Icecream

 

Bacon - I

Bacon - I

One Tree, Two Moons

    When you see my drawing, the first thing you notice is that there are two girls.  People ask me, "Which one are you?"  I can't really answer that question.  I drew this tree keeping in mind that the girl on the left represent me, but I wouldn't say that she is I.  She represents a lot of others as well, as does the girl on the right.  It just happens that her story fits mine.  It might fit yours as well.  Who knows.

    Last year, a very good friend of mine that I had just known for the school year moved to Florida.   She wasn't too happy about it.  But this reminded me of another friend.  I had a good friend back in my first grade.  Her name was Sasha.  At the playground in my old school, there was a very large tree - or it just seemed big to us at the time, and we would always play near it.  Sasha was the one who got me into nature.  We would always be near the tree at recess time, talking about eating leaves, climbing trees, "making" bird nests with twigs.  I think that she was the one who really gave me creativity.  It sounds funny, but we would always try to control the wind with our hands.  I liked her very much as a friend and probably more than she liked me.   But at the end of the year, she proudly declared that she was going to move.  The whole class made her goodbye cards.  She kept talking about how excited she was to move and how she couldn't wait any longer.  I tried to be happy for her too, but honestly, I was sad.  I hope that she has found another tree where she is living now and that she will learn from it as I learned from the tree in that playground.

  This tree represents my relationship with my friend in first grade, the one I has last year, and all my other friends that have been washed away in my life.  I hope that no matter how faded they become, they will always have a place in my heart, and that this tree will always remind me of their kindness and generosity.

Wolf 3

Wolf 2

Wolf 1

Swan

Another piece of woodwork!!!  This is a swan I carved and painted with watercolor.  When I finished painting I covered it with a clear oil base coating. (The reason it didn't smudge when I put the coating on was because it was oil based.)  When I put the coating on my hands got REALLY sticky!  It was very hard to get off!  I even tried to use dishwasher soap and it didn't work.  My dad told me that I was supposed to use paint thinner...that worked immediately but my hands smelled weird the rest of the day.

Ocean church

     This is a picture that I drew with a wood burning tool.  I had to constantly switch points to make different textures in the wood.   My favorite part is the moon in the background.  I used a knot in the wood to make it.

Ocean Church

The steady surge of the chestnut mount I ride has feelings too,

For he even stops before I was to will him with a rounding jerk on his reins,

He loves scene as much as I do, his neigh echos in the crisp night air,

And somehow he knows deep in himself that we have come to the end,

The end is also our beginning-- like the wind that frolics the sailboat playfully,

As it rocks lost in thought in the warm summer ocean truly innocent,

Her captain does not care that the boat is drifting off course,

He does not care that the lighthouse is dimming and sometimes dark without light,

The church is just a mere cottage, its bricks worn out like wood, eerie from the cheesy moon,

Its cross that used to stand proud on the moldy shingled roofs, is lost in time,

My horse and I have not come too soon and we know we must be going,

And as I said, every journey ends and then there comes the beginning.

Flying Girl

I got the inspiration to draw this picture from a story in the FLIGHT comics.  The comic is titled "On Importance of Space Travel".  It was drawn by Svetlana Chmakova who is a manga artist.

I liked the comic a lot and enjoyed reading it countless times.  There is a preview of it on her website.

  

The Stranger

"Look, look into my eyes--"

"Look - look into my eyes, Stranger
Why do you not look
Into my eyes?
Stranger?

Are you afraid.
Are you afraid that you
Will understand yourself if you do so?
Stranger.

How can you travel, to the places
You have traveled--
Without the heart to glance at feelings
Stranger, Your travels are a waste

Why do you even travel?"

O' maiden, I will not look into your eyes
Because it will remind me
Why I'm Here. 

The Hymn of a Gardener

When you snip a flower
Off from the Earth
For your little glass vase
Make it matter.

Make it so the little
Red rose does not mind
That it is not home, 
That it will die soon.

Put it near a window
Give it a shower
Make it feel of use
That it has at least--

Done one good deed, in its life.

Cod Fish

The cod fish has been the state fish of Massachusetts for 200 years. If you look around Massachusetts you will find the decorations using codfish in many places.

In one period of time, this species of fish almost got wiped out. The Vikings fished for the cod in Massachusetts. They used the codfish and dried it to make food. This way the codfish wouldn’t spoil, and the Vikings could go on longer journeys. A group of people named the Basques used the codfish as well for the same purpose except for the fact that the Basques added salt to the Vikings’ recipe. Since the Basques added salt, they could travel to hot places without spoiling the fish. The codfish was plentiful at that time. John Cabot reported that the water was so thick with codfish that they only had to dip baskets in the water to scoop them out. The cod also helped the New England colonies to survive and thrive because they could use it as fertilizer, eat it, and sell it. Cod also had an important role in the triangular trade routes and slave trade. New England exported high quality salted cod to Europe. New England exported low quality salted cod to the Caribbean where the slaves working there were forced to make sugar which was made into molasses. Boston merchants bought the molasses and out of that they made rum. Then, the rum produced in Boston was sold in other parts of America and Africa. In Africa, the rum was traded for enslaved people. The enslaved people were brought to the Caribbean to work. But then, technology in the 1800s and the 1900s affected the cod. People made fishing lines with many many hooks, and created boats that could go faster with bigger nets. Soon there was less cod. This was bad. As the cod grew scarcer, people fished more and more. Soon the cod could not be “scooped out of the water in baskets.” And if the cod dies out, what will happen to the fish that the cod eat and the fish that eat the cod? What will happen to the cod’s food web and the cod’s history?

I made my fish jumping because I didn’t want the cod to wander on the bottom of the sea hiding from nets any more. I wanted people to know that in my picture a border of humans did not surround the trapped cods. This picture represented a world that I wanted all codfish and maybe all fish to be in.

No longer hiding. Finally free.

Creativity Gives Us Wings

Creativity shapes the world,
Giving us wings.

If there is no creativity,
The world is a barren field without color.

Raccoon

I called this one "The gaze".

Timothy Basil Ering

Last Friday, an illustrator named Timothy Basil Ering came to our school. He showed us how he became an illustrator starting from when he was 1 year old! He said he drew everywhere. He told us that he even drew on his homework then quickly added that he still paid attention in class.

After a while he started telling us about the books he made and illustrated. I was surprised at how much an illustrator payed attention to the world and the things that are going on. I think a very funny thing happened in his presentation. He showed us his first detailed sketch of Despereaux and everybody went "aaaaaaawwwwwnn" with admiaration for the cute and adorable little mousy and Timothy Basil Erring said,"Every time! The same reaction! I can remember the pitch and tone of that sound! Every time!" In the background. Some of the kids and teachers started laughing. But, I have to admit, that Despereaux was cute! He was fluffy and looked so shy! When Timothy was done with presentation we had a raffle. Two people won and they both got a free book with Timothy Basil Erring's signature.

I can tell that Timothy is a nice guy and I hope he enjoyed his visit. I certainly DID!!!

The violinist

I took a deep breath,

And sang;

I sang in a language,

A voice rarely heard;

I opened my mind, heart, and soul,

To ... ... the world.

The Fish Bowl

This is a project that I did in my science class. The class was learning about scavengers, decomposers, producers, and consumers. We were told that we had to make a comic, that included a clear idea about what scavengers, decomposers, producers, and consumers were, and at the same time keeping the comic fun. I enjoyed the project very much.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Summary/reveiw)

I like the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I like this book because it has a very intriguing style and beginning. The author starts off the book with two very unique paragraphs; " The story I'm about to tell you takes place under the roofs of Paris ... ... ...But before you turn the page, I want you to picture yourself sitting in darkness, like in the beginning of a movie ... ... ... You will eventually spot a boy amid in the crowd ... ... .... Follow him because this is Hugo Cabret. His head is full of secrets ,and he is waiting for his story to begin."That introduction really made me want to read on.

There was only one part of the book that I didn't like. It was the ending. I feel as if the ending never satisfied me. I kept wondering, " Grampa Goerges wasn't successful in movies and that is the only problem?"If I were the author,Grampa Goerges would also lose his memory.

There are two quotes in this book that I like. " I like to imagine that the world is a big machine. You know machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and types of parts that they need. So, I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means that you have to be here for some reason, too. " The second quote is that "Did you ever notice that machines are built for a reason? Maybe it is the same with people. If you lose you purpose, it's like you're broken."

Some parts of the book had so many pictures in a row that they looked like mini movies.

I forgot to tell you that I love the style of this book; pictures with words. There were about the same number of pages of words as pictures and one picture takes up two sheets of paper.

I like the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and strongly recommend it!

Wanted: Frody the Frog

This is Frody, the frog.

He came from the Amazon, hopping to get rich and famous. Instead he committed many crimes and bad deeds. Sometimes people's dreams were ruined by him. Please find Frody.

(a summer camp project for studying Metamorphosis)