To do list....have you colored outside the lines lately?

So, officially it's only the second day of summer. The weekend doesn't count. Already I have a To-Do list that is pretty long. Sometimes I think I should make a To Don't list because it would be easier and faster to check the items off.

On a mad dash trip to Ames I saw this wall decal and had to get it to hang in the window. All because of item number 10- it says- "Color outside the lines" 

YES!

I of course had to go in and make some of my own embellishments to the poster and added "take a summer art class"

Most people don't know this about me but my major in college wasn't art it was craft design with an emphasis on fibers/weaving. I fell in love with weaving when I was in grade school and was self taught. My first attempts were the ugliest pieces you can imagine- tension all off, pulled threads, knots everywhere...I have improved quite a bit since then.



Hula Hoop Rugs



In my "Art Explorations" art classes that I teach during the school year I decided it was time to introduce some fiber work. Because of the class size it had to be a small loom. Some kids took to it like they were natural born weavers and some just didn't get the rhythm. But most agreed it was fun and different. When I was flipping through a magazine waiting for my haircut and saw this project I knew I had to offer it this summer. It combines my two favorite things IN the world- weaving and re-cycling!

Hula Hoop Rugs- the hula hoop acts as the loom and recycled t-shirts are the "yarn". I made Joshua and Biz weed out their accumulation of t-shirts,worked up a sample this weekend and fell in love with the process. I didn't finish it so I can use it in class to demonstrate the process on. Here is my sample leaning against my first love- my Leclerc  36", 4 harness floor loom- handmade in Canada. I purchased it in 1982 with a small loan from the bank. She's a beauty and I don't get to spend as much time with her as I should or would like to. Right now one of my older students is working on a project on her so I will have to wait. 

Another class I am teaching again this summer is one I call Photowords. We walk around downtown Carroll and take pictures of letters of the alphabet and spell out a word (most of the kids do their name) I like this class because it makes you look at the world a bit differently - some of the letters are actual parts of signage and some are parts of architecture or cracks in the sidewalk or pieces of debris or parts of objects.  I wish I could get the grown-ups to come take classes because-

Coloring outside the lines is fun.

Won't you come color with me?