Jayden – A brilliant young Artist!

I came across Jayden’s artwork on Instagram. He’s such a brilliant young artist, so creative. This is a self portrait he made for his Dad’s birthday.

He has a lot of different pieces, if you like this style, look him up. It’s nice to see close ups of the detail he puts into each design. He also explains what he is doing, I enjoyed that too.

Take a look:

His posts make me smile. Have a great day!

A bit of humor when we’re sick.

I’m a bit under the weather, it happens. Nowadays, if a friend sends a message, it’s always in a Text or Email.

Guess what though, this friend took time to send a card. It was so funny, it lifted my spirits.

So, here’s to taking time to send a greeting card to someone, I liked Becca Cahan’s humor. I’d like to see what other cards she’s made. Thoughtfulness does make a difference!

Snow ART — Blink and you’ll miss it!

The other day it was snowing. My daughter and I went walking and as we were talking, she suddenly said, “Look, Mickey Mouse.” We looked more closely and laughed, “YES, it sure looked like Mickey!!”

She was on a roll. As we walked, she kept noticing more snow art, it was so amusing. You can see from above, the left photo, if we blinked, we would not have seen Mickey, same with the other funny figures. We saw the figures at a distance, I zoomed in on them.

We “did” take the liberty of adding to some of the art, ie the snail, we added an antenna, the fish skeleton, we added the bones, that balloon, we added the string… but the balloon, you can see from left photo using our imagination, it was there… the added string, made it believable to “non-snow art-believers.”

Finally, for the GRAND FINALE, before we started to shovel snow… we saw this SMILEY FACE.

Ok… with this one… the EYES were THERE… my daughter added the mouth, but COVER the mouth and you can see how the EYES were talking to us in a “catch me if you dare,” kind of look.

What a fun walk. So, what snow art have you seen lately?

“Cicada Parade-A 2024” – Another sighting…

A new walk, a new “Cicada Parade-A” sighting.

See a previous post, “Cicada Parade-A 2024” / Sponsor, then decorate your own Cicada!”

The first cicada I saw was higher in the tree. This one had lower placement, so I saw it immediately. Also, being painted in a reddish pink color made it stand out.

The Insect Asylum (taxidermist & insect museum) and Formstone Castle Art (create art for festivals & events) are promoting this Cicada Parade-A project to anyone who wants to participate. You sponsor a cicada by paying a fee, then you can decorate your cicada and it is put up somewhere in IL. Although, I saw a video that mentioned someone out of state bought a cicada to bring to their home town. So, everyone can participate. 

Go to The Insect Asylum website, you can see a map of where the cicadas are.

If I keep exploring new neighborhoods, I’ll most likely find more, right?! Summer is not over yet!

“Cicada Parade-A 2024” / Sponsor, then decorate your own Cicada!

What an amazing find! I was on a walk with a friend. She had to tie her shoe. While I was waiting, I looked up and I saw this Cicada art piece. I was intrigued, it had #481 on the sign, which meant there were more to see.

The Insect Asylum (taxidermist & insect museum) and Formstone Castle Art (create art for festivals & events) are promoting this Cicada Parade-A project to anyone who wants to participate. You sponsor a cicada by paying a fee, then you can decorate your cicada and it is put up somewhere in IL. Although, I saw a video that mentioned someone out of state bought a cicada to bring to their home town. So, everyone can participate.

Such a great idea. The artist who created #481 did an amazing job.

Go to The Insect Asylum website, you can see a map of where the cicadas are.

You can still buy one. It’s FUN!

Chicago’s BEST bagels – Corey’s NYC Bagel Deli

This weekend after canoeing, I was hungry. I was thinking, “What do I want to eat?” Then I spotted this van marketing bagels. I have to say, the advertising worked, suddenly I wanted a bagel.

Imagine my happy surprise, when I went to their website, to find out they are Chicago based. Corey’s NYC Bagel Deli was established by Corey & Laurie Kaplan (husband/wife team) in 2000.

From their site, I see they make great bagel sandwiches.

Looks like Marcus Lemonis from “The Profit” visited Corey/Laurie to see their business and offer advice/a deal for moving forward. Here’s a clip from the show.

Recently, they lost business as a few stores they supplied bagels/cream cheese to closed down. So, after canoeing I have a new place to visit. They need community support.

By the way, fellow Blogger, “Yeah, Another Blogger,” wrote a post about art on wheels. He found some interesting companies advertising in Philadelphia, PA. I loved the “Tea Around Town” bus.

So, when you walk, don’t look down/text on your phone, you might miss a great advertising van!

Paintings… sisters…

Recently, I saw these two paintings. I wasn’t looking for paintings, but they caught my attention, because I have two daughters. I thought they depicted their personalities.

The elephants when they are stressed. The giraffes when they are trying to decide what to do.

I find life amusing.

At any given moment in life, we can see, hear, smell something and a vision comes to us or we are transported back in time. For example, recently, I smelled some lilacs and I was brought back to my childhood when they were in bloom.

Have you had a recent memory come to you after seeing “something?”

Re-inventing the Bird House!

This past weekend I was in Wisconsin. I happened to see these bird houses.

I liked how they look; however, made out of metal they don’t look too cozy. Also, I noticed they don’t have a ledge to put birdseed. Would birds go inside this DARK house to eat food?

What do you think? Would birds come or are they just for garden decoration?

Hong Kong: Art Installation – Two Rubber Ducks in Victoria Harbour

Hello Fellow Bloggers, in keeping with our rubber duck theme this week. Look what I found. In Hong Kong right now, an art installation by Florentijn Hofman, a Dutch Artist. It’s been 10 years since his first rubber duck visited Hong Kong. This time, two ducks for “Good Luck!”

Hoffman created this Rubber Duck Series in 2007. His ducks have been touring the world. I do remember years ago seeing in the news, the one rubber duck in Hong Kong, and thinking, “What, a HUGE rubber duck?” Now, there are two.

Visit WION’s (The World is One News) YouTube video to see the ducks zooming around Victoria Harbour. It’s fun!

So, what do you think? Are you smiling?