A Winter Wonderland

Xmas at the cabin was 6" of fresh white snow and much needed.

The runoff filed our lakes, 

and the snow stayed around for a good 2 weeks before it melted.

I won't have to water for weeks,

 and the bulbs are gonna be HAPPY!

It Had Seen Better Days

This 1980's Guess Jeans shirt served my ex-husband well for many years until he decided to donate it to my school for the students to wear as an apron when they threw on the potter's wheels.

Three decades and several washings later,

my T.A. Josh Berger used it as a mop to clean up Kaili Hamada's accidental tye-dye spill

after I tossed it to him and I said "Hurry before the dye spreads all over the floor".

This all transpired last school year.

So I saved the shirt hoping to do something special with it.

During our Eco-Dye unit this year I looked at the beautiful color in the shirt 

and felt like experimenting over top it with eco-bundling to see what would happen.

I went to my home garden and found lots of possibilities for dye pigment.

Begonias, 

geraniums,

 gardenia leaves, 

mandevilla blossoms,

dandelions,

and other interesting plants and flowers.

I bundled it over a copper tube

 and steamed it for a couple hours,

then let it sit outside the classroom door for a couple of weeks to stew and do it's thing.

After a couple more washings,

with many hours spent stitching embroidery designs on collar,

pocket top lapels,

and cuffs...

I gave this bad boy to Josh this year for his Christmas present.

(he has since graduated and is now my second paid assistant,

coming in a couple hours a week to help me with the heavy stuff)

Below is a better pix of the colors. 

It was worn thru in a couple of places,

so I did a bit of Boro stitching to patch it back together.

And since the eye enjoys asymmetry, 

I stitched a bit differently on each section,

but still managed to tie it all together visually...

thru repetition and color.

The bits of cotton sting I used to stitch with were actually eco-dyed right with the shirt so they would flow.

I told Josh he couldn't open his present till Xmas with his family, 

so I'm hoping he will like it,

and that it fits.

Wouldn't it be cool it he wears it when he comes back in January?

These are my favorite kinds of surprises to give at the Holidays.

The Joy of the Season...

is taking this sweet, 

misshapened little tree...

and turning it into a work of art with all of my children's favorite ornaments

that we've given each other and made over the years.

And it's also watching my children grow, finding love and being filled with the Holiday Spirit.

My daughter Dani and her boyfriend Garrett

Happy Holidays from My Whitney Family

Where the Dean of Discipline spends 3 hours stitching on his ugly Xmas sweater

that lights up and has dingle balls on the cuffs...

where the students are family because they spend 6 years together,

 supporting,

studying,

 and showing love and kindness to one another...

where the seniors put up their own Xmas tree,

and put out a table so that all can make their own ornaments to hang on the tree...

where a favorite student and her mother will fight with the counselors and figure out how she can take 6 years of art with me...

where 30 7th graders will jump up at a moments notice,

and quickly arrange themselves so that they can wish me a Merry Christmas

and have their picture on the blog...

and where 3 more favorite students will take the time to pose and clown around with one of their favorite teachers.

I love this place where I have spent the last 35 years of my life teaching

these wonderfully bright young people art,

but more importantly,

life & social skills

and how to have fun learning,

and not to take life so seriously.

Happy Holidays,

 and thank you all for coming along for the ride this year.