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):

All of Us!

Congratulations designers, writers, and models!

Kenzie and her Statement Without Words

Mackenzie's purse was a skirt, adored with a buckle from Becky's belt. And her top blended parts of a turtleneck sweater (mine!) with a scrap of fabric from a stash at home that she'd almost given up on.


















I am

Kenzie Boyers

I am laughter, the echoing sound of happiness. I am a
schoolgirl, staring out the window during math class. I am
not the rain beating on your window at night. I am
a wave, crashing down on the sand of an unknown beach.
I am the sweet and sometimes sour tang of a pineapple.
I am a designer, with the power to make a statement
without words.

Hannah modeling the Spider Web op

... to an admiring audience.