Marsbarn Designs...

Use that cloak of cuteness while you can

Mr Fuzzypants is cute, and he knows it.
He uses this furry cloak of protection to get away with
myriad of sins.

Yesterday he ate my lunch.
It was one of those classic midday meals where the Momma's food has long gone cold when she gets to eat, and someone beat me to it.
Who knew a kitten would love pumpernickel bagel
so very much?  

 He roams the kitchen counter, lounges in the sink,
prowls the stove, and investigates the ironing board.
And every time he jumps on the dining room table
in the middle of a meal, he manages to look shocked
when he's dumped onto the floor.

He continues to press the question of "Is he persistent, 
or is he mentally challenged?"

I wonder if he realizes that cuteness is a finite state, 
not a perpetual one.  Eventually, he will not be a kitten, 
he will just be a very naughty cat. 

Here and now, then and there

This is just a quick check in.

Today is another Parent Led Art class.
The long worked on Mystery Drawing class is today, 
and I'm excited to present the lesson that has filled so much of the back of my head for the past several weeks.  I have a longer post planned about this, once I've done the lesson.

Other things on the map for today:

-helping out in Little e's classroom PLA class.
-posting off the first half of a 30 bag order for Gen Con.
-holding our budget tight while a plumber fixes a bathroom leak.
-dropping off Sweetheart G's middle school application.
-family game night, or Project Runway, depending on how our brains are holding up.

This weekend will be quieter and more relaxing, I think.

-Big E and Little e are going to go out together.
-Sweetheart G has a friend coming over.
-Project Runway family time.
-And we're going to break out the liquid watercolors Santa gave me and the stencils Sweetheart G was given.  Family Art time!  Whoo-hoo!

Birthday wishes

What a treat to receive a most beautiful bouquet days before one's birthday.  I got to watch the blossoms open as my birthday grew closer.  My husband is quite clever, isn't he?

My birthday itself was so relaxing.
I read and ate and spent time with loved ones.
I ordered fancy oatmeal AND challah french toast AND bacon for lunch.  Ah the joys of gluttony and knowing that I don't have to eat it all, and it will all reheat well tomorrow.  
No laundry was done, no dishes were washed, not a chore was performed.  

A girl could get mighty spoiled this way.

perhaps he'll start wearing an ascot, and get a monacle

The Tank has been undergoing a sort of transformation.

Our cat, The Tank, used to be the sort of feline
who inspired distance and caution.
He might choose to rub against you and purr,
but be warned that privilege of contact might be
revoked at any moment.
The house was his, he didn't invite you.
He was a cat who approved of Big E and I,
and generally tolerated the girls, from afar.

But, with the introduction of Mr Fuzzypants,
The Tank's personality has begun to alter.

He is becoming (dare we say it) more tolerant
of people in general, and of the kitten in particular.
He is undeniably good to Mr Fuzzypants.

As his Tank-ishness gentles, I've begun to see him
as a sort of formal English grandfather.

He's becoming the sort of bloke that will sort out
that bit of fur behind the ears, and will attempt to teach
etiquette  to the ill bred lout that has been thrust upon him.
"What, what? Up on the kitchen counter? I say not my boy."
"I say sir,  stop that scrabbling up the walls!"

There is an undeniable formalness to our older cat.
He'd be the sort of Grandfather that you'd call "Grandfather",
and you'd ask to approach.  (But, of course Mr Fuzzypants never does this.)
 He'd make sure you ate first  (He always lets the kitten eat first), but he'd thump you if you put your feet on the table.
And, he might complain about the noise,
but he'd be the first to go looking if the noise suddenly stopped.

Being a kitten is all in the attitude.

"If one is confident while doing wrong, there is no wrong being done."

Thus spoke Mr Fuzzypants.

He looks cute, doesn't he?
Sweet and lovely... 

So very confident in his undeniable catness and cat authority.

Never mind that he is not only on the dining room table
(which is strictly forbidden) and that he's curled up 
inside the shopping bag that holds my brand new,
still with the tags on, bras.

You should have seen the indignant kitty scowl when I scooted him off the table and dumped him onto the ground.  
"Pah," he said. "Someone's in a bad mood."
Pause to stretch,
"After all, I do this all the time when you aren't here."

Wait? What did I just draw?

For our next art lesson, the class reproduces a painting.  
An image of the painting is divided into a grid and cut into rectangles.  Each student receives a pieces of the painting, which they duplicated onto a larger grid.  The students don't know what the original painting was; they only get to see their little bit.  It's a lesson of details, proportions, and using a grid to enlarge an image.  Then, on the last day of class, we reassemble the pieces into a large version of the painting.  Since the class hasn't seen the painting,  there can be some lovely surprises in this big reveal.

But, finding the original painting is a big task.
You need a painting that is colorful, and has some texture,
but not too much. It needs to have details, but
still be reproducible.  Firm lines are nice, Impressionists would be really difficult for this project.  And, it needs to not be recognizable.   You don't want the class glancing at a 2" square and saying, "Oh look. The Mona Lisa".

And density of content.  This image needs to have stuff going on all over the place.  No big areas of white or sky.  Landscapes are difficult.  I don't want to hand a student a piece of paper that is white with a blade of grass in one corner.  Where is the fun in that?

Then.  There is the issue of subject matter.
This is a public school. These are 5th graders.
No alcohol. No drugs.  No overt religion.
No gore.  No sex.  No nudity.
Having a student go home and say:
"Oh Mom, that thing I drew in Parent Led Art?
It was half of a guy named David's scrotum." Is not a conversation I want to have to explain.

And, as I look at more and more art trying to find something suitable, I have realized that artists? They think about sex, violence, drink, or religion.  Michelangelo? Look closely there's a breast or a nude dude hanging out in the background.  Perhaps I need a lovely still-life.

Honestly, I laughed and laughed.

I cater to gamers in my little Etsy shop.

This is a small, but highly networked, group of ardent people.  They game with passion, and can be fiercely loyal. And, they can also be very funny*.  I have been blessed recently with some great buzz on the gaming boards.  For example:

Gamer One: (Referring to the dimensions of the bags I make)
     "You can also specify alternate dimensions for the bags. I have large hands, so I asked to make my bag about twice as tall and wider all around."

Gamer Two:
    "Be careful when you ask for other dimensions, as some might just drive you mad."

Gamer Three:
    "Yes. Marsbarn is that good."

 

*This is Geek humor, and may not be appropriate for all readers. Feel free to disregard, if necessary.  If you want more Cthuluhu based humor take a look at this.

 

Tomorrow might almost be midweek, but today I slept in 'till 9.

I am absolutely adoring this three day weekend.
It was just what I needed.
Except that I know that tomorrow will find me
catapulted straight from weekend to almost mid-week.

I will be rudely transitioned from an exalted state
of feeling Caught Up and almost feeling
Ahead of the Game,  to just Holding My Own.  
Just the thought of it being Tuesday tomorrow
makes me think about throwing 
a load in the washing machine.

But still, I got to sleep in this morning,
the To-Do pile of sewing is now Done sewing,
I have a fat bag of packages to mail tomorrow,
and I've actually begun to plan my birthday fun.
Tuesday can't take that satisfaction away from me.

Drawing live, and without a net.

I taught my first 5th grade Parent Led Art
class on Friday.  The scary part?

No, not that some of the students are now taller
than I am.  The fact that this class required me to 
draw in front of them.  Live and without a net.

The class was an introduction to Perspective.

Using my vast knowledge accumulated from my
fourth grade art class and what I've gathered from PBS
art shows, topped off by the two page syllabus, 
I bravely drew a rectangle to represent the far wall
of the upstairs hallway.

Oh, it was wonky.  So wonky.
I added a door and an exit sign,
and then... while talking way too fast about Galileo,
I added the angled ceiling and floor lines.

Bless their fickle 5th grade hearts,
there was a gasp,
and a cry of "that's so cool"
and *boom* there was depth.  
Two dimensions and transitioned into three.
The magic of the single point perspective worked.

I finished up my spiel and sent them into the hall to do
their own drawing, and felt like a shabby magician that 
has successfully pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

I wish (as I often do) that I had more actual knowledge
about art. That I actually had a foundation in what I do,
instead of just a mad skill at bluffing. 
With so much winging, you'd think I had pin feathers.

Sussing up the schedule

As part of our Christmas technological revolution,
Big E and I now have synched computer calendars.
And, gee look at that, I'm a tad bit busy.
Shocking, no? 

Parent Lead Art has begun again,
and the girls' classes happen to occur
back to back.  Happily, I was able to work
with the other volunteers so that although I help
with all of the classes, I don't teach
two classes on the same day.
I'm running 4 of Sweetheart G's classes,
and one of Little e's classes.

And, hold on to your shorts here,
I am not doing Sweetheart G's class auction project.
After five years of auction goodness,
I am taking a seat.   
(You may have just missed something similar 
to a happy dance or a "squee" of delight,
or not.)
I have loved working with Sweetheart G's class,
and there was a certain attraction to finishing off
the grade school double hat trick, but...
I feel so, so good about letting go and seeing what someone else will do.

As a complete treat,
I am going to be indulging in meeting with 
my Lady's Art friends once a week for the 
next three weeks.  Oh my. Such. An. Indulgence.

Then there's the Valentine Open house event
I'm hosting.  In the past I held it on a Friday,
but with Parent Led Art being on Friday's,
I've had to move the collaging party to Wednesday.
This means that a new group of friends will be
coming over to create lovelies with me. 

To top it all off, my Etsy shop has been delightfully busy.
I have a happy, fat stack of work waiting for me.

I know that Birthday Palooza is waiting around the corner,
but right now with the art, and the art, and the work,
I'm just ignoring the forest of birthdays that come at the end of the month.