Standing Into Danger: Surrealism

Do you have a favorite way to relax, an activity that you can lose yourself in for hours?

For me that relaxing activity is putting together jigsaw puzzles.

The Springbok Cats ~ 1000 pieces

(And when I was finished, 2 of the 1,000 pieces were missing! ~ Argh!)

I've been assembling jigsaw puzzles since I was a small child.

My mother Sara MacBeath, her mother Ella MacDonald,

and her grandmother Sara Cossaboom all did jigsaw puzzles.

That love for puzzles was passed on to my brother, three sisters, and me.

Jigsaw puzzles made countless rainy summer days or snowy winter nights

fly by when we were growing up.

To this day, we all love to tackle jigsaw puzzles,

although the pastime is easier for those of us who don't have cats.

We, in turn, have passed the love of jigsaw puzzles on to the next generation,

and my four-year-old-great-niece Ella is now putting puzzles together.

Ella with Homegrown Strawberries

Photo by Her Mother Jeannie

My brother Roy and I are probably the most addicted to the jigsaw habit.

We send each other pictures of our current puzzles and our progress.

We exchange used puzzles, the harder, the better.

And we love sitting down with a puzzle and working it together.

The Ravensburger Krypt Silver 654 ~ 500 pieces

It's considered one of the most difficult of jigsaw puzzles,

and is a puzzle Roy did during the pandemic.

I sure hope he doesn't pass this on to me!

Photo by Roy MacBeath

Roy and I have similar tastes in puzzles: nature scenes and animals.

Roy especially likes cats, and I especially like rocks.

Give me horses and rocks, and I am thrilled!

The Master Pieces Running the Sacred Cliffs ~ 1000 pieces

(I'm not going to be missing a piece again!)

We both have permanent puzzle tables, mimicking our Great Grandmother Sara.

She had a custom puzzle board that she could lay across the arms of her favorite chair

when she settled in to work on a jigsaw puzzle in front of her wood stove.

Our Great Grandmother Sara Cossaboom

From the beginning of my teaching career, I had jigsaw puzzles in my classroom.

I thought assembling jigsaw puzzles was a valuable activity as students worked

on pattern recognition, sorting and categorizing, spatial thinking, and fine motor control,

and they learned a whole lot about cooperation and sharing.

I was always hunting for great jigsaw puzzles

that connected to different areas of our curriculum.

Because puzzles are engrossing, they increased my students' focus and concentration,

and because they were relaxing, they calmed my students down.

Best of all they were fun!

Perfect for a Lesson Plan!

Roy recently completed his first 3,000-piece puzzle.

He's an engineer, so he approaches the process methodically,

completing the border first and laying out his puzzle pieces precisely.

The Engineer's Puzzle Table and Puzzle

The Ravensburger Flowery Mountains ~ 3,000 pieces

Photo by Roy MacBeath

Not to be outdone, I began my first 3,000-piece puzzle.

I didn't have much choice.

It was the only undone puzzle in my collection,

a doozie that my nephew Kevin gave me some Christmases ago.

Unlike Roy, I jump in wherever I can, sorting pieces into mugs and tubs.

I had to add another leaf to my puzzle table and pile my mugs and tubs on a nearby counter.

But I'm off and running!

The Ravensburger World Map 1665 ~ 3,000 pieces

Small Beginnings

A Little Progress

If I'm lucky, I can work on my jigsaw puzzle twenty minutes or so late in the evening.

Some nights, I'm not lucky. I get sucked into puzzle quicksand.

Just one more piece. Just one more piece.

Still Friends and Competitors

Roy and Me, Circa 1954

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

I missed posting last Friday.

I was painting and juggling appointments last week.

I've been dealing with worsening double vision,

and I really don't like seeing four-eyed people ~ LOL!

So more appointments and tests next week. Oh joy!

I'm not worried ~ I likely have eye muscles that are not working together.

My friend Rain's Thursday Art Date theme last week was sculpture,

the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Google

Well, I was definitely working in three dimensions last week!

I scoured, primed, and painted our seventeen-year-old cement porch floor and steps.

I've never done anything like this,

and to me the final results were a 3-D work of art!

Scoured

Partially Primed

Painted

September 22, 2021

Aurora, Colorado, USA

I had selected a lot of sculptures for last week,

but I couldn't put the post together,

so I'll share my favorite, Makua and Kila.

Makua and Kila

March 4, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

This life-sized bronze statue of a boy and a seal surfing on the North Shore

was sculpted by Kauai artist Holly Young.

Fred Van Dyke's book Two Surf Stories for Children inspired Young.

His story about the young surfer Makua who befriends the Hawaiian monk seal Kila

captures the Hawaiian value of ohana, love and respect for family.

I never fail to visit Makua and Kila whenever I'm on the boardwalk.

Makua and Kila

March 4, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

I love placing a lei around Kila's neck.

March 19, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

Looks Perfect!

March 19, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

Rain's Thursday Art Date theme this week is surrealism,

"a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images." Google

Wednesday I was experiencing the surreal.

I'm not going to divulge how we did it,

but Terry, our friends Julie and Dave, and I

crashed the final Rockies home game in Coors Field.

We couldn't believe it!

We watched over an inning before we caught the train for the airport.

Our friends were here on a nine-hour layover between Fargo and San Diego.

Heading to Denver International Airport

September 29, 2021

Gateway Station, Aurora, Colorado, USA

After the Rain Delay at Coors Field #1

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

After the Rain Delay at Coors Field #2

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

Charlie Blackmon at Bat

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Out of the Downpour and into Coors Field

Terry, Dave, and Julie

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Charlie Blackmon at Third

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

The Crashers!

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

Riley Adams at Bat

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Why am I the only one who looks like a drowned rat?

Terry, Me, Dave, and Julie

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

The Rockies can thank us for their win! We brought them luck!

I didn't have time to play with surrealism.

But I chose this example, for obvious reasons ~ LOL!

DRAWING SURREALISM exhibition 2012

at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), U.S.A

Wikimedia

Stay happy and safe!

Standing Into Danger

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Friday, October 1, 2021

Puzzles and More

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