Minnesota Artist

Wanda Gag
1893-1946

New Ulm, Minnesota  native Wanda Gag made her mark as an illustrator, author and artist from an early age. At fifteen, Wanda became the head of her family when her father, Anton Gag, a well-respected artist in his own right, died of occupational tubercolsis. On his deathbed, Anton implored Wanda "to finish what papa could not," a plea that Wanda honored with a steadfast determination to make art while supporting her five sisters, brother and mother. Gag traveled to New York to pursue her art career, and a chance meeting there led to the publication of Gag's first and most famous book, Millions of Cats.

Agnes Martin

Artistic style

(March 22, 1912 - December 16, 2004)

Her signature style is defined by an emphasis upon line, grids, and fields of extremely subtle color. In the 1966 exhibition Systemic Painting at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Martin's grids were therefore celebrated as examples of Minimalist art and were hung among works by artists including Sol LeWitt, Robert Ryman, and Donald Judd. While minimalist in form, however, these paintings were quite different in spirit from those of her other minimalist counterparts, retaining small flaws and unmistakable traces of the artist's hand; she shied away from intellectualism, favoring the personal and spiritual. Her paintings, statements, and influential writings often reflect an interest in Eastern philosophy, especially Taoist. Because of her work's added spiritual dimension, which became more and more dominant after 1967, she preferred to be classified as an abstract expressionist. She consciously distanced herself from the social life and social events that brought other artists into the public eye. When she died at age 92, she was said to have not read a newspaper for the last 50 years. The book dedicated to the exhibition of her work in New York at The Drawing Center in 2005 – 3x abstraction (Yale University Press) – analyzes the spiritual dimension in Martin's work.

Martin worked only in black, white, and brown before moving to New Mexico. During this time, she introduced light pastel washes to her grids, colors that shimmered in the changing light. Later, Martin reduced the scale of her square canvases and shifted her work to use bands of ethereal colour.

I once watched a documentary about her.  It is so interesting what makes artist famous.

Fifty Years Together

I wrote this in 1999 for my father and mother-in-law's 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Their love is so great you can see it everyday.  I have had one vision from the day Jim and I where married (October 24, 1981) that we will grow old together fifty years or more.

Fifty Years Together

What God has joined, let no man put asunder

         fifty years together

                  some wish it

                           some have lived it

                                    some will not be so fortunate

For the young can imagine, the old can remember

         fifty years together

Maybe it began with a glance

         an introduction

                  or a meeting by chance

A marriage starts by two joined as one

         one love, one passion

                  one life, one forever

And through the years, as wife and husband

         are together for sickness and health

                  are side by side in good times and bad

Together they love, honor and cherish

         each other

                  their children

                           their children’s children

Together they share

         their success and loss

                  times when faith was there

                           together no matter the cost

Now it has been some fifty years

         fifty years of memories made, dreams coming true

                  fifty years for others to model after and aspire to

What tomorrow will bring is hard to say

         but together we will be day by day.

                                                 Andrea Keding, July 1999

Never Know Who Will Catch You

Every now and then I google my kids to see how often they turn up.  Reviewing my son's hits I found this.  It was taken May 14, 2011 at a baseball game in Richfield, MN.  Holy Angels where playing Richfield HS.  The caption with the picture was "Looks like these Stars players are enjoying their Friday night." 

When we where adopting him and my age being 40 at the time, people asked how can you get a baby at 40... I told them he would either kill me or keep me young.  For the last 17 years he has giving me a few gray hairs, for the most part he has kept me LAUGHING and humor always keeps you young.  I enjoy everyday I have with our two children.

Watching Him

I wrote this for my husband, Jim Keding.   He is a wonderful man and life partner.  I could not surive with out him.

Watching Him

I have been watching him for three decades

I would watch him toss the Frisbee on the beach, swing the baseball bat and run with the football.

I would watch him study for his classes in college and do his favorite thing; read.

I watched him during our wedding, waiting, the loving look he exchanged with his mother, watching me come down the aisle.

I watch his eyes sparkle when he says “I love you”.

As the years have gone by, I have watched him

            though good times, hard times, lonely times and family time.

Watching him brings joy to my heart.

Watching him hold and cuddle our children

Watching him teach our children to:

            play, share, love and become young adults.

Watching his love and concern for his aging parents.

Watching him set out on new adventures.

Watching him when he sleeps from a long and trying day.

Watching him for the rest of my life is something I anticipate with great joy.

Andrea J. Keding      20 March 2012

Jewels @Sunrise

This is a view of downtown Minneapolis about 7:30 from south of the Mississippi River.  As I was driving to work yesturday it caught my eye.  There was no fog/smog yesturday.  Today I stoped at a park along the river and took some pictures.  Of course it is much more impressive in real life and when the sun is in the exact spot. 

Craproom

This is my crap/scraproom.  It has been in different stages of mess for years.  I have recently been working (seriouly working) on my new Art Room. 

I got everything moved out of my room and painted.  The wall color is Artist Canvas and the ceiling is a very light blue.

The Beginning of My Scketch Book

 I did this for two challenges that I joined, but have not done another (monthly -January).  It was for a doodle challenge and the color tangerine.

This is for Alter Pages.  I circled the words and it looked really good.  Then I had to add more.  Should have remembered sometimes less is enough.

It says:

Dementia
scripted observation
twitchy gracelessness
lovely
electric
dream
from realism to believability
designed
humans
elderly
miles away
up the hill
akin
doing something kind

For some reason when I started this it was not about dementia, then the words that jumped out had to do with me dealing with my mom's dementia.

Color

Found this on the internet.  What great color is creature has.
http://www.ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/weblog.php?/weblog/comments/3185/

Out of the dark funk.....

Today I feel like a new person.  I feel like the dark cloud that has been hanging over me since December has been lifted.  I am working on turning my crap room into a Craft Room.  I could not decide on a color so I am going with a creamy white to match some corner cabinets I have had for years.  That way, I hope, the color from all my scrapping stuff will pop.

I also lost the cord for my camera to transfer my pics to the computer.  I has dreamt I picked up stuff in my room and found it.  In the morning I was sitting in my funk looking out the window.  The memory of the dream came to me, I looked over to the pile of "scrap stuff" I had put in the living room and there sticking out of the side of a laundry basket was the cord I had been looking for......

I found this pic - I have a bunch of baskets.

I also thought of this for my gift wrapping ribbons, as I also have a ton of them.

Quote For The Day

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.
                                                  Cecil Beaton, English Photographer

(14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980)

Beaton was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.

Beaton designed book jackets and costumes for charity matinees, learning the professional craft of photography at the studio of Paul Tanqueray, until Vogue took him on regularly in 1927. He also set up his own studio, and one of his earliest clients and, later, best friends was Stephen Tennant; Beaton's photographs of Tennant and his circle are considered some of the best representations of the Bright Young People of the twenties and thirties.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Beaton

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/cecilbeato126373.html#ixzz1jAhr8yn8

My Digi Sketch......

I was messing around the paint program that comes with MS Office.  Very basic.  I had fun.

Challenges for 2012

Well, I went and done it.   I signed up for 3 challenges for 2012.  I wanted some way to develop my creativity.  I have a problem of dark thinking.  I fight depression.  Told my counselor that I did not want to document my depression.darkness.  I combined 2 challenges the Creative Color and the Sketchbook.  The first was to use the color tangerine, the second was to doodle.

PICTURES TO COME..........................

Dance around the world, part II

This is from the BIG Picture, boston.com
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/dance_around_the_world_part_ii.html

We humans are natural dancers - bodies in rhythmic motion completely alone, or in groups large and small, or in front of an audience. Dancers can communicate ideas, preserve cultural identities, strengthen social bonds, or just have a lot of fun. Collected here is another recent group of photographs of us, human beings around the world, professional and amateur, in motion for all of the reasons above and more.

I thought I would use this as inspiration for a color scheme for something.  I instantly fell in love with the color combination.

Santa Baby

I don't know what I want for Christmas.  I have good health, a wonderful family, a great job and my husban it the best.  I think thenext time he asks me what I want for Christmas I may just give him this list.

Santa baby, an out-of-space convertible too, light blue












Santa honey, I wanna yacht and really that's not a lot








Santa cutie, there's one thing I really do need, the deed to a platinum mine/card 











Santa baby, I'm filling my stocking with a duplex, and checks, Sign your 'X' on the line













Come and trim my Christmas tree, With some decorations bought at Tiffany's

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring, I don't mean a phone

Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Love This Combo

I love red.  I will try is combo of a sort. I doubt I will go for the skinny pants. However now that I have lost 32 lbs, over the last 30 weeks, I am more able to find things like this that fit me.  I am so excited about getting more fit and thin.

You miss me? by inspiredbeauty featuring printed t shirts

Today, Thirty Years Together

Jim and my 30th Wedding Anniversary is today, October 24th.  It is also United Nations Day.  We found this quite ironic as we have two children from Colombia, South America.  I guess it was all meant to be.

Burnsville Performing Arts Center...

Went to a new restaurant, new for us, walking back to the car I pulled out the camera and tried to caught the changing color.  I was really cold this night and thought I would try again in summer.  Of course it would be much later and there would be more people milling around.

Something that took me a while to learn.

Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.
Gustave Flaubert

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes_of_the_day.html#ixzz1b9G2jMpc

Sooo handsome....

This layout is one of his senior pics.  I love the simpleness of the page it brings out the drama of his expression.