This page is doing double duty. The challenge last week for The Documented Life Project was a puzzle and the Summer of Color challenge for this week is red, blue and bit of light blue. I think this covers all my bases. This page brought several things to mind for me.
The first being that when I taught school in the dark ages (ie before the Personal Computer was invented) I would not have been able to make this puzzle for my students without hours of work. I made this with the puzzle maker at A to Z Teacher Stuff in about 10 minutes.
Second, it reminded me that if I was in school today, I would probably be diagnosed with a slight learning disability. I have comprehension issues and I can't remember more than 3 numbers in a row. Sometimes remembering 3 is difficult for me. As an adult I went to Occupational Therapy for a while and Word Search was one on the things I was told to use to improve my memory skills. I do pretty well with the Word Search puzzles. If you want to torture me, give me a number search puzzle. Coming from a teaching background, I can see where using Word Search would be a great way to reinforce vocabulary and spelling skills.
Third, I didn't teach for long. I was a good teacher but had no patience for discipline. I'd still be teaching today if I could have found someone to take care of behavior issues while I made learning fun.
I'm here to tell you, teacher don't get enough credit for what they do on a daily basis. A good teacher is worth more than gold. Do you have a teacher that comes to mind, when I ask, "Who was your favorite teacher?" I have a few: Sister Mary Gabriele, Mrs Barrasso, Dr. Woodard and Dr. Stedman come to mind for me. What did all these teachers had is common? They all cared about us and wanted us to succeed. They made learning interesting. They all presented the material in more than one way. I've been out of school for over 30 years and I can still name those four teachers.
* When I went to the Summer of Color page to copy the url I realized that once again, my comprehension is not up to par. I thought the challenge was red and blue... it was red and royal blue. Sigh... I used denim blue. As you can see, I still have a little trouble on occasion. This is why I did not become a brain surgeon... can't have an ooops in brain surgery.
Thoughts: I am finding that I am called more and more to create with paint and paper. I feel more in tune with myself when I'm at my art table. I feel free of the restraints of the world when sitting at the cluttered little table surrounded by bits of paper and glue. I truly believe that whatever creative talents I have are a gift from God. The gift is how I feel when I'm creating. I'm content. The stress of the day slides away and I am at peace. The finished piece is secondary to the calmness and serenity the act of creating gives to me. That is the true gift from God. 
The Art: I used a heavy coat of thick gesso to create some texture. I used a pallet knife to make swirls in the thick gesso. I started by trying to drip orange paint but it was too thick so I used a brush and a spray bottle. I was working towards getting puddles of color in the ridges but was not too successful. I turned the page sideways to get a few green drips and used a paint brush for the blue. I wiped most of the blue off with a baby wipe. The birds are a Stencil Girl stencil that I traced and cut out in different pieces of background paper. I went back and stenciled on the legs. The words have no hidden meaning....they are just the words that came to mind when I looked at the piece. I'm still not sure if I really like this piece. The background is "so-so." I can tell you that when I finished this page I was feeling much better than when I started it, so for me, it is a true success. How does creating make you feel?
