Field Trip to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art : )

Inspired by my latest class at the Worcester Art Museum and our instructor Suzy Becker, I decided to take the opportunity to visit the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA.

I really enjoyed it!

They had an exhibit of Ezra Jack Keats, author and illustrator of "A Snowy Day".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEmBTYc7Ivo

On display were Ezra's sketches, journals and typed letters from Publishing Houses.  What I loved the most was the reading the correspondence between his readers and himself.

www.ezra-jack-keats.org/


The next exhibit was of the author and illustrator of "Maisy".

http://www.maisyfunclub.com/maisyframe.asp

The illustrations were adorable and it was great to see the original paintings and drawings.


The final exhibit is of the beloved Eric Carle.
One of my son's favorite books, given to him when he was  young, by his Grampy and Memere was  "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M2TvyR3_XE&feature=relmfu

I have to say out of all the museums I have visited in my life....(not many if I am honest)...but, I must say, I got the most inspiration from this one.
I loved being able to see the behind the scenes of how these artists and writers live and work!

Here are some other fun pictures from my visit!  : )

You would have to be in a good mood at all times in this car!!  : )

The tiles in the bathroom! : )

My favorite thing....the Library!

The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar

Paintings by Eric Carle

Art Studio....Here I come!!

Loved, Loved, Loved This!!  So creative, yet so simple!!  I could definitely picture this in a teenagers room or a dorm room!!  : )

I was given these supplies to make a city scene.

"Before"

"After"

Close up of my bike with kickstand!  : )

Maisy's books on display at the bookstore !

Lots of fun books and gifts!

And I even found my instructor Suzy's book!!

I felt like I had come full circle since she is the one who suggested we all check out this fun museum!!

A fun day trip for sure!!

To find out more....

www.carlemuseum.org/

Here is to a wonderful school year! : )

Press the button on this bottom right hand side to make it fill up your computer screen with happiness!

Field Trip to Salem : )

Yesterday I got the chance to go to Salem with a good teacher friend of mine.  We had lots of fun and laughs!  Missing many exits from talking so much with so much catching up to do!

I don't think I have ever been to Salem before.

It was very interesting.

We went to see Ansel Adam's exhibit of pictures with water.  

Fascinating!

We then went browsing around and I found the most interesting bookshop.

I thought this looked like something from Harry Potter in Diagon Alley...

It only gets better inside....

I asked the man....(now try to picture this....piles of books on either side on a counter....about a 8"wide opening between very tall piles and the clerk (very nice by the way) sits behind the opening on the other side of the counter...

I asked him if I could take pictures.

He said if I made a purchase I could take all the pictures I wanted.

I only had 5 dollars in my pocket so I chose carefully.

I ended up buying a children's picture book to use as a reference for what I am working on.

After I made my purchase I asked, "Now can I take some pictures?" And he basically said, take all the pictures you want!  : )

Lots of people frequent this shop from what I could see.

It was amazing!

I just found this on Google......

https://plus.google.com/107615714618423195889/about?gl=us&hl=en

You can see a picture of the man behind the stack of books that I was trying to describe!  : )

Definitely worth a peek if you are ever in the area.  Just hold the top of the stack as you gently pull the book from the bottom....if that is where you favorite book is located!  : )

We ended the day going to a great place for lunch!
Thanks Maria for treating...since I only had 2 dollars left after my book purchase!

View from my seat!

O'Neils Pub - Delicious!!
http://www.oneillsofsalem.com/

Cajun Chicken wrap and coleslaw!!  : )

Oh and one more thing....
I discovered this wonderful artist at the gift shop at the Museum.
Loved this!!

KOCO New York
http://www.kocony.com/

Happy Sunday!!  : )

Must remember....

Love this!

Back of card is inspirational too!  : )

http://www.cardthartic.com/

sketching....

My new favorite place to hang out is Panera Bread... http://www.panerabread.com/.  They have great food, great coffee, and great lighting. It is so spacious that you don't feel like you are taking someone else's seat so you can settle in for a while....

I splurged and got a shake...they featured it with the salad....and .... it was low fat!  Delish!

working on my project....

This has been a wonderful diversion to the many things I need to be doing right now...

This kind of sums up how I feel this morning....

Betsy aka Life looks pretty friendly...I better start wrapping up some of current life situations...condo....finances....

Here I come Betsy!

Inspired....

I just finished a course, The Art of Picture Books, at the Worcester Art Museum with Suzy Becker, author and illustrator and New York Times bestseller of, All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat.  
 I loved it!!
I told Suzy that she was like a movie star and she had the answers on how to get to HOLLYWOOD!  

I learned so much in her class about writing a children's book and illustrating!

We had a wonderful group in our class and I hope to be able to catch up with all of them soon.
I felt so inspired and it gave me a goal to tuck into my pocket to work towards...

To be continued....

: )

Finding my passion....

This summer marks one year of being unemployed.

It has been a challenging year.

I remember as the year began, I imagined my life inside one of those plastic sifters you bring to the beach.

I was to begin the process of sifting.

What would remain?

I sifted through my condo...

I sifted through the reality of not being employed...

not being a teacher...

of being a mom...

of being a daughter....

of being a daughter who needed her mom....

of losing everything....

my home, my job, my beloved Rocky...

Things did slip away....

and I did feel lost...

and I must say, at times, like a bit of a loser.

But then....

What remained...

My funny, resilient, strong son

who means more to me than he will ever know.

Being his mom, has taught me some of my greatest life's lessons.

My mom.

My confidant, morning coffee maker, owner of Bernie's Bed and Breakfast.

Her home became my respite, as I was recovering from a few of life's blows.

My cat Rocky

My pet who taught me about unconditional love and second chances.

Slowly, I have sifted and I am finding... 

myself.

The girl who loves the Senior Citizens and helping them grocery shop.

The girl who loves books and loves to volunteer at the library to help find books for others to read.

The girl who loves to tell stories and illustrate them too...

What I am finding,

by sifting...

are my passions.

: )

My heart belongs to Titcomb's, but this is also a bookshop to treasure....

As we were getting ready for our trip back to Massachusetts from Vermont my brother told us about a bookstore he came across on his way home from work.  He gave us very good directions to it and my mom and I began our trip home crossing through New York.  I told my mom it felt like a real big adventure passing through an additional state line!  : )  I think I need to get out more!  : )

The bookstore is in Hoosick New York.  I said that sounds like a town in Dr. Seuss' book : )

We passed the bookstore as it was tucked in lots of lush plants, but noticed "Big Moose Deli and Country Store" on the left so we knew we were in the right area.

Down a country driveway we went and as we parked we saw a very tall man with a straw hat coming our way from  his home.

He then let us in his store filled with books!

The owner was very kind and knowledgeable about where all his books were located.

He asked if we were looking for anything in particular and I suddenly thought of my beloved writer and director  Nora Ephron.

He knew that she had just passed and he brought me to where her books would be located.

He could not find any.

He then went off to his other collections and returned with this one...

I was kind of embarrassed by the title, like I had written it myself...
but was so happy to have one of her books : )

We poked around and I then found this book...

I love Glady's descriptions of the seasons and I thought how enjoyable to read the letters written back and forth by her and her dear friend.

I could have stayed all afternoon....

The owner told us we had arrived at a good time because most people were sleeping in or at Church.

Soon we were on our way....

down the beautiful back country roads of New York...

with a few more books to add to my collection.

I would love to come back to visit this bookshop during every season

and next time stay a little bit longer.

The back roads of Vermont....

My mom and I took a trip to Vermont to visit my brother and family : )
I wanted to share some photos of a favorite farm stand I love to stop at along the way....

This shop is on RT 30 in Newfane Vermont with another in Manchester.
I wanted to pick out something to bring to my brother's home.

I love to look around....

and smell around... lol!

What to choose??   What to choose???

I decided on a beautiful bunch of wild flowers and fresh strawberries. 

: )

I don't think I could go wrong with so many good choices!

I hope you are enjoying your local farm stands this summer along the way.....

Serendipity....one of my favorite words : ) A little story of a buttonwood tree...

Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it.
(From Wiki)

This word is one of my favorites.

I love serendipity, or should I say, I am comforted with serendipitous moments in my daily life as a confirmation that my life is so much bigger than me. If I were to define it, I would not use the word "accident" because I do not believe that serendipitous moments are by accident, but truly by design. For me, they are inexplicably, stepping stones or guide posts as I walk through this journey called life...they tell me I am going in the right direction.

Here is a serendipitous story I would love to share with you....

The Buttonwood tree

( A true story : )

I have been fortunate to move back to my childhood home with my teenage son during a bit of a rough patch in my life.  Honestly, moving home was not my first choice, but little by little I am finding so many benefits to being here.

Encouraged by my doctor to get out and take a brisk walk every day, lead me to walking down old familiar roads that I walked and biked as a child.  With these passing years, sidewalks have appeared on some of my favorite places to walk which have now become busy roads.

As I walked down a particular street,  I remembered as a child, the road being lined with fragrant lilacs in the spring, and bringing bunches home to put in a vase on my bedroom window sill.

(to fill the room with fragrance when a breeze came through)

This sunny day, as I walked along reminiscing, I stopped and was amazed by a certain tree.  It was huge, yet its branches looked graceful as they reached for the sky.

Its bark somewhat reminded me of a birch tree, but instead of peeling, it was more spotted with different shades of color.  I imaged if I took a close up photograph of the bark, one may not know what they were looking at.  

This one particular tree had a swing hanging from one of its tall, huge branches.  A perfect spot to take your cares away, being held securely by the this tree's huge limb.

One afternoon, I asked my 82 year old mom to join me on this favorite walk of mine with its all inclusive sidewalks.

She was not sure if she was up to the length of the walk, but we just took it one street at a time.

When we reached that particular street, I said, "Mom, wait 'til you see this tree!"  (I know that may sound strange, but I knew she would understand! : )

As we approached it, we studied the bark and its massive branches

and marveled at the thought of taking a turn on that swing!  How freeing that would feel!

We then continued on our lovely walk, past the wild raspberry bushes, fields of wild flowers and albino horses grazing on the grass.

The following week, I took my mom to visit my oldest brother in Vermont.

We were sitting on their porch taking in the magnificent views of the mountains and enjoying the summer day.

My brother was pointing out the landscaping work he had had completed on his yard including the trees he had planted.  He then pointed to two birch trees he had planted.

I then told him about the tree that I loved and the walk I took mom on and how I pointed it out to her.

He then started to ask very specific questions about this road we had seen this tree on.

He then asked, "Is it on the right hand side as you drive towards the farm?"  I said, "Yes."  He then told us a story of going by that tree with my father and grandfather, who came to visit, when he was a little boy.  

(Mind you, my brother is 14 years older than me and it is almost as if we have completely different memories of our childhood, shared with different relatives, traditions and places.)

He said that he remembers my grandfather (who died when I was a toddler) being drawn to that tree and stopping to look at and telling my brother is was a "Buttonwood Tree".

I couldn't wait to get home to research the buttonwood tree and sure enough, he was talking about the same tree!!!

Tell me....what are the chances of all of this information lining up???

"Happy accident"....I think not.....

"Happy Guide Post along this journey called Life"....

I think so!  

: )

Post Script:

As I stopped today to take pictures of the tree, I met the owner of the house and found out that his house just sold, and although he said he would like to, he could not take the tree with him. 

 He told me the tree was over a hundred years old.

I told him the story of my mom, our walk, my brother and story of my grandfather.

He told me I could swing on the swing any time I wanted!

: )

My plan is to go back with my mom....a fun photo op for sure!