Aloha Friday Art, episode 2 celebrates RAINBOWS in poetry, story and visual art. The Aloha Friday Art series is created and hosted by author/illustrator, Edna Cabcabin Moran (AKA Ms. Edna, teaching artist in the schools). Aloha Friday Art runs every other Friday–the next episode, no. 3 comes out on April 25.
Inside Episode 2:
• Introducing Poet & Children’s Author, CHARLES WATERS
• A Chat with Award-winning Guest Author, DEE WHITE
• How to Paint Rainbows (Tips & Techniques) by Ms. Edna
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.
~Maya Angelou
Introducing Poet & Children’s Author, CHARLES WATERS
Charles Waters is a multi-talented artist who hails from the performing arts world. He writes poetry and children’s books and performs his popular programs for kids in the schools. He also happens to be a fellow contributor of mine in the award-winning poetry anthology, THANKU: Poems of Gratitude. I fell in love with his ballad stanza poem knowing it would be perfect for this series’ current theme, Rainbows. You can read the poem here. Charles graciously accepted my invitation and sent the following recording, as well as, his thoughts on his piece, ROY G BIV*. Mahalo nui–Thank you very much, Charles! ~Edna
*ROY G BIV is an acronym for the order of colors in the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
Listen to Charles recite his poem, ROY G BIV:
ROY G BIV is also featured at Poets House which is posting Charles Waters’ poetry every day this month.
Photo from charleswaterspoetry.com
Behind the Poem: Charles Waters’ spectrum of inspiration
By Charles Waters
The poem “Roy G. Biv” was picked out of my poetic files. One can and should stack as many poems of one’s own on file — I save mine to my email — whilst continuing to read children’s poems, novels-in-verse and all things poetical.
My poem in THANKU is in a ballad stanza form which is in four lines, [a quatrain]. The first and third line are unrhymed and the second and fourth line rhyme. There was a point years ago when I read Jack Prelutsky’s poems like my life depended on it. I find his work so playful and inventive and the majority of what I read of his used the ballad stanza form so that was the inspiration as well.
Learn more about Charles Waters and his poetic works and books online at charleswaterspoetry.com .
A Chat with Award-winning Author, DEE WHITE
The cover for REENA’S RAINBOW, written by Dee White, Illustrated by Tracie Grimwood. Check out its book trailer here.
Above photo: Victoria, Australia author, Dee White, holds her new young adult book, BEYOND BELIEF.
Dee White and I first met at a conference for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in 2014. I was immediately drawn to her cool Aussie accent, good-natured personality and keen knowledge of writing and books. Over the years, I’ve come to know Dee, not only as a good friend, but as a prolific author, writing teacher, versatile storyteller and world-traveler. A few years ago, Dee wrote a sublime picture book titled REENA’S RAINBOW. So, I asked her to share her thoughts on her book-making, the meaning of the rainbow in her picture book and more. Take a look below! ~Edna
A Chat with Author Dee White, Part 1
(Length of interview: 8: 16 minutes.)
A Chat with Author Dee White, Part 2
(Length of interview: 6:58 minutes.)
Links & Resources for Dee White’s Books
REENA’S RAINBOW has been made into an AUSLAN book to make it more accessible to deaf children and can be downloaded for free from Dee’s website www.deescribe.com.au in the ‘Books’ section or on Dee’s Youtube channel. Also, check out its book trailer.
BEYOND BELIEF has launched however all in-person appearances have been cancelled due to Covid-19. A virtual book launch took place on April 3 and may be viewed here. More appearances and events will be happening for BEYOND BELIEF and EDDY POPCORN’S GUIDE TO PARENT TRAINING–visit Dee’s website for more info.
How To Make Rainbows in Art (Watercolor painting & Mixed Media mini-lessons) by Ms. Edna
(Length of video 4:01 minutes.)
Hi Folks,
Let’s take a closer look at rainbows…. they’re practically everywhere!
I used to live in Honolulu, HI where I saw rainbows on a regular basis, as I lived in a district very close to Mānoa Valley which is well-known for its frequent rainbows. In fact, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa sports teams are officially known as the Rainbow Warriors. Below is photo of Mānoa Valley, near Lyon Aboreteum.
Rainbows may also be found indoors. Thanks to a crystal prism I have hanging from a window in my studio (see photo below) I am fortunate to witness little rainbows of color randomly showing up in different parts of the room, when the sun hits the prism at just the right angle.
I spy five rainbows cast from the prism, in this one section of my studio, in the photo below. Can you find them?
COMING SOON: Check back again for Painting Rainbows, part 2 which will contain tips and techniques for using watercolor and other media to make rainbows on paper for pictures, posters, signs and cards. Until then, I will gradually add more stuff to this post and episode.
ALSO I will share on Instagram since I didn’t last Friday–although I had posted the earlier parts of this segment. Please look out for the update post then and feel free to share any artwork from this or my previous Aloha Friday Art episode using #AlohaFridayArt.
Make it a colorful day! <3 Aloha, Ms. Edna
A word from the creator of ALOHA ART FRIDAY, E dna Cabcabin Moran (AKA Ms. Edna): It is my hope that people enjoy this free series including the art projects, references and materials. The majority of content in this series is either created and/or sourced from public domain or stock art by me except for feature writings, artwork or other media by other creators who have given their express permission for use in ALOHA FRIDAY ART. If you have any questions pertaining to any content in this series, please send me an email query at info (at) kidlitedna (dot) com. Thank you!
ALOHA FRIDAY ART ©2020 Edna Cabcabin Moran. All Rights Reserved.
