.C. witnessing the inauguration, you can always take a stroll over to Chicago's all-star cemetery, albeit in the snow, and feel, well, you know, connected.

#8Remembering Someone Who Made Things

#8 in my Top Ten Blog Posts of 2008:

I went over to my father’s place to make marinara sauce Monday night. We had to measure stuff so it was good in a quantifiable way but not in an intuitive hummus way. It was then that I learned that my Great Uncle Bob had passed away Sunday night at the age of 81. Bob Cunniff was a writer for Sesame Street, The Dick Cavett Show, The Today Show, and others. He won an emmy for his Sesame Street writing. Pardon my youtube-ing here:

or who could forget one of his classics: C is for Cookie? (Watch the whole thing, you know you want to blast C is for Cookie in the workplace right now.)

In 2004, I met up with Uncle Bob in NYC and we walked around Greenwich Village sharing stories and noticing all the pigeons in Washington Square Park, not unlike the pigeons gracing Sesame Street. He interviewed many famous people for his other shows as well. Uncle Bob tells one story, “This man calls me up and says, ‘Mr. Cunniff, I just got back from Vietnam and I’d like to go on your show and protest the war.’ So I agreed and let John Kerry have his television debut.”

I don’t want to name-drop here but you only get one Uncle Bob. He interviewed Dr. King, made phone calls to Charlie Chaplin, was a pal of Barbara Walters and his daughter is the singer, Jill Cunniff of Luscious Jackson. Yup, he’s good peoples.

During my road trip across the country, I wrote long emails chronicling the journey. My dad fowarded them on to Uncle Bob to read. I am very proud to say an Emmy Award-winning Uncle liked my writing and thought it was “breezy.” I’ll take it. I don’t know what Uncle Bob would think of this blogging business though. Please have a cookie today in honor of Uncle Bob.

#9 Post of 2008: Clown Car

As part of my "Jean's Top Ten Blog Posts of 2008", I now present, from August 13th, #9:

Finally, it’s appropriate to call the polka dot car a clown car. It was full of clowns this weekend! I took some clowns to visit Showman’s Rest of Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, IL. Yes, this blog post, among many of late, are shameless attempts at promoting my forthcoming 2009 Chicago Cemetery Calendar. These are just sneak previews of what is to come. These clowns–this is not their day job– just looked so good I had to share some pics before the calendar debut! Meet the cemetery characters pictured below: (L-R: Vivian, Alan, Erin, Dave, and Scarlett.)

The whole crew got suited up at Alan and Erin’s place in the neighboring town of Berwyn. (They did not know me and my project until the day of the photo shoot; this speaks volumes of their character.)

You know you have good models when they come with sketchbooks of their own face paint designs!

We headed over to Woodlawn Cemetery to pay our respects to some circus performers. See the whole train wreck story of 1918 here. or at findagrave.com here.

There are so many amazing pictures of this photo shoot I am tempted to purchase a “Pro” account at Flickr and share them all. I’d like to think my 200 picture limit on my free Flickr account keeps my picture sharing to a finely crafted and curated venue of only my best. Otherwise, I fear my pictures would be interred in its own vast, unvisited cyber graveyard. These are the decisions of our generation, folks, to go “flickr pro” or not…

Amazingly enough, that same day, The Creature (himself!) from the Black Lagoon (remember him?), was signing autographs at “Horrorbles,” The Sci-Fi movie memorbilia store in town. “The craziest things happen in Berwyn.”-Scarlett. So clowns got in on that, too:

And what better way to end a perfect clown day then with a perfect Italian ice from Gina. I’m not sure Gina fully understood our clown agenda but that’s okay, she gave us free refills.

Doodling Tuesdays #3

Pen and Pencil, sorta map-like.

#10 Never Go to the Stationary Store Again

I am going to be posting my Top Ten Blog Posts of 2008 here on heartjean.blogspot.com over the next few weeks. Here is my tenth most popular post:

As requested, here’s how to make an envelope from a random or not so random piece of paper. At the end, you will also be able to make a re-moistenable glue recipe for sealing the envelope! This “not so secret trade-secret” was used in my greeting card set that is currently featured at jeanfitz.etsy.com.

First off, put your ruler away. Just some scrap paper, scissors and good ole school glue is all you need to start. Just as I dislike using measuring cups in such recipes like my intuitive hummus, I also dislike using rulers to make paper stuff. A lack of a ruler builds character.

1.) First, figure out what it is you want to envelop (Greeting card, folded letter, etc.) and have it on hand. You will use it to gauge the size of your envelope. Gauge, not measure! 2.) Now, figure out what you want the envelope to be made out of…your 2nd grade report card, your parking ticket, sheet music, or my personal favorite: old maps. Tear a magazine page or snatch that pretty wallpaper sample. It’s more pleasurable to open an envelope made out of a stronger/thicker paper then the item you’re enveloping so choose wisely.

3.)Figure out which side is the prettiest or what you want to show on the outside and turn that face down. Place your card or item you’re choosing to envelop on top of the envelope sheet. Turn it at an angle so that all four corners are within the boundaries of your bottom sheet. It should be as centered as possible but don’t worry about perfection, that’s for those ruler toting folks. Ick! 4.) Now fold and crease each triangle corner up to the edges of your card. Yes, flush with the edge…almost as if it was, ahem, the ruler. Remove the card from inside and open your four flaps.

5. This is the tricky part. Use scissors to cut out each corner where the flaps overlapped. (See picture. I’ve colored in black marker where you should cut.) The creases will also guide you. I like to cut a curved shape so it looks more envelope-y. Make sure you don’t cut past where the folds come to a corner. That is the corner of your envelope…unless, of course, you’re being artsy and want exposed corners. By all means, rebel.

6. Then I figure out which flap is going to be the flap that opens and which 3 flaps will be sealed. I place a thin line of glue on the edges of the three bottom flaps that overlap. Don’t use too much glue and don’t glue your envelope shut! Sometimes I trim the pointed edges to center the flaps and make it look even. Just do what feels right. I also slide the card in to ensure my proper size is in tact and that I wasn’t folding, cutting and gluing for 3 minutes in vain.

While this is drying, you can prepare another great recipe. Homemade re-moistenable glue! The stuff you lick to seal the deal! And we can make it taste good! You will need to have some Gelatin (I have the Knox brand) on hand (1/4oz), sugar (1tbsp), some water (1/4 cup), and maybe some food flavoring/essential oil (1tsp). The sweet basil I used is lick-tastic! I have no cognitive dissonance whatsoever about using gelatin- which is ground up cow hooves and other animal tissues- and still claiming my vegetarianism. Fact: I won’t eat flesh but I’ll lick cow feet. If there is a vegan re-moistenable glue you can make at home, please tell me!

I use the double boiler method to make my glue.

To keep your leftover glue for next time, I mix all the above ingredients together in a margarine container or other disposable plastic. Boil water in a pan big enough to let the container float inside. Gelatin becomes solid quickly when it cools off so I take the whole pan over to my envelope workstation while it’s still warm and gooey. Mind the strange glue smell, just tell people it’s an art thing and they’ll nod silently and leave you alone. Re-heat your double boiler pan again if it hardens. Take a small paintbrush and apply the glue to the edge of the opened flap. Voila!

Be sure to let everything dry thoroughly before stacking them up!

You only need to make a little batch of this stuff so don’t start boiling your water and then walk away like I do and check your blog stats and completely forget what it is you’re making and find an empty pan of steam 15 minutes later.

Happy Envelope Making! And if you put crazy flavoring in the glue, inform your licker…or not.

Doodling Tuesday #2

How is it Tuesday again? I think this "Doodling Tuesdays" feature on my blog will keep me on my toes! When not painting the interior of my apartment in a "painterly realistic" way, I am often doodling these jazzy mazes on scraps of paper. The marks are like visual stretching, like practicing your scales on the piano. I placed this particular scrap of paper on an off-white background to show the border of the paper sheet. The drawing is largely informed by the shape of the paper. Keep doodling!

Best Holiday Wrapping Yet

This no-fuss craft project comes from Michael M. of Chicago. What's more earth friendly and economical than wrapping a present with a blanket and extension cord? Take note that the extension cord is tied in a bow. There was also another present wrapped in a pillow case with a scarf tying it all together! Bada-bing, bada-boom! Thanks, Michael!