Astro Boy!

Astronaut backpack made in 2008 by Dexter

Dexter has always loved creative stuff, drawing, making things, writing stories, making fantastic jewellery (I am going to do a separate post for displaying some of them because they are really really good and he has even sold some as a result of me being stopped in the street and having them commented on!). 

Astronaut Dexter with his home made backpack 2008

So here are some photos of a couple of years ago when we made a space pack together - Astro Boy Dexter was created!  Making cool things out of junk too can be fun!

To infinity and beyond!

There are no limits to creativity thankfully as wouldn't life be boring.

Want to hear a song, and laugh at the same time, watch this video of Flight of the Conchords

Hands across the World & Sprio; together we make a difference!

Hands united

Last night all the parents got to visit their child's school and see the new classroom they are in and see all the stuff they have been doing during the first term of their new year.  Of course, Anders and I went to see Dexter's new classroom.

Hands across the world tapestry by primary school kids at Dexter's school 2010

The big thing however is that the whole school have been working on an art project which has involved them all making a hand and it being put onto a huge piece of material which will be made into a collage entitled "Hands across the World".  The hands symbolise hands of children working together from all different backgrounds and how if they do things together then they can make a difference.  I was pretty blown away by it, the work and quality of it was just amazing, genuinely.  I think all the parents were impressed by it as it was that good.  It reminded me the process behind people making patchwork quilts either from knitting or making square patches of material.  

Dexter's hand he made for the tapestry

tapestry hands

tapestry hand

Talking about working together, there was also a blind auction on Friday evening to raise money Dexter's school.  All of the money they raised is going to fund getting new play equipment in the playground for all the kids to enjoy.  The event raised £5,000, and Anders and I won a couple of things, one of which was a print of a painting by Mike Turpie (he made and donated it for the event), who is one of the dads of a boy that attends the school.  Here is the picture:-

Sprio print of painting by Mike Turpie

This print of the original painting is of the coffee shop which we all go to regularly as it is in our neighbourhood which is really lovely.  The couple who jointly own it (Paula & Marchello from Italy) with a friend of theirs (Kathleen, a Scot, who married an Italian and lived in Italy where she met Paula & Marchello) also have a son who attends the same school too so this print has a connection to us all and it is great to know that all the parents getting together with their friends and family helped get some money to make play at school even nicer for all our kids.  We are so pleased to have won it as it is really pretty and is depicts something that is part of our everyday life in a really lovely way.

Mike is an expressionist painter, based in Scotland and Santa Fe and here he is in Sprio where we had coffee and I told him that Anders and I had won his donation - whilst he looks like he is saying "get away from me you nutter" he isn't as we regularly chat in Sprio and have a laugh over things that have happened!

If you want to see more about Mike and his works, he too has a Blog Mike Turpie's Art Blog.  If you go over you will see his other works and the little entry where he has talked about our picture.

So a whole lot of kindness and togetherness bundled up and depicted through art.  The print which for us is like a photograph of a place which holds nice memories for Anders, Dexter and I and helped raise money for the school all our kids attend.  This and the art works that the school kids have done make you realise that there is a real sense of working together and belonging, just what being part of a nice neighbourhood should be!

Iron Giant II & Swan - sculpture by Anthony Gormley

Oh was I excited at finding the second of the four Anthony Gormley sculptures standing in the Water of Leith, but even more so because a single beautiful swan chose to swim past at the same time that I was taking photographs of it.

I have never seen a swan on the Water of Leith before, this was a first for me.

So you can only imagine how excited I got at the thought of it swimming past at the exact moment I was taking the picture - lucky or what! Wonder what he thought of the sculpture?

Just added another dimension to this piece of art!

Iron Giant (well that is what he is to me) by Anthony Gormley

Anthony Gormley has been to Edinburgh and he has made 4 sculptures which he has placed along the Water of Leith. I will go and see the other 3, but for now, this is the one in Stockbridge - just beautiful and reminds me of a huge iron giant standing in the water itself.