ART OF ATARI

During the 1970s, ATARI was a pioneer in the creation of video games first with arcade cabinets then with the introduction of its home gaming console. The ATARI name is synonymous with describing the electronic entertainment industry of the times. As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, I spent countless hours playing Jungle Hunt, Missile Command, Pac-Man, River Raid, and Space Invaders on the Atari 2600; but I spent probably just as much time enjoying the artwork on video game box covers, instruction manuals and advertisements.

While ATARI is known for its video games, the artwork produced by the company was just as much, if not more, extraordinary. Although always enjoying ATARI games, I remember always being a bit disappointed that their on-screen graphics never were comparable to the enticing artwork marketing them. I used to check out every detail of ATARI art which provided inspiration for imagining fantastic stories in my mind of astronaut adventures, army battles, and mythical encounters. The art of ATARI for me added an extra element of excitement to the brand that complimented the cutting-edge tech of its video games.

As ATARI turns 50 this year and we see the entertainment industry moving away from releasing products in physical formats such as cartridges and discs, I wonder if we will be losing out on the artwork that graced music album covers and video game boxes? Will companies find it worth the investment to continue producing art that is aimed to have their products catch consumers eyes when people are shopping through digital marketplaces instead of strolling through the aisles of brick-and-mortar stores? I sure hope so because this type of artwork has brought a lot of joy and inspiration to my life!

If you are a fan of ATARI artwork like I am, celebrate this milestone 50th anniversary year of ATARI by taking a look back at the art created for the company in a book by Tim Lapetino that is a compilation of the wonderful imagery produced during the 70s & 80s. This 352 page hardcover book published by Dynamite Entertainment is the first official collection of ATARI artwork. It delves into how artwork from Asteroids, Centipede and numerous other video games aided in both game development and marketing. Enjoy a catalog of unique illustrations from the company's advertising, packaging and more. ART OF ATARI is a book that I'm personally very geeked about!

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A Stroll Through the Cranbrook House Gardens

We spent a recent summer morning taking a stroll through the gardens that surround the historic Cranbrook House located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  Thanks to the financial donations of PNC Bank, All Seasons, and Roberts Restaurant Group the grounds surrounding the Cranbrook House are open daily from 9 am to 5 pm this year from May through October for the public to come out and explore.  The 40-acre Cranbrook House Gardens feature formal, woodland and naturalistic gardens featuring fountains, statuary, lakes, streams, and extensive traditional and natural plantings.

The Cranbrook House is the oldest of metropolitan Detroit's grand early 20th century mansions.  It was designed by the noted architect Albert Kahn for the family of George Booth (the wealthy owner of a Canadian iron-working business in Windsor, Ontario) and Ellen Warren Scripps (the eldest child of the founder of the Detroit News).  Booth went to work with his father-in-law helping to build the News into Detroit's largest daily newspaper.  In addition to taking on a prominent role within the Scripps-owned newspaper business which was expanding throughout the Midwest, George Booth also partnered with his brothers to establish a profitable chain of Michigan-based newspapers under the Booth Publishing Company.  In 1904, George and Ellen purchased a run-down 174-acre farm and transformed it into a magnificent estate named Cranbrook after the English town the Booth family originated from.  In their elder years, the Booths transformed  their estate into the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes a private school, a magnificent church, an art museum, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook Institute of Science.  The Cranbrook House and Gardens have been preserved as a historic landmark and also provides office space for the non-profit foundation which oversees the Cranbrook Educational Community.

While strolling through the gardens is free there is a $10 charge to tour the mansion. There are discounts for seniors, students with ID, and active duty military.  Admission fees are also charged for visiting the Art and Science museums on the Cranbrook campus.  Still there is plenty to see wandering around the meadows, wooded trails, and gardens surrounding the Cranbrook House.

During our visit we spotted a wealth of wild life including a beaver, bunny, chipmunk, butterflies, dragonflies, fish in the ponds and a number of birds along with a variety of attractive plants and flowers as we walked throughout the landscape.  The Cranbrook Gardens are also filled with fountains, sculptures and other artwork.

 

Make sure to download the free app available for both Android and Apple mobile devices before you visit that provide self-guided tours of the grounds complete with useful facts, vivid photographs, and video segments to enhance your experience exploring the gardens.  It can come very handy not just for finding out interesting information about your surroundings but also for helping find your way around the grounds.

There are plenty of special spots that are fun for kids to discover during a trip to the Cranbrook House Gardens.  Two of my kids favorites during our visit included a nook in a sunken garden that looks like something you'd find in a fairy tale and a charming bridge over the manor's driveway you'll find while taking the trail from the visitor parking lot to the Cranbrook House.

The visitor parking lot is off Lone Pine Road located on the north side of the street across from Christ Church.  Park your vehicle and either walk up the Cranbrook House's original driveway or take a short hike along a wooded trail to reach the gardens.  There are also restrooms located within the parking lot's check-in building.  That is important to know especially when traveling with little ones because there aren't a lot of other options when you start walking around.  For more information about the place visit housegardens.cranbrook.edu/ or call 248-645-3147.



During our mid-week morning visit, my kids and I had the run of the place with literally no one around other than volunteer gardeners and some construction workers doing maintenance which made it really enjoyable to explore the gardens and trails surrounding the Cranbrook House.  For a relaxing stroll, adventurous trek, bird watching, gardening tips, or to take in some interesting art, if you live in or are traveling to Metro Detroit stopping by the Cranbrook House & Gardens is well worth a visit.  My kids and I had a wonderful time taking in the art and scenery.

T-SHIRT ART CONTEST ASKS KIDS TO DRAW WHAT MAKES THEIR LIFE GOOD

Children 3 to 12 years old are being encouraged to draw why "life is good" to them for a chance to win a $2,000 scholarship and have their design sold as an exclusive T-shirt by lifeisgood.com.  Life is Good is an apparel company that brands itself by selling T-shirts that feature messages and images which promote optimism.  The 3 contest grand prize winners will have their design included within the Life is Good Kids Collection of T-shirts that display original art with messages of empowerment and positivity to help build confidence in kids and spread optimism to all.  These tees which range in size from toddler to Kids XL are made with 100% USA grown cotton, are garment washed for softness and feature double-needle stitching.  All net proceeds from the sale of the prize winners' T-shirts will be donated to the company's charitable foundation which funds projects across the country to help kids in need.



The Life is Good Kids Foundation is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Service and has a 3 out of 4 star rating with Charity Navigator.  The foundation is primarily funded by the Life Is Good corporation which donates 10% of its annual net profits each year to its charitable offshoot.   According to a Charity Navigator review, 78.6% of Life of Good Kids Foundation expenses are spent on delivering programs and services while 19.8% are for administrative expenses such as office space and payroll.

3 Grand Prize Winners of the art contest will receive a $2,000 scholarship, a 3-month membership for MyGym (we don't have any of those in Michigan), and a suite of art supplies.  Plus their designs will be sold on t-shirts by lifeisgood.com which will have their net proceeds used to help kids in need.  Six 2nd place winners will also be selected to receive a $100 gift card to lifeisgood.com and a suite of art supplies.

To enter have your child create a t-shirt design on the form below and send in the completed entry information attached to it and/or take a picture of your t-shirt design done on the form below and post it to Instagram with the hashtag #LifeisGoodbecause.  Entries will be accepted until April 29, 2016 at 11:59pm EST.  Life is Good will also donate a $1 for each entry submitted through Instagram up to $25,000 to its charitable foundation.



For more information, visit lifeisgood.com/artcontest.

Free book of Marvel comic art paying tribute to classic Hip-Hop album covers being distributed in January

As part of its effort to appeal to a younger and more diverse audience of readers, when Marvel relaunched its comic book universe with an all new lineup of titles this fall it included in its branding efforts a series of variant covers that pay homage to classic hip-hop albums for all of its #1 issue releases. In the comic book industry, a variant cover is when an issue is distributed with multiple covers each featuring unique art for consumers to choose from but the same story inside. There will be a primary cover which has artwork that relates to the story of the issue and than variant covers that may be based on a special theme  or highlighting work by various artists which are meant to either gain the attention of potential new readers who may be more interested in the subject on the cover than the story inside (but once they read the story may want to pick up the next issue) or be a more exclusive item for collectors than the main run of the comic book.  Variant covers are nice in that they really focus on the art aspect of the comic book genre and that they often have some really cool images that are great for framing to decorate a room or for enhancing a collection to make it a bit more interesting and unique.  Some recent variant cover themes by various publishers have included replicating action figure toy packaging covers, classic movie posters, monsters to tie-in with Halloween, 1980s Saturday morning cartoon characters, and WWII recruitment posters.

Marvel's most recent variant campaign takes the album artwork from artists like Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Lauryn Hill and Vanesa Del Rey and re-envisions it portrayed by characters from its comic book universe.  For example 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Trying" is remixed and featured on the hip-hop variant cover of Invincible Iron Man #1.

For those people interested in viewing and collecting Marvel's run of hip-hop inspired variant covers and didn't get around to picking up the individual issues featuring the art work you will want to swing by your local comic book store in January.  Participating retailers will be giving away a FREE 32-page comic book that will feature 14 of these hip-hop inspired variant covers on January 6, 2016.  The artwork in the book will include:

Invincible Iron Man / 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Trying"

Doctor Strange / Dr. Dre's "The Chronic"

Ms. Marvel / Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"

Extraordinary X-Men / De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising"

Amazing Spider Man / Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight Maruaders"

Web-Warriors /  Clipse's "Lord Willin"

Captain America - Sam Wilson / A$AP Rocky's "Long Live A$AP

The Dennos Museum Center - Traverse City, Michigan

I've always taken the approach in parenting that it is important for my children to not just be educated but also to develop an appreciation for life long learning.  Instead of seeing school and homework as a chore, I want them to treat their lessons like solving puzzles so they hopefully will perceive entertainment and education as mutually compatible rather than polar opposites.  One of the ways our family tries to combine entertainment with education is taking a break from our leisurely activities during a family vacation or road trip to visit an aquarium, museum, historical site, science center, zoo or some other location where they can learn a few lessons.  Hopefully this is developing a sense of curiosity and exploration that will help them with their educational endeavors as they move through life.

An example of this parenting approach is during our beach vacation to Traverse City, Michigan we took some time to stop by Northwestern Michigan College's Dennos Museum Center.  It features a variety of displays, exhibits, and facilities to promote the visual and performing arts plus hands-on experiences to encourage people to be scientifically inquisitive.  The Dennos Museum Center was a 2015 winner of TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence.   When we stopped by the building in addition to hosting its Discovery Gallery and art exhibits, they were also screening movies for the Traverse City Film Festival in the 1,000 seat Milliken Auditorium.  We focused our time though on walking around the art displays and playing around with the hands-on activities.

The first gallery we explored was the Dennos Museum Center's permanent collection of Inuit Art.  Inuit are the culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska. Most of the artwork in this collection originates from the Baffin Island area of Nunavut, Canada and is comprised of more than 1,000 prints, sculptures, drawings, tools, and textiles that were created between 1950 and the present day. The Dennos Museum Center is recognized for having one of the most historically complete collections of contemporary Inuit art located within the United States.

Next we checked out a temporary visiting art display by a South Korean artist named Jae Yong Kim that had a theme we could really relate to - Lusting For Donuts.  The art display is filled with ceramic donuts and a few snails taking a bite out of them.  Kim's art explores issues through the use of surrogate subjects such as donuts or snails.  He has developed a reputation for being quirky and having the ability to present to viewers of his artwork complex concepts of cruelty, pain, joy and love through simplistic images.

This is how Jae Yong Kim describes this display:

One of the few things that brought me joy was a donut.  The simplicity of its shape and expression of taste afforded me a brief moment to indulge in childlike happiness.  And it was here in this simple donut that I found the perfect vehicle for my message.  We ultimately become consumed by what we lust after, but when seeking true happiness we become genuine expressions of ourselves.

Hmm is that a profound philosophy or a Homer Simpson moment?  I'm sorry I kept picturing the character from the Simpsons television series as my kids became obsessed with getting an accurate count of just how many donuts were on display.   In addition to trying to interpret the meaning Jae Yong Kim's work and counting donuts, my kids also contributed to the display.  They colored their own donuts and hung them up on the wall to add their own personalization to the art work and leave their own mark that they'd visited the Dennos Museum Center.

After Lusting For Donuts I was ready for a snack, but instead we explored the Hands On Gallery.  I have to admit that after visiting places like the Imagination Station in Toledo and the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum this area could only be described as tiny in comparison.  That being said they had some very nice features that my kids really enjoyed during our visit.

My son loved the Recollections exhibit that transforms your motions into colorful projections upon a huge screen in front of you.  He spent a half hour just dancing around making all sorts of patterns to marvel at.

 

 My daughter really enjoyed the Sound Wall which allowed you to create your own musical scores by hitting various patterns of shapes placed on a wall before you and the Electricity Attractor which shoots patterns of sparking light around your hand when you place it on a screen.

They also have a a Laser Harp where you can play the instrument by strumming your fingers across an open space where the strings should be and an Anti-Gravity Mirror that creates an illusion that you are flying.  The Hubble Space Telescope display which features transmissions from NASA and the Space Telescope Institute was also a hit with my kids.

We wrapped up our visit by walking through a visiting art exhibition called  Sideways: Exploring Skateboard Art + Culture by a Northwestern Michigan College alumnus Aaron Draplin which our family really enjoyed.  My kids are infatuated right now with skateboarding and we had no clue this was on display until we stumbled on it while wandering through the Dennos Museum Center.  You never know what great unexpected discovery you'll make when you visit local museums like this when traveling to new places.

That's not it though there is one more place to explore as you are heading out.  There is an outdoor sculpture collection surrounding the Dennos Museum Center that you should really check out.  There are 13 unique original artworks placed in the vicinity of the building.  Click here for is a listing of the sculptures and and a photo gallery of their pictures.  Getting a little extra exercise to take a stroll around to appreciate these though provoking sculptures is well worth the time and effort.  Don't miss out on this one last thing as you head back to the parking lot for your car.

Admission cost our family of four $20.  $5 per person for an hour or so of learning and family bonding isn't a bad price to pay.  Normal rates are $6 per adult, $4 per child or $20 family package which covers admission and parking.  For more information, visit dennosmuseum.org.

Create Your Own Personalized INSIDE OUT Movie Poster

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias

It was a dreary summer day and the radar showed a series of storms was going to be rolling in and out of our neighborhood all afternoon and evening.  During a break in the rain, I dragged my kids out of the house as we headed to the bank, post office and Walmart getting some errands taken care of before the next bout of bad weather began.  As we were out and about, I was trying to think of something for the kids to do when we returned home that would keep them amused inside while it was storming outside.

As we passed a toy section in Walmart for the movie INSIDE OUT, I jokingly thought to myself how fun it might be to create movie posters that were customized to feature the Emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear) actually pictured inside my kids' very own heads. Hey wait a moment we could actually do that and keep them amused for the rest of the afternoon.  Everything we needed was right here at Walmart! So before heading to the cash register we grabbed some construction paper, poster board, and glue sticks to use in constructing our very own movie posters, some #InsideOut toys for inspiration, and Kellogg's fruit snacks to keep us fueled and energized to get this project accomplished.  Walmart has a nice selection of plush Emotions from the movie that are nicely priced at $8.88 and are exclusive to the retailer.  My son picked out Fear and my daughter Joy to take home with them.

Once we got home I broke out a few Tomy Inside Out toys that we had also picked up while at Walmart and used them as a teachable moment with my children to talk about some of the Emotions that may be in their heads and how they may at times take control of how the kids act.  I mentioned how they may feel Angry or Disgust over something and those were a healthy part of coping with things in life, but like in the movie if they let those Emotions control their actions bad things could happen.  My daughter then mentioned that like in the movie we need to feel sadness, fear, anger, or disgust so that based on circumstances in life that may bring out those Emotions we'll be brought back to feeling Joy.  Sometimes those other Emotions protect us or balance our mental state during the rocky moments in life.  I then told my kids we were going to make silhouettes of the Emotions inside their own heads and they got pretty excited.

Here's an easy tutorial on how you can make your own personalized Inside Out movie posters featuring the silhouette of a child's head.

SUPPLIES:
Computer & Printer;
Scissors;
Glue Stick;
White or Colored Construction Paper for the Background;
Black Poster Board for the Silhouette;
Inside Out Printable to add Emotions to the Silhouette - preferably printed with color ink on a see through printable clear plastic sheet though standard white multipurpose paper will work fine too.

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Take a profile style picture of your son or daughter;
2. Print it out on a piece of white multipurpose paper in grey scale sized so that the picture takes up most of an 8.5" x 11" space;
3. Cut out the child's profile from the paper;
4.  Place the profile on top of your black construction paper, trace it, and cut out the shape carefully;
5. Print out the Printable of the Inside Out Emotions;
6. Cut out the Emotions so you can add them to the silhouette;
7. Find a black & white Inside Out movie logo on the Internet, download it, and print it on your white or colored construction paper.  Another option is to print the logo on multipurpose paper, cut it out, and glue to your background piece of construction paper;
8.  Glue down the black poster board silhouette of your child's profile onto the construction paper background for your movie poster;
9.  Select the cut out Emotion(s) to add within the silhouette and glue them on;
10. Voila! You have a personalized INSIDE OUT movie poster!

My kids were really amused to see the INSIDE OUT Emotion characters inside their own heads.  Once we wrapped up this craft project, the kids enjoyed those Kellogg's fruit snacks we'd bought at Walmart then spent some time playing with the Inside Out toys we brought home with us.  Next thing you know a few hours had gone by, the storms were gone and my kids had some time to go outside and play.

Dealing with emotions can be tough for kids which is the theme of the Disney PIXAR movie Inside Out.  The movie is an emotional journey within the mind of an 11 year old tween named Riley. How have you discussed emotions and how to handle them with the children in your life?  

Sometimes it takes a little imagination to get through to children.  That's why I believe Bing Bong was one of my family's favorite parts of Inside Out.  Bing Bong is the"Imaginary Friend" Riley had as a preschooler who is part elephant, chesire cat, teddy bear and dolphin made of cotton candy with a nougat filled center - how can you not love that!  Bing Bong turns out to be the hero that saves the day in this animated film and helps the emotions learn through their journey that joy and sadness are two sides of the same coin when it comes to helping steer Riley through the memorable moments in life.  Engaging in imaginative play with the exclusive Walmart Inside Out plush dolls along with the Tomy Inside Out musical Bing Bong toy and Emotions action figures and control board playset was a nice way to have a productive conversation with my children about emotions while keeping them amused and busy on a rainy day.  Combining that with a fun craft really sparked some productive yet lighthearted conversation on what can be a serious topic.

Star Wars Fan Creates Impressive Web Comic Honoring a Favorite Scene From the Movie "Return of the Jedi"

Chicago-based free lance artist and illustrator Daniel Warren Johnson took some time away from his popular sci-fi webcomic SPACE-MULLET to pay tribute to a favorite scene of his from Return of the Jedi by sketching out an impressive story that gives some life to the pilot that crashed his A-Wing fighter into the bridge of a Star Destroyer during the Battle of Endor.  "For some reason, this A wing pilot MOVED me," noted Johnson. "Everything about this part of Return of the Jedi made me want to DRAW and CREATE. This is a fan fiction comic I made ...  because I love this scene and I love comics."  His work GREEN LEADER provides an excellent portrayal of the human element of a character who had only a brief few seconds of screen time in the movie but obviously made a memorable impact on the artist.

Enjoy a few panels from GREEN LEADER:

CLICK HERE to view the GREEN LEADER comic in its entirety on Daniel Warren Johnson's SPACE-MULLET website.  If you enjoy Johnson's work, check out Space-Mullet which  is an episodic style online digital comic about a washed up, Ex-Space Marine trucker named Jonah, and his alien co-pilot, Alphius. Together they do their best (and usually fail) to do good throughout the galaxy. The Space-Mullet web comic is updated on Mondays and Thursdays each week.