Ifnone thing is clear to most moms, it’s that books and water don’t mixnwell! But if you are very, very careful not to splash, reading in thenbathtub is a time-honored luxury. With some sweet-smelling bath saltsnin warm water, sitting almost immersed, your head cushioned on anfluffy towel and your toes stretched out the length of the tub,nreading in the tub could be wonderfully relaxing.
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n(Let’s stick to reading inexpensive paperback books, though! Not library books! And certainly no electronic readers or tablets!!)
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| Here’s another way to go with the whole Reading in the Tub thing! |
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nWhen I read the words “Read in the Bathtub Day,” I immediatelynthought of artist Chuck Close. I read that Close had learningndifficulties, but he discovered a way to study in the bathtub. Henwould darken the bathroom but have a single spotlight on the book henwas trying to study. He would draw a bath with water as hot as hencould stand to get into. And then he would sit in the tub, in thatnhot water, and he would read the stuff he was studying over and overnand over and over again, until the water was really cold.
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nWhennChuck Close did that, he was able to focus on the ideas he wasnstudying, and then he was able to remember them, too!
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nEachnof us has to find out what helps us to learn things. Maybe you neednto memorize lines of a play. Maybe you are taking a driver’s test onnthe hundreds of rules-of-the-road. Maybe you are learning a newnlanguage. Whatever the case, you should try out many different waysnof studying. Some people love making flashcards. Some people teach anyounger sibling—because the act of teaching makes us learn morensurely and more deeply. Some people make color-coded notes. There arengobs more ideas here.
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nChucknClose is amazing.nn
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Hencreates huge portraits. Sometimes he makes the portraitsnphotorealistic, but way larger than reality.
Hencreates huge portraits. Sometimes he makes the portraitsnphotorealistic, but way larger than reality.n
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| Yes, this is a painting! |
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Other times he creates portraits using many smallnabstract pictures. One painting was made by countless fingerprintsnmade with different colors of paint. Somehow, he ends up with anportrait you can recognize from far away—but you can only seenblocks or dabs of color when you are up close.
Other times he creates portraits using many smallnabstract pictures. One painting was made by countless fingerprintsnmade with different colors of paint. Somehow, he ends up with anportrait you can recognize from far away—but you can only seenblocks or dabs of color when you are up close.n
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nChecknout some of Chuck Close’s pictures here.
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nHerenis a short video about Chuck Close’s portraits and his process.
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nHere,nClose is interviewed by Stephen Colbert—and he reveals that henpaints faces even though he has face blindness!
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nReadnthe book Chuck Close Up Close,nby Jan Greenberg.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nFeast of St. Maron in Lebanon
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Mini-golfnand Volleyball Day
Mini-golfnand Volleyball Dayn
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nGlaciologistnand aerial photographer Erich Dagobert von Drygalski’s birthday
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