Art Days

 A good friend of my husband is an artist called Linda Hall.  Over the years, we have gone to see her exhibitions. I always find them exciting and beautiful and arresting and strange--all the things I love about art.

Lately, these past "mask" years, she has been expanding her ideas about masks. Her work has often had masks of a kind--full body masks, animal skins or forms made of fabric that humans or animals can/could inhabit. 

These works are truly incredible!

On several of these, you can see the influence of sea life embedded in the work. I always think that is so very cool.

Not all of the works were made of these cheerful colors. Some were somber, much more serious. 

Sometime last fall, and then again this weekend, I was lucky enough to be part of a sort of art "happening" which was a procession with music and masks, interacting subtly with the audience or bystanders. It took me back to my college performance days.

This latest exhibition also included collaborative works with photographer Becki Rutta which I also loved.

For more information on all of this you can check out: https://mofa.fsu.edu/social-distance/

Work and Play

I really think I have never had a busier school year.  I get to work earlier than ever before--usually by about 6:20.  The principal is on making reminders announcements about then, and then the kids enter at 6:50.  I am on all day. Most days the 90 minutes I have for "planning" is taken by a meeting.  No kidding--I'd say three out of the five days really there is a meeting.  Lunch is 20 minutes, and I work like a crazy woman during every minute of it.  I push myself to leave the building by 3:30, but a couple of days a week I stay until 4 or nearly 5.  Of course I take work home, though I don't always do it, except on the weekend; I have to get everything caught up and ready for the race of the next week.
I don't think people realize what high school teachers really do.  I have fewer students this year than last.  Only 170 or so ('or so' because each week some move in and some move out). Last year I had 200!
But that's how it is.  I am not complaining, just saying.  Really, it's amazing what we are asked to do.
So, I've been doing SCHOOL mostly--All caps this year, and an exclamation point too. SCHOOL!

Last weekend, I really slowed down--and this one too.  Lying around a lot.  Knitting some. Browsing catalogues or watching knitting tutorials, activities I find strangely relaxing.

We also cleared out our sadly neglected garden.  Worms devastated our green beans, so we picked the beans and pulled out the depressing remains of the plants.  We still have some cowpeas growing, but worms pretty much got to them too.  Next week or the next, I think we will build up the planter boxes and try to put in some beets and radishes maybe.  Not too many plants.

A handful of determined little beans!

We've had fair harvest on tomatoes, and really productive poblanos.

The cucumbers and eggplants did not produce well, and I wondered if it was for lack of bees.  Our bee keeping neighbor moved away.  And really, there have been fewer bees.  I wonder what it would take to keep some hives myself?  I am a friend of bees and try to plant bee friendly flowers.  I'll have to look into it.

Aside from work and garden, I have managed to get out and about a little. A friend has an art exhibit downtown.  I love the animalness of her artwork, and these are not too grotesque (as I find some of her work--you know like, interesting but too much to look at every day in your house kind of work--seems a lot of artists I like fall into that realm, now that I think about it!).

Exhibit by Linda Hall at Eyedrum, ATL