behind enemy lines

the German camp is always an interesting, if not arrogant, display of weapons, brawn, and insolence.
but every one in a while, a friendly smile....keep your enemies close.

women of the war

one of the most interesting to me, were the styles and fashion of the women in the D-Day re-enactment

see if you agree.....

 the playful French Resistance

 the more serious Germans

D-Day Re-enactment

each summer for the past 15 years, our little NorthEast corner of Ohio hosts the largest re-enactment of the Normandy invasion in the country.  (google ddayohio.us for more information)

although i know the outcome, I come back each year to see the planes, the storming of the beach, and, of course, the people.

the santos project

early in may i was a participant in a workshop led by tory brokenshire.
you can see more of her work at coppercrowstudio.blogspot.com.
the workshop was an all day lesson in creating assemblage santos from recycled objects.

if you are not familiar with santos dolls, let me give you my take on an explanation.
santos (translation: "saints") are folk art dolls which are reminiscent of creche figures.
as i understand it, they were brought by the spaniards in the 17th century to use as teaching tools
in explaining catholicism to natives.  they were also used in home altars.

we began the workshop by creating the heads for the santos.  we used porcelain dolls and sculpted over them with sculpey, then baked them in the oven.

"baking heads"....a new rock band?

pieces that i chose to make my santos sculpture

Levon....his body an old wooden pipe organ piece #100

 Gerhardt...full of gears, a key to his heart

and Helen Wheels....with time to spare.

this has been a fun project, a challenge to figure out parts to use, how to attach them securely.

one thing for sure,

i will never look at tools, and parts in the same way.

grandkids in the summer

one of the best things about moving to willoughby is being close to my grandkids.
last weekend i had them over for an overnight and we went to the beach.
it took me two days to recover....