It's in the details

This year we have a new Atelerista at preschool - a Reggio Emilia studio teacher, if you will. She and her program are fabulous - the kids can go into the studio to spend one-on-one time with her, or she can gather small groups of kids to come in and work on things. There is no right way to approach art in the Reggio Emilia philosophy, it's all about using various materials in whatever way feels right to you.

My friend Pam has an art degree from the Art Institute of Chicago, and before Michelle arrived Pam volunteered in the studio every Monday and did some amazing things with the kids.

So, Pam and Michelle got together and decided that the parents needed more creativity in their lives and went to the Director with an idea for an adult art program. Last night they offered the first one for free, so that people could come and see what it was all about. It was their first and foremost goal that no one feel pressured or uncomfortable about approaching "art," but that it be as open and exploratory as possible.

There were eight of us there, I think. First we sat in the school's gathering space and chatted and had wine, cheese and crackers. Pam and Michelle told us that we could all take turns painting on a blank canvas that had been hung in the entry way to the art studio. One by one we got up and added something to the canvas, tentatively at first, but then with greater ease and expression. We will continue to add to it over the next three classes, and I have no doubt it's going to be amazing when it's done, growing and changing as we do.

After that they brought us into the studio where they had set up slabs of clay on boards. We each took a spot, they turned on some great music, and we did whatever we felt like doing. I think we probably worked on the clay for 30-40 minutes, but it felt like five. I LOVED THIS. Immediately my lump of clay started to take the shape of a kneeling woman holding a baby. I cannot tell you how freeing this was for me, how the experience of the music, the wetness of the clay, the form taking shape under my fingers, how it all moved me. We were given a five minute reminder (just like in preschool!) and when we were done we walked around and looked at everyone else's work.

That was fascinating, too. Pam had simply scraped her clay over and over with a fork, pounding it and moving it. Judith made a bird's nest with three eggs and the bird perched on the side. Someone made three fish, someone made a snakelike dragon, someone made a bowl. Immediately we began asking, "Can we keep these?" For now they are on display on the stair-like shelves near the front door, but yes, we can keep them. If mine is not cut in half, hollowed out, reassembled and then fired it will eventually dry up and crumble, but that's OK, I have plans to make more.

After that we went back to the gathering space while Pam and Michelle prepared the next project. We could paint on the canvas again, chat, have more wine, etc. A few minutes later we went back in. Each spot had a large piece of white paper, a black pencil, and piece of charcoal. In the middle of the room they had set up tables with an assortment of materials - paint, glue, dirt, sawdust, sand, decorative papers, nets, wood chips, scissors, paint rollers, tissue paper, etc.

Pam explained that we would go around the room and each say a word, then we would all write down whatever word first came to mind. The words on the paper would provide a foundation for the layering collage that would follow. The music went on and we went around the room; the words were: Beluga Whale, Blue, Water, Love, Hug, Pink, and Tree. The words that went on my paper were: White, Water, Blue, Baby, Love, Baby and Bloom.

After that the music went on and we were free to do whatever we wanted to our paper, but encouraged to layer. My collage had layers of textured paint, torn paper, tissue paper flowers, sawdust, and lord know what else - the words quickly disappeared. Those 40 minutes flew by, and at the end Pam and Michelle arranged our art on black paper on the floor and we sat in a circle around them. "What did this process feel like?" Pam asked, and the word that immediately sprung to my mind was URGENT. I couldn't believe how focused I had become, how fast the time went, how full of satisfaction I felt at the end of the evening.

We went around the room and talked more - about how we approached our collages, what the words meant to us (if anything), what we thought of the evening, how we wanted to proceed. We all agreed that we wanted MORE and were excited to return. One of the things we all seemed to like was that we had no idea, going in, what our materials would be, and we have no idea, going forward, what the next projects will be about.

I was so struck by the time and effort and thought that Pam and Michelle put into the evening. I'm not sure they realize what an impact they made on me, and how much I valued my experience last night.

When we are done with the class we will have a reception for our families so that they can come and see that we, too, can create with clay and glue and paper, and that we, too, can create outside of our families, just for us.

We all had a fabulous Spring Break in Tucson - lots of tamales, sunshine, and family!

Justin, Declan, Aidan, my brother Bob, my dad, me, at Agua Caliente park in Tucson.

The boys fawn over cousin Mason, April and David, at the Tucson Zoo.

Declan and Aidan walk with Grampa.

David snuggles with Mason during a picnic at Mt. Lemmon.

Me and my dad.

The boys feed the ducks at Agua Caliente.

I'll let you guys guess on this one.

My beautiful little man.

My beautiful, silly, other little man.

At the Arizona Biltmore.

Having margaritas with Uncle Bob at the TeePee in Phoenix.

Driving down from Mt. Lemmon, Tucson in the background.

Declan is five today, FIVE!

Sweet and kind, affectionate and generous, sensitive and loving, he continues to be a beautiful yellow ray of sunshine in my life.  His hugs and kisses heal, his imagination thrills, his very self is a gift.  He's a humanitarian, a peacemaker, a gentle touch in a harsh world.  I am so very blessed.

I love it. Tucson, 1976. I'm 9 or 10, Bob is 7 or 8, Dave is 2 or 3.

This is part of an email from Judith, Margie's mom.

I find myself in a strange mindset this morning.  Having never experienced anything quite like this, it's hard to articulate the emotions.  It's hard to process the emotions.  What I am realizing this morning is that I didn't feel aware of the cloud hanging over me until I felt the hope of it being lifted.  For eight years I have felt apologetic to the rest of the world for our blunders, our dangerous missteps, our bumbling leadership.  For eight years I have felt the cornerstone of my patriotism slipping away.  I have been looking, with a sideways glance, at our future, and it has been discouraging.  I have let cynicism overtake my sense of duty and hope and action.  I had accepted the status quo.

So here I am this morning realizing that all of that has turned on a thin political dime.  I watched the Obama family on stage in Grant Park last night and I was overcome by their beauty, their grace, their humble gratitude for the trust we have placed in them.  An African-American family is going to live in the White House.  I am stunned by the historical enormity of that.  In one fell swoop we have achieved not only our first minority President, but our first African-American President.  In one night we have taken several giant leaps forward toward healing racial wounds and inequity in this country.

Better yet that he is a man that transcends politics.  Obama brings many things to the White House: he is intelligent, focused, even-tempered and diplomatic, articulate, original, compassionate and honest.  But more than that, he's about more than politics.  He's about more than his own power and ego.  I believe him when he talks about raising this country back up and turning a brighter beacon outward to the rest of the world.  He doesn't only speak of change, his very presence in our political lanscape is change.  From the way he ran his campaign, raised funds, canvased states, debated the issues, and made his acceptance speech, he has shown us change.  He has relied upon and included us, the people, on his journey to the White House.  When was the last time a President was truly about the people?  When was the last time a candidate not only spoke of change, but was change?

I cannot help but feel excitement, hope, encouragement, and a resurgance of my own patriotism.  We Americans can once again take pride in our ability to reinvent ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and move forward in better ways.  If not all Americans can celebrate the seachange ahead of us, I know that the rest of the world does.

YES WE CAN, AND YES I DID!

It takes a lot for me to set the alarm for 6:00 AM. It takes even more for me to actually get out of bed when that alarm goes off. But set it I did, and get up I did. I was out the door by 6:30 and walked over to my polling place. I don't walk many places these days, but walking seemed like the only way to approach voting.

There weren't a ton of people there when I arrived, and I only had to wait about 15 minutes to get to my station. I decided on the touch screen option, but most people seemed to prefer paper.



I didn't know that I could vote for Frank Sinatra!



Sinatra was tempting, but I went with Obama.



This is a banner day. I'm super happy. But I look sort of tired. Damn that 6:00 AM wake-up call.

A Short Play by Aidan and Declan.
Starring.... Aidan as the Tiger Scout, Declan as the Vampire, and Rocket as Rocket.

Once upon a time, a young Tiger Scout worked diligently on his rocket.

I hope everyone had a fun, safe, happy night of trick-or-treating! We had absolutely stunning weather here - it hit 70 during the day and no one needed a coat last night. Gorgeous! Here are some photos of my happy candy-stuffed little men and their friends.

The other boys in the photo are Oscar and Luke, who live six houses down. Declan and Oscar are the same age and Declan recently declared Oscar to be his best friend. We all went trick-or-treating together (me with my boys, Chaz with his boys and baby girl, Anna).

I love this photo of the Ninja and Vampire paying homage to the Jesus-like baby Anna.

And what Halloween would be complete without some Obama campaigning?



Really scary house in our neighborhood - you go down the drive to the house and there are the most gruesome things hanging from the fence, then you get to the house and there's a graveyard and packaged body parts and scary music... Declan and I didn't go, Aidan went twice. Declan keeps talking about the man that the boys are looking at in the photo - he talks and removes his face. I hate that crap.



Taking a break!