Rare form of art

Frescoes are created through a painstaking process of mixing powdered pigments with water and applying the color to fresh lime plaster so that the pigment is absorbed into the plaster. The painting and the plaster wall are one. This nearly dead Renaissance era form of art takes great patience as well as artistic talent and technical prowess. Artist Ben Long created two wonderful new pieces of work for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. More photos and information on that project is online here.

The book Wet Wall Tatoos is about Long's battle of wills with a priest over a two-year long fresco project in Charlotte, North Carolina. The book jacket copy refers to Long as

a talented, complex man who learned his craft from teachers as different as his evangelist grandfather and an Italian master, in places as diverse as Vietnam and Florence—a man bucking the tide of contemporary art in his effort to create something of lasting beauty.

Long came to some notoriety for his work through St. Marys in Ashe County, now known as "The Church of the Frescoes" for his works completed there in the mid to late 1970s. More on that project is online here.

Now for something completely different
Christi S. sent a link to a Noah's Ark matching game online. It is fast-paced and mentally challenging. No kidding. The game is kid tested (Jaylee loved it!) and mother approved (Christi sent out the recommendation). What else can one ask for?