I'm Stumped.

This week, I've been building stumps. Since my backyard looks like the landscape has been clear cut, I thought it might be fun to enhance that appearance. These are built hollow, and then they are decorated with a cornucopia of leaves and flowers. Heading out to the clay shed to build another, smaller one.

 

Destruction is Vandalism

 

One of the most hurtful things that humans can do, is to purposely destroy artwork. I recently received a text from a friend, explaining that all of the student tiles on the outside of my former classroom were thrown into a dumpster. Also, all of the many nests that I had made to decorate the outside of the classroom received the same treatment. Why? I'm sure that the students might have wanted their tiles back. Some students were kind of mad that I had commandeered their work to decorate the school. My classroom had peeling paint and a broken ramp. It was always coated with brown dust, and never cleaned. Frankly, I was just trying to distract from the shabbiness. I painted two wall murals in the school library. One was completely painted over by a teacher, only a few months after completion. What makes people disrespect art, and effort? Is it motivated by thoughtlessness, or jealousy?

At my old school, I created several projects with students. Two of these projects were destroyed, or damaged by the same teacher. This seemed personal. It was a teacher who actively did not like me, so she had no problem ruining student work, because I was part of the project. The students had nothing to do with it, the affront was directed squarely at me. I remember when several students and I watched the teacher taping big sheets of paper over our mural. A third grade student yelled, "That's going to rip the paint off of our mural." It did rip large chunks of paint off of the wall. The other students with her were shocked, and angry at the disrespect. I felt terrible that they learned such a hard lesson.  At that same school, there were colleagues who appreciated the efforts of my class to make things look nicer. My class also planted a garden on a patch of weedy soil near the playground. And, even when the playground received new blacktop, the construction crew carefully shielded, and preserved the garden. 

At my most recent school, the reasoning is more complex. The destruction seems to be done in ignorance. If you have never created a large scale art project, you probably can't have much empathy. And, if you think that art isn't important, then you treat it as unimportant. My boss kept asking me to repaint murals in the new library. She asked me four times. There was no understanding that I didn't want to spend my money or my weekend free time doing the murals AGAIN. There was zero understanding of the disrespect.  

I am glad that I won't have to hear about the tiles being destroyed, since I will be teaching at a different school. There will be anger, especially if any of the students witnessed the destruction. And, it's a special kind of smoldering anger. It clings, and it becomes bitterness.

There is so much that kids learn when working on a large scale project. It also builds community. At my first school, we received a tree for each classroom because the Winter Olympics was being held in our city. Each class sent a representative to select a tree, and then volunteers drove the trees to the school. Each classroom was able to dig a hole, and plant their tree, as a team. The trees were quickly vandalized, not even lasting a week. I was crushed. I was a first-year teacher, and I was in charge of the entire tree enterprise. I took our broken sixth grade tree back to the classroom, and tried to replant it in a pot. We hand watered it, but in the end, the tree died. In the class mailbox, a student wrote me a note, thanking me for trying to salvage the tree. I'm hoping that we learned a lesson about the value of nice things, and what trees can bring to a hot, shadeless campus. We learned about disappointment, and how to not give in to it.

After 27 years in the classroom, I guess that I never have learned the lesson about big school projects. I am always hopeful, so I keep getting set up for the sadness that is vandalism. Why? Big school projects teach students how to care, and how to give of their creativity. These projects create pride, and love. Removing or destroying them creates the exact opposite.

 

New Shed (Exterior)

 

Saucy Sign

I paid the magical Nolberto to clean out all of my wild blackberry brambles. He did a beautiful job. This has really improved access to the shed, because now you can actually see the shed. It was hideous. Two sides were yellow (at the neighbor's request), one side was chartreuse, and the front was black and white. So, now all of the sides are the same color. And, there are no more spider webs everywhere.  

Finished

Painted to Cover Holes

Almost Done

Outdoor Shrines

Signs 

Before

The Door

In Recovery

 

I have spent the balance of the summer trying to recover from four years of low-grade mental, and emotional manipulation. And, I'm slowly starting to feel better. Today, I was sitting in an appointment with my very kind eye doctor.  We had a really good, life-affirming talk about behavior, and about change. Although I'm extremely nervous about my future, I know that I will be able to find success. I know I am worth something.

I also want to thank my sister for being my therapist last year, and all during the summer. I always feel so supported by my family, and their love is front and center.

Summer Starts

I'm starting off the summer making season! Some new work is happening, and I'm also trying to wrap up projects that have stalled out, cluttering up my drying rack. I will be doing some work for Dia de los Muertos in my new job. So, some of this work seems quite "memorial-ish".

Photo Boxes

Birdie with Overwrought Stand

Painting Practice (Still) 

Spare Dog Bowls

Wall Box Memorials

Cemetery Donuts

Passed Pet Headstones

Canopic Jars

 

I have decided to knock up a few art history related art lessons. One of the first lessons is on Egyptian art history. We will learn about canopic jars, and then create our own jars with a twist. Originally, canopic jars were carved out of alabaster, and they preserved the viscera of a mummy. Part of the Egyptian belief system, involved a strong theory of the after life. It was thought that a person had to have all of their organs in order to continue on to the after life. Mummification could not be successfully completed with all of the organs remaining in the body. So, the organs were removed, and small pieces of them were stored in canopic jars, which were then stored in the tomb. The brain was removed through the nose, with a long hook, and then thrown away. The heart was considered to be the most important organ, so it was left in during the mummification process.

The jars traditionally had lids which were shaped like specific Egyptian gods, the four sons of Horus: Imsety was a human god who protected the liver, Hapy was a baboon-headed god who looked after the lungs, Duamutef had the head of a jackal and guarded the stomach, and Qebehsenuef was a falcon who protected the intestines.

Some canopic jars were made from other types of carved stone, or wood. Many were made of pottery. That's where we come in! We are going to create our own canopic jars, in a style of our own. 

Alice Version

Ceramic Reproductions

Modern Owl

Hieroglyphics

My Versions

Ancient Jar

Tourist Tsotchkes

Daphne Christoforou

"That's All Folks"

 

I haven't written in so very long. But, I thought that I would return to the creativity that writing often fosters. And, writing gives clarity. Many life changes are in the works as I head on to my sixtieth year.

I have been wracking my brain and heart during the past four years. Recently, I decided to go out on the prowl for a job. I know that I'm way too old to do this, and who would hire me anyway? But, when you reach a point where enough is enough, it's time to pick up stakes, and move on. 

Our school actually has a well-worded civility clause. It is sad that the clause has become completely ineffectual, and that its repeated violation, has become the norm. There have been so many times, during the past four years, when I have felt burdened, humiliated, disrespected, manipulated, irritated, and overwhelmed. These feelings are not normal for me. But, they became my daily fare. I noticed that I started keeping to myself, and feeling angry all of the time. I curled inward. During the past four years, 14 employees have left the tiny school with only ten classrooms. It doesn’t take Shaggy and Scooby to figure out why the employees left. Luckily, my job hunt was a success, and I didn’t have to retire early, or take a giant, pension wrecking pay cut. Focusing on students again, instead of focusing on feelings, will be wonderful.

As of next year, I will be teaching beginning art classes at a neighboring high school. It will be a huge change. I am starting to create content, lesson plans, and work samples to try to be prepared. I am looking forward to building new relationships with students. In addition, I’m excited about sharing my passion for making, and learning. I even have my study guides purchased for the upcoming Single Subject Credential Test.

Best of luck to me!