A Calendar for 2011

Since late summer I've been working on an art calendar for 2011. Probably the most time-consuming part (and least creative as well) was setting the layout for the monthly pages and putting in the dates and holidays. Some decisions had to be made regarding which holidays to include. Many cultures were left out. It would have been just too much to include them, much as I want to be inclusive. In the end I chose the most traditional holidays of American culture, and what I hoped were the most important days of the three primary monotheistic religions. And I included the holidays most frequently celebrated in Waldorf schools and communities although some of these would be considered obscure by people unfamiliar with American and European Waldorf school traditions. I hope people will be pleased with my selections, and forgive my omissions.

There will now be some details to be added by hand to the monthly pages including (but not limited to) phases of the moon. With the completion of the monthly pages, the calendar will be half done. Meanwhile I have begun the truly creative work - the paintings.

I decided on paintings because I have the materials, and I feel more at ease with painting than with drawing. I have completed the first six paintings and begun the next six. I've been working on them in sets of six because the technique I'm using, a sort of modified veil painting technique, requires layers of color to dry before other layers are added.

In the first sitting I gave each painting a color mood. This was determined by the month each painting was to accompany, as well as the theme under consideration for that month. I was thinking of Waldorf grades as well - twelve  months, twelve grades - allowing my feelings for the grades to influence the initial color mood as well. For example, in this picture of the first stage of development of the paintings, you see the color mood for the months of July through December. You also see my first thoughts for monthly theme, as well as glimmers into my understanding of the nature of children in grades seven through twelve.

On the second pass, I let the foreground make its appearance. In this picture and the next you can see the first six months, January through June. Seasons and holidays become more evident in the figures. There is also a thought for the grades, the fairy tale quality of grade one, the folk and fable element of grade two, the nine-year change with its opposing pull towards earth and heaven, the fourth grader's interest in reaching out to the world, the place of balance and harmony found briefly in fifth grade, only to kindle the inner fires of the sixth grader approaching puberty.

During the third approach to the paintings, I brought out the forms and details even further. The central figures were brought to life. When they were finally dry and released from the board, I added just a few more details to some of the pictures, though not to all.

These first pictures now are finished. The second set is still in process. You may have some idea what July (seventh grade) will become, but until they receive their second and third coats, the remaining five paintings have their secret still well hidden. All twelve paintings will have a second life as greeting cards in addition to calendar illustrations. I hope you enjoy what you have seen so far.

First attempt at finding a publisher

It's been quite a few months since I finished the manuscript of For Veggie's Sake. I put it aside for a time while I was investigating leads for an illustrator. As I hit dead ends on that front, I decided that perhaps the most expedient thing to do would be to get the story published by a bona fide publisher. My first choice was AWSNA Publications.

In June I contacted David Mitchell to make inquiry. He encouraged me to send him some of my work, so I sent this story. There ensued a long silence. I knew David was attending the AWSNA conference in Atlanta, GA, so I waited patiently. In July I sent a follow-up letter. Still not response. In August I resubmitted my story. At last, as August was drawing to a close, I got a note from David: following the conference he had gone to visit family. He had also become quite ill, necessitating a visit to the hospital. This accounted for the long silence. He also said he'd both seen and enjoyed my two self-published books, Mother Earth's Bad day and The Wonderful World In Numbers. With that pleasant introduction, David went on to tell me that the line-up for this year was already determined. Still, he encouraged me to try again in the spring, and further recommended I also speak with Gerald Karnow at Mercury Press.

So my next step will be to follow David's advice and contact Gerald. Who knows - maybe I can get this story out to the public yet.

Song Book In the Pentatonic Mode and Mood of the Fifth

Since my last posting, I've continued to make progress on my song book. To my disappointment, I found out that the Christopher Robin poems are not yet in the public domain.It was harder to figure out from whom to get permission to use them than to just wait the 10 years or so until they are no longer under copyright. So, while these 2 songs have been enthusiastically received by the children, I've decided, for now, not to include them in the book.

That decision left me temporarily with an insufficient number of songs. So I've been working to make up the deficit. What I came up with were a couple of playground songs and a singing game. As I get all these songs notated, there may be others that arise from my work deserving of inclusion in the book. And so the project grows, as so many of my projects do. Already I am thinking that I'll need to also make MP3's of the songs for people who can't read music. I won't let that hold up the book, but I am aware that there are many people who might enjoy and use the songs if they could learn them by ear instead of deciphering the notated music. Another way for people to learn my songs would be through a workshop. Please contact me at msilians.opportunities@gmail.com if you are interested in that option.

Introducing my newest book project

I haven't abandoned Finlay's travels, nor the quest for getting the groundhog story illustrated. But while these projects have slowed, a new book has suggested itself to me: a children's song book. So far I have 12 songs for it. All are my own melodies. Texts are by me, by my father, by AA Milne, and some of them are lyrics to traditional songs that I have reset to new tunes. One is evena quote from a fairy tale.

What inspired all of these songs was a need for music in the mood of the fifth. There is a dearth of good quality songs to sing with young children if you are committed to trying to bring them songs in this mood. These songs are an effort to address this need. Mood of the fifth is in pentatonic mode; but instead of simply using the tones of the pentatonic scale, the tone A (above middle C) becomes the center, and the melody swings up and down a fifth from there The neighboring tones, E and G below the A, and  B and D above the A are used to develop and enhance the flow of the melody.

I've been singing some of these songs with children for five years already. Others are as new as one week old, but have already been tried and warmly welcomed by the children I sing with. Most are not yet written out, and this is the point at which I take up this project now. It may be that there will still be more songs before this book is ready to go to the printer. I hope it will become a resource for teachers, but even more, I hope it will make its way into the hands of children. Therefore it will need illustrations. I am also thinking on how to get quality recordings made so that parents who can't read music can learn to sing the songs with the children. It's amazing how quickly a small, simple project can grow.

What's happening with the groundhog story?

     For those of you wondering, this is the status:

     A couple weeks ago I got the edits from my friend, a librarian and former colleague. Her input was extremely helpful, not just with mechanics and structure, but also with understanding some of the confusion reported to me by my young critics. I also talked to my mother, a veteran gardener with experience regarding groundhog diet. This conversation led to other adjustments and improvements to the story. The script is now in pretty good shape and my focus has shifted to finding an illustrator. I know there are several people waiting for this story to be published, so I hope the process of getting it illustrated will not take too long. Meanwhile Finlay's journey across country continues, and a new story idea is in development - the adventures of Dolphin Boy. And the writing continues...

Crossing the Rockies - Finlay Continues His Travels

Approaching the Rocky mountains from the flat, flat prairie, and suddenly seeing the peaks, faint and blue, soaring up from the horizon is a breathtaking experience. Then, the climb into the forested wilds, passing stunning rock formations, and on upwards, to 14,000 feet leaves you feeling like you are approaching the stars.

High up in the mountains are broad alpine meadows where farms are situated. One can almost think, mistakenly, that one is in Switzerland. In fact, many of the settlers in this part of Colorado are of Swiss origin. The farmers raise herds of cattle, but also herds of American bison. All is peaceful and calm in these valleys.

In the mountain forests, however there is a wealth of wildlife, large and small. Traveling through by car, it is unlikely that you will see the largest, most exotic of these creatures. The bears and mountain lions stay concealed. Unless you leave the road, chances are your wildlife viewing will consist primarily of rodents, and members of the deer family - though among the latter, herds of elk can sometimes be spotted. And in the air above, hawks and vultures soar.

Best of all, the high altitude mountain water is fresh and clear, and delicious. We filled up every water container we had before leaving the mountains - and were very happy we'd done so once we had arrived on the Western side in the Utah desert.

Finlay visits Kansas

     While I await feedback from my young story editors and my not-so-young copy editors on the completed groundhog manuscript, I've once again taken up the story of Finlay's cross country trip.

When I last worked on this story, Finlay had arrived in Kansas - now he has crossed it. The midwestern portion of the trip is historically rich, nostalgically reminiscent of the previous century, the time of the cowboys and robber barons. Kansas, like a grassy ocean, gives the impression of endless miles to the horizon. Near and far become almost meaningless when there are few landmarks against which to judge distance

Contrasted to the wide open spaces, was this little jail containing two little cubicles and a narrow entryway. Finlay found it fascinating, as he did so many things on this trip. Here he is looking out of the jail window - but you can be sure he was happy not to be locked up in there!