Spring has Sprung!

I haven't written in awhile, not for lack of creative projects, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Now, on my last days of spring vacation from school, I decided to sit down and write before heading back to the busy months ahead.
I totally enjoyed my week off, not only because I didn't have to wake up at 5:10 AM, but because I had to opportunity to get back in touch with my creative self.  Not that being an art teacher doesn't keep me creative every day, but this was my time, time to do my projects, although I did do a little project development for my classes.
Naturally, I needed to do some of that hum-drum laundry, house cleaning and tossing out of expired canned goods from my pantry, but I did accomplish many creative tasks as well.
I painted 2 stools for a former colleague and friend of mine who has joined the ranks of the retired, and is happy as a clam.  She gave me a few suggestions as to what to paint on the stools which she is giving to the grandchildren of a friend of hers.  I took over from there and painted lots of little boy things around my signature teddy bears on each stool.

Handpainted Stools

My next venture was painting a child's rocking chair for the grandchild of a friend of mine whose daughter, Nicole, is a very close friend of my daughter's.  The rocking chair belonged to Nicole's uncle when he was a child. Nicole's mom asked me to paint it and do "something beachy" in honor of the family summer house at the Jersey shore which, although  taking a huge hit during "super storm" Sandy, is being rennovated.

Child's Rocking Chair in Progress

So after several sketches, I settled on an underwater theme and was inspired by the book, The Rainbow Fish. The photo is a work in progress.
I also got to work on some projects for one of my classes at school. The class deals with fibers and fabrics. The girls expressed an interest in creating a quilt, however, due to materials costs, space and time restrictions, I have decided to have them create a small wall hanging combining simple applique and patchwork. 
The birds who nest under my classroom airconditioner haved returned, and are chirping noisily, reminding me that spring has sprung.  Maybe they were asking to be my inspiration for this wall hanging project I am planning for my students.  So with birds as my inspiration, I created a simple patchwork border around a larger center square with an appliqued bird in the center.  One art student has an aunt who is a quilter and she donates scraps of fabric to us from time to time. I used some of those scraps for the border, and muslin for the center.  After appliqueing the bird, I decided there was too much space, so I added the text.


Appliqued Bird Wall Hanging

Then I tried another simpler patchwork, once again including a little bird, which I think might be easier for the students' skill level.
The students have dyed and printed their own fabric, made a sewn paper collage, and a fashion design out of yarn.  They are currently finishing up a placemat tote bag to which they were required to add their own elements.  Some of them are using freezer paper stencils, some are adding embroidery, some are making fabric flowers and some are block printing.  They certainly are a creative bunch, and although we get a little messy at times, the students are always immersed in their work (literally and figuratively!).
Hopefully, the creative inspiration of spring will continue, with a little nudge from my chirping friends outside my classroom window.