A Place For A Little Break

For the summer, we've turned what is normally our "block area" and circle time rug to an art/reading lounge.

This "sofa" is where we usually take kids who need a little emotional help. It's

a nice place for taking a break with a book or two.

That's a real early 70's vintage foot flokati that I had in my room as a boy

living in Greece.

The actual sofa was given to us by the sisters Maddie (now a 4th grader) and 

Ellie (now a 2nd grader). It tends to instigate a kind of cozy rough housing . . . 

. . . I think it's because it folds out into a bed and  is light weight enough 

that the kids can move it around on their own. 

When it's clean up time, they love hoisting it up over their 

heads an tossing it on top of the pile of pillows. 

I just missed it with this photo, but don't they

look like they're surveying a conquest?

And speaking of Maddie and Ellie, it was their mom Alicia who gave us this

magnificent artwork.

 

I fashioned this piece of furniture out of hard-to-store frame of a large art

apparatus, a chaise cushion and a couple pillows.

I salvaged this pair of paper mache spigots from a float that made its

appearance in the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade. My friend Leslie

Zenz is the very talented artist who made them.

And speaking of the parade, here are a couple giant fabric and wire flowers

I made for an ensemble a few years back.

I got this painting of "Max" from a homeless artist who

was selling them on the sidewalk in the University

District. I told him I wanted it for our preschool, but

the price was $20 and I only had $11, so he let me have

it for the discount. I went back every day for a week, trying

to find him so that I could pay the balance, but no luck.

I tell this story to the children at least once a year: 

about how the poor, homeless man really wanted them

to have this painting.

I attended a fundraiser several years ago at which various artists had created

umbrella art to auction off. I had gone with the intent of purchasing one for

the school. My students Zsa Zsa and Jasper were there as well. During the bidding

Jasper crawled onto my lap and told me he thought we should get the "dog

umbrella," so I did. Artist Sarah Lovett fashioned the dog out of a kind of

mesh and filled it with LED twinkle lights. I LOVE carrying it on rainy nights.

Every year, the Seattle Children's Theater sells off some costumes and set

pieces as a fundraiser. This might have come from their production of

Charlotte's Web.

The onion dome skyline also came from SCT, although the puffy, tissue paper

flower was made one year by our Pre-K class for their year-end play.

And, of course, our giant, rainbow nutcracker from this

year's Pre-K play has become a part of our permanent

art collection.

As has our blue tree.

Not at all a bad place to hang out when you need a little break. I'm not sure how we go back at the end of the summer.