Fat Book Pages for Artfest

One of the fun things about going to Artfest is the Fatbook you get to take home. Each artist creates one page (and enough for everyone's book) and mail it away to the hostess. She binds the book for us.

I did a three color reduction print for my page. On the back I used the printing technique from the previous post. I am almost finished. The deadline is March 7th!

Here are my two stamps I carved for the print. The first color was lime green, then turquoise, lastly black. Each time I printed a color, I carved more out for the next printing.

Printing with Golden's open paints

For this print I used three rubber bands along the top.

There are some new paints by golden called Open acrylic paints. They allow you to print with them without drying out. Therefore the paints stay wet longer.

We met at Simones studio to practice some printing techniques using these paints. Sabyl had a jelli square that was also used for the same printing technique. It can be used over and over.

Here is the first step. A square is blocked off with tape. You can use a plexi board, freezer paper, or palette paper.

Then you use a brayer as your painting tool to spread the paint thinly on the board. It takes some practice to get the colors to blend together but not turn to mud.

Then we pushed some stamps into the paint or layed objects ontop. Rubber bands are good as well.

Finally you peel off the tape and lay your paper onto the paint. Rub ontop with a clean brayer or  your hand.

Art Day in the Studio

 Satuday we met at Simone's very own art studio she rents in Denver. It was a very old printing building with wooden floors and ancient trim (and bathrooms).Each room different artist share for their studios. Simone showed us her current work for a juried show she will be in. It was so much fun to get together and talk about ART.  We practiced making sumi painting with ink. The chops were made from old erasers carved with linoleum blades with red ink. I decided this wasnt my thing. Here are some of the examples of the finished work of bamboo and plum blossom tree done on rice paper??

Walking the redwoods with Ian

We are visiting Ian this weekend to see his apartment, campus, and to meet his 4 roomates. We spent the morning walking through the redwood groves in muir national monument. It was a beautiful and different climate with the humidity supporting ferns, moss, and other smells.

Layover in Miami

Because we had an eight hour layover in Miami, we decided to take a tour of south beach. We rented a 12 person van so our whole group could go together. A bagel at panera was the first stop for breakfast since we were up at 3 am to catch our early flight from santo Domingo. One of the highlights was the architecture in the art deco neighborhood. Since we were too late to join the walking tour, I took some pics on my own and then walked along the water on the beach. I was surprised how nice the area was. The water felt like bathwater and the beach uncrowded. It was fun to see the ornamental buildings and bright pastel colors. Some terms used were eyebrows for the ledges jutting out.There were young people out and about, roller blading, biking, and on segways. It was a nice drive Along highway 1A looking at all the fancy homes and yachts . Finally we had lunch at a Recommended Cuban restaurant called Larios on the beach. The rental guy told us about it and that Gloria Esteban owned it. Relaxing in the bright green beach benches was a great way to finish off the trip. The water was so aqua blue and I hope to come back and do the walking tour.

Sabada Perdita

The parenting class was held at night and was well attended.

Sabata Perdita is the church/school we have been working at this week. It is in a poorer neighborhood of santo domingo where VisionTrust has a project. Our church has sponsored many children that attend the school ages K-7th grade. Today was the final day we will visit and spent our last afternoon at lunch with the administrator Estephania. She is an amazing cook and baker. She showed us wedding cakes she did on her laptop. We were invited to her lovely home to share closing thoughts. It was unusual to see the chickens, rooster and wild turkey residing in her front yard. We sang some songs together in both Spanish and English. Our group prayed for each other and the future joining of hearts. Later tonight we held our last parenting class up on the roof. There were 60 attendees that listened to Bible references on parenting, discipline, and living as husband /wife. We had a Spanish translator and sang some praise songs in both languages. We saw many kids at church with their Beaded cross necklace from
VBS that morning. After our last goodbyes it was time to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow is a leisure day touring the town and market.

Our mission Team

One of the benefits of serving in the mission field is forming relationships with those you are serving with. This is my first time organizing a mission trip at PEPC and of course I am learning as I go. On our team we have 7 men and two women. The ages span from 20 to 70's and in-between. Getting to know everyone whether it be working side by side painting, eating breakfast, or riding in our van through dangerous near death intersections, has been a fun part of our trip. Jim can always entertain us with a story from one of the 60 countries he has lived and it's always an adventure what he will say next.  Learning to be flexible with dominican timetables has not been difficult with our team.  We are all being stretched in our abilities as we share the work and needs of the school whether it be praying with our Dominican families via a translator, organizing games with 75 kids on a roof in 95 degree heat, leading devotions,
Painting faces on a mural, leading worship songs in another language with unfamiliar tunes or communicating with an 8 year old in Spanish.  God has used each one of us for his work beyond what we thought we were able to do. Working with our team have been wonderful (and necessary) translators along with the VisionTrust staff who are with us to and from our destinations on the agenda. It has been great getting to hear their stories and the countries they have served in. I know we will form friendships that will bind us together and we will share our stories in church so others may be involved in missions next time. http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq150/dacke8175/0bad05c1.jpg

Hospitality in Sabana Perdita

We were given an opportunity to visit the community surrounding the project Sabana Perdita. This is an outlying area near Santo Domingo.Several pastors and a translator, Naucho, went along with our group,of 6. We sat down and visited in their homes or out in their backyard area on plastic deck chairs. We asked about their family, children and line of work. One was a manicurist another an ice cream seller. We recognized several of the children that attended the bible school that morning. After asking for any prayer requests, along with a translator we lifted them up to God. Some of the sights were a group of men playing dominos under the shade of a big tree and an unusual vendor announcing his wares on a speaker for buying things. All of a sudden a computer monitor came crashing down from an upstairs window. One house had four generations living under one tiny roof. I took some interesting pictures of the homes and gardens. There was a lot of wrought iron designs in many shapes. All the electricity is obtained illegally as seen in the jumble of wires overhead. The city routinely turns off the electricity to punish those that are tapped in. Many little markets were open for business in the blocks we traveled. All the people seemed happy and content and were very friendly to shake our hands. It was a unique experience to have three native Dominicans show us around and to feel completely safe.

Worship the Dominican way

Sunday worship in the Dominican republic is usually held in the evening. Tonight we attended Sabada Perdita church (where we will be doing our mission work this week). The music was pretty much awesome as the spirit of God filled the church. Worship started off with a praise team and guitar. After several songs they moved onto soloists leading the congregation one song each, and added keyboard. The people kept coming in with their sunday best until the entire church was full with no seats left. Just about everyone was participating in the singing. Some songs we stood up and then sat down. The music lasted over an hour and the sermon began by pastor Ernie. He had so much energy as he engaged the church members for three hours . He preached on integrity in a corrupt country. I wished we could understand the Spanish of the message. The music was great in any language. Afterwards the Dominicans loved to shake our hands. Since it was pouring, we watched colorful umbrellas bob down the street on their way home. Earlier in the day, I  loved walking the neighborhood and seeing how all the houses were built on hills. Our legs got a workout climbing the steep stairs.

The Medieval town of Bergen

Today was spent exploring the town of Bergen. We had a lovely guide explain the ancient history of the town dating back to the 1100's. Apparently there were numerous fires and each time the homes/shops were repaired. What was so fascinating was the style of the homes built along the wharf called double tenement. They were used for sleeping, working, and storing their goods. Todaynthey contain shops, artist workshops, and preservation projects in process.Bergen was a big fishing town. We learned they had 23 different categories of cod. There was also a castle and tower we toured as well. The biggest surprise was the great weather we had. It is usually always raining but we had two good days. We took the funicular up the hill to see a clear fantastic view of the city. After recapping all the best moments of our awesome trip at dinner, we head home to Denver tomorrow.

Cruising the Fjords

What is a fjord? Today was an amazing scenery day traveling down the Sognefjord (the longest at 127 miles in Norway). We left our mountain home in Elveseter early this morning to take a gorgeous drive through a national park at the highest point in Norway. We stopped several times to get some pictures of the vibrant green mosses, grass, and lichens. We had a bright sunny day-we could hardly believe it. We boarded our ferry to see the fjords which are Formed from glaciers. They are also shallow near the edge and very deep in the center. The water can be up to 4000 feet below sea level. At the end of our ride, the fjords narrowed and the walls looked so tall. We felt so fortunate to experience God's creation and to have the sun too.

Doug sits up front -click to view whole pic


The lodge we stayed in Elveseater in Norway.

Moving Around in Scandinavia

Our coach is from a company in Belgium .RS uses Heidelberg buses exclusively.

There are bicycles everywhere in Copenhagen

Riding the T-bana subway in Stockholm
The public transportation is alive and well in Scandinavia. I have never seen so many bicycles than in Denmark. There are even lanes specifically for bikes and they stop at the stoplights. Each city we visited has a city bike program to borrow and return bikes at different locations. On the Island of Aero there are routes for bikes posted on the roads instead of interstate numbers. When we got to Oslo the bikes were less due to the extensive network of subways, buses, and trams. The hilly terrain added to the choice. Probably the most important and surprising reason besides the fact gas is $9 a gallon is the stringent requirements to drive a car. In order to get a license one must pay a $1800 fee for a license at the earliest age of 18 years. In order to buy a car a second charge of 180% tax the cost of the car you are going to purchase. These high fees discourage the use of a car for all but the older family who may have one car. The typical couple in their 20's will not own a car. We used many forms of transportation while in the cities. Our Oslo pass included boat, subway, tram and bus rides. It was a great deal.

Oslo- A Seafaring City

We spent the whole day in Oslo with our pass to get into practically everything. I think we hit 10 museums not counting subway and boat rides. It really is a good deal. There was a whole island with different boat museums like the Kon-tiki, maritime, Viking ship, and polar fram boat. We learned the Vikings buried the important leaders under their ship with things for the afterlife such as sleds, jewels, weapons,, animals, even a peacock. There were ornately carved sleds on display in the museum. Next I got my art fix with the National Museum and the Edvard Munch museum to see the scream under tight security. The only museum with a metal detector. Lastly we explored the roof of the opera house. Doug's fav was the maritime museum with a panoramic movie adventure through Norway. It was fun to watch the big and small ships come in and out the huge harbor. Baltimore's Harbor seems tiny compared to Oslo. The green parks in Norway are beautifully decorated with vibrant colored flowers everywhere you look. My favorite site was the sculpture park and the unusual sculptures of the famous sculptor of Oslo, Vigeland.

The Viking ship museum


The opera house appears to sink into the water. There were great views as we climbed to the top.Click to see the whole view.

Walking around Oslo- The hometown of our tour guide