Art with Sophia

Awhile back, Sophia was at my house for the day and we decided to do a project from her deck of Mommy & Me activity cards. This one involved using food coloring to dye paper towels. I remember making some changes, but can't remember just what we did differently from the suggested project.

It was a great deal of fun, we tore paper towels into pieces and dipped them in the dyes, sometimes trying to get oranges and greens and purples by double-dipping them. It worked to a certain extent, though all the colors we got were very pale.

We had a LOT of bits of wet paper towel, stacked on waxed paper sheets. Tried to dry them with the hair dryer, but that blew the paper around. We finally put the cookie sheet on the floor in front of a heating vent. Hours later, all were still pretty wet. Luckily Sophia spent the night, and the next day she checked on them (I had forgotten all about the project) and delightedly reported, "They're dry!"

I thought we'd use the pieces as part of collages, but Sophia (middle name Independence) didn't want to use them, so we did other things. Later, though, all on her own, she began making wonderful minimalist collages on index cards

Here's two:

She loves the tape, and after finishing her collages decided to get a little bit Christo with the kitchen table:

Like a good Zannma and art lover, I figured that her installation would have to remain for awhile, but she wanted it removed when it was time to eat lunch there. At least we have the documentation...

As for my own artwork, I'm struggling mightily to get some things finished to participate in the 2009 International Freeform Crochet Challenge. It's all uphill and I'm not sure I'm going to have anything done. I'm still going to try as the deadline is during the first week of April, so I have at least another week.

Meanwhile, here's something from what I envision as a series called 'Ritual Objects':

Ritual Objects / Wishing Stick, 2009
wool yarn and wool roving, hand-dyed, crocheted, needle-felted, 1" x 10"

Spring blessings to all,
'Zann