Working Big: A Teacher’s Guide to Environmental Sculpture

Let me tell you how on-board I am with any children’s DIY project book that begins with pictures of Robert Smithson’s monumental land art. Working Big: A Teacher’s Guide to Environmental Sculpture resonates with me due to many childhood trips to the LA County Art Museum at the height of the minimalism art era. Working Big applies some of the art notions of that period to group activities for kids using cardboard, plastic bags and junk. The result...

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Picture Sundays: Famous Cat Statues

...ue of Trim, the first cat to circumnavigate Australia and the subject of a book by the ship’s captain Matthew Finders. Next is a statue of Samuel Johnson’s cat Hodge sitting on top of a dictionary and pondering some oyster shells. It’s located just outside Johnson’s house in London and is inscribed, “a very fine cat indeed.” UPDATE: Root Simple reader Peter noted a glaring feline statue omission on my part: the statue of Mrs. Chippy (who should ha...

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Saturday Tweets: Pre-Peeled Oranges, Fine Fiber and the Dome Revival

...y (@BicycleLobby) March 4, 2016 Wool fans: Check out the Wool & Fine Fiber Book slash traveling exhibition from Fibershed: https://t.co/DB689iJN3J #fibershed #woolbook — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 5, 2016 #relatable pic.twitter.com/8nYPhJALaM — Xeni Jardin (@xeni) March 4, 2016 Learn what it takes to be a sushi chef (spoiler: insane skills we definitely do not have) https://t.co/DFDb9wAL2o pic.twitter.com/PYDPCYZgEk — Xeni Jardin (@xeni) Marc...

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Saturday Tweets: A Week of Strange Links

...f Stephen Harding (now digitised by @BMDijonPat), is a real medieval comic book. pic.twitter.com/eOm5cFcDd9 — Damien Kempf (@DamienKempf) March 31, 2016 #Netherlands sets guidance reducing #meat consumption to twice weekly https://t.co/F68kuFjikj @NatGeoFood @hdbyrne pic.twitter.com/pZ9nPJ8xEc — UC Food Observer (@ucfoodobserver) March 30, 2016 Another cow caught stealing a bicycle…… pic.twitter.com/7gtONxicdn — classicretro (@classicretro) March...

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How to Garden With California Natives: Lessons from the 2016 Theodore Payne Garden Tour

...ive chaparral. Spacing can be tricky. You have to pay attention to nursery labels and not plant too far apart or too close together. Not that plants always perform predictably. You have to go back and edit: fill gaps in or take stuff out. The best gardens on the tour got the massing right like the Hessing/Bonfigli garden in Altadena shown in the photo above. Outdoor Rooms My favorite garden on the tour is the Loxton/Clark garden in Pasadena. It’s...

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