Some Current Art Favorites and Thoughts on Jackie Kennedy

I'm cleaning out my desktop while I wait at the airport for a flight. Before I organize these beautiful works of art into oblivion, I want to make sure I highlight them so I can remember:

Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson, "Butterflies," 1891

Mary Cassatt, "Lilacs in Window," 1883

This painting and the lilacs remind me of my mom

Gustave-Leonard de Jonghe, "First Born," 1863

This painting reminds me of when I went to meet my niece Mabel, the first child born to one of my siblings. I would be the lady in the yellow traveling clothes, and V is the mom in white

Tissot, "Reading a Story," c. 1897

Some of the most quiet moments I have with Lucy are when we are reading a story together. This curly-haired blonde girl reminds me of her

Gari Melchers, "The Communicant," c. 1900

  

Evelyn de Morgan, "Night and Sleep," 1878

Evelyn de Morgan, "Clytie," 1878

Whistler, "The Artist in His Studio," 1865-66

 Caillebotte, "Woman at a Dressing Table," c. 1873

Frederick Sandys, "Whitlingham, Norfolk," 1860

I grew to really like Frederick Sandys's art this summer, while giving tours about his paintings "Morgan le Fay" and "Medea"

Charles Robert Leslie, "Queen Victoria in Her Coronation Robes," 1838

Winslow Homer, "Waiting for Dad (Longing)," 1873

The photograph below and the Homer painting above have been saved on my desktop, right next to each other. I've thought lately about how their compositions are similar in some ways, with the straight horizon line of the sea. I guess I'm really drawn to the same aesthetic Something resonates with me in both subjects, too: solitude and playfulness. The photograph particularly reminds me of my mom (with her own short dark hair) and her investment in her kids. I adore this composition, particularly the curve of Caroline's tummy, her round legs, and how she has one foot just peek over the horizon line. 

Mark Shaw Kennedy, "Jackie Swings Caroline in the Shallows of Hyannis Port," 1959

Yesterday, by coincidence, Lucy the book, "Just Being Jackie" by Megan Cardillo. It's a delightful book and I really like the illustrations, too. I've realized how much I truly admire Jackie Kennedy and all that she did, in her pursuit of her career, her dedication to her children, and her desire to preserve historical buildings and monuments (and I already had an inkling of this latter point before, since I am familiar with her involvement in saving Egyptian temples). 

Having worked recently to restore an heirloom dollhouse this past summer, I am now anxious to see what Jackie Kennedy did on a greater scale with her restoration of the White House. I hope to watch "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy" (the 1962 documentary) soon. I'm saving a clip below as a starter, but I need to track down the whole documentary:

Heirloom Dollhouse Restoration

This past summer has been good for me, especially because I was able to focus my mind on new ideas and get involved in creative projects that are outside of my norm. I also decided to take a break from Instagram in August, and it has been nice to focus on my own thoughts instead of being inundated with the thoughts and activities of others. One of the things that I especially enjoyed doing was restoring an old Victorian-style dollhouse. I loved getting a chance to be creative with my hands and mind, and get to see a tangible manifestation of my work.

This dollhouse belonged to my Aunt Bee; it was given to her when she was a little girl. When we went down to Portland in August (not only to see the Wa-Fol family's new house, but also to see Mount Hood and the Enchanted Forest), Aunt Bee gave us this dollhouse to take home, so it could be enjoyed by Lucy but still stay within the family as an heirloom. Grandpa Theron made this dollhouse for my aunt when she was a little girl; he build the dollhouse in my great-aunt Vera's garage. It was painted bright yellow when my aunt was a little girl, and then later in the 1990s it was painted brown when my C cousins played with it.

I didn't take a picture of the exterior when we got it, but the exterior walls and trim were painted different shades of brown, and the shingles were unpainted. The interior walls had a few pieces of contact paper for wallpaper, and there were a few old pieces of felt for carpet.

Lucy wanted to change the color of the dollhouse, and I obliged. I tried to get her to choose the original yellow color, but she was fixated on a bubble-gum pink color. I was, at the very least, able to convince her to choose something that was more terracotta and have some blue and white accents for contrast. Lucy helped paint some of the exterior, too, which she enjoyed.

Some of the brown trim is visible in this picture, as well as some of the missing trim and broken veranda railing. The doors leading out to this porch also were missing. Aunt Bee still had the railing on hand, and J and I were able to carve new trim pieces.

Almost done! It is still missing part of the the gable trim and screen doors

We worked simultaneously on the exterior and the interior. I carved out a new piece for the gable trim that was missing on the left side, new trim for the Mansart roof circular window and the arched window in the tower. J made a new door with an oval-shaped window to match the front door. We found screen doors with oval-shaped designs for the veranda, and cut them to fit. I even found replacement "glass" for the windows by using the plastic container of a stationery box. Here is the completed exterior:

J helped me cut some of the wallpaper for the trickiest rooms (the downstairs dining area with the staircase, as well as the bathroom with the angled ceiling), but I did a lot of it on my own. Sam and Lucy were content to spend a lot of time playing together, and when they were distracted I would run down to the basement to cut more wallpaper. I got the wallpaper from the scrapbook paper sections of Joann's and Michaels, and even the floors are made with scrapbook paper.

The floor and mirror are the two things which came with the dollhouse, at least when Aunt Bee gave it to us.

Look at the tiny radiator! We got this in a $5 grab bag from the Miniatures and More store in Edmonds. We also bought the bathroom fixtures there too.

 This is a tiny miniature painting of one of Degas' ballerina scenes

This is the art room - the dolls have a tiny easel for painting

These two paintings are of a Cezanne still life and Monet's "Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son"

 The main entry with a peek-a-boo Lucy!

This wallpaper is as close to a William Morris design as I could find!

Lucy has all of her special stones and "gems" in this treasure box. Lucy once imagined that the dolls used it for collateral to make some kind of bargain with their neighbors. The little roundel on the wall is cut from the packaging of one of the dolls of the Strawberry Shortcake series. I had a Strawberry Shortcake in this same design when I was a little girl, and it has been so fun for Lucy to get to play with these same dolls. I'm sure they were re-released recently so that mothers like me (who played with these dolls as a child) could buy them for their own kids.

 The attic! I left this room unpainted, which seemed fitting for an attic. We got the little presents for free from Miniatures and More, and the tiny crocheted rug was a gift to me from Lee Peterson, the pianist of my old choir. The only thing that I haven't been able to find is a ladder in the right dimensions to reach up to the attic. I may need to make one. Ant Bee said that she used to pretend like her dolls were orphans when they were up in the attic. 

Lucy and I have been fun playing with this dollhouse together. I hope she gets to enjoy it for many years to come. Maybe we will be able to share it with another cousin so that this dollhouse continues to stay in the family. Or maybe Lucy will want to keep it, in case one day she has a child of her own.

An Active and Educational Summer

On weekdays this summer, my kids have had five responsibilities to do each day:
1) Do a household chore
2) Do pages in their "summer learning" Brain Quest workbooks
3) Practice the piano
4) Read for thirty minutes (or, for Lucy, read at least one book)
5) Do something active

I have liked this last requirement of doing something active, because it has prompted us to spend time outside, try new sports like tennis, and spend time at the gym. I also want my kids to establish a regular habit of exercise. Lucy also started swim lessons this summer and she made some great progress with getting comfortable and putting her face in the water. She still has a long way to go and we will continue lessons this fall, but I'm pleased with the progress she has made.

These are all of the hikes that my kids went on this summer:

• Mount Constitution and Cold Springs (Orcas Island)
• Cascade Lake Loop Trail in Moran State Park (Orcas Island)
• Moraine Lake in Banff (to viewpoint above the lake and along the shore)
• Lake Louise shoreline trail in Banff 
• Hoodoo Creek in Yoho National Park
• Wapta Falls in Yoho National Park
• Ramona Falls at Mount Hood National Forest (I wrote a post about this hike)
• Trillium Lake shoreline trail at Mount Hood National Forest (shown in photo)
• Myrtle Falls at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park
• Grove of the Patriarchs in Mount Rainier National Park
• Denny Creek and Franklin Falls (we plan do to these on Labor Day)

I'm also pleased with the things that the kids were able to learn and experience by working on their Brain Quest workbooks this summer. The workbooks also included "outside quest" experiences, which included things like science experiments, natural walks, and creating food for a family picnic:

I feel like this summer passed by quickly, like a dream, although as I have gone through photos I realize that we have done so much (not even counting our trip to the Weber in July). Sam also got to do a fencing camp, as well as a Lego/Chess camp. Lucy went to a Princess Camp at her dance studio.
We have had a lot of fun, and it's hard to say goodbye to the summer. Both of the kids are excited about the upcoming school year, though.

Ramona Falls in Mount Hood National Forest

At the beginning of this month, J went to Provo for his cousin Colin's wedding. I had the kids with me, so I got substitutes to cover my tours at the museum. Since we didn't have any obligation to be in town, we drove south to Portland to visit Mount Hood, the Enchanted Forest, and the Wa-Fol family. I also loved that we listened to Kenneth Branaugh narrate "The Magician's Nephew" while we drove (I highly recommend it - he does accents for all of the different characters and it really is delightful.)

It was a really lovely weekend trip, and I was especially glad that I took the kids to hike to Ramona Falls. We hiked about 8 miles together, according to the All Trails app that I used. The kids were awesome, and I felt really empowered that I could to a road trip and such a long hike while I was a single parent for the weekend. I do regret giving them so much candy as "power pellet" treats along the way, though - Lucy's stomach bothered her a little bit that evening.

I was most nervous about hiking this trail because you have to cross a river. The logs were positioned in such a way that we were able to cross alright, but I did have to pick up Lucy and help her out for the last couple of steps. I couldn't have done this hike with Violet and the kids, if J wasn't there. See how Lucy earned a lollipop after we crossed the river? She whined the first mile of the hike until this crossing, but she kept going. Then she was quiet for the next twenty minutes while she had the candy in her mouth!

There was hardly any elevation gain on this trail, which is why the kids were able to do it. They were proud of themselves.

This waterfall was so lovely! It reminded me more of a bridal veil than Bridal Veil Falls.

You can go in a loop on this trail, and I much preferred the trail that went along Ramona Creek. The cliffs alongside the trail were stunning: the textures and colors were clearly nuanced. Sam kept saying, "Dad would like to see these rocks!"

Ramona Creek

The part of the trail that goes along the Sandy River is really quite sandy: I regretted wearing Chacos because the amount of dust created extra friction and blistering than normal. I liked this hike so much because the environment is so different between the PNW forest along the creek and the sandy trail along the river, where the trees are more sparse. The upper parts of the trail were speckled with lots of rhododendron bushes, too, and I imagine that this hike is really stunning when the bushes are in bloom. We will have to go back in the spring!