Appreciation

Back from 4 days at High Trails. Hot water is a good thing. More later...

Choice Art is Working

The first quarter of school is coming to an end...2 weeks to go. I followed few, if any, of the Choice Art guidelines and ran myself ragged this quarter...BUT...I have some amazing student work to show for it. I just posted some work to the Artsonia website, so that parents can order a t-shirt or a mug or just look at some amazing work. I will do things very differently next quarter, but I will not abandon the idea of Choice art.

Last day of summer...first day of snow...AS IT SHOULD BE!

adrift in the wind

nurture
reach into the soil
sip drops of rain
flourish
burst
fly away
drift for awhile
float
spin
find shelter
begin again

or

I'm really into linear art. I love lines. I look for lines in everything. Lines lead one into altered directions. Lines are clear and crooked and they cross each other and bend and twist and just occupy space. Are you looking at the silver lines or the green lines? A line is a point in space connecting another point in space.

I think I need to weave something.

wow

I've been sick for two+ weeks. Today, I went to work and could not figure out why everything was going so well and I seemed to have boundless energy. That was even before students arrived. I finally figured out it was the first day I felt GOOD! I got so much done today. I had a great day with the students and yesterday I was ready to quit my job, so go figure! It sucks being sick. I hate feeling crappy and dragging myself around. I am so glad I was surrounded by enthusiastic young people creating some very dynamic art! Wow! Dream job!

This is an amazing work my 8th grade students completed last year. Each strip was to represent crucial events in their young lives. They made lists. I did not look at the lists. Then they interpreted their words into line, shape, color, pattern, rhythm, and texture. This is the result. Today, I glued the weaving onto a board and I have a 4 x 4 pice of acrylic to mount on it. Then it is to be secured to the wall in the foyer of our school. What dreams and wonders and broken hearts are wrapped up in these stips of paper?

It was a good way to end a tough week.

gifts

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that just happen. No planning. No hoopla. Tonight, on my walk with Dory, I found my present. In the window well outside our bedroom, there was a very chilly salamander. I raced to the house and grabbed Mark. We needed to save it now! He came out. Dory stayed in the house. The rescue ensued and the salamander is now safely ensconced in the pond. I really don't need anything else.

crimson

and then the next evening rolled in...

pouring rain, hard rain, in the forest
temperatures plummeting
leaves stained crimson
deck plants screaming for help
chilly air baiting the orchids raised with the angels

warm beaches and hurricanes
floods and beached vessels
migrating birds
migrating storms

screens full of rain
grey skies
no glimpse of a hummingbird

the loom comes home tomorrow

fall