Artprize 2013

artprizeetc from outypants on Vimeo.

    
          Our second year of Artprize greeted us with warm weather and lots of new art to vote on. I easily voted on one out of three entries I saw last year, maybe it was the rookie in me, who got easily excited and impressed by what I see. I realized sometimes I would vote after I talked to the artist, as if they would know one way or another if I voted on them. I call it the guilt vote. Really though I never voted on something I didn't think was at least worth a mention.  Sometimes it is a good guess that an entry isn't going to win, but "hey its pretty neat and isn't something I could do" therefore it gets a vote. 

My Mother-n-law's favorite
made from license plates, a boat wheelbarrow and other odds and ends.

 This year I was much more critical and found myself  texting my vote a lot less.

The living statue. If you put some money in the jar he would come to life and play a song.

Flash Off

Flash On

Nathan and I even got a date day to explore more than we would with the kids.

This entry made the top 10. It is carved out of wood.

Homeschool outing with our friends the Clarks. It was nice going during the weekday, with less traffic.

Earth Giant. I overheard the artist is a college student who after entering went back to college out east and once his professors heard he made the top 25, told him to return to Michigan. He did end up making the top 10 list.

The Winner

I voted for this entry and hoped it would win. I am not sure how I managed it, but after seeing it twice I didn't get my own photo?  It is a four panel quilted image of The Sleeping Bear Dunes.

It took the artist one year to make.  Anne Loveless is a Michigan native.

This is us, summer 2012 at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Xin Nian Kuai Le- Chinese New Year Post

If a cold Chinese New Year is good luck, then we should be all set for 2013. Last year we were told that Michigan hardly got any snow and winter was very mild.  Our first winter in three years has greeted us with a lot of snow and the colder temps to go with it.

Even though there were no obvious displays in our city that Lunar New Year was approaching, we knew the date was in February and anticipated it.
 Our homeschool group has several girls between the ages of 7-9. We decided to have meetings once a month for moms and daughters.  I offered to host a Chinese New Year party.
 Thanks to Renee for sending me some CNY kitsch, goodies from Hong Kong to help the event be more festive.

The traditional craft of making a lantern from red packets. 

One of the moms brought these cookies in and wrote fortunes to go with them. Mine said "you are blessed"

This was a bingo game.  Some of the squares were Star Ferry,
Ni Hao, Long lines, Jo san and the color red.
I wanted a way to talk about our impressions and experiences in China overall and not only in regards to Chinese New Year .  The game allowed me to share some information as I would call out what was on a square, I felt this was more interactive and less boring than just talking.

Durian is a very strong smelling fruit , it is banned from some public buildings in Asia.  I compare the smell to sweaty socks, very pungent.  Some people really like it and durian flavored ice cream and other treats are not uncommon.

Would you eat this?
Choices: Shrimp Flavored potato fries
Snack Seaweed
Durian Flavored candy
cream filled cookies,
(the cookies were the  kind we would see at 7-11 all the time, I think they are Japanese)
 I had a taste testing survey.
You could rate what you ate as:
No Way! Only if I was Starving and I like it.

We did have some positive feedback on the seaweed, a family that eats sushi said they thought it was good.
The cookies, not surprisingly did get the most votes for I like it.

We recently visited an Asian market about 5 minutes from our house. They have real durian, but I didn't purchase it for two reasons. One, I was worried the smell would linger in the church until Sunday. Two, the already cut up package cost about $5, for  4 small pieces.  I was sure no one would eat much of it and didn't want to waste it for the price.
 

Thanks to Oriental Trading Company, the girls were able to decorate paper fans.

Berea worked hard to find characters that would sound like her name.  I didn't help her on it so I don't know how close she came, but she did an excellent job writing the characters.

Jane with friends, Morgan and her baby sister Adelai

I really enjoyed hosting the event and getting an opportunity to share, my knowledge (as small as it is) about Chinese culture.
Kung Hey Fat Choy from the Sweeneys



   

Homeschool

This year the kids are being homeschooled.  We had a positive school experience in Hong Kong and it is possible in the future the kids will attend a more traditional school setting.  

I will answer a common question asked of me about homeschooling. What about socialization?

This is our Hudsonville homeschool group.
 We meet regularly and go on field trips. 

Thursdays, I attend a Bible study while the kids attend classes at the church designed for homeschool kids.

Friday mornings we make a trip to the Homeschool building.
 Jane has science class and a study hall and Elliot takes science and PE.  
 Monday nights the kids attend a scout program.
Jane is taking piano and horse riding and Elliot has soccer. 
We are not worried about socialization. 
 The kids grade levels are not very demanding. The actual school day is shorter and we have no evening homework. As a result adding all these activities does not take away from our family time and fits easily into our schedule. 

First day of school picture.
Elliot says Second Grade 7 years, when I grow up I want to be a race car driver.
Jane says Fourth Grade 8 years, when I grow up I want to be a veterinarian.

I have decided to set up a separate blog just about our homeschooling.  I am not sure how often I will be updating it but if you are interested here is a link