24 BLOGS .... I DID IT

This is my last blog, at least for this class.

I didn't think I would ever be able to blog, probably because I had trouble finding everything I needed to first, create a blog, then find my way back to where I needed to be to do the next one.

I was so frustrated with the whole process, that I avoided blogging.

But, like anything else, the more you practice, the easier it gets. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it in the end.

I didn't like taking all those handwritten notes in class but eventually I saw the method for the madness in it. I realized that it made it necessary for us to go through the notes as we wrote them. It was probably better than being handed a printed sheet that we may or may not have later picked up and read. It was a good thing!

I learned a lot in the ITT class and feel so far ahead of all my senior friends!

I'm thinking about starting another blog. I don't know what the theme will be yet, but I'll come up with something.

I don't think I'll go play in Second Life again but it was an interesting experience that I probably would not have had without having taken the ITT class.

I'm looking forward to my week off between semesters.

Have a Good Summer,

Polish Princess

HTML

Maybe I need to barter with this gentleman.

I love to cook and feed people.

That'll work !!??

See, even a cat knows what HTML can do!!

How intimidating.

Sure wish the guy with the code tattooed on his neck had been sitting in front of me during the quiz.

Our two classes in html

went by too quickly for me. I never thought I'd catch on to this stuff. But after concentrating

long and hard on the code, I think there's a possibility that I'll be OK with it. I see the light at the end of the tunnel! Maybe

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to work a little harder, and really master html. I may grow to enjoy it someday.

Family Montage

One of my Graphic Design projects was a montage. I opted to use old photos of my mother's and my father's families.

My mother and her parents are on the left. Their photos were all taken in Philadelphia. That's little me, top center, standing under a window in New Jersey. Next to me on my right is a photo of my father and his two sisters. My father's family, all but one of his sisters, was killed during the second world war when Poland was invaded in September of 1939. The photos of my father's family are on the right side of the montage. All of those photos, except for the one of my father with his arms around two woman on the boat (lower right) coming to America, were taken in Poland. I'm so glad that my mother kept these photographs for me. I think it's important to know as much about your family history as possible so the following generations will be able to pass on that information.

In the center is a photo of a book, Revolution From Abroad, written by a professor by the name of Jan T. Gross who teaches at Princeton.

In that book he mentions the deaths of my father's seven family members. I placed the excerpt from the book over the picture of my paternal grandfather on bottom, right.

I plan to email Professor Gross and see if he can provide me with some information about the tragedy. I would someday like to visit Poland and see where my family lived.

BIG MEATBALLS!

Something I always thought I'd like to do was to write and illustrate a children's book. This project, an exercise in scale, is one that I did for my Intro to Visual Arts class.

Doing this illustration made me realize that I really would enjoy creating a book for my grandsons. Eric and Ryan are so much fun. They do and say some surprising things that really tickle me. I've asked Ryan, the five year old, to come up with a title. So far we can't agree on one. That will be the easy part once I get started, that's the hard part.

My grandsons will probably be in college by the time I get around to doing this!! I should start documenting their antics now so I can have enough material when I'm ready to get started.

Reed Drawing

In an earlier blog I mentioned a reed drawing class I had attended. I'd like to show you the drawing I did in that workshop. I loved the technique and plan to use it in the future. The instructor was kind enough to cut me some nice reed pens. His pens were much better than the ones that I tried to cut myself. He also provided me with a jar of his homemade walnut ink. (You can't buy the ink and making it is a long drawn out process.)

Drawing with reeds is great because the slightest turn of the pen gives you great variation in line, as you can see. This was my first attempt at reed drawing. We were not allowed to use pencil at all, just the reed. That was tough to jump right in without first planning your work. But sometimes those spontaneous pieces turn out OK because they're not overworked.

Foam Rollers

I recently injured my back carrying heavy books in a bag over my left shoulder. Off to PT I went.

In addition to using heat, ice, electrical stimulation and exercising, I get to use a foam roller.

It really takes some getting used to. Teetering atop a foam roller can be very interesting the first time around.

Once you get used to the feeling of balancing on it, it really feels good, especially when you get off!! It really does

help to align your spine. Exercising on the thing is kind of tricky, especially lifting one, then both legs at once without using your hands for balance. I still need help getting on it, but once I'm there, I 'm pretty good at it.

I bought one to use at home and I fell off onto the floor, so I still am not confident enough to fly solo without someone there to help me get situated. I'll get it yet. So, if you want a new and interesting experience, get yourself a foam roller. You can go on line and see all the other possible uses for this product. Enjoy!!

Sketchers Shape-Ups

Shape Up While You Walk

I don't know about you, but exercising is not one of my favorite things. So when my physical therapist suggested that I needed to stand straighter, I decided to purchase these wonder shoes to make me start walking sloped back instead of leaning forward.

I never realized the diference a shoe could make with posture. But that's not the best part of wearing these shoes. They actually make you workout as you walk!! How great is that!!! I've been wearing the style shown for a week, walking on campus and shopping; just all day normal wear. Let me tell you, I feel like I've been working out at the gym. Plus, they are very comfortable and well worth the money.

They come in lots of styles. so look on line to see if there's one to suite you.

Happy Walking.......... Don't I sound like a commercial?? (No, I don't get a commission.)

Soupy Island

Not Familiar with Soupy Island?? It has quite a history. I remember my Stepfather talking about his experiences at Soupy Island, but I never saw the place until a couple of years ago when I attended the annual Polish American Citizens Club picnic held there each year. What an interesting place! They will rent pavillions to you for picnicing. There is an old merry-go-round which they operate for you when there is a function being held there. I love the hand painted illustrations of the Campbell's Soup kids around the place. Also there are swimming pools you and your guests can enjoy. It's a great place to hold a family reunion. Thought you may be interested in reading a bit of history about Soupy Island. Takes you back in time.

“A pioneer charity of the country”: NJ’s “Soupy Island” Sanitarium

Sanitarium Playground, better known in the hearts of thousands of Philadelphians and South Jerseyans as Soupy Island, appeared at the end of Red Bank Ave. with its mirth subdued by barbed wire. The compound’s shabbiness belied its significance to scores of young Philadelphians whose lives were spent in the stifling airlessness of Philadelphia’s red brick canyons. Founded in 1877 by an organization called the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia, the compound is a specimen of the late nineteenth century social hygeine movement bound up in well-meaning upper/middle class paternalism. Though the social philosophy that gave rise to Soupy Island implied that poor immigrants were constitutionally unable to care for their own health, by all accounts Soupy Island was — and continues to be — a much needed outlet for the region’s kids.

[SOUPY ISLAND SIGN IN THOROFARE, NJ]
With the support of Philadelphia type-founder John F. Smith, the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia began ferrying Philadelphia kids to spend an afternoon on the now-defunct Windmill Island in the Delaware in 1877, the efforts of the organization garnered the accolades of public health experts. By 1886, the Sanitarium Association purchased 15 acres on the then-bucolic eastern shore of the Delaware river in West Deptford, New Jersey. As William Hale Beckford put it in his The Children’s Crusade of 1916, the free service was “a pioneer charity of the country”:

The same year that the Sanitorium Association began its retreats across the Delaware, the Reverend Willard Parsons of Sherman, Pennsylvania opened the homes of his congregation to New York tenement children, now known as the Fresh Air Fund. To nineteenth century Americans, lung diseases were a paralyzing threat. Prior to Dr. Robert Koch’s identification that tuberculosis spread by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which so happened to thrive in dark apartments with several families, the curious causal scientific wisdom of the day suggested that the disease was innate to poor, immigrant populations in urban areas. But public health reformers did not see that tenement conditions were just sufficient and not necessary for the propagation of the disease. American health leaders of the late 19th century (many of whom were also religious leaders) attributed the spread of disease to a combination of moral corruptness and ignorance which kept immigrants in conditions of squalor. It was not entertained that conditions of poverty tended to determine whether immigrants lived in habitations where the photophobic bug thrived. For health reformers interested in offering “uplift” or instruction in social hygeine, some were motivated by altruism while others feared that sickness, absenteeism, and social disorder posed a grave threat to American industrialized society.

[SANITARIUM PLAYGROUND SIGN AT FRONT AND RED BANK AVE.]

So from the discovery of the bacillus in 1882 to the discovery of streptomycin in 1946, the main mode of treatment was the sanitarium approach: a combination of “taking the air” and labor. But unlike the typical adult sanitarium, the youth sanitarium on the Delaware was designed to be carefree and fun. A carousel designed by Frederick Heinz was installed in 1901 and six years later a slide was added. Today, two pools and a wading pool help kids from Philly and Camden cool off during the summer. Soup seems to have always been a constant, and during the Depression it seems that strictness slackened and consumption was not a precondition for getting a cup of soup. Ferries would leave daily from Penn Treaty Park for the six mile trip down the Delaware.

[MAIN GATE, SOUPY ISLAND]

In 2004, Soupy Island went through 70 cases of soup a season and survives on an endowment. Though it is unclear whether nearby Campbell’s Soup has had any affiliation with the facility, a team from the Camden company came out last May to fix up a couple ballfields. The caretaker of the facility lives in a 12-room dormitory that once housed the doctors and the nurses who for years treated Philadelphia’s consumptive children.

Sewing

Doe's anyone still sew?

For me it was a way of life. I grew up very poor and kind of on my own. My Mother didn't have much time for me. She focused on my baby sister, the child from her new marriage. So I was left to fend for myself. Not getting much attention was good in away because I could do pretty much whatever I wanted to do and no one cared. Kind of a double edged sword........I wanted attention but because I had to learn to do things on my own, I became very independent and crafty.

When I was eleven years old and wanted a new dress, my mother suggested that I make one and I did!

Back then we had stores called Five and Tens where you could buy almost anything. That's where I bought three dollars worth of fabric and a dress pattern for fifty cents. That was my first attempt at sewing something that I could actually wear, and I made it and wore it. After that, the job was mine.

I not only sewed my clothes but I also made my sister's little dresses.

I taught myself to sew very well and loved doing it.

I later went to school for fashion illustration.

I made my daughter's prom gowns. That was a way of expressing my creativity before I started working again.

I guess growing up without a lot of money worked in my favor.

A Juicer-A Gift to Myself

Watching the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer commercials sparked my interest in juicing.

I had never before thought about the prospect of juicing for myself until I heard about

the health benefits associated with juicing. So, I went out and bought myself a Jack

LaLanne Power Juicer. I love it! My favorite juice concoction is a blend of two green

apples, three carrots, lemon and fresh ginger. I never would have consumed that

amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in one sitting. And, oh yes, you can through in

some broccolli and spinach along with the fruit and the juice still tastes like fruit. How

amazing is that? Jack LaLanne is 95 years old, guess it's the juicing that keeps him

going. Hope it doe's the same for me!!

Following are some of the benefits of juicing ...............

Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet.

Juicing allows you to consume an optimal amount of vegetables in an efficient manner. If you are a carb type, you should eat one pound of raw vegetables per 50 pounds of body weight per day. Some people may find eating that many vegetables difficult, but it can be easily accomplished with a quick glass of vegetable juice.

1. You can add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. This violates the principle of regular food rotation and increases your chance of developing an allergy to a certain food. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole.

MAUREEN GASS-BROWN Watercolor Artist

MAUREEN GASS-BROWN

Maureen is my favorite watercolor artist and I've had the pleasure of attending several of her painting workshops over the years. She has a unique style of painting. Her underpainting is done by placing watered down colors on a piece of glass and pressing watercolor paper over the paint. After lifting the paper, she lets the paint dry. Then, the magic happens..........she paints over the wonderful background, not knowing, in advance, what she will paint. She just lets it happen. If you like to paint, I suggest you go on her site and see where she will be teaching. You won't be disappointed!!

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Maureen received her B.F.A. degree in Painting and Design from Massachusetts College of Art (“Mass Art“) in Boston (1971). It was there that she discovered her appreciation, awe, and natural affinity for the medium of watercolor.

Maureen shares her artistic credo:“In approaching my work, I always try to reach the poetry in the subject matter of what I am painting. The fluid kaleidoscopic nature of watercolor allows me to capture this emotion, essence and energy. Consequently, I prefer as little detail as possible so as not to interfere with the freshness and directness in my experiencing both subject and medium. Watercolor is such an exhilarating and challenging medium, and I often feel like I have barely scratched the surface!”

Trigger Finger

Trigger Finger ........... Have you ever heard of it? I never did until I was unlucky enough to get it.

It has nothing to do with guns.

I actually had trigger thumb in my right hand.

The joint in your finger or thumb locks and you can't bend or straighten it.

How do you get it?.............. Repetitive use of a digit will result in this problem.

How did I get It?.............. Photoshop!!!

When the G4 Mac came out it had a round mouse. Everyone called it the hockey puck.

Since it was round, you never knew which direction you were headed with it

There was an attachment that you could purchase to elongate the mouse,

but that thing made it too wide and cumbersome. Not knowing that using that poorly designed mouse could injure me,

I did months of photoshop work with. What pain and suffering!! Finally had the surgical

proceedure to straighten my thumb and it worked. Guess I wasn't the only one who had a problem

with that mouse...........They changed the design.

My Daughter, Allison

Allison is my youngest daughter.

She's a delightful girl, full of life, and lots of fun, also very smart, guess she gets all of that good stuff from me!! She works at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. When Allison went away to college, St Michael's, Burlington Vermont, I never dreamed that she would not come back to South Jersey to live. I loved my trips to Vermont carting her back and forth to school and I do miss her a lot. Alli suprised me on Mothers Day with a beautiful rose bouquet. I just wanted you to see her picture.

Do I sound like a proud Mom? I sure am!!

Watercolors

This weekend I attended another painting workshop. It was held at Atlantic Cape Community College.

We painted flowers using watercolors. The instructor was excellent, and as always, I learned a lot of new techniques.

Painting flowers can be quite difficult since each flower has a different petal and leaf shape. They are also difficult to paint because of the twists and turns in the stems, petals and the flower clusters themselves. Creating the appearance of a shear flower petal without a great deal of transparency is tough and requires a lot of planning of layering.

Painting with watercolor takes a great deal of thought. You must paint from light to dark colors and avoid the areas to be left white. No straight black is used from a tube. Black paint must be created by the artist by mixing together, usually, three colors or more.

Even though watercolor painting sounds like a nightmare, It's still my favorite. Some day, when time permits, I plan to do a lot of painting.

But, for now, I'll stick to workshops, at least, I am still learning the process required to create a watercolor.

Polish Princess