Chalk Walk

I think there's a connecting concept somewhere in this but the kids just like getting out of the classroom (all 551 of them) and getting messy and colorful with chalk and a bit of a Mandala vibe.

Birthday season...

Saturday morning creative shoot for not too belated birthday card... the pens are sparkly.

Moving in...

Occupying themselves... reading comics in the study, doing puzzles outdoors and working through a bulk horde of Build-and-Grow wood-working kits thanks to the kindness of staff member in Lowes aka B&Q.

J's Fourth of July

Aided by her father and then aided by her mother though truly driven by her.

Summer Time on Floyd

In the downtime pet portraits have got made, though Me-Me was far more amenable than Oscar, origami penguins have multiplied & now have their own diorama and finally a dolphin scene on a tea towel fresh from Crete.

Craft in the Yard

The freshly painted door with classy pastels plus a rainbow loom for lurid shades of friendship bracelets and some repurposed tools with weeds' assemblages...

More hearts at Fox

It was time for a freshen up and so the kids added some more to the mesh fence and a few faded ones aged-out with a snip or two...

Pencil case on Floyd

Finally a homemade gift for someone we love from the bottom of our pencil case. Complete with 1970s vibe as extra.

RVA Skyline, VMFA Studio School

Our group got to do a collaborative drawing that broke up the city skyline into sections, then got to be put back together again with trees and shadows being lined up and sheets numbered (not as straight-forward as you'd think). There was a lot of darkness and for some scalpel-scraping to get back to the light. For me atmospheric clouds and one tiny section of a skyscraper.

Come the international bike race this September our masterpiece will be on show at Glave Koven Gallery - thank you Matt for this lovely challenge.

Egg Blowing on Floyd

It's hard to pierce an egg... and this batch kept cracking but the left-over gnome-painting gear added some sophisticated gloss to our efforts.

Partial Abstraction, VMFA Studio School

Finally a class that went well - 3 hours for 12 weeks is proving a challenge but this was taking two objects, tracing them out repetitively and then adding on some unifying colour or tone - I loved the process and the gentle shell pink and soft green fake-leafed outcome.

Valentines

J decided to collect the shells on Texas Beach, then she drilled holes in them with additional power-tool support from P and finally they were strung up by me.

A hard night's work for 24 lovely Kindergarteners and we even got a thank you note!

Studio School, VMFA

So back to school with the lovely Matt Lively of RVA mural fame and some great company along the way.

Reductive architectural drawing & collage had me struggling but copying photographer,  Sally Mann (she's from Virginia!) and doing blind-contours got me hooked.

Gingerbread Sunday

Some gingerbread magic before a dose of 'Elf', whilst the adults briskly strode along the Trent.

Tiny George on Floyd

Tiny George shipped down the east coast and was neither plastic or lewd - a challenge in the sourcing! We needed last minute pillow case aprons for the gloss acrylics so these little guys can survive outdoor life.

Heart Fence at Fox

Pinterest and someone in Brooklyn inspired this communal bit of loveliness at the Fall Festival, with a cowboy, fox, Grim Reaper, Dracula and numerous others.

Lots of yarn aka wool-winding and then unravelling and some serious focus required from those who stuck the course - age was not the barrier, some (unsavoury) fluffy wool additions - that the kids loved and no-one stopped weaving 'till dark!

Family Day, 1708 Gallery

Drawing consequences for artists and us, plus a dash of 3-D lantern making - who needs a glitter ball? - and a birthday gift of lolly pop stick football team puppets for J's first solo party that afternoon. Industrious and lovely as ever...

Post-it Girls on Floyd

Sibling portraits on the favourite stationary item in this house...

Chalk Walk on Hanover

In Guatemala they make paths of flowers and here in RVA the staff translated the concept into chalks... It was a sweet moment to see the city from a  different angle and get some fresh air with friends.

No comment on the chaotic management or risk assessment issues. I think it was meant to link to the middle school then down to VCU.

Granny Graffiti at Fox

Sadly no actual grannies but plenty of youthful and not so youthful volunteers to weave yarn aka wool through the wire mesh fencing at school into blocky hearts, renamed Minecraft ones.

So this is the test run for the Fall Festival's participatory art project... mmm it's not as simple as it looks. Next yarn-balling for 50+ folk to get involved.