Beyond LiteracyLink: art

Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Friday, June 19, 2026

Noticing Life's Beauty

As the last days of Springtime, turn a corner, a gray sky triggers inspiration. It's time to bring nature inside. A vase of flowers from the past reminds me to notice small moments.

nurtured by nature

spring florals nestle inside

a peaceful moment

©CV, 2026

I celebrate 9 years of life with my oldest grandgirl and her sisters on the first days of summer vacation. We swim, have chocolate pudding, blow out a candle, and engage in artistic activities. Colorful pictures appear with crayons and a magic pencil as the birthday girl creates her own floral display, a mix of live parsley flowers and blue hydrangea legos. It's amazing how live the hyrandea bouquet looks in the crystal vase (and the quick speed that it took for Sierra to create the display).

The little grandgirls and I are off to make chocolate cake for the birthday party. It's a family weekend but I will catch up with the Poetry Friday Roundup blogs. In the meantime, I excitedly moved to Buffy Silverman's blog that she states is the Soggy Edition of Poetry Friday. Click here to find our what the gardener, nature lover, poet is offering.

Be of peace everyone!

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

A Slice of Bedecked In Autumn Gallery

Autumn caresses my thoughts and feelings, even when temperatures fluctuate and frost leaves its residue on plants. It is a season of light and shadows, warmth and chill, activity and gratitude. With that in mind, I invite you to take a gallery walk with me through the following, a second edition of the Bedecked In Autumn Gallery of Artistic Expressions that blends art, technology, poetry, and music from around the globe.

🍁🍃🍂

and fall arrives!

🍁🍃🍂

Autumn shares its limelight with three months. Early September opens the season with single leaf deposits that whisper hello.

Photo by Ramona Behnke, 2021 Washington

"And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood."
-William Cullen Bryant
Photo by Fran Haley (Fran's image poems can be found in the first edition of the gallery here.

🍁🍃🍂

October whisks in and slowly paints the landscape in burnt orange and golden shades for all to admire. Shall we dance in glee?

Chris Margocs from Texas shares a ritual of "just being".

October walks offer quiet time to be inspired by the beauty of the earth,

as seen through the eyes ofTerje Akke (Estonia, 2021).

🍁🍃🍂

October closes on a spooky note.

🍁🍃🍂

November slips into view with:

"In November, the trees are standing sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancer. They know it is time to be still." - Cynthia Rylant
🍁🍃🍂

Pause for a brief interlude of your gallery walk to listen to Beautiful Autumn Songs here.

🍁🍃🍂

Not all that glitters is gold.

🍁🍃🍂

Part of my heart remains in Long Island where fall watching for me was either at a beach or park. Thanks to Laura Toledo, educator photographer, I am able to see a new place that I never visited, Connectquot State Park.

🍁🍃🍂

CREDITS

Ramona Behnke

Alice Garza

Fran Haley

Kevin Hodgson

Robert Hamera

LauraToledo

Carol Varsalona

Jackie Yun

I hope you enjoyed the contributions shared by some of my slicer and Facebook friends.

🍁🍃🍂

PREVIOUS AUTUMN GALLERIES

Please visit previous autumn galleries of artistic expressions that integrate the arts, technology, and poetry. Click on the titles of the underlined galleries.

2014 - Finding Fall
2015 -  Autumn's Palette
2016 -  Autumn Venture
2017 -  Autumn Ablaize

2020 - Abundant Autumn

Thank you for joining me on this gallery walk of the 2021 Autumn season. May you continue to fill your heart with gratitude for the beauty of the earth.

🍁🍃🍂

COMMENTS

Please leave a comment below or on social media so that the joy of this gallery and the work of all those who contributed can be spread throughout the world. Thank you to Aussie poet Alan J. Wright who commented on the first edition of Bedecked In Autumn Gallery with a nod to Keats.

The brilliant canvas of colour, images, and words brought the words of Keats flowing back into my conscious mind, "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.'"

🍁🍃🍂

I thank Two Writing Teachers for Slice of Life Tuesday where a community of educational writers shares small moments of quiet inspiration.

Please join me on Friday for the final installment of the Bedecked in Autumn Gallery.

fall's quiet moments

strewn with blankets of leaves

earth seeks repose

©CVarsalona, 2021

Photo by Terje Akke, 2021

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

#OneWord2021: Creativity Bursts & Connections

In a world of shifting thoughts and temperaments, words play a significant role. They hold the power to create peace or disharmony, balance, or upheaval. At the beginning of a new year or new project, a single word becomes a focal point, intentionally centering our thoughts toward future growth.

The one word phenomenon has influenced my life journey each year since 2014. It called to my muse and invited me to venture on a new path of living toward change. This year, my one word is begin. This simple word is the light shining my way to creativity bursts and creative connections with life. With begin as a guide, I will move to Virginia soon and write a new chapter in the story of life.

On January 14, 2021, Laura Grundler and Matt Grundler, moderators of #K12ArtChat asked me to guest host their Thursday night chat. Honored to work with these dynamic and creative educators again, I opened the discussion on one word for a new year with an invitation to gather in our creative space on Twitter and to reflect on our craft and practice. I created a series of questions that would assist the participants to create one word that would impact their personal and professional life.

When the chat ended, Matt Grundler posed a question for #SlowK12ArtChat that would run throughout the week. Reflaction (Reflection with Action) - What steps will you take to create a sanctuary of thought that blends art, technology, and literacy for yourself and others? Respondents began to share their thoughts using the hashtags #SlowK12ArtChat, @SchoolArts, and @AdobeForEdu. As promised, my reflaction blended art, technology, and poetry to create a collage of inspired words and art. Please join me at my One Word 2021 Sanctuary of Thought here.

I invite anyone who has a one word 2021 to add your digital inspiration to the One Word Sanctuary of Thought padlet here.

"Creativity is contagious, pass it on!" - Albert Einstein

🎨

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -Pablo Picasso

It's Slice of Life Tuesday.

I join the community of writers with gratitude to Two Writing Teachers for their sacred space.

Monday, October 8, 2018

Unveiling of The Art of Summering Gallery

It's a smile; it's a kiss; it's a sip of wine...
it's summertime!
- Kenny Chesney

🕶
Summer is a state of mind that adds positivity to our days.
Recall your life living summer moments and pause to:

There is an art to summering:
Sun simmering,
Heat chasing,
Waves churning-
Iced tea sipping,
Porch sitting,
Fan swaying-
Sparkler swooning,
People celebrating,
Sunsets blazing-
Friends visiting,
Quiet chatting,
Babies playing-
Family planning,
Trip taking,
Cameras shooting-
Endless choosing,
Daily relaxing,
Summer happening!
©CVarsalona, 2018

There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." - Sarah Kay

🕶

While the official end of the summer season drew to a close, my mind still drifts back to the pristine beach where a gentle breeze brings relief from the persistent heat. I hear the roar of the foaming waves singing their summer song, and savor those cherished memories.

To preserve the memories of summer and allow voice to rise, I created this global gallery of artistic expressions,The Art of Summering, with its brilliant array of art, poetry, nature/travel photography, digital art, and music. Take a gallery walk with me to see the many shades of summer across the world. There are 10 stops on the global tour so let's get started.

🕶

First Stop - A Virtual Journey

Travel Photos

"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Battuta

🕶

Second Stop - Sunrises and Sunsets Around the Globe
"There are sunrises and sunsets every single day, and they're absolutely free.
Don't miss so many of them."
-Jo Walton Winter

🕶
Third Stop - Animals of Summer

"Again and again, the cicada's untiring cry pierced the sultry summer air like a needle at work on thick cotton cloth." - Yukio Mishmima, Runaway Horses: The Sea of Fertility, 2

🕶

Fourth Stop - Summer Art

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

-Thomas Merton

Laura Hill Timpanaro

The Sand Bar by Thomas Cooper Gotch submitted by Tabatha Yeatts

🕶
Fifth Stop - Children's Corner

Click HERE to see the BUNCEE Slide Share

🕶

Sixth Stop - Digital Art

🕶

Seventh Stop - Summer Florals

"Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature." - Gerard De Nerval

🕶

Eighth Stop - Music

"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body."

The above quote by Oliver Wendall Holmes was offered by Tabatha Yeatts along with the following song from the Queen of Soul.

Click HERE to enjoy the "The Art of Summering" playlist of 29 songs that I gathered on YouTube.

🕶

Ninth Stop - Summer's Alluring Call

🕶

If you travel far enough, you can find snow-tipped mountains and inspiration in summer.

🕶

Tenth Stop - Time to Say Goodbye to Summer BUT...

STILL Lingering in the Memories

🕶

Thank you for joining me on The Art of Summering Gallery Walk.

Carol

Each season, the gallery concept that I began in 2014 grows in volume. May it continue to lift artistic voice across the globe, provide a joyful reading experience and encourage creativity, as it fills social media with beautifully-crafted digitals inspirations. Please leave comments on this blog, Twitter, or Facebook so that we can all grow as writers.

🕶

"Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance." - Yoko Ono

Let the sunshine of summertime, fill your soul, and increase your vitality to find the abundance of autumn! May you continue to notice, observe the living world around you, wonder, and savor each life living moment.

I've traveled different paths each season,

held onto treasured moments, lingering

in their memories, for they have been

nourishment for my soul.

©CV, 2017

🕶

Many thanks are extended to all the poets, photographers, artists, bloggers, writers, teachers, and students who offered digital inspirations for The Art of Summering Global Gallery. The responses to the concept of "summering" were varied and unique.

Contributors to The Art of Summering Gallery
@HolisticSailor	Cuffe, Laurence	Howard, Spiri	Nesdoly, Violet	Wong, Janet
@Teach4spclneeds	Day, Suzi	Hughes, Justine	Nestor, Janet	Wyman, Christie
Alba, Cheryl	Di Stefano, Carl	Hughes, Stephan	Norden, Sharon	Yeatts, Tabatha
Alaska Tracy	Finley, Todd	Hutmacher, Kimberly	Pollard, David	Yun, Jackie
Ajmani, Kumud	Flowers, Lisa L.	Jago, Carol	Quinn, Chris	Zabala, Maria
Akke, Terje	Flynn, Catherine	Kelley, Steve	Salas, Laura Purdie
Alyssa H.	Foley, Kevin	Kogan, Michelle	Shepard, Kiesha
Atkins, Jeannine	Forrest Esenwine, Matt	Kristensen, Kent	Silverman, Buffy
Apel, Kat	Gross, Teresa	Lake, Lillian	Simon, Margaret
Baie, Linda	Guidoccio, Joanne	Latham, Irene	Smith, Donna
Barnes, Michelle H.	Hancock, Patty	MacCulloch, Jone	Steinglass, Elizabeth
Behnke, Ramona	Harsham, Brenda	Macken, JoAnn Early	Tamez, Eugenia
Bigi, Jessica	Hartnett, Devin	Mayr, Diane	Thomas, Kathleen
Boynton, Sandra	Hersey, Ruth	McGriff, Kay	Tilton, Valerie
Bradbury, Shawn	Herzog, John & Rebecca	Meller, Faige	Timparano, Laura Hill
Burtsfield, Dani	Hodgson, Kevin	Mitchell, Linda	Vardell, Sylvia
Cator, Leia	Hogan, Jennifer	Moran, Pam	Varsalona, Carol
Chow, Janet	Hogan, Molly	Mr. Terborg	Weston, Mark E. Ph.D
Coombs, Katie	Howard, Mary, Dr.	Murphy, Sally	Wirtz, Rita