Art Prize 2013

'Tis the season!  Grand Rapids annual art competition has arrived once more.  Since our daughter had a doctor's appt. downtown we took a field trip day and saw just a very small portion of what was entered in the contest.

 

 Pastels on wood- a rendition of the Last Supper

 

Even the River gets art in it.

 

...And the bridges...

 

Using recycled or found objects is always popular .

Sculpture and bells made from old oxygen tanks. My kids enjoyed those.

 

The Artist and an attendee play Amazing Grace on the bells.

 

Who doesn't love a family of giant yellow ducks?

 

Nemo was there.  This was made with tack nails and sequins.

 

Giant "recycled" dragon... old metal and tires, tube lights and a big propane tank to make it breathe fire in time to music.

Owls

 

Pandas

Bronze sculpture...

 

Or is it performance art?

Living plant wall art

 

We enjoyed ourselves and there was plenty of eye candy.  But after we got home my husband and I discussed that there was nothing we saw that really blew us away.  I guess I'm a traditionalist and am looking for art that I can't replicate, that takes real talent and skill not just a clever mind.  I'm sure that those pieces exist in the competition but we didn't come across them.  Again, we saw only a very tiny bit of what was on display. I will try to post and link to the winners when they are announced.  I'm sure those will be more traditional "fine" art.

To The GRAM!

The Grand Rapids Art Museum has just started free Tuesday admission!  So guess where John and I, the kids and Grandma and Grandpa Schuh went yesterday!  I can't pass up free admission to a museum! 

I was quite excited to go because one of the visiting exhibits featured the quilts of Susana Allen Hunter.  I was surprised to find out that Ms. Hunter wasn't an art quilter or hobbyist in pursuit of the perfect look.  She was a poor farm wife who made quilts out of necessity to keep her family warm.  She recycled bed sheets, clothing, and flour, seed and feed sacks.  Some quilts had no batting, some had homespun cotton batting and one even had batting made from lint.  She wasn't concerned with perfect lines and rarely used any common patterns but merely put pieces of cloth together to be functional.  I bet you she never thought that any of her quilts would be museum pieces yet here they are.

My husband was not impressed, but I was.  Here was a woman doing what she needed to do to provide for her family and she worked with what she had.  She didn't have an unlimited budget and a cute little quilt shop to purchase fabric from.  She didn't worry about perfection but time and love went into those quilts.  She probably didn't even have a sewing machine.  I can only hope that I serve my family with such dedication.  There was no photography allowed so I didn't get any pictures but I will remember those quilts for a long time.  Those quilts represent freedom to me.  Freedom from vanity, freedom from expectations and just a true humbleness.  We woman need more of that!

A Little Local Chalk Art

Byron Center Chalk Art Festival!

 

 

Lewis/Hall Vacation... Historic Village Time

If there is a historical village in the area, the Lewis family will be there!

 and since the children were literally climbing the walls... off we went...

 Seven of the nine Hall and Lewis kids!  Missing Will Hall and Seven Lewis.

 I'm a sucker for a pretty garden

 The General Store

 Required picture of a spinning wheel for Grandma Lewis

Required outhouse picture 

 Aren't you all glad we don't all have to live in only one room?

Trapper's cabin

 Church cemetery

Neither Bill nor Will Hall thought this grave marker very funny.  Six year old Will asked his dad..."Am I dead?"

 The little church

 Would make a cute little wedding place

 Bill and Heather keeping their marriage healthy

 It was very hot and humid

 I want this garden

 The raspberries were so good and the corn tall

Relaxing in the shade

Lewis/Hall Camping Vacation!

Three teens and a tween playing cards

Deep in the woods

Oh, the things you can do with rocks

I don't go anywhere without my sippy cup

Dutch oven meat loaf cooking

Morning fresh

Weekend fun on and off the homestead

We spent a good portion of the weekend with our friends the Hall family. The DH and Mr. Hall work together at Costco. Our families are similar size, age, like the same things and have similar values and goals. We always have a good time together. Saturday we invited them over for a picnic and bonfire.

Butterfly watching

I saw a cute enamel tray at the store made for carrying picnic supplies and I almost bought it. Then the little budget angel sat on my shoulder and told me that surely I had something at home that would work. I did! My roasting pan! It's not white enamel but other than that they are almost identical.

Instead of buying campfire wood, we had the kids go out back into the field and scavenger for wood. You should have seen their faces when they came back dragging someone's old Christmas tree. They hit the mother load!

End of the night as the flames die down

We had brief periods of intermittent rain. But we had the umbrellas handy.

Even with the rain, we still had a beautiful sunset.

Costco had a family bowling party on Sunday night. We paid $6 (for shoes) for the entire family. Not bad for 3 games of bowling for 6 people, pizza, salad, dessert and soda. Costco treats its employees well. (I love how the littles are fascinated by the ball rack.)

Rem in action

Taylor sitting with Gabriella Hall. They were the littlest of our group. Gabriella is 3 and bowled. Taylor at 1 1/2 did not.

Andi being silly with Autumn Hall

Reagan in action

Andi, Autumn Hall, and Seven (our teen representitives)

John (the DH) in action