The Beautiful Artwork of Hally Levesque's "The Spirit Woods" Exhibition

In the spring I saw a Facebook post from Hally Levesque about an exhibit she was having at a local Canadian art gallery where she would be exhibiting and selling some of her beautiful  "The Spirit Woods" art pieces. 

Lady of the Woods Tryptich by Hally Levesque

I was thrilled as Hally is an exceptional artist who creates art dolls, mixed media art, paper art, collage art and more.  Not only is she an exceptional art doll artist, but she is also an art teacher, storyteller, photographer and a bit of a history buff. 

Her online class video's are easy to follow and beautifully taught as well as being sprinkled with all sort of historical tidbits or stories, which I just love.

Hally Levesque -  Artful Gathering 2015 - Bonnets & Bows: A Regency Doll Project

I first encountered Hally after taking her "Bonnets & Bows: A Regency Doll Project" at Artful Gathering in the spring of 2015.  I, of course, was interested in this class as she was showing you how to make a paper-clay historical Regency period art doll.  

To me I had hit the jackpot: a Victorian like art doll with historical tidbits sprinkled throughout.  What's not to love.

Hally Levesque - Artful Gathering 2016 - Romantic Rosabella - A Ribbons & Roses Doll Project 

Hally Levesque - Artful Gathering 2016 Wee Winter Whimsies - Primitive Folk Art Dolls for the Holidays

Hally Levesque - Artful Gathering 2017 Tassels & Tiaras: A Winged Wonders Doll Project

I loved her first class so much I ended up taking 3 more or her Artful Gathering online classes.  Each of those classes was just as good if not better than her Bonnets & Bows class.

Creative Works  

As I already said, Hally is an exceptional artist as well as an exceptional teacher.  Luckily for all of you Hally's classes are available as video's on her Creative Works website here.   Her video's are well thought out, easy to follow, and entertaining.   If you love dolls and get a chance to take one of her classes or buy one of her video's you won't be disappointed.  

After taking her Romantic Rosabella class I learned that I had won the beautiful "Winter Roses" art doll that Hally Levesque was raffling off to one of the students from her Romantic Rosabella and Wee Winter Whimsies classes at Artful Gathering. 

I couldn't believe it! I never win anything - especially a gorgeous art doll made by an unbelievably talented and gifted art doll artist - Hally Levesque.

When I opened up her box I was just astonished.   She was even more beautiful than her pictures depicted.  

What I couldn't get over was her remarkable face. She was a totally handmade, hand sculpted, and hand painted art doll. The hand painted features on her face, which is only 1 3/4" long and 1 1/4" wide, were beautifully done and unbelievable. 

All I could say was "Wow!" She was utterly gorgeous and a true inspiration for what a beautiful art doll can look like.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was with Hally's enchanting exhibit. I was happy for Hally, but also for everyone who could see some of her beautiful art pieces in person and be able to purchase some of them - which, of course, I did.

According to Hally on "The Spirit Woods" page of her Creative Works website; "The seed for this project was planted in 2018 when I was looking for something new and challenging to get the creative juices flowing.  I found my inspiration when I stumbled upon pictures on the Internet of some very unusual looking mushrooms.  I was struck by how they were both alien-like and yet oddly beautiful.  I began to play with the idea of incorporating the subject into my art. From there, the imagery spilled over into other areas.  I imagined an entire body of work devoted to the subject of nature spirits.  My fascination with moths also came into play and before I knew it, a narrative began to take form culminating in a journal with a series of accompanying art works."

 "The Spirit Woods" 

Hally has four sections that you can click on and view on her  "The Spirit Woods" page regarding her creations: The Spirit Woods Journal, The Video, The Art Projects, and a Gallery Display.  If you love art and love learning about the inspiration behind Hally's exceptional works of art please do yourself a favor and click on the links on her  "The Spirit Woods" page.  

As mentioned before, Hally is a storyteller and historian who takes you into the inner world of her enchanting art pieces.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed. 

It was hard to choose which art pieces I wanted as they were all exceptional but purchasing all of them, which I wanted to do, was definitely out of the question.  

So, I settled on three of them: Lady of the Woods Tryptich,  Fungorium Agara Cut-out, and Mothology Collage Shadow Box.  

I waited until the exhibit was over to receive my art pieces and was so happy when they finally arrived.  

Once again, when I opened the box they took my breath away.  They were unbelievably beautiful, enchanting, and exceptional pieces of art.  I couldn't help but admire the amazing details on every square inch of her art pieces. 

I had been blown away with just seeing the pictures and knew they would be beautiful but was stunned seeing how beautiful and detailed they actually were in person. The intricate detail in each piece had to have taken her a long time to create.  I couldn't help but admire her astonishing works of art.

I asked Hally if it would be okay to post pictures of her astonishing works and she graciously agreed to let me.  I knew that all my Artful Gathering friends would be thrilled to see pictures of some of Hally's creations again and was hoping she would agree.

Here's what Hally said about her creations: "Truly, I create not solely for my own enjoyment. People ask me how it is that I can part with things that I devote so much time to making. For me the answer is simple. Art is for sharing and nothing gives me greater satisfaction than knowing that I have somehow contributed to the happiness of others through something that I love to do."

I, for one, can say that every time I look at my Hally Levesque creations they not only give me joy, but fill me with inspiration. Every time I look at them I see a new piece of detail that I hadn't noticed before.  They are enchanting, inspirational, and definitely fill me with happiness.  So, mission accomplished, Haley.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I took of Hally's three art pieces.  The pictures truly don't do her works of art justice, but I'm hoping they show you enough of the detail for you to see how truly beautiful they are.

Lady of the Woods Tryptich by Hally Levesque

18" x 16"

Paper, ink, acrylic paint, wire, varnish and plastic frame.

According to Hally; "I created the character of The Lady of the Woods based on the concept of a mother spirit - a guardian of all that exists in her woodland domain."

 

Fungorium Agara Cut-out by Hally Levesque

11 1/2" x 10"

Paper, ink, acrylic paint, wire and varnish.

Mothology Collage Shadow Box by Hally Levesque

17 3/4" x 11"x 4 1/2"

Paper, ink, marker, varnish, and plastic frame.

If you would like to learn more about Hally and her beautiful art pieces her Creative Doll Works website is here. 

And, if you ever get a chance to take one of Hally's online classes, buy one of her video's, or buy one of her art pieces do so.  You will not be disappointed.

Grandma, Will You Read Me A Story?

Don't you just love this quote from Dr. Seuss:

The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.
~ Dr. Seuss ~

A verse so simple yet so very true.

Children learn to read from their parents or as Emilie Buchwald said in 1994, "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

So, it is vitally important for parents to read to their children from infancy. The more children read, the better they become at reading.

And, the more young children are read to, the greater their interest in reading. Reading out loud to children helps them with their verbal skills, enhances their development and teaches them how to express themselves verbally.

Other people have also stated this so eloquently:

Books, to the reading child, are so much more than books-they are dreams and knowledge, they are a future, and a past(1940)
~ Esther Meynell ~

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child. (1952)
~ Mary Ellen Chase ~

It is not enough to simply teach children to read;we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations - something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.
~ Katherine Paterson ~

If you've been a reader of my Linda's Blog you know that I've had a long term love affair with dolls, doll patterns, the Victorian era, floral design, and genealogy.

You also know that I love research and history.

What you don't know until now is that I have always LOVED books and reading, too since I was a very young child.

As far as I'm concerned you can never have enough dolls and you can never have enough books.

My house is filled with them. Books of all kinds. My love affair with books began very early on. My Mother is an avid reader, my Father was an avid reader, my Grandmother and Great-Aunt were avid readers, and so it was passed down to my siblings and I.

I can remember sitting in my Grandmother's rocking chair (which I still have) and having her read me a story. Sometimes we would sit there while she was watching her soap opera's (this was when black/white TV's first came out) and then she would read me my story. I never minded just sitting there with her. I always knew there would be a story. And, I always felt safe in her arms.

Now, when I read I think about sitting with my Grandmother or listening to my Mom and Dad talk about their love of reading it brings back warm and pleasant feelings for me.

Reading is such an escape. You can literally get lost in a book. The book for a brief moment becomes your life and you can imagine that you're experiencing it. There is nothing more powerful then your imagination. Even the most spectacular movie with all its wonderful special effects and cinematography cannot compare to what you own imagination can create.

There are no limits, no boundaries to your imagination when you are reading. Reading can take you anywhere. If you know how to read you can do anything because there isn't anything you can't do if you put your mind to it.

I am a firm believer in books and reading as a way of teaching children. And it must be taught at a very young age, on the laps of our parents.

As Mccosh quoted, "The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think."

In fact, my Grandchildren can attest to the fact that every Christmas or Birthday they know what at least some of their presents will be from their Grandmother: books.

To me, that is one of the best presents I could give them. By giving them books all the time, I hope somehow I'm conveying a love of reading to them. Reinforcing the value of reading time and time again. Making them think.

Hopefully, by developing good reading skills they learn how to think for themselves.

For I firmly believe in the following quote:

To read is to empower
To empower is to write
To write is to influence
To Influence is to change
To change is to live.
~ Jane Evershed ~
More than a Tea Party
I was watching a show on one of the cable channels about the greatest invention mankind has ever seen. They counted down through hundreds of inventions until they got to #1. Do you know what it was?

The greatest invention mankind has ever seen was the invention of the printing press. Why, because it opened the whole world up to everyone and mankind was never the same again.

I was so pleased the other day when I read that more people visited libraries this past year then went to the movies.  How wonderful is that?

Recently, there has been some sentiment that libraries and book stores were a thing of the past.  I don't think that will ever be the case.  While e-readers are popular and easy to use there is still nothing like walking through a library or book store and perusing books as you go along.  You can't do that with an e-reader.

So, grab a book. Take it to a quiet place and get lost in your own imagination.

And the next time your Grandchildren come to visit spend the weekend reading to them, not watching T.V. or playing video games. Just reading from books.

Your Grandchildren may surprise you and love it. And, you will open up a magical world to them from which they will never return.

I did it!
Come and look
At what I've done!
I read a book!
When someone wrote it
Long ago
For me to read,
How did he know
That this was the book
I'd take from the shelf
And lie on the floor
And read by myself?
I really read it!
Just like that!
Word by word,
From first to last!
I'm sleeping with
This book in bed,
This first FIRST book
I've ever read!
~ David L. Harrison ~
(from Somebody Catch My Homework)