The Junk Drawer

Egg-stravaganza by fleur_de_lis

With Easter coming, I thought you might like to see some beautiful, artistic examples of Easter eggs. Ukrainian Pysanky These beauties are made using waxes and dyes to create fabulous layers of color and intricate designs. They are traditionally made during the last week of Lent. Each province, village and almost every family in the Ukraine has its own special ritual, symbols, meanings and secret formulas for dyeing the eggs. Faberge Eggs And then there is the most reknowned Easter egg creator of all time--Carl Faberge. Faberge was a Russian jeweler who was best known for the fabulous eggs he created using precious metals and gemstones. The Faberge eggs began in 1884 with an Easter egg made for the czar who gave it as a gift to his wife. She was so impressed that it was agreed Faberge would make an Easter egg each year for her. In total, Faberge and his son designed 56 Imperial eggs. The designs were for the most part inspired by historical art works and Russian history. They also contained...

BizarroBento by fleur_de_lis

A quick post to show you some examples of creative lunch boxes (bento boxes) designed by Japanese moms for their kids DAILY meals. All are completely edible. With smaller families, stay at home Moms who have foregone their careers have taken up this creative art form as a means of expressing their devotion to their children. So get cracking out there Moms and Dads! Here's a link to the website I found these on if you want to see some more: http://justinspace.com/blog/?cat=31 And also here (paired with some crazy haiku): http://www.justinspace.com/lunch/happylunchcover.html

Reminder: Support Our Troops Challenge by fleur_de_lis

Any of you who still want to submit an entry to the Support Our Troops Challenge need to do so by March 31. Tell me by PM what you or someone you know personally has done to support our troops. The winner will receive a National Guard basketball or volleyball (your choice).

Christo and Jeanne-Claude by fleur_de_lis

Surrounded Islands Fast Facts: Completed on May 7, 1983 in Biscayne Bay Eleven islands were surrounded with 6.5 million square feet of pink propylene fabric 40 tons of debris were removed from the islands prior to the flotation of the fabric 430 workers helped position the fabric around the islands Remained in place for two weeks for the enjoyment of the public and then removed What is art? One popular school of thought is intent. If the person's intent was to create a work of art, then that's what it is. This leaves out the monkeys and elephants with paint brushes, but it opens wide the door for anything anybody wants to do with any materials he chooses. Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude have been wrapping and altering environments for decades. They've done bridges, buildings and coastlines. They've surrounded islands, created pathways of 3,100 yellow and blue 20' tall umbrellas in California and Japan, and made orange gates snaking through Central Park. All at their...

Kinda/Kinkade by fleur_de_lis

I'm a "kinda" sort of person. I kinda know a little about a lot of different subjects (such as history, geography, and English). I kinda know how to garden and cook. I kinda know how to speak French. I kinda know a little about politics, philosophy, and religion. I'm kinda good at art and I'm kinda opinionated about good art and bad art. Take this example of a popular American artist named Thomas Kinkade: Moonlight Cottage I'm sure you're all familiar with his work, as it's heavily commercialized. You can buy calendars, dishes, blankets, prints of every size and price range, villages, wallpapers, figurines, boxes, pillows, key chains and on and on...In fact there are entire store franchises in shopping malls dedicated to his work. Kinkade is a master technician, but I think he is a bad artist. To me he has developed a formula using symbols that represent his "pretty" world which he simply rearranges and changes slightly from painting to painting. If you've seen one you've seen them all...

Concession Confession by fleur_de_lis

Still Life by Fernando Botero I have a confession to make. I looove concession stand food! Give me that greasy, buttery popcorn, those giant, bloated dill pickles wrapped in waxed paper twists, the fudgy homemade brownies, Snickers, M&Ms, Twizzlers, fizzy sodas of all flavors, nachos dripping with cheese, boiled hot dogs in pink water and don't get me started about funnel cakes! With State BB Tournaments and movies with the grandson I have been exposed to plenty of these tempting treats. I blushingly admit that I usually spend more at the concession stand than I do at the ticket counter. It's a bad habit I've fallen into, but a game isn't a game without the snacks and the same goes for the movies. Sigh. I'm sure I've used 8 of my 9 cholesterol lives. Fernando Botero is a Colombian artist that is known for his bloated style. His figures are a perfect example of how I feel after a concession indulgence. In an age that idolizes slenderness to the point of emaciation it is interesting...