Busy weekend

Such a fun busy weekend! On Saturday Willow had rehearsals for the Nutcracker. The kids who’ve been at Westside for years are so talented!

The Arabian dance

The Chinese dance

The Waltz of the Flowers
My pretty flower Willow is the blondie towards the back.
My niece Mahina is on pointe.

The Russian dance

The Pas de Deux

Reports of incoming snow had us all excited for the possibility of a snow day (NO SCHOOL!), but we were hoping it wouldn’t come in until after the dance performance on Sunday. Alas, the snow arrived early Sunday morning, and the performance was postponed until January.

The wind howled and the snow blew in. I watched the drifts and the snow piling up on the ground from my studio window. I wanted to walk over to the market to choose a Christmas tree, then drag it home the way I saw them do it in those 1930s movies, but the girls didn’t want to go with me, and I didn’t want to do it alone. So instead, we kept warm and cozy indoors. Willow wore a cap while Kiara warmed herself on the computer.

I got to play in the studio almost all day! I’m having fun in my journal, experimenting with layers of collage and painting and mark making. I’m feeling brave about pushing onward, because, after all, I can save each stage in a photo.

I found a long enough piece of lace to finish this piece.

I added neocolors and text to this one, “What does the future hold?” (No particular reason why I chose the diablito card – it was handy, and then I liked the juxtaposition of it right next to the page with la Virgen de Guadalupe.)

I started out pretty much hating this page, but the more I played with it, the more I liked playing with it.

I started getting into adding big globs of gel medium onto the pages, even in areas where I wasn’t collaging. I love the thickness and texture it adds. I also like the idea of leaving my fingerprints in the work, leaving my mark.

With these pieces I really enjoyed the evolution of each face. Collage, gel medium, paint, more collage, blending in, pens… FUN!

We checked in on the weather forecast from time to time, then finally got the official word that school would be cancelled for Monday. YAY!!! I wouldn’t have to wake up at 5:30 to find out I wasn’t going, AND I get another day in the studio! YIPPEE!!! The weather report said things are going to stay icy, so maybe no school tomorrow, either… If there is school I’ll have to go buy chains for my car because I couldn’t even up up the tiny hill in front of my house. (I hope there’s no school.) And it’s supposed to snow again Wednesday and Thursday… Maybe we’re getting a whole extra week of vacation! In which case, should really consider getting busy on making Christmas gifts, hmm?

Off to the studio I go!