Works in Progress

The awkwardness of works in progress...

Sometimes when parents walk in after art class and see what we are working on, I can't help but feel a little apprehensive and wonder if they're thinking "this is what I'm paying money for?"

I totally get it; sometimes the paintings don't look like much. But, one activity is a stepping stone to another, and (believe me) there is method to my madness. :-) It may be hard for parents to visualize the final outcomes of the half-formed works-in-progress they see, but I can see them and they are brilliant. It's hard to fit a completed masterpiece into a one hour a week art class, and not all works in progress can be as beautiful as cookie dough (yum). Moreover, my goal is to provide kids with new ideas and inspiration that they can apply as they learn and grow as artists and little people.

Sometimes our paintings don't turn out as magnificently as we would like; every creation isn't going to be a masterpiece. That's part of the lesson. The important thing is that we try, create, experience, and explore. The tangible painting is only a small part of the equation. It is my hope that children will collect the ideas that our classes offer and they will mix them up in their own way, creating their own jambalaya of artistic style and expression for years to come.

The truth is, it takes a long time for anything to take on its ultimate form. Life, style, art- it all changes over time. We take elements away, add new things, edit color and detail... Sometimes we don't like the way things are going and we just smother the canvas with a fresh coat of paint and start all over again. There is divine freedom in art and in life, if we are lucky enough to harness it, and anything is possible. Things seldom turn out the way we plan them- and you never know what shape your canvas is going to take. :-)

Evidence of a work in progress... I hated the yellow because it reminded me of a pig snout or an alien face, so I changed it. The bandana has had several coats of paint and I'm still not sure I like it. The background may be changed to something besides blue. I can take my time and decide what I want to do and paint it to suit my liking. There are endless possibilities! The first try is not always (and seldom ever) the best try. Keep going until you find what you like best!

 

I didn't like this banana either... And the outlining didn't look right... I painted over the entire thing with light blue and it currently is awaiting its fate. It may take years or it may be finished tomorrow... Who knows!

Dabble Dabble Dabble

I've always said that I'm happiest when I have a project, and I've spent most of my life skipping from one obsession to the next, progressively immersing myself in the flavor of the month/year/day/week/moment.  

Over the past 38 years, those obsessions have ranged from Madonna (4th grade) to dancing, boys, vintage clothes, sewing, books, crayons, pottery painting, teaching dancing, embroidery, collage, more books, beading, eBay selling, vintage kitchen stuff, treasure hunting, painting, unique graphics, ephemera, gardening, web design, photography, Fisher Price Toys, water soluble oil pastels, decorating, altered art & books, journal writing, and SO MUCH MORE. I've heard the phrase "Jack of all trades but master of none." As much as I'd like to be a master anything, I know that I am not. I am too interested in trying new things than to achieve mastery of just one thing (although, my attempts aren't too shabby, either :-)

I take it back- I am a master... A master dabbler!

Dabbling with domino pendants and old illustrations and words from a 1935 children's book...

Once-upon-a-time I loved to go photo hunting and even set up my own dark room in the spare bedroom of my apartment. Pre-digital iphone instant gratification, I loved watching images come to life in the dim red light.

One of thousands of computer files that harness my obsession with old graphics and ephemera.

A combination of my clock collecting fascination and old graphics.

Created for Bryan and mine's wedding using a combination of old graphics and modern-day computer graphics.

Once upon a time, I created picture after picture with crayons (Prang was my favorite), all featuring the human body contorted into a variety of items and/or positions. I was teaching dancing almost every day and very movement-conscious. I think that has something to do with the subject matter. :-) Maybe one day I'll pick up some of these old pieces and re-imagine them in paint or collage. They're waiting for me, whenever I'm ready!

One of my constant dabbles- writing... I have over 60 journals spanning 25 years, all filled with randomness, brilliance, pipe dreams, dreams come true, and pure drivel. There have been pauses in ink, but I always return to the page.

My fascination with writing and desktop publishing started very early. I loved writing poems and stories, and creating newspapers and magazines. Once upon a time I wanted to work in publishing and be a magazine editor. I went to school to try and make that happen, but life had other plans for me. No matter; the skills come into play in other ways. :-)

Dabbling in collage in one of my old journals. I loved collecting pieces and parts of interesting items from magazines, postcards, brochures, etc. and putting everything together in aesthetically appealing ways.

The first page of an altered book I created with an adorable old book I found at Goodwill. From the 30's or so, the book had wonderful golden art nouveau flowers on the front and the title, Gold Dust. I created collages throughout the pages that all had a sort of "magical" golden (fairy dust?) theme.

 

 

Yeah, I'll admit it, I even dabbled in Frontierville (aka Computer Crack). A waste of time? You bet, but look at how beautifully arranged all of the elements are! There's never a good excuse for bad design. :-)

 
This master dabbler title is especially well-suited for my work (aka: play) at The Big Red Barn. At The Barn, there are always opportunities to create fresh ideas and to explore different things. The possibilities are limitless, and I get to dream up activities and themes, research, create lessons, steal ideas (teachers steal all the time :-), and create my own. One idea builds upon another, and there is always something new to learn. I am free to skip happily from one thing to the next- with paint, glitter, fabric scraps, and happy children in my wake. What an incredible gift!

It's fun to think about how all of these dabbles and interests have built upon one another, and how they continue to recur in unexpected ways. It's true that nothing is ever lost. All of our experiences are valuable, and even though one may no longer write, skydive, dance in pointe shoes,  play sports, or remember anything from college algebra, you never know when one of your old selves is going to reemerge and meet your present self in seek of new experiences and adventures. There are always surprises around the bend- I love that!

   

Going Batty

Over the past month or so, I've heard sounds coming from the small space above my office. The office is in an addition to the regular house, and the small "attic" space is inaccessible to humans or the rest of the house and the main attic. At first, I thought they were squirrels, but then a friend mentioned that they were probably rats. EEEWWW! Hubby put out a couple of traps by the trash can, which was conveniently located underneath what I thought was their suspected point of entry. Surely, I thought that they would take the bait while foraging for food. Nope, no such luck. I could smell what I thought was a dead rat when I sat in my office and worked, and I saw droppings around the area where I thought they were getting in and out. There was a space just under the roof line where it looked like there was a small access point.

I didn't want to put out poison because I knew that if they went back in the attic and died, the smell would be even worse. At wits end, I called a local exterminator, hoping that they would have some good ideas about how to tackle the problem. The technician seemed as stumped as I was, providing only the methods of bait stations or traps. Exasperated, we agreed and let him put out some snap traps and glue traps, and also spray the house for bugs (which we don't have a problem with, but the service was included). I know that glue traps aren't humane, and I have had experience with them years ago and it wasn't pleasant- but the diagram I saw of one rat producing thousands of other rats in a year's time was more alarming than the thought of a rat dying a painful death on a glue board. I read, "a single pair of rats can multiply more than 15,000 descendants in 1 year; 359 million in 3 years." Um, no thank you. Moreover, because we have children here I was especially concerned about the rats possibly chewing through the walls, destroying wires, starting fires, and maybe getting in our living areas. No, No, No, and No.  

One night passed, and I checked the traps. We caught nothing. We had discussed the possibility of nailing the glue boards to the wall underneath the spot where they were getting in and out, and while the idea seemed pretty gross, it also seemed like the only way to get the (suspected) rats out. We stapled the glue traps all around their point of entry, and the next morning I saw that we had caught something. Three somethings, actually...

Bats.

Bats? Yes, bats. We officially have a bat cave located on to the back of our house. We had a superhero party here yesterday and, as I type, there are Batman decorations hanging up in the art room. What is ironic is that there are REAL bats hanging on the back wall of our house- and my heart is breaking for them. I actually don't have a problem with bats, and think they're cool little creatures. Being able to see them up close, I can marvel at their silky black wings and cute little faces. I never would have subjected them to pain or discomfort, if I had known that they were there. In fact, I would be fine with them setting up camp in an otherwise unused, safe area. The problem is the smell. Ugh- not cool. Apparently, bats produce a large amount of guano (a fancy word for poop) which begins to smell (a lot) in the summer heat. What I've been smelling isn't dead rat, it's bat poop. Yay! Also, bats have been linked to rabies, which is less than encouraging and one of the reasons I'm not trying to free the captive bats with vegetable oil. I have compassion and sympathy, but I don't care to visit the hospital for a series of rabies shots. Not today.

I've done an impressive amount of Google research since finding the bats a few hours ago, and have learned that bats are a protected species in many parts of the country, and that it is illegal to purposefully kill a bat. They are a crucial part of the ecosystem and serve an important role in the control of the insect population. The best way to get rid of bats is by exclusion, which means allowing the bats to get out, but making it impossible for them to get back in. This is often done with creatively draped mesh or mosquito netting, and looks like it will work for us, if there are more bats in the attic. Once there is no more evidence of the bats, the entry point can be sealed up so that they don't return. Given the chance, bats will return to their nesting area year after year. Go on little bats and live free, eat the mosquitoes, and be happy. Just not at our house. 

I wish that our pest control method hadn't caused suffering to the three little bats that were caught by it. It weighs on me. But now that we know what we are dealing with, we can move forward and try to do the right thing. It's like anything in life: when you know better, you do better. Sometimes when we try to do the right thing, we end up doing the wrong thing. There are lessons every day.