Art

Summer is For Solar Systems

2023-06-18T10:39:31-06:00

(Christopher Mick pictured with adhesive sidewalk graphics that contained information on each planet and were applied at the appropriate distances from each other on the sidewalks starting at the Hudson library and continuing on for a 1-mile scale Solar System Walk, based on the Sun being 8-inches across)   The vast size of our Solar System can be a hard concept to get across to visitors at your library. Luckily there are several fun and interactive ways to represent the scale of our Solar System for multiple age groups, indoor and outdoor, from a strip of paper to a mile-long walking tour beginning at [...]

Summer is For Solar Systems2023-06-18T10:39:31-06:00

Creating a Perpetual Nature Journal: A Sketchbook With a Twist

2021-05-30T09:10:51-06:00

I've read about artists, especially botanical artists, that take years to finish a work of art, not because they were just super slow, but because they had to wait.  What did they have to wait for?  Nature. These artists would focus on a particular plant while it was in bloom or its fruit was ripe, or it was at some other particular stage in its yearly cycle that they wanted to portray.  Then, when the blooms faded, the fruit was gone, or the plant had moved on to another stage, that painting and its associated sketches were put away until the [...]

Creating a Perpetual Nature Journal: A Sketchbook With a Twist2021-05-30T09:10:51-06:00

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!

2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00

Folks know what Nature is. Folks know what a journal is. But Nature can't write... no thumbs, among other things. Sooo. . . what is a nature journal? That depends. If you are an adult, a nature journal is a fantastic way to get away from the hustle, bustle, and rush, and practice patience, observational skills, and art.  It can be an opportunity to get out and have an outdoor adventure.  Keeping a nature journal is a way to become acquainted or reacquainted with the natural world.  It can become the place where an artist or future artist takes notes and [...]

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day

2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

On December 20, 2017, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously voted to declare May 20 World Bee Day. Why should we celebrate bees? Why not? The purpose of World Bee Day is to recognize more than just the most well-known of the bees - the European honey bee.  Many people don't know that the honey bee isn't native to North America.  It colonized the western hemisphere with the European settlers.  When the settlers arrived, though, this country already had plenty of bees of its own, some 4,000 different species actually, ranging in size from the world's smallest bee, the [...]

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

Storytelling With a National Geographic Explorer

2021-05-29T07:59:39-06:00

Have you ever looked through a National Geographic magazine and wondered what it would be like to be a National Geographic explorer?  Well now you can have a chance to find out!  The National Geographic Society has added 3 new courses to its offerings. The introduction to the series is here. These are the courses: 'Storytelling for Impact: Photography' 'Storytelling for Impact: Audio' 'Storytelling for Impact: Video' These courses are different from all the ones already available in a number of ways. - First of all, they are offered as a series collected under the title 'Storytelling for Impact.'  Other National [...]

Storytelling With a National Geographic Explorer2021-05-29T07:59:39-06:00

World Origami Days are Here! 20 Days of Workshops and Tutorials

2021-01-27T16:29:22-07:00

Like so many conferences, festivals, and other events, World Origami Days has gone virtual this year. Beginning on October 24, the birthday of Lillian Oppenheimer (1898-1992), who founded the first origami group in the USA and was one of the founders of OrigamiUSA and the British Origami Society, this event will host workshops and tutorials daily through November 11, which is Origami Day in Japan. Everyone who registers will receive links to the videos of the daily tutorials in November, so don't worry if you miss one or a few. There is a page of templates for folding a flapping bird [...]

World Origami Days are Here! 20 Days of Workshops and Tutorials2021-01-27T16:29:22-07:00

Build Your Own Solar System and Resource Update

2020-05-20T23:47:31-06:00

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is healthy and at home. To start off, I want to share this really cool resource I found this morning, and which has kept me distracted (granted that isn't hard to do) for longer than I care to admit.  It's an online game in which you get to create your own solar system, and watch it develop through time.  Thankfully it isn't real time, or we'd be waiting for interesting developments for a veeerrrry loooooooong time.  Instead, it passes through a million years every minute. That's 1,000,000 years every minute.  Keep an eye on it the [...]

Build Your Own Solar System and Resource Update2020-05-20T23:47:31-06:00

Happy Superhero Day!

2020-04-28T21:37:18-06:00

April 28 is National Superhero Day! Marvel marked the day by celebrating the heroes on all our minds and thoughts these days - nurses, doctors, EMT's, first responders, medical researchers, grocery store workers, restaurant workers offering curb-side and delivered meals, long-haulers and delivery drivers, production workers, and all the thousands of others who risk their lives daily by going to work so that the rest of us can shelter in place. So why don't we celebrate our favorite superheroes on their day? To learn about some of the more famous classic superheroes, we can take a look at their biographies at Superhero [...]

Happy Superhero Day!2020-04-28T21:37:18-06:00

Sounds of the Mountains Storytelling Festival, Dolly Parton, and More Available Online

2020-04-04T22:16:22-06:00

Hey, everyone! I hope everyone is staying at home and healthy. I wanted to share some exciting news! Instead of canceling the Sounds of the Mountains Storytelling Festival this year, the organizers and storytellers have opted to offer it virtually, free, and forever!! In fact, I am listening to a great story as I write this blog! Please check it out. There is little in life that can beat a great storyteller. www.SoundsoftheMountains.org Dolly Parton has also joined the ranks of those offering activities for children during our time of shelter in place. She is reading stories on Thursday evenings for [...]

Sounds of the Mountains Storytelling Festival, Dolly Parton, and More Available Online2020-04-04T22:16:22-06:00

On-line Resources for Homebound Families #1

2020-03-22T17:21:41-06:00

I, like the rest of the country, am at home these days.  Fortunately for me, I have always been good at keeping myself entertained.  Today though, many kids aren't as good at that as in generations past.  Anyone in my childhood household who said the word 'bored' would get such a long list of chores to do from my mother that the word would never pass through those lips again. In an attempt to help out families everywhere who are in a situation they never imagined could happen, I have been scouring the internet.  I have several goals in mind.  The [...]

On-line Resources for Homebound Families #12020-03-22T17:21:41-06:00
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