Kindergarten Sing Collaborative Sculpture Installation

 With the help of Tony the custodian and Lincoln, we installed the project that the Kindergarteners have been working so hard on.  They each decorated a bottle or cardboard tube transforming it into a lantern.  Then, I strung them onto rope lights which Tony and I swagged above the stage.  Tomorrow they will perform songs representing their year of Kindergarten.  I think it is a cool project to teach about collaboration and representative of the individual and the whole.  It was tricky to photo though.  I don't think my pictures do it justice.

Bits and Pieces

 I'm working on some tag designs in preparation for the Popup Studio which opens next weekend!
I like the dark houses above.  Then the first "beads" strung onto rope lights (the collaborative project for the kindergarten sing.)  I can't wait to see them all.  And finally, the three most recent rugs.  More to come . . .

Art in the Classroom: Caterpillars and Butteflies

I spent the morning in Mrs. Carrera's second grade class making caterpillars and butterflies. This was another project conceived and executed by the dynamic Art in the Classroom duo (Faith and myself).  We had help from a student's mom, too.  The project was designed to explore the idea of symmetry and pattern in butterflies/caterpillars and quilts.  It was a mash-up of sorts.  The kids really enjoyed it.  Most of the caterpillars had to be finished at home, though as we ran out of  time!

 

Utensils and Neurotic List Making

Utensils in Earthenware

 I finished this little painting today.  It's painted from a photo of the utensils occupying the counter at Martha's retreat house.  I love the earthiness of the pot and the shiny gloss and gleam of the utensils.  I had a false start (depicted below), but ultimately, I just tried to make decisions that were more experimental and perhaps more intuitive--maybe less safe?  I tried to leave the edges of underpainting which I sometimes find the most interesting.  Mostly I love the glow of thin paint on canvas. 

I have to leave painting for awhile to work on stocking the shelves of the upcoming Pop Up Studio.  I've got a month to flush out my stock and have lots of school related projects meanwhile.  Faith and I will be doing a butterfly project in a second grade class for our Art in the Classroom PTO committee.  Also, it seems we may be organizing a project for all of the kindergarteners to celebrate their momentous graduation, and I'll be helping with their tie-dye project as well. 

Furthermore, I met with my brother, Nick (you may know him from his lovely comments on Pinwheel Anna), to discuss an upcoming project.  We will be conducting interviews in an attempt to research family history.  We're hoping to produce a variety of creations inspired by our findings: paintings, short stories, and video productions.  I'm really excited about all of this!  It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. 

To wrap my head around all these various threads, I've taken to obsessive list making and scribbling in various notebooks, calendars, sketchbooks, journals, etc.  I've got a book for everything.  For some reason I feel better about compartmentalizing everything rather than merging them into a central place let alone an electronic device like my smart phone.  I'm quite sure I'll be the last person on earth using a paper calendar to keep  track of my commitments. 

False Start (detail)

Utensils in Earthenware (detail)

what's on my desk and swirling in my brain. . .