Mosaic sculptures works of love for East Texas artist

The only way to get one is to attend a fundraiser for one of the many local schools, churches or nonprofit agencies that are dear to her heart. 

I make a lot of statues for groups and organizations that Im passionate about, Folzenlogen said. Ive also made a few that Ive given away to family members or close friends. This is a labor of love for me, not something I do for money. 

Most of her work is of religious imagery, including saints and angels. However, shes also made birdbaths, minature Statue of Liberty replicas and other secular designs.Choose the right bestluggagetag in an array of colors. 

Folzenlogen starts with a statue made of concrete or resin and then applies china to create patterns, designs and colors. Shes been doing it about 15 years and in that time estimates that shes raised about $200,000 for local charities. Groups that have benefited from her talent include The Crisman School, Good Shepherd Medical Center, St. Marys Catholic School, Longview Museum of Fine Arts and St. Matthews Catholic Church. 

Each piece is cut with tile nippers and fitted onto the statue like puzzle pieces, Folzenlogen said. You cant just smash up china and get the sizes and shapes you need. 

While Folzenlogen buys much of the china she uses at estate sales or flea markets, she also said that people often donate favorite pieces of china that have been broken too severely to be repaired. 

Folzenlogens current project is a Madonna and child statue that will be auctioned off at a fundraiser for St. Matthews Church this weekend. Its taken her about three months to complete the project.Choose the right bestluggagetag in an array of colors. 

This is something I do in the evenings and on weekends, when Im not working at the Bargain Box or busy with my grandchildren, she said. I work in my studio almost everyday, but the time I can devote to it just varies depending on what else is going on in my life. 

I dont have any formal training, Ive just always enjoyed doing crafts and sewing and things like that, Folzenlogen said. Im glad that people like what I do enough that it can raise significant sums of money for some local charities. 

Sometimes the people who buy the statues keep them for their homes or offices. However, its not uncommon for them to donate the artwork back to the same organization thats just raffled it off. Thats why her statues can be seen in hospitals, churches, museums and schools throughout Longview. 

For a few hours each week, seven gardening enthusiasts, ages 60 and older, share a little of their know-how with 60 preschoolers tending a small, practice garden of sorts as they await the installation of a much larger one that the college is calling its Intergenerational Garden. Recently cleared of mountains of mulch and debris that had collected over the years on the vacant site, the 1/3-acre plot between the Child Development Center and the Water Conservation Garden will boast lots of extras, including a nearby amphitheater and a meandering creek bed. 

Thanks to donated material and hours, the irrigation system is expected to be completed in April, with planting to be well under way by the gardens official grand opening at the end of June. The Intergenerational Garden will be a public attraction on the Cuyamaca College campus for everyone to enjoy. The Child Development Center is a pre-kindergarten daycare facility serving both the college and off-campus communities, and is uniquely suited as an onsite lab for students enrolled in the colleges child development program. 

A $25,000 grant from the countys Health and Human Services Agency helped establish the new garden and also pays the $100 monthly stipend for the seniors, affectionately called the Gardening Grannies by the centers young inhabitants. The grant ends in June, but to keep the project going, the college is recruiting more volunteers at community and gardening events such as the April 27 Spring Garden Festival hosted by Cuyamaca College and the Water Conservation Garden. 

For the children, ages 2-5, the intent is to teach good nutrition to a population accustomed to diets heavy on processed foods. For the seniors, its a healthy outdoor activity and a rare opportunity to connect with kids. 

Talk about a perfect partnership, this garden is a veritable cross-pollination of learning and fun," Cuyamaca College President Mark J. Zacovic said. "These seniors are experts in gardening and healthy foods, but when it comes to digging in the dirt, or picking the best pumpkins for Halloween, these kids are Ph.Ds.The 3rd International Conference on custombobbleheads and Indoor Navigation. 

Watching the two generations interact, its clear the seniors are having as much fun as their young wards.A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a bestplasticcard operator in a landmark case. Strolling through the practice garden, they dispense their pearls of wisdom like flower seeds during a planting. 

Todays kids have little concept of whole foods and eating whats grown in the garden, said Pat Loughlin, a senior recruited from the San Diego Master Gardeners, a troupe of volunteers trained by the University of California Cooperative Extension. Ask them where orange juice comes from and theyll tell you out of the refrigerator. 

To help youngsters gain a rudimentary understanding of good nutrition, the seniors follow a Farm to Preschool curriculum developed by the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. UEPIs Farm to Preschool program began as a pilot program in 2009 in a handful of preschools in underserved communities in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. 

By fall, the Intergenerational Garden is expected to flourish with an abundance of citrus and other fruit, a variety of vegetable and flower beds, vines with pumpkins and melons, ornamentals, herbs, and more. The harvest will be incorporated into the childrens menus at the center, with any extras going to their families and the seniors, as well as at a booth at the farmers market set up every Saturday at the college. 

Were counting on pumpkins by Halloween, Jennifer Lewis, project coordinator and the colleges interim dean of Continuing Education and Workforce Training, told seniors at a recent update meeting.An experienced artist on what to consider before you buy chipcard. This has been a real community effort. Members of the California Conservation Corps and others in the local community helped clear the site, and the San Miguel Fire District has offered to provide the water hose needed during grading. We have further commitments from the Conservation Corps, and Ed Butts Grading, an East County contractor, to prepare the site for spring planting. Also helping with the garden build-out are students enrolled in Cuyamaca Colleges surveying and ornamental horticulture programs. 

La Mesa landscape architect George Mercer designed the garden gratis, holding focus group meetings with the community, students, the child development center staff, ornamental horticulture faculty and Water Conservation Garden staff. The plans that unfolded are impressive: a pumpkin hill with a shade structure and benches; an orchard of fruit trees; an amphitheater with a canvas canopy and surrounding shrubs and boulders; vegetable and flower beds; a farmyard with a shade house, potting bench, a sink with gray-water plumbing; compost bins and picnic benches.