Art Buddies is my favorite non-profit organization. I started as a volunteer for the fall 2009 session and have since been asked to join the advisory board.

What is Art Buddies? It’s a mentor program that pairs creative mentors from the world of graphic design, advertising, architecture and interior design with children from low-income families in south Minneapolis. Art buddies is designed to help kids discover their creative gifts, build confidence and dream big dreams. Throughout the six-week program, mentors work one-on-one to help kids create something fanciful, unique and more ambitious than they may have imagined. At the end of the six-week sessions there’s a parade giving the kids the opportunity to show off their creations to the whole school!

We created animal costumes in the last two sessions. In the fall, I helped Sabrina make a dog costume because she is a loyal friend, likes to cuddle and is smart.

Sabrina dreams of being a web designer someday!

We had a lot of fun working together!

In the spring, I helped Erikc create his costume. Erikc is a super creative kid. His costume is a creature made up of 1/3 dog, 1/3 monkey and 1/3 beaver. Erikc loves to build stuff and dreams of becoming an architect.

Erikc followed a strict color palette in designing his costume.

Erikc wrote a story about his costume, which he's illustrating here.

Last week we had a fundraiser at Carmichael Lynch to raise money for Art Buddies. Art Buddies supporters sent letters to their contacts asking for contributions. I’d like to thank Carmichael Lynch for both hosting the event and sponsoring the dinner from Brasa.

Art Buddies is a non-profit which runs on grants and donations—from people like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Art Buddies. Visit artbuddies.org to donate. If you’re interested in becoming an Art Buddy for the fall session, please visit artbuddies.org and fill out the application.

We took a break from our letter writing at the fundraiser to see the sunset from the Carmichael Lynch rooftop. Here’s what it looks like:

The brand new Twin's ballpark: Target Field

I love rusted metal!

The Minneapolis Skyline

Here are some random photos that I took this week!

I took in this sunset from the top of the Calhoun Square parking garage last Thursday.

This lady bug was hanging out in a flowering tree in the church parking lot on Sunday. (The blooms on this tree do not smell good.)

An extreme close up of my beverage at Spyhouse tonight: sparkling raspberry green tea. It tasted delicious. However, I just learned that green tea does indeed contain some caffeine. There goes my bedtime.

Every year I go to the nursery and buy plants for the yard. I’ve never planted seeds. I’ve also never planted vegetables. 2010 is a year to try new things—so I did both! I put some vegetables in my window box and planted some sunflower seeds by the garage. I figured the bright orange-yellow would look super nice next to my blue siding.

I planted the seeds about two weeks ago and checked in today to find tiny little sunflowers sprouting! I’m so excited to see my seeds are growing (yes, excited even though the seed package says, “guaranteed to grow”). The sprouts are about an inch tall and here are the photos! As long as the plants survive, I’ll post pictures on the blog so you can watch them grow with me! As a bonus, I saw a beautiful caterpillar and photographed it, too!

Guaranteed to grow? Sold!

The seeds. I love all the different stripe patterns! Each sunflower seed is similar to the next yet totally unique—I find this level of detail amazing. We live in an awesome world.

Pushing up dirt!

Stretching out.

Reaching for the sun.

Isn't this a beautiful creature! I love the color combination of turquoise, gold and black. I dig the pattern.

Trying to find a good place to spin a cocoon.

Zoomed in so you can see the incredible detail!

P.S. Are you watching the Discovery Channel series called “Life?” It is one of my favorite shows. The photography is brilliant and with Oprah as the narrator, what’s not to love! You HAVE to watch the episode on plants. It has forever changed the way I look at plant life. Plants are so much more like animals than I ever thought! Check out the Life website and set your DVR to record!!!

Last night I attended the Minneapolis Community and Technical College Portfolio Show. I was quite impressed by the portfolios—these students are showing some great work! The show is up through the end of day today (from 10 am to 7 pm, address listed below). If you can’t make it to the show, check out the show’s website featuring the portfolios of the students: http://gra2010.com

After perusing the show, I experienced an amazing sunset. Here are a couple of my favorite photos. I took these from the top level of the MCTC parking ramp.

MCTC Portfolio Show | 1501 Hennepin Ave | Minneapolis | Wheelock Whitney Hall (they have signs directing you to the show)