ACCOMPLISHING DORMANT DREAMS

This week as summer turns towards fall and golden leaves replace fragrant roses I have begun gathering my sources to line up classes to present 'Kitchen Art' projects.  Going backward into the past to move forward with a dream.

I know it is not impossible.  One of my first classes at NYU was dedicated to  twentieth-century  authors.  At that moment I feel in love. Ever since fifth grade English and writing were always my passion, but after this class I was head-over-heels!!  We were introduced to James Joyce, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote among others.  We read only a chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses, introducing us to the world of Leopold Bloom, but I promised myself one day I would read the entire novel.

And yes---thirty years later it was the first novel our book club read;  it took us nine months and we were fortunate enough to have an eighty-plus-year-old Dubliner as our host.  Ten years later our book club is still going strong and I have learned an important lesson-- even dormant dreams can be revived and accomplished!

So as I organize these classes, the going is slow since all the teachers are still setting their own schedule and class ground rules, I'll tell you more about my book.  It is an encyclopedia of sorts,  a vast amount of ideas coming from well-stocked kitchen cabinets to fill hours of fun.

Besides what's behind your cabinets another main theme is to use YOUR OWN imagination.  Just like the idea 'a baby can be just as content with pots and pans' as $200.00 toys---my book can spark your imagination.  I have over one hundred projects but you can create more. 

The first chapter is dedicated to Food Coloring.  Like I said Neon Food Coloring is now on the shelves.  Start stocking your shelves with food coloring, muffin tins, paper towels, coffee filters, tea bags, celery, red cabbage and what else? Use YOUR OWN imagination and next week we'll do some art.

And maybe join a book club or ask yours to tackle Ulysses!  A definite challenge worth exploring.

See you next time!  Dawn

THREE STEPS BACKWARD---TWO STEPS FORWARD

THREE STEPS BACKWARD---TWO STEPS FORWARD  September 11, 2010

I was born in New York City.  We moved to the North Shore of Long Island shortly after my birth but as a child I spent nearly every weekend visiting my Czechoslovakian relatives in the city.  Besides enjoying the Czech neighborhood and the delicious ethnic foods I played in Central Park, visited the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, of course, walked along Fifth Avenue.  After high school I moved into the city and attended and graduated from both a fashion design school and New York University.  New York City and San Francisco are my two favorite places.

I had nearly let September 11, 2001 slip my mind this year.   But once reminded I felt I had a magnet pulling me and I'm reliving everything from that time nine years ago.  To console myself today I have spoken to my friends and relatives who live in New York.   We laughed, we remembered, we celebrated life.

BUT HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO "KITCHEN ART"?  Certainly much great art is political but "KITCHEN ART" is not.  Unless that is your desire.  My book's objective is to have fun with color, fun with art on a shoestring, and fun with your family.  

The correlation is PROCRASTINATION!  I have procrastinated nearly fifteen years in taking the final step in publishing my books.  New York City still refers to the crash site as "Ground Zero," not Peace Park, or Memorial Park or whatever.  I believe we need to move forward to heal. 

Now as I prepare to revisit my two books to move forward with the most difficult aspect (in my opinion)---publishing---I am revisiting another part of my past.  After thirty-four years of constant parenting, (my first child is seventeen years older than my last), all my four children have moved on into their own successful lives.  I'll always be a parent and now a grandparent but it is different.  Its "empty nest". 

Anyway this week I revisited our local elementary school and spoke to other contacts I've made over the years so I can establish an avenue for my books.  I hope to present the projects to eager hands and perhaps have my middle-grade novel read in the classroom.  I am promoting myself and my art to create a platform to reach this final goal---publication. 

So I revisited the past, so many great memories, (every Kitchen Art project has been done by my kids and their friends) to move into the future.  And can you imagine there is now NEON food coloring!

See  you Soon!

Excited!!!

In February 2010 I attended The San Francisco Writer's Conference.  An excellent event; guest speakers, a vast selection of workshops, great food, plus something called 'Speed Dating".  On Valentine's Day I "speed dated" meeting a variety of agents as I pitched my perfected craft.  I was presenting both my middle-age novel and my 'Kitchen Art' how-to-book.  Some interest was shown in my novel but greater interest was expressed in "Kitchen Art'.  But the same questions were asked: Did I have a platform?  Did I have a blog? So many years earlier, when I had completed and complied my book, procrastination and fear daunted and haunted me. Back then, even in the nineties, before technology soared, publishers promoted books.  Today authors write AND promote!

While I start again---retesting all these projects--watching little hands create and bigger hands present (your ten-year -old can instruct while your five-year-old creates and you cook dinner)---you start stacking your shelves.  Food coloring, paper bags, all sizes, straws and paper plates, just to start.

Talk to you soon!

Beginning...September 5 2010

"Uncle Teal meets Baby Zora"

Welcome to “Kids Create Kitchen Art” or “Dawn’s Blog”! Hi, I’m Dawn, a mother of four, a grandmother of one, and an expert in the creation of quick fun art projects with ingredients pulled from well-stocked kitchen cabinets.

In these tough economic times when working mothers are tired and pinching pennies, when daycare owners are on over-load with tight budgets, plus every parent wants their kids away from junk food and excessive TV. , my book “Kitchen Art” offers helpful solutions.

I welcome you to share my journey as I give you helpful hints to create pleasant artistic days with your children; as well as chuckle as I share memorable moments with enthusiastic children, all from well-stocked kitchen cabinets.

Laugh with me too, as I explore the world of publishing, blogging, and computer madness.   I first compiled “Kitchen Art” seventeen years ago when my youngest son, Teal, was still a toddler.  Now he is a sophomore at U.C. Merced and I have the time and renewed dedication to create a platform to share and publish my book.  Plus, I look forward to revisiting these projects and creating art in the kitchen with my grandbaby, Zora -- this new, delightful child.

Have fun and see you soon!