Creating a Better Community!

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to help beautify the city of Waukegan, IL. I took part in an event called "Paint the Town" which was sponsored by Delilah at 93.9 WLIT FM. Each year, she's been picking a town that needs some TLC, and she invites volunteers to help Paint the Town! How cool that she picked this lake front community that is very much in need of a face lift!

So, on October 15th, 600 volunteers showed up to help add new life to the downtown area. We were provided with much needed coffee from Starbucks (it was cold in the morning!) and sandwiches from Subway to keep us energized. I had the chance to meet Delilah and her wonderful crew, and I'm so thankful for their generosity! Click here to see all the photos taken by the WLIT staff!

I recently started working in Waukegan, so I thought it was the perfect time to get involved in my "new" community. It would be so wonderful to see Waukegan become a thriving art community, and after Painting the Town last week, I really believe that can happen! My group was assigned to paint the Family Thrift Store. It was fun to meet some new people and make new friends, from near and far!


If you're in the area, drive down Genesee Street and see the work that's been done. Don't forget to check out the two murals that now add life to Waukegan. They are absolutely gorgeous! And if you do live in the area, and want to help Waukegan come back to life, check out the Waukegan Main Street website and get involved!


Many thanks to Delilah and her friends for helping us create a better community!

Four Seasons

I've been working on a fun project at Coach Creative Space called "Four Seasons." There are twelve artists who will each be making four pieces of art to represent the seasons. We can use any media we want (we even have someone writing haiku!).

I decided to make trees in mixed media. My first tree ended up being a winter wonderland! The base is card stock covered in texture medium. I did some garage sailing :) and brought home some very inexpensive collage items to use. I sprinkled my tree with sparkly white glitter, pearls and beads. I only wish my camera could give you the full effect of the sparkles!


Here's a close up peek...


Of course, spring must follow, and I'm off to a good start by carving some cherry blossoms out of clay. I love carving clay!


Will post more as it materializes! In the meantime, check out the Coach Creative Space link above and visit the "Four Seasons" group. You'll find some beautiful work there!

No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn.
-Hal Borland

Another Celebration!

One more reason for the family to celebrate this year! My younger daughter just graduated from French Pastry School! I'd like to suggest that everyone encourages their children to go to pastry school, just so you can enjoy a party that looked like this! Of course, living with her during the program was a pretty sweet experience as well! I was so appreciative of her hard work! I am also extremely thankful that the church staff where I worked enjoyed eating sweets! Otherwise, I'm sure I would have had to purchase an entire new wardrobe (and probably several sizes bigger!).

Below are some more photos from her graduation reception. Here's a photo of an amazing plated dessert that included plum stew.


And here we have some delicious chocolate candies. This was one of my favorite parts of her program!


I think I could have lived on this chocolate cremeux....absolutely heavenly (or sinful, depending on your perspective!)


Needless to say, I didn't eat much for dinner that night after a spread like this!


Congratulations Karin on completing this amazing program! And many thanks for feeding me such delicious treats over the last six months!

Bravo Karin! You did it!

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
-Oprah Winfrey