Blue Break

How did I get so busy? I need to chill!

I’m going to take a couple of weeks to work more diligently on Charlotte’s Art Gown, finish reading a couple of books, including John Howell’s “The Last Drive”. (lovin’ it!)

Visit blogs and do some reblogs, do the dentist and doctor thing, prepare my taxes for the accountant, catch up on emails and recover from the sling and arrow of last week.

There’s more for sure, like earning some $$$ and working on my film daze humorous anecdotes.  Perhaps a beaver mural would have worked better?

Pics taken by Resa – December 21, 2022

Toronto, Canada

Anne Boleyn

Is it street art, or art in the street?

I instantly recognized the portrait of Anne Boleyn, set in a cold vortex of high rises.

Queen Consort Anne Boleyn was King Henry VIII ‘s second wife. She was beheaded for adultery (charges trumped up by Cromwell) on May 19, 1536.  Anne Boleyn is the mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

The portrait in the street is a copy of the famous and only officially verified portrait of Anne Boleyn, that was painted in her lifetime. (Shown below) It is believed that images of her were destroyed to please the king. This is the sole survivor.

unknown artist; Anne Boleyn; National Portrait Gallery, London; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/anne-boleyn-158230

Even until today, paintings surface claiming status, but all are renounced.

Photo of the original (left) compared to my photo of the one in the street (right).

I had to go in on an angle to get a close up of her face.

Alongside Richard Burton as Henry the VIII, Geneviève Bujold played Anne Boleyn in the movie “Anne of the Thousand Days”

Elizabeth Taylor, wanted to play Anne Boleyn. At 37, she was rejected as too old. Elizabeth took a small walk on so she could be present at the shooting of the final Tower of London scene. She feared Richard Burton, and Geneviève Bujold were having an affair.

For that tidbit and more trivia about the movie, click on the pic of Elizabeth below.

Here is the infamous 20 second walk on.

Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary was Princess Diana Spencer’s 13th great-grandmother on her father’s side.

So then Mary Boleyn is William and Harry’s 14th great- grandmother on Diana’s father’s side? Does that mean Anne Bolyen is their 14th great-aunt on Diana’s father’s side?

There is a ton of history available on Anne Boleyn. I’ve included 1 link for ease.

Anne Boleyn Facts & Biography Of Information

In January 1973, Rick Wakeman released his debut solo album, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The 36.36 minute album has a piece for each wife. Here is Anne Boleyn.

Pic taken by Resa – February 28, 2023

Toronto, Canada

 

A Deere Deer

OR a Deere Dear. Turns out deere is not just a tractor brand, but an archaic spelling of both; deer and dear.

I can’t help but think of Timothy  & Dale, as I write this. Tim because we were gagging around in comments with the word “deer/dear/deere”. Dale because she posted some pics of deer in her Wordless Wednesday spot on Marc’s blog.

Anyway, this is one of those high up murals that I had to try hard to capture.

It is a unique dear deer deere!

Pics taken by Resa – February 20, 2023

Toronto, Canada

TheArtist:

Hand detail

Psyche 🦋

As a fab follow up to the mural “Mercury and Psyche”, (my previous post) I reblog this well done article on PSYCHE. Thank you to fellow blogger, Graham Stephen!

GeoTopoi

Psyche at the well,
Benjamin Edward Spence

puleius (c 124 – c 170) lived in provincial North Africa (in present-day Algeria) and was the author of the only surviving complete novel in Latin. His work, entitled Metamorphoses, or alternatively The Golden Ass, includes the tale of Cupid and Psyche as a story within the story.

According to Apuleius’s narrative, Psyche (Roman Anima) is a mortal of unsurpassed beauty, outshining even the goddess of love Venus (Greek Aphrodite) herself. Jealous Venus sends her son Cupid (Greek Eros) to exact revenge by making Psyche fall in love with the most miserable and vilest of men. Cupid, however, falls in love with her himself. He later arranges her rescue from sacrifice to a monster and installs her in a sumptuous palace and visits her there every night. Cupid, however, withholds his true identity and forbids Psyche to…

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Mercury and Psyche

I went gaga when I laid eyes on this mural.

The translucency of of colours over words is intriguing to me.

The gods never looked so great!

Rising over 10 stories into the Toronto sky line, this tall boy was difficult to shoot with my IPhone.

Oh, and there was this ugly billboard four feet in front of it, so I had to shoot on an angle.

Ah, I get it! Pave paradise, put in a parking lot. Rectify with gorgeous art. Put bad asp billboard 4 feet in front of art. Next!

Pics taken by Resa – February 20, 2023

Toronto, Canada

The artists: PichiAvo (Pichi & Avo) – Valencia, Spain

Click on photo below to visit their website.

Spirits Moving

Found this in the entrance to the parking of a high rise.

It’s a mural, and a paste-up. It’s the biggest paste-up I’ve ever seen.

Pics taken by Resa – February 13, 2023

Toronto, Canada

The Artist:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sir Chocolate Children’s Books – by: Robbie and Michael Cheadle

This delightful series of Children’s books teaches many things: kindness, community,  acceptance, environment and more.

Resa – I believe the above is the first book in the series.

Robbie – It is the first book in the series. It was the first children’s book my publisher, TSL Publications, published too, so it was a learning curve for all of us.

Resa – On page 22 there’s a roaring fire. It looks delicious. What is it made out of?

Robbie – Ah yes, that fire was fun to make (and eat). The logs are made of a chocolate bar we get in South Africa called a Flake. It is quite crumbly and does look like it’s made of wood. 
The fire is made from yellow buttercream piped using a large star nozzle and the earth is made from crushed, dark Oreos. Very delicious.

Resa – So, your son and husband are both named Michael!

(This is a bit embarrassing, but I thought Robbie wrote these books with her husband.)

Robbie – My husband’s name is Terence. Both my sons have Dean as a second name which is my father’s first name. It is a family name that has been passed down for a number of generations.
Resa – “Sir Chocolate and the sugar dough bees” is quite pertinent and important in my mind. Bees are so important to our survival. Did you and Michael do this tale as a teaching story?
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Robbie – Yes, all the books have a subtle teaching point about teamwork, friendship, acceptance or the environment. The Sugar Dough Bees and The Condensed Milk River are both about environmental issues and I have been pleased that lots of the children do pick up on them. It shows that the schools and their parents are giving them good guidance about our planet and looking after it.

Resa – Yes, last night I read “The Condensed Milk River”. It’s great that you feature environmental issues.

Resa – Your son was 10 when you wrote these books based on some of his ideas.  That was in 2016. He must be 16 – 17 now. Does he still help with ideas?

Robbie – Michael is turned 17 on Monday, 30 January. He does still help with ideas for the stories, he has a wonderful imagination. Most of the Sir Chocolate books were written in 2014 and 2015 although I am only publishing some of them now.

I haven’t had to change them much as we still like the stories. My artwork has grown though and I’ve tackled more difficult projects like fondant dogs and a gingerbread caravan.

Michael assisted with a number of the ideas and themes for Haunted Halloween Holiday which we wrote and published last year.

He is very open minded and there is a strong theme of acceptance of difference in that book. A Vampire (Count Sugular) is married to a witch (Witch Honey) and their male baby is a banshee (I’ve only heard of female banshees before). I have been delighted to see child readers picking up on this and making remarks about a vampire married to a witch.

Resa – I see in “The Sugar Crystal Caves” that the recipes are not cooked or baked, but are created out of biscuits, wafers and other already made treats that are glued together with icing sugar.

This seems fun for younger children, that are not ready to bake, even with mom’s help. Is this what you intended?

Robbie – The instructions on how to make boats, cars, and other fun things from biscuits and icing was just an idea I had when I wrote that particular book. I had been remembering making sugar crystals and racing cars out of boudoir biscuits when I was a kid and I wanted to share that knowledge. I don’t think kids are shown how to do these sorts of activities any more and they are such fun. I did a few of these activities with my Sunday School class and they loved it. Biscuit art is an alternative to baking and is also a fun and bonding exercise for children and caregivers.

This particular book has done well with the pre-schools. I think the biscuit art is easier for teachers to do with their classes than baking.

Resa – I like the biscuit art. It’s like food LEGO. Kids get that.

What a great suggestion – biscuit art is like Lego. I didn’t think of it like that but your are right, it is all about construction.

Resa In “Sir Chocolate and the Fondant Five”, you teach about African animals. It seems there is more to this than just teaching about animals. After all, they have to be saved from the lazy elves. What was your & Michael’s objective in this story?

Robbie – The objective of this particular book was partly to teach children about the “Big Five African Animals”, but it was also about teamwork and formulating a plan to solve a difficult problem. Sir Chocolate and the other animals all work together to find and rescue the Fondant Five. They derive a plan and implement it. 

Resa – After I read “Sir Chocolate and the Ice Cream Fairies”, I thought….. Kindness and understanding bring personal rewards. Am I on the mark here?

Robbie – This little book had a few subtle themes. Obviously, colours was one, as well as different flavours and tastes and being adventurous about different taste combinations. Kindness and being helpful and thoughtful if people are sick are unable to attend to their jobs and needs for a period, was also a theme. 

Resa – In “Chocolate Fudge Saves the Sugar Dog”, Sir Chocolate’s son is the hero. You teach about some dogs, but there is more. Tell me about the main lesson in this book!

Robbie –  Chocolate Fudge is intended to be a good example to children. He is smiley,  always polite to teachers, and does his work and achieves good marks. The dogs, on the other hand, are naughty and undisciplined. They chase the ducks and scare the frog. When Lord Humbug calls for the little dog who is struggling in the water, he doesn’t listen, but choses to carry on playing. As a result of his disobedience, he ends up in trouble and nearly drowning. Chocolate Fudge is brave and becomes a hero by saving the little dog.

I’ve also read “Haunted Halloween Holiday”. I reviewed it on my Hallowe’en post. Click on the book cover & go to that post. Scroll to near the end and find the review!
Diana from “Myths of the Mirror”blog reviewed Robbie’s new children’s Christmas story. Click on the above image, and go to the page of reviews. Diana writes the best book reviews!

Resa – I adore all of your fondant characters & cake castles & scenes etc. Personally, your fondant flowers blow my mind. Is the day lily on the shortbread in “the strawberry cream berries” a fondant or real flower?

Robbie – Yes, that flower is made from fondant. It is a wired flower which means that I run a narrow piece of florists wire through the base of each petal when I made them (each petal is made separately, of course). When they are dry, I then twist the wires together to form the flower. Wired flowers are challenging to make.

I modelled the pink one you referred to on a similar coloured flower in our garden. I love animals, birds, flowers and nature in all its shapes and forms. I usually study flowers, and other creatures for a few weeks before I attempt to model one. I like to get the small details right in each creation.

Resa –  Robbie, I’m all into details. Thank you for patiently answering my many questions. It allowed me to write a detailed post on the marvellous creation of a son and his mother.

To learn about making fondant sculptures from Robbie, click on the cake above!

On top of everything there are recipes to go with the stories. Most are classic treats. Robbie shows us how to make Choc Chip Cookie & Choc Cupcakes.

The videos are edited by Gregory Cheadle, Michael’s brother older by 3 years.

Click on Robbie’s profile above, and go to her books on Amazon.

OR buy paperbacks directly from her publisher – https://tslbooks.uk/product-tag/sir-chocolate/