China, Washington DC and Ice!

It's definitely winter here in New England, and this year with snowy weather showing up all over the country, so are the artistic aspects of this fun season. The United States is hosting an ice sculpture exhibit in Washington DC, created by 40 of the world's best ice sculptors from Harbin, China. Explore the link with your parents to get the inside scoop on how an ice sculptor develops their ideas and makes their final work of art!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juFZEAvmgxvRxWeq2RRwWAB9KcSg

Watercolor Mandalas

Many of us doodle in circles, building in and out from a central design. Circular design mofifs have been around for hundreds, even thousands of years, and represent a wide spectrum of thoughts on the universe, God, nature, the cycle of life, growth and introspection (thinking about your personal life). Mandalas are often very ornate, featuring lots of color and decoration. What do you think about the Mandalas included in:

http://www.abgoodwin.com/mandala/gallery1.shtml

Years ago when I first began to exhibit my own artworks, I ran across some bowls, figure sculptures and boxes that were made entirely from dryer lint. I was thinking about this work as I was doing laundry this weekend, and decided to do a little research on Lint Art. Here is one of Heidi Hooper's great selections - her subject matter includes people and animals - what do you think? Pretty amazing work, as is her story. Check out more about Heidi at http://www.heidihooper.com/aboutdryerlint.htm

Castles in the Sand

A lot of my favorite art is three-dimensional. I enjoy being able to walk around the form, finding new details and being amazed by the technical abilities of artists from ancient times to current works. Sand sculptures particularly intrigue me; the vision and work that goes into these temporary scenes is diverse and skilled. We have our own sand sculptures along the seacoast, as a special celebration of the end of the school year and the official start of summer vacationing at the beach in Hampton Beach NH and Salisbury MA. These sculptures are from British Columbia, an entirely different seacoast (the Pacific) - what do you build in the sand? :-)

http://www.myunusual.com/downloads/Unusual_Sand_CastlesC.html

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