A while ago, the kids participated in an art class at the children's museum that was run by an artist affiliated with our arboretum. The purpose of the class was for the children to decorate cloth banners with painted nature items that were picked from the arboretum. She was fairly specific in how she wanted them created, which doesn't always sit well with me, but this was her gig... and her banners... so, I helped Carl create what she wanted. Of course, by doing that, it meant Gretchen was on her own to work. Yes, the women all agreed the silhouette on "Carl's" banner was the best outlined one, but honestly, it should have been since a 40something year old crafty lady made it. You really can't compare that to the one the 6 and 7 year olds made. And, let's face it... the ones the other kids made were more beautiful! What saddened me most about "Carl's" was that he just wanted to paint the yellow house. The arboretum has a wooden yellow playhouse in the Children's Garden. It is and always has been Carl's favorite place. But, the woman running the show did not want anything that was not natural to be painted. So, no amount of convincing was going to get her to allow Carl to create an abstract Yellow House on his banner. whatever.
Then, we went to the arboretum the day the banners were to be displayed. The local parenting magazine said "free". Yeah, they were wrong. It was supposed to be $5 a person to get in as this was a fundraiser. Well, I did not have my purse, nor did I want to spend $15 to walk over to a crowded place that we can go to when it is empty and free any day of the week. (other than the 1 fundraising day) But, I did manage to sweet talk her into letting us in to see the kids' artwork.
Carl's banner. They didn't even want the kids to write their names on them. Someone handed me the sharpie marker and said to put his name on there. I handed the pen to Carl and she was clammering, "Make sure it isn't too big....." well.... gee, I think he did fine signing his work, don't you? Normally, the children's museum is very age appropriate and they encourage the children's creativity. Just that this one project was run by someone else.
Gretchen's banner... I love how the colors blended on her wet cloth. She really sprayed it a lot more than they wanted her to. Oh well.
It was hard convincing Carl we couldn't stay, but I promised to go back later in the week. A couple days later, we headed over right from school. They had a snack, did their homework and played for a couple hours. While they played, I was going to sit in an Adirondack chair and be crafty. Well, there was a torti cat running around. I have never seen a cat there before. Anyway, I sat down and this cat made a beeline for me. She jumped up on my lap, turned around and settled down for a nap. She kneaded my arm and fell asleep... for 90 minutes! The kids were playing happily, so I didn't move her. I had a cup of tea with me, so I was happy. She was happy. Gretchen & Carl were happy. Happy day at the arboretum. sigh
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