a memory painting, cool australia, people to people, and a daughtersick mama

by karen #1965 3rd grade teacher last summer, my daughter was a part of a People to People group that went to australia...People to People...President Eisenhower started the program in 1956...the website says this, "the purpose of people to people international is to enhance international understanding and friendship, through educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures..."...now...let me really tell you what it is...it is an opportunity for teenagers to go off on a trip far away for 20 days with folks they do not know...and they get to know...and they do a bunch of cool stuff...meet a buncha cool people...eat a buncha cool food...so now you are saying...is this a blog about art or People to People?...well YEAH...so anyway...while she was gone...i missed my girl so much...i did her a...ah...well...i guess you can call it a "base" painting for her to put all her memories on the painting when she returned from the trip...her memories are the swirl...she did the swirl writing with a black paint pen...so here is what it looks like upside down...yeah, well i took the picture upside down accidentally...and i am not changing it cause i got a migraine and you don't care anyway...and by now, if you read this blog enough, you know i do things a little upside down...

so...i end this post with a song by a famous australia artist that i knew back in the 1970s...

Please, Mr., please, don't play B-17,

It was our song, it was his song, but it's over

Please, Mr., please, if you know what I mean

I don't ever wanna hear that song again.

(Olivia Newton-John, 1975)

oh...i almost forgot...a side story...my grandmama (i called her mama winnie...her name was WINIFRED)... loved her country music and pontiacs...so i was a product of the year 1965...and i did not like country music or pontiacs...i like kiss, boston, and shaun cassidy... and Z28s...so anyway...one day me and mama winnie were cruising around that small town, georgia, we lived in...and she had that dang country music blaring (she was hard of hearing, but she could sho nuff cook)...and the song above came on the country music station...WDEN outta macon, georgia...i was in utter amazement...mama winnie's station was playing pop music...mama winnie was singing "please, mr., please" & from that day on...It was our song...me and mama winnie had a song...i loved me some mama winnie...when i get to the pearly gates, i am gonna get st. peter to page her first thing...we will have lots to catch up on!...if you run across a jolly lady with a big smile in heaven named mama winnie, please...please...PLEASE...do not tell her that pontiac shutdown in 2010...okay?...........happy march 27, 2010!