What is Art to me?![]() ART: 1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. 2. the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance. "the visual arts" ~The Oxford Dictionary Definition I grew up in a home where the arts were encouraged. I was always in a school choir. In fact, one year we went on to be the state champions. From singing, playing instruments to the visual arts, we joyfully thought that this was the norm. My grandfather played the mandolin, guitar and violin. I have wonderful memories singing as my Aunt Marie played the piano while we sang along to the "Teddy Bears Picnic." I've since learned that this song was written by an American Playwright John W. Bratton in 1907. The lyrics were added by Irish Songwriter, Jimmy Kennedy. According to The Word Mystery Channel, "Teddy Bears Picnic" symbolizes the innocence of childhood, the joy of simple pleasures, and the power of imagination. (1) I don't think that my aunt realized that the song she was playing on the piano while we sang along side was that deep! Personally, I think she was just delighted to have her six and seven year old nieces singing along. Plus, she kept us busy while my mom got some chores done!! We just thought that it was fun. I often thought about those Teddy Bears and what fun it must have been to be enjoying food, fun, and freedom in the forest. The candy, cakes, cookies, and treats sounded so good to me. Then at age eleven I discovered a new passion. Drawing and painting. I loved it!! I recall looking up at the clouds and seeing things forming and then just floating away. It was great fun picking out objects in the clouds. Sort of like Dagger and Picasso's abstract paintings. You can see all sorts of representational objects in them. I had a great High School Art teacher, Miss Kubiak. She took me under her wing and introduced me to many types of art genre. She became a dear friend and mentor even after I was married and had my own children. I just loved her for her expertise and knowledge in the arts. In High School I became the President of the Art Club and was given cart blanche as to what the group of us did. It was such fun!! I remember Miss Kubiak telling me that I would make a great teacher some day! That meant the world to me. As a young mom, I continued to draw and paint in my spare time. I often created cards for birthdays and holidays and flyers for my kids school. But, it was when I left my families business that I saw the opportunity to continue my education at Hofstra University. It was there that my REAL passion for the arts flourished. I knew my passion was always there, but as many of you can "atest to", as a mom, I had family obligations that came first. That was always the way. Now that my kids were grown, I felt that this was my turn to expand my horizons. And I did! I had my first solo art show at Hofstra U and won the Art of the Northeast Prudential Wheeler Award in my first year. I was given the highest academic honor for my community service and academic excellence~The Golden Key Award. Over the years I've had the get fortune to receive many honors and accolades. As I reflect on my growth as a Fine Artist, I've come to realize that the challenges and sadness I faced when I left my families business had to happen in order for me to find my real passion in life. In retrospect, I'm happy I took the leap to find that my world was bigger than what I was leaving. Sometimes it takes a little bit of bravery to admit we need to move on. I'm happy I did...I found out that ART was a big part of my world, So what is ART to me? I guess it's everything!! I love when people talk about what they're creating. They inspire me to learn and create more. Whatever tool you use, keep creating, learning and inspiring. ![]() Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Enjoy by doing something creative! If you have time check out our Valentine's Day Card craft with your pet! It's Howling Fun! Log on to www.HowlingTalent.com for the details Happy tales to you!
xoxo Yvonne
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New Beginnings![]() Have you ever wanted to get rid of something old and welcome something new into your life? Something like: A new hair style. Or A new fashion style. Or New decor for your home. Or even... A new home in a new state, town or city... Change can be exciting. It may even be something to look forward to. But, It can also be scary and fearful. Often times changes in our lives are made for us. Like things we have no control over. Such as, the loss of someone or something we love. Those changes can be stressful and life altering. Then there are those little changes that happen often in our lives. Recently, my Facebook page Dagger II aka DogVinci was abruptly removed by Meta without explanation or reason. We've had the page since 2016. I tried to no avail to see what the problem was only to become even more frustrated. I felt dismissed and violated by Meta. There was not a "real" person to speak with about this issue. So, as time ticked away and people started asking me about Dagger's page, I resorted to create a new page. As I stated before, change can be sad and burdensome at times. Even the little changes like the loss of a Facebook page. LOL! It does take a certain amount of courage to start something from the ground up. But, on the other hand, new beginnings can be a time of exploring a whole new world for us. Creating our new Facebook page then became something exciting for me. What will we call our new page? Of course, Facebook also has rules as to what the name can be...After trying many names, I came up with "Dagger Picasso Barney" as the new name of our Facebook page. Creating new things especially in the New Year can make us feel like we are starting over with new beginnings. We can blame the ancient Babylonians for being the first to celebrate the New year and making New Year's resolutions. They would make resolutions to their gods. As time marched on, resolutions stuck and we now see them as identifying personal goals for the upcoming year, usually focusing on self-improvement, and setting specific, achievable plans to reach them; this often includes defining clear objectives, breaking down large goals into smaller tasks, and creating a strategy to maintain consistency throughout the year. To me that's a lot to attain! But, we must and should consider all of these things seriously. Setting our goals too high and unattainable can lead us to failure. Even making changes that we are unaccountable for can lead to failure. According to U.S. News and World Report it's an estimated 80% of New Year's Resolutions that end up as failures mainly because people loose the motivation to stick to their resolve. So, just weeks after we make our resolutions we quit. Sometimes we never even know that we've quit because there's no accountability for the resolutions from the onset. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a true believer in setting goals for oneself for health and well-being. However, when we set unrealistic and surmountable goals for ourselves, I feel that we're just setting ourselves up for failure. I believe in baby steps and things in moderation. Rome wasn't built in a day and our resolutions and life changes should be gradual and realistic. Each of us must consider our lives and what works for us. We're all uniquely different and our needs are too. Therefore, rather than run out of steam in a month, I feel that we should try to set small attainable goals for ourselves. When I was teaching Picasso how to paint, I asked Alex, his Professional Trainer, to help me teach him. The one very important aspect of her teaching was to always start small and increase over time. She told me that when we start small we are not setting the dog up for failure. Even tiny little steps should be rewarded. And when we fail, if we should fail, we always start over again with tiny little steps. That's what helps to create success. Most importantly, we must never, ever give up!!! Yes, we may want a new "Look" for 2025. That's a good thing! Take it slow and steady. Always remember to be good to yourself and recognize all of your accomplishments. Then set some new attainable goals for yourself. Happy, Healthy New Year! Happy tales to you, xoxo Yvonne ![]() Stay tuned:
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A Place where I can Bark, Blog and Woof a Littlewritten by Yvonne Dagger Archives
February 2025
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