As I was considering what to write about for this post I read something that gave that a-ha moment. It is something that most parents, if not all, do with their children that exposes them to the beauty and wonder of art without even realizing that they have done it. It is that moment in time when the parent gives and shares part of his or her time reading a children’s picture book to their child. The parent not only introduces the child to the possibilities that await them in the adventures that books provide but, also, to the beauty of the colors and the designs of the illustrations that help to convey the story.

Currently at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa they have an exhibition entitled Fins and Feathers: Children’s Book Illustrations from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. The Eric Carle Museum is located in Amherst, Mass.

For those of you who may not know or remember who Eric Carle is he is a well known author of children’s books. Some of his titles include “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, “The Grouchy Ladybug” and “The Very Busy Spider”. His books and illustrations help to stimulate the imagination and teach important life lessons to children. They are lessons that adults can benefit from, too.

I suggest that if you are in Davenport, Iowa check out the Figge Art Museum exhibit. It runs from January 21-April 22, 2012 so time is running out.

Or you can visit The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art or Mr. Carle’s personal web site Eric Carle.

However, Mr. Carle is not the only author/artist that produces excellent children’s picture books that can inspire a child.

Mr. John Par Miller’s illustrations in Little Turtle’s Big Adventure invite children to reflect upon environmental issues. And Mr. Leo Lionni’s fish that yearns to explore the land offer lessons on self-acceptance and self-confidence

The ticket sales from the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival and other program events have helped the ArtiGras Foundation make contributions to local school art programs and scholarships in the area.

The 27th annual ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival, presented by Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, is an outdoor arts event showcasing a juried exhibition of outstanding fine art and featuring activities which include live entertainment, artist demonstrations, and interactive art activities for all ages and a youth art competition. Listed as one of the top 50 festivals in the country, ArtiGras 2012 expects more than 250 artists and 125,000 guests over the three-day holiday weekend.

February 18-20, 2012 – Presidents’ Day Weekend.

FESTIVAL HOURS:

Saturday, February 18: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 19: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday, February 20: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Abacoa Town Center

Jupiter,Fla.

Tickets are $6 in advance and $10 at the gate.

For more information contact theNorthern Palm Beach

Chamber of Commerce at (561) 748-3946 or visit website.

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On the occasion of the 210 th. anniversary of George Washington’s birthday President Roosevelt gave one of his famous speeches. This speech came roughly two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled the United States into war with Japan.

The following is the newswire teletype that was sent to the newsrooms around the world referencing this speech. In the 1940’s there was no internet, instant messaging, cell phones, or tweeting of information. The populace of the United States and the World got their information from the radio or through newspapers. In the early days newspapers received news “flashes” via teletype machines. This teletype copy was received by The Morning Free Press in Easton, Pa. where my father-in-law, William Biesel, worked as the telegraph editor in the early 1940’s.

This is the transcript of that newswire.

(ROOSEVELT ADVANCE FOR USE AT 10:00 PM EWT TONIGHT MONDAY FEB 23)

NIGHT LEAD FDR (BUDGET)

BY RICHARD L.TURNER

(ADVANCE) WASHINGTON,FEB 23-(AP)-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SAID TONIGHT THAT AMERICA HAD BEEN “COMPELLED TO YIELD GROUND” TO IT ENEMIES, BUT HE ADDED THAT WITH CONSTANTLY INCREASING WAR PRODUCTION, THE ALLIES WOULD TAKE THE OFFENSIVE SOON AND DRIVE ON TO VICTORY.

“WE AND THE OTHER UNITED NATIONS ARE COMMITTED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MILITARISM OF JAPAN AND GERMANY,” HE SAID. “WE ARE DAILY INCREASING OUR STRENGTH. SOON, WE AND NOT OUR ENEMIES, WILL HAVE THE OFFENSIVE; WE, NOT THEY, WILL WIN THE FINAL BATTLES; AND WE, NOT THEY, WILL MAKE THE FINAL PEACE.”

DESPITE CRUELY LONG DISTANCES INVOLVED, THE PRESIDENT DISCLOSED “A LARGE NUMBER OF PLANES” MANNED BY AMERICAN PILOTS, “ARE NOW IN DAILY CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC.” AND, HE SAID, “THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN TROOPS” ARE ALSO IN THE AREA.

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE ALSO SAID RECENT SURVEYS HAD DISCLOSED THAT THE PRODIGIOUSLY HIGH PRODUCTION GOALS ESTABLISHED TWO MONTHS AGO WOULD BE ATTAINED, AND THIS, HE REPEATEDLY EMPHASIZED, WAS THE KEY TO VICTORY.

MR. ROOSEVELT SPOKE BY RADIO FROM THE WHITE HOUSE IN HIS THIRD MAJOR ADDRESS SINCE THE COUNTRY ENTERED THE WAR. AMONG HIS MILLIONS OF LISTNERS WERE WASHINGTON BIRTHDAY DINERS AT ABOUT 60 DEMOCRATIC PARTY GATERINGS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

THESE ARE THE GATHERINGS WHICH ARE USUALLY HELD ON JACKSON DAY EARLY IN JANUARY BUT WERE POSTPONED THIS YEAR. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PARTY’S CAMPAIGN FUND ARE INVITED TO THEM AND DEMOCRATIC LEADERS PREDICTED THE DINNERS WOULD MORE THAN WIPE OUT THE $600,000 DEFICIT REMAINING FROM THE 1940 CAMPAIGN. THE PRINCIPAL DINNER—FOR $100 CONTRIBUTORS—WAS HELD HERE.

DISCUSSING STRATEGY ONLY IN BROAD TERMS, HE ATTRIBUTED JAPANESE SUCCESS TO COMMAND OF THE AIR. IN THAT, HE SAID, THE JAPS HAD AN INITIAL ADVANTAGE BECAUSE THEIR SMALL FIGHTER PLANES COULD BE FLOWN TO THE SCENE OF COMBAT, WHILE OURS MUST BE CRATED AND SHIPPED.

BUT, IN ANY EVENT, THE ESSENTIAL STRATEGY OF A WAR WITH JAPAN, THE STRATEGY WHICH MILITARY MEN HAD CONTEMPLATED FOR YEARS HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED BY THE EVENTS OF THE LAST TWO MONTHS, HE SAID. IT CALLED FOR DELAYING BATTLES AND IN THE PHILIPPINES A RETREAT ON TO BATAAN PENINSULA, WITH AMERICA MEANWHILE WAGING A WAR OF ATTRITION AGAINST THE JAPS.

AND IN THIS WAR OF ATTRITION, THE UNITED STATES AND HER ALLIES HAVE BEEN TAKEN A TERRIFIC TOLL OF THE ENEMY. INCLUDING LOSSES AT PEARL HARBOR, HE SAID, “WE HAVE DESTROYED CONSIDERABLY MORE JAPANESE PLANES THAN THEY HAVE DESTROYED OF OURS.”

THE PRESIDENT WAS UNSPARING IN CASTIGATION OF “RUMOR MONGERS AND POISON PEDDLERS IN OUR MIDST,” WHO AMONG OTHER THINGS HAD SPREAD REPORTS OF LOSSES AT PEARL HARBOR FAR BEYOND REALITY. IT HAD BEEN SAID, HE ASSERTED, THAT JAPANESE GAINS IN THE FAR PACIFIC WERE MADE POSSIBLE ONLY BY THE SUCCESS OF THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK.

“I TELL YOU THAT IS NOT SO,” HE ADDED, AND WENT ON TO GIVE HIS DENIAL OF LOSSES OVER AND ABOVE THOSE PREVIOUSLY OFFICIALLY REPORTED AND TO ARGUE THAT THE FLEET IN ANY EVENT COULD NOT HAVE OPPOSED THE JAPANESE ADVANCE EFFECTIVELY, BECAUSE OF JAPANESE AERIAL SUPERIORITY. THIS AMONG OTHER THINGS, HE SAID, HAD PREVENTED REINFORCING GENERAL MACARTHUR’S ARMY ON BATAAN.

AND, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE LAID DOWN “THREE HIGH PURPOSES” FOR AMERICANS AT HOME:

“1. WE SHALL NOT STOP WORK FOR A SINGLE DAY. IF ANY DISPUTE ARISES WE SHALL KEEP ON WORKING WHILE THE DISPUTE IS SOLVED BY MEDIATION, CONCILIATION OR ARBITRATION—UNTIL THE WAR IS WON.

“2. WE SHALL NOT DEMAND SPECIAL GAINS OR SPECIAL PRIVILEGES OR ADVANTAGES FOR ANY ONE GROUP OR OCCUPATION.

“3. WE SHALL GIVE UP CONVENIENCES AND MODIFY THE ROUTINE OF OUR LIVES IF OUR COUNTRY ASKS US TO DO SO. WE WILL DO IT CHEERFULLY, REMEMBERING THAT THE COMMON ENEMY SEEKS TO DISTROY EVERY HOME AND EVERY FREEDOM IN EVERY PART OF OUR LAND.”

SCORNFULLY, HE REPORTED THAT AXIS PROPAGANDA WAS AIMED AT SETTING NATION AGAINST NATION WITH STATEMENTS THAT “THE BRITISH ARE FINISHED” –”THE RUSSIANS AND THE CHINESE ARE ABOUT TO QUIT,” THAT “AMERICANS ARE SOFT AND DECADENT, THAT THEY CANNOT AND WILL NOT UNITE AND WORK AND FIGHT.” TO THIS HE ADDED:

“FROM BERLIN, ROME AND TOKYO WE HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED AS A NATION OF WEAKLINGS—‘PLAYBOYS’—WHO WOULD HIRE BRITISH SOLDIERS, OR RUSSIAN SOLDIERS, OR CHINESE SOLDIERS TO DO OUR FIGHTING FOR US.

“LET THEM REPEAT THAT NOW!

“LET THEM TELL THAT TO GENERAL MACARTHUR AND HIS MEN.

“LET THEM TELL THAT TO THE SAILORS WHO TODAY ARE HITTING HARD IN THE FAR WATERS OF THE PACIFIC.

“LET THEM TELL THAT TO THE BOYS IN THE FLYING FORTRESSES.

“LET THEM TELL THAT TO THE MARINES!”

ASKING HIS LISTNERS TO REFER TO MAPS OF THE WORLD, MR. ROOSEVELT SAID THAT THIS WAS “A NEW KIND OF WAR,” A WAR THAT MUST BE FOUGHT IN TERMS OF “EVERY CONTINENT, EVERY ISLAND, EVERY SEA, EVERY AIR-LANE IN THE WORLD.”

WE MUST FIGHT AT GREAT DISTANCES BECAUSE “THAT IS WHERE OUR ENEMIES ARE,” AND WE MUST KEEP SUPPLY LINES OPEN OVER ENEMY EFFORTS TO CUT THEM.

THE FIRST OBJECTIVE OF AXIS STRATEGY, HE SAID WAS TO CUT THOSE LINES AND ISOLATE EACH OF THE UNITED NATIONS FROM ITS ALLIES, AN APPLICATION OF “THE OLD FAMILIAR AXIS POLICY OF ‘DIVIDE AND CONQUER.’”

HE TURNED TO THOSE WHO, HE SAID, HAVE ARGUED THAT WE SHOULD “PULL OUR WARSHIPS AND OUR PLANES AND OUR MERCHANT SHIPS INTO OUR OWN HOME WATERS AND CONCENTRATE SOLEY ON LAST DITCH DEFENSE.” SUCH HE SAID WAS “FOOLISH ADVICE.”

ONE RESULT WOULD BE THAT NO HELP COULD BE SENT TO CHINA, AND A CHINESE VICTORY “IS ONE IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN THE ULTIMATE DEFEAT” OF JAPAN. ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE WOULD BE THAT THE DUTCH EAST INDIES, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND WOULD BE CUT OFF FROM ASSISTANCE AND THE JAPS, VICTORIOUS THERE, FREE TO SEND THEIR HORDES AGAINST THE WESTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES AND INTO INDIA, AND THE NEAR EAST.

END REPEAT FOR OIL CITY

WJ936PEW

The Palm Springs Artists Council has over 350 members that support the museum and the arts in Palm Springs, California. The museum has recently added a new feature to their web site. They have added an Artists Council Online Gallery that will provide a rotating display of Artists Council Members artwork. The gallery currently is showcasing the work of fifty of its members.

To locate the gallery, I found it by placing the mouse cursor on the “councils” tab from the main menu which provides a dropdown menu of options. Then select click on the “Artists” option. In the middle of the page that is displayed is an Artist Council Schedule – At – A –Glance section. The Artist Council Online Gallery currently is the first option (link), by clicking on this link it will take you to the gallery section.

Each piece of artwork that is displayed provides the title of the artwork and the name of the artist. When you click on the image it enlarges the picture and will provide additional information about the artwork, usually the type of medium that was used to create the artwork. Information is also provided as how to contact the artist either an e-mail address or a phone number. In some cases if an artists has his/her own web site that is provided as well.

This is an excellent venue for local artist to have their artwork available for viewing by a national audience. I urge everyone to take some time to appreciate the work of these fine artists.

I do have one minor complaint with the information that is provided with each piece of work and that is they do not provide the dimensions of the paintings or sculpture.

To make it easy for everyone I am including a link to the gallery page at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Members Gallery

If you are like me you made have heard the term “gouache” occasionally when reading about art or talking with friends but had no idea what it meant. That is why I decided to find out something about the word.

Obviously the first place I checked was a dictionary any dictionary will do since they pretty much give the same definition. The root of the word “gouache” comes from the French and the pronunciation is shown as [gwahsh, goo-ahsh; Fr. Gwash]. The main definition is ‘a technique of painting with opaque watercolors prepared with gum.’ Also, the word “opaque” means ‘not transparent.’

To make a comparison “watercolor paints” are considered ‘transparent’, whereas “gouache” is considered a water-soluble paint that is opaque. However, since both are water-soluble they can be used together. One difference between the two is that with gouache the pigment particles are bigger and the ratio of those pigments to the water content is higher.

The term “gouache” in the art community also has a variety of aliases such as “body paint” or “opaque watercolor” or “designer’s gouache”.

If you have tried painting using watercolor then you know the challenges that it presents. Well, working with gouache also has its own challenges. The values of the colors are not the same wet as they are dry. In general the darker tones will have a tendency to dry lighter while the opposite is true of the lighter colors. The lighter colors tend to dry darker. Gouache dries immediately and usually to a matte finish