First Monday Art

Ok, first things first.... PAIGE!!!!! HAS !!! CONFIRMED!!!!! SHE !!!!! WILL!!!!! BE!!!!! AT !!!!! THE !!!!! RETREAT!!!!! And she said I could believe it this time (she backed out a few weeks ago), because she used so many exclamation points! Well, of course. Anyone who uses exclamation points can obviously be believed! Ha. But seriously, way to go, Paige's husband, who gave her the retreat for Valentine's Day and her anniversary. Now, that's sweet. Pressure is on. I have to make it SOOOOo worth it!!!!!!! (See? I MEAN it... lots of exclamation points!) So, Paige, Nena Beth, Brooklyn, Brooklyn's mama, Tamala, and Jennifer (and maybe JRey's mama, Julia and I'm still thinking maybe Riley), I am working on a few ancillary activities we will do amongst the big ones. For instance... working with clay.
I had not really done this much before myself, but I did it once at the Donna Downey retreat in North Carolina a few years ago. But that doesnt' scare me!
I went to Hobby Lobby, bought everything that had anything to do with clay, and got after it!
It was Valentine's Day the following week, after all, and the kids in Camp Creative NEEDED a Valentine necklace, right?!
So, we bought a pasta machine and some clay conditioner to figure out how to best soften the clay, since we had little hands making the projects.
They were shown many examples so they could figure out what they wanted their pendants to look like.
(Snack time... while we baked our pendants to make them hard!!)
New class rule this year. We sit and eat our snacks... not destroy Miss Mo's house, running up and down the stairs, and unmaking all the beds, and trashing the girls' toy areas. J/S!
And actually, they didn't seem to mind a bit.
It looked to me that they were having some nice little bonding, conversational time.
Ok, so for the retreat... I think we will make a little pin to wear for some holiday. Obviously V Day is over (although the heart with wings we made ... I posted it on Facebook page... and if you are friending me, please message me so I will know that you are a blogger and know to accept you. I don't friend if I don't know how we are "friends".), so we could make something cute for Easter, a shamrock, or... oh, we'll decide when you all get here.
Clay, I now realize, is one of those mediums that we can just leave out in a ziploc bag, so when you get finished with your canvas or main project, you can just whip out another mini project.
I am so proud of my little ones for staying so attentive and for creating so many different styles of hearts.
Robin was one of my helpers in art class. She'll also likely be present some during our Retreat weekend.
Here, Sarah, in the red, is my usual assistant in art class. She is the newly crowned Miss Lagniappe, and will be in Miss Louisiana Teen this year. She had the good fortune of using this class as part of her interview when asked about the arts. She explained that "Miss Melanie is a physical therapist, and because she nurtures her creativity in the arts, she has been very successful in her clinic, by having creative treatment with her patients. This makes her clinic unique." Yeaaaaahhhh, you go, GURL!
Usually toward the end of the classes, a couple of munchkins join us.

NObody minds a bit.

This is Payson, in the green. She is in the el-familio. Her mama, Amber, is my first cousin on the Massey side!
We also made a few beads to embellish the necklaces. SO simple and a good way to use the "extra" clay.
I taught them tiny sculptures and we used different tools to make various textures/ designs on the hearts.

And some of the girls (Katie!!) used their imagination to make their own designs by punching in the clay with a sharp tool
As you can see, we later covered it with a wash of paint. Usually black or white... but in the case of "jake", they chose both.
And the last step was a wash of glaze put on the whole thing. It makes it a shine nicely.
All that was left was a jumpring and a ribbon for a "chain". Pacey did a great job with hers.
As did Miss Katie, who is a newbie to the art class.
Now, really, if a 9 year old can do these, adults can have a BALL!!
So, anyway, as I start planning the retreat, I am being inspired by my kids' classes. Mainly becasue I think it is a blast, so I assume everyone else will too.
And for adults, we can add some bling with charms, crystals, etc. Pretty awesome, huh?
I'd say Kalie Ray made out like a bandit... Layer upon layer of awesomeness.

So, anyway... I am getting organized and ready. If you think you may want to come...
Call my agent.
Ha!!

MO