Thursday, October 16, 2008

Artist of the Week: Underwater and a Happy Birthday


birthday girl
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
I'm a day late, but you get a two for one special today.

Yesterday was Max and Rebecca's seventh birthday, plus it was time for Artist of the Week. Because of Yom Kippur I already skipped AOTW last week, so I really couldn't pass it by again.

As for being a day late, well all can say it was a combination of being tired, annoyed and suffering from technical difficulties. Mind you the technical difficulties were in fact self inflicted and resulted in my being very annoyed with myself.

We had gone out to dinner last night at our favorite local barbecue joint, Brock's. Max and Rebecca picked it out after I asked them what did they wanted for dinner. In our family not only do you get cake for breakfast (or cookies in this case) on your birthday, but you get to pick out what we get for dinner.


boy in a box
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
Larry had a board meeting at our synagogue, so he couldn't make it, but we did get Aunt Meryl in his stead. We had a lovely dinner, the food was good, the waitress was terrific and the atmosphere has a nice laid back family friendly feel. I had brought my camera in and promptly forgot all about it and left it behind when we left.

It wasn't until a few hours later I realized what I had done, but by then the place was locked up and nobody was in. So I had no camera, none of the pictures I had taken and I was just too peeved to doing anything else but finish the dishes and go to bed.

At least I was able to go to sleep because I knew I would get my camera back. We had shown up at the tail end of the evening and I personally knew our waitress. Her son also plays football for our school, he was just the next age level up from Nate. And I was right. This morning she called me back and we arranged for her to give Larry the camera at practice.

Anyhoo, I'm much happier today and here are our artists.


Rebecca boat
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
First up is little Miss Rebecca. The picture I took of her was at school during lunch time. I stopped by to give out cookies to both Max and Rebecca's classes in honor of the dynamic duo's birthday. I was extremely popular and discovered I knew quite a few first graders.

Rebecca got to wear the crown all day at school, which is very fitting for my little princess.

As for her art I have two of her latest creations. The first one is of a fisherman happily at sea doing his thing. A sea gull is diving into the water just behind him and an eel swims along amongst the fish.

Rebecca dolphin
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

In her second picture a mother dolphin is leaping out of the water with her tiny baby just below her. It's a bit hard to make out the little one, but it is there just to the right of the larger dolphin's splash. Another eel swims in the picture along with a variety of colorful fish and a lone jellyfish.

Both pictures are visually clean with a consistent compositional style. I love the bright colors and the attention to details without being too fussy. She was a clear style and is very confident artist.

Max is next up. I took that picture of him last month in our living room. The boxes that held our new organizational systems were very popular with the kids. Heck, even the dogs got in on the fun.

Max orcas
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

Max also has two pieces of art for this week's AOTW. His first picture features orcas, penguins and a seal. On the lower left corner he wrote "I Luv oroga!" (I love orcas!). He made this picture for show and tell. He wanted to bring in one of his plush killer whales and thught this picture, along with a book would add to his presentation.

When he first drew the picture The ocean was not all colored in. I was a bit dismayed when he scribbled in all the blue, but in the end it works. The graphically bold orca and penguins stand out in their bright blue surroundings. The leopard seal is still visible as it chases the penguins. The octopus/jelly fish things are the only ones to lose out. overall I like the final picture.


Max boat
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
As for his second picture, it is a fisherman in a boat, very much like Rebecca's first picture. However it is a very much Max's art work. He drew it at the same time Rebecca drew her fisherman. I can't remember how it all started, but I do like the end results.

Max has all sorts of creatures in his composition. Going from left to right I'll point them out. The three (yes there are three, the smallest one is tucked in the middle) yellow creatures are sea horses, to the right is a sea otter. I only know what it is because Max announced as he drew it that he loves sea otters. I think it looks more like a monkey (hey it's a sea monkey!). As we travel to the right there is a purple octopus and a couple of bright green sea turtles. Moving on there is the ubiquitous eel and a school of jellies. Just coming into view on the far right is a whale shark. Along the sea floor is a collection of hermit crabs, snails, a lobster, a crab and a lone star fish. I particularly love all the little creatures on the bottom. The hermit crabs in all their Lilliputian splendor are utterly adorable. Max's style is a bit messier, but he is a fine artist when he applies himself.

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