Celebrating my 400th post

I have added quite a number of 4 inch blocks to my zip-lock bag. In fact, I had to get a bigger bag to hold them all. I still have no idea what I am going to do with them and I think until I decide, you have probably seen enough.

I decided for this post I would see if I can share something I made a while ago. I did not write the date this book was made. Many years ago, the Kindergarten teacher at the American School asked me  to illustrate the poem, "What is Pink" by Rossetti.,  because she used it to teach her class.

 Using pen and ink and watercolor. plus a Japanese Sparrow, I put these pictures on a 10.5 x 8.5 inch sketch book.

When the book was finished, it was given to the teacher but my husband took it and made copies of the original for my file.

Since these are copies of copies, the color is not equal to the original but I thought my blogging friends might enjoy a simple book break.

The sparrow, having done his job, is flying off.


I hope you enjoyed this post.

When I was in High school, I was dismayed with illustrations in text books. Especially those in science books that looked not much like the object we were to be viewing in real life. I thought I could become an illustrator of science books after college but ... my parents would not let me go to art school (because I might turn into a "hippy"). At the college I went to, I could not stand the smell in the science building coming from the chemistry floor. To top it off, the art teacher took my paint brush and taped it to the end of a yardstick because he thought my paintings were "too tight".

I switched my double major from art and science to art and education because, by then, I was determined to find ways to help kids learn to love art rather than be turned off by teachers.

My life as an illustrator never got off the ground but I have added one more book. In 1991, I was taking the "Doctors" course in the "College of Commissioner Science" for the Boy Scouts. (The first year one takes the course, for a "Masters" one teaches the course, and for a "PHD" you do a one year project). I submitted several proposals and the one that was selected was a book of plants.

Many advancement requirements for Scouts include identifying plants and living in Japan, there was no information in English at all. Over the year, I made a book of "Descriptions and Illustrations of 65 Woody Plants Common to the Kanto Area". It is still the only information available today in English.

Last week, a Scouting friend took all my drawings and information for that book and will scan it and put it on line for Scouts all over the Far East Council to use. As it is, I have been copying it on to A4 paper which is then folded in half and stapled at the open edge to be bound into a book. As often happens, we end up with a copy of a copy .

Last week I sat down with my Scouting friend and we were able to go over it and make changes. (I had put maps at the back of the book of different areas the Scouts use, and numbers to identify different trees. That way, a leader who has no knowledge of Japanese plants can take a group to that spot, read the description of the plant, and let the boys use their observation skills to find the tree). Over the years the red pines had died and some trees had been cut down while some new trees had come up in other places within the map area.)

That year-long project had been done on a word processor so I am glad it will be moving to the digital age and still be of use to anyone who loves nature as much as I.

Behind the scenes, my husband helped with making copies and putting them into a format I could access for blog posts. Neither of us is a technical wizard so there was a lot of trial and error. I keep reminding myself that none of my "old"friends even have a computer so, though we are running to keep up, we are still in the race.