Happy to hear from you all!

How happy to see you all in my inbox this evening. It was exactly what I needed!

I am too exhausted to explain fully, so I'll give a bullet pointed list of my work exasperations.

-I took a part time job at a brand new charter school. It's Spanish language immersion, so we're technically only supposed to speak to the children in Spanish (most of them came knowing no Spanish.) Gorgeous school with romantic, beautiful, untouched furniture and half walls between classrooms.

-This means I teach three classes of Kindergarten and two classes of first grade music on Mondays as well as supervise recess, and facilitate conversation with one of the first grades as they eat their lunch family style.

-Now enter inner-city children into the equation. Educational idealism (i.e. abject stupidity and lack of planning) met a very harsh inner city reality. The first day of school we had bussing mayhem, children jumping over half walls, continuous screaming, and absolutely no response to direct commands in English or Spanish! Making lines or a circle was completely out of the question. Worst day of my life no question.

-Today at least two lessons went ok, but for the afternoon I never really got everyone's attention to listen to anything. Now I'm going back for a second Tuesday in a row as an emergency floater assistant for the first grade teachers who have 20 children each with no assistants and several special needs children in each class.

So if anyone has any behavior management tips for non-responsive children that don't care about much of anything let me know. Unfortunately food bribing and beating are probably out.

Like I said, I was so happy to have you in my inbox. This all makes getting an MFA to teach university students look much less scary. I mean, seriously, what was I thinking? I hated school my entire life up until Concordia. I just wanted an assistant job taking cute little spanish speaking kids to the bathroom!

a few more covers

this first one i had some fun with . . . although i am not entirely happy with the spacing of the text on the back in the big black box . . . silly poems and they're ways . . .



i made this one this morning . . . and i love it! ha . . . the only thing i don't like are the stupid tiger eyes . . . the author specifically selected that image, so i made it as slight as possible . . . but i don't know, looking at it now, they're starting to grow on me . . .hmmm . . .


ps adel, i LOVE your tattoo . . . too cool . . .

FOR SALE

I'm officially for sale!! A little pricey for now, but you have to start somewhere! lol

www.artgaragesale.com/jmo

Paris!

So as some of you know and some of you don't, I spent the last week or so in Paris on a personal adventure and art quest. My accomodations, a flat rented out over the summer, was located in Montparnasse, the neighborhood of philosophers on the southern side of the city. If you ever go to Paris, I would completely recommend this particular kind of lodging because I felt like I really was living in Paris instead of just staying at hotel or hostel as a tourist. It also provides a kitchen with whatever cooking utensils the person chooses to leave available so you can make your own food--very convenient and cheap :).
Anyways, the entire experience was an aesthetic dream. Yes, the museums were fantastic (the Louvre by far being my least favorite, sad to say, just too old of stuff :) but it was the culture that fascinated me the most. It is an entire culture of people that are raised with artistic appreciation and fashionable taste. And how could one not be? Even the seedier parts of the city have beautiful architecture and tree-lined boulevards with benches and parks.
Every day was an overload of the visual senses. There are ancient sculptures or majestic fountains in every plaza. The people dress with taste, even when going on a picnic in the local park, which is a very common experience. Even dining is considered an experience and the food is always presented in an incredible arrangement that makes your mouth water. The bakeries are the best. The colors of the fruit and the pastries make them seem impossible to resist. And of course, the cappucinos come with cocoa sprinkled on top of the foam. Can life really be anymore visually (or tastefully) satisfying? :)
I happened upon modern sculpture gardens mixed in with the old and found the modern part of the city just as fascinating as the older parts. The Modern Museum of Art was by far my favorite museum and the Madeleine Cathedral was my favorite cathedral, not for the architecture but for the surprise modern sculpture I happened upon inside. An assignment had been given to local current artists to create modern interpretations of the architectural and sculptural elements of the cathedral and these pieces were then displayed by and around the elements in the cathedral itself (with explanations that of course, I couldn't read :). The artists used the normal elements of sculpture including metals and plaster but also branched out into cloth and plastic bottles. One copied the inside of some of the architecture using all plastic bottles, another with cloth. Sculptures of Mary, the cross, and the saints were scattered, one of light metal wire suspended from the ceiling. It was absolutely fascinating and by far the best thing I happened upon by chance.
All of that to say, while I would never bore of visiting Paris again and again and again, it is not some place I would like to live. It would become a fashion death trap and far too proper of a social situation for me to ever want to conform to. It is a fascinating way of life to observe but one I would probably find suffocating after the first month. Shoot, the looks of disgust I drew when I burped were enough to tell me that!

Watercolor

Amidst the madness of moving preparations I have discovered that I completely love watercolor. It started out because I am a big fan of this site, but for the past few weeks have hated their designs, often thinking that I could do better. Friday I was "trapped" at work (my boss had her baby that day) and thought of the little man's art supplies that his water colors were the least kid-ified. I mean, watercolors are supposed to be washable, right? Anyhow. This is my first attempt -What do you think? Would you wear this on a t-shirt?

But really, did another one for a wedding present and have two more in the works right now. I am super loving this and I can't for the life is me figure out why it took me this long to figure out that I loved this medium.

Art on the Plinth

Hi everyone. I heard about this awesome art project on the knitting podcast I listen to.

Sculptor Antony Gormley is putting any average person living in the UK on the Fourth Plinth (an empty sculpture pedestal in Trafalgar Square usually for King's statues). Anyone can sign up and names are randomly drawn and then they get their hour of fame in downtown London to do whatever they wish! You can watch it live on the website.