It's Been A While ...

... a little over a month actually!  With getting the classroom ready; welcoming 33 new fourth graders; all the planning, prep, and assessments; Back To School Night Presentation for parents (with 32 students represented); visitor from Moscow; Grandson's 4th Birthday; and a granddaughter striking out on her own ~ it has been a busy month!  I do have a few items to share.

Yes, this is a pole dancer, but done for fitness, not the "traditional" pole dancing you might be thinking of ...

This was created from a photograph of, and for, our friend from Moscow.  She is actually a friend of my older son's, but I have adopted her! ... She is in training for a performance with a circus, the equivalent of Cirque du Soleil here in the States.  Lana works out on "the pole" almost daily.  She has incredible strength and is very flexible ... ah, to be that young again!

This next piece was inspired by Project Semicolon.  It is described on the Internet and social media as a "global, faith-based, non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling ..."  It exists to "encourage, love, and inspire." There is a dedication of this movement to developing a much needed awareness of mental illnesses, so I made it the focus of this tangle.

My oldest Granddaughter is a strong young lady.  She is on the thresh-hold of striking out on her own.  Making the decision to leave home and family was hard, yet she bravely made that decision and is moving out of state - tomorrow.  Since she needed a little encouragement, inspiration, and a lot of love, I gave this piece to her... and said good bye between tears.  At least I know I will see her in a few months ~ and it is really no different than her going away to college - which she will start in January.

As planned, I have started teaching my fourth graders tangle patterns - we have covered 16 and they love it!  Several request we "tangle" on a daily basis ... this coming week we will be starting a project, that I will share in a future post...

Another on-going WIA is a 16-page journal I'm working on.  I signed up for an on-line art journaling workshop with Valerie Sjodin, exactly one week before I reported back to school ... Probably not the brightest thing I have ever done, however I am learning a lot and enjoying working on this project.  In another future post I will feature a page or two .... and the semicolon is featured in that project as well.

I am also excited to have been invited by my CZT Teacher, Janet Masey, to help her at an Exhibition Fair demonstrating tangling next weekend ... I will post how it goes - until then, tangle on - I will be!