The show!

First up... Jess, Hailey, Sarina, and Sydney (Tomorrow -- four more!)

Here are some photos of the pieces in progress, along with the story-poem each designer wrote to go along with her piece.
(If you have a photo of your finished piece -- do send it to me! That last hour when we were all lining up for the show, I must have been busy doing everything but taking pictures.)

Jess

Preppy schoolgirl meets stylish 80s meets edgy rocker in this original by Jess Flowers. With a classic trench coat, you're warm and cozy. But, note the yellow and white print on the bottom which really sets it apart from the rest. All adds to the 80s prepster look. What really makes this unique is the clunky, yet awesome, combat boots. They add just enough edge and rebelliousness to it, and are perfect for any girl.

Hailey

This outfit is best for strolling across town on a warm, sunny day going to the bakery.

As you walk in you smell many different kinds of cheesecake including your favorite… strawberry. You walk up to the glass case and see strawberry sauce, drizzled like stripes, on a slice of cheesecake.

(On the left: Hailey with our guest models.)

Sarina

In this dress, that Sarina Lavon designed and also what she is wearing, you will feel pleasure and that sometimes in life it isn't all about work and school, sometimes it's aall about Paryting! This dress is soft, smooth, silk blue, and adorable. Once you see it you will die for it!

Sydney

Snowy night.

Remember when you were young and on those cold winter nights you were laying on a cloud pillow?

Remember that wonderful fluffy feeling -- as soft as sheep's wool?

That is the feeling you will get while wearing this Snowy Night.

Snowy Night came through a robe -- so warm and comfy. That is also what you will feel when wearing a Snowy Night.

And we sewed.

By hand and by machine -- some of us for the first time!


K'sja, Caroline and Clara.

We sketched, we sprawled, we cut things up.

Bri thinks about how to make a dress into a skirt.
Sarina's ready to remake this blue dress.
Sidney cuts off a red frill.

(Thank you to Helma Groot for the suggestion of using masking tape to mark a cutting line!)

We looked at things that weren't clothes at all.

To gather sparks for our designs, we scanned through books with photos of insects, birds, flowers, vegetables, and even buildings.

Serin liked this frog. (For its colors? Or maybe because it's poisonous!)
Adea noticed the ruffles on the lettuce and thought about putting some on a skirt or dress.
Sydney loved the "pop of red" on the woodpeckers' heads.

Dez liked the fish. His final design had a similar sort of thin fin!

(Dez and Elli in the studio.)

(Photos from: Frogs: A Chorus of Colors by John Behler; Grow Vegetables by Alan Buckingham; Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman; Fish and Amphibians, Britannica Illustrated Science Library.)

Project Fashion Show at the Wex

What a week it was!
I loved watching you all think and work -- with such courage and inventiveness and a big sense of fun. To savor it all, I'll post a few photos here (my Flickr site has them all), along with a bit about our process, and the words you wrote to accompany your pieces.

(Jess and jacket. Kylie and her finds. Caroline and more at our in-studio thrift store.)

On first day we "shopped."
That is, we looked through our in-studio thrift store of clothes, sheets, and fabric scraps for something to catch our eye and say, "Hey you -- give me a new life!"

Poetry Blossoms

For two Saturdays in May, four families and I gathered to read, write, and play with poems.

Dawn's classroom was full of light, bird songs, and amazing writers. I laughed with my whole self and was moved many, many times. The time went too quickly! Thank you, Poetry Blossom writers.

Dawn reads her "I Remember" poem. Isabella reads her Poetry Blocks.

• • •

Big Questions

Can rain turn into lemonheads and bedrooms?

Can we jump off the roofs without hurting ourselves?

Can I run 20 miles without tripping on a walnut?

Can a clock move without moving?

How do sopranos sound like birds?

Why do fishing pools fall?

by Poetry Blossoms Writers

• • •


Sophia with Poetry Blocks, and Sophia writing. (Hey! -- somehow April and Garry escaped my camera lens.)

• • •

To Grandma

I am the sky

and you are the clouds

that make rain

I am the bed

and you are the pillow

that warms me

I am a “tweet”

and you are the radio

with ginormous speakers that break

my eardrums out

I am candy

and you are the mouth

that eats me

by Poetry Blossoms Writers

• • •

Nick, and Nick and Beth, choosing nouns, verbs and adverbs for their Poetry Blocks. (The blocks are courtesy of my brother, Jack, who cut them from wood that was salvaged from a door jamb in an older home.)

• • •

One Poetry Blossoms Exquisite Corpse

I am a bat
who flies in the night
on a police helicopter
A policeman searches
the ground with the lights
that were as bright as
sunflowers in August
Wow
Hot diggity dog
you brigthen me

by Poetry Blossoms Writers

• • •

Lilian thinks; Nia writes.

Plants on Animal's slope

Here are photos of the plants that are on the slope. I hope they'll look as wonderful as they do in these photos (that are not mine -- but from the person who sent me the seeds -- Jonna in Belgium. His site is http://www.seedsite.eu/)

Up top, we have Tolpis barbata (European umbrella milkwort):

Intermingling with the Tolpis, there is Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy):

Then, down at the bottom right (as you're facing the slope from the street), we've got Centaurea macrocephala (Yellow Hardhead or Bighead Knapweed) and Leonurus sibiricus (Siberian motherwort or Honeyweed):

At the bottom of the slope, in the middle-ish area, there's Telekia speciosa (Heartleaf Oxeye):

Finally, on the left hand side towards the bottom of the slope, we've got Cyanara cardunculus (Cardoon or Artichoke Thistle):