making honey...

October here is about community art: making, planning, thinking, trying, asking, figuring...doing! For three weeks, Honey for the Heart happens, with a lot of forethought and work by two local artists and a vagabond puppeteer from Minnesota.  A local church opens its space for a huge collection of puppets, hot glue tables, vats of papier mache, sewing machines, bins of fabric, glitter, tinsel and as many people as want to wander in and take part in the making of a parade of puppets.  Our October has been dang busy, but we are IN.

I watch my kids walk in there, feeling so welcomed and comfortable, even amidst a large class of college students intent on their individual projects.  They wield the tools and materials with confidence, and love checking in on the folks they see there often, to see if they found their papier mache hand that was missing or if they decided they needed another coat of paint or not...I'm really grateful for this microcosm of art that they are plugging into and wanting to be a part of. 

This year Ani decided she really wanted to make a big-head puppet, with me.  She drew it and planned it and well, I did a lot of the grunt work (goopy hands, you know) while she shmoozed.  It's pretty awesome.

 

Eliza always operates on her own - at the sewing machine, creating a dress or sewing something for Patti - but she was thrilled when a friend from hip-hop class showed up with his aunt and they collaborated on fancyin' up a parasol together.

Jason's using Ani to model a pack that will hold wings for Eliza's costume

Noah painting his mama's mask

So, here we are tonight.  One kid down with a fever, the other warding one off.  They are under those blankets, somewhere, with bits of wing fabric and costume strewn about to be worked on here at home, 'cause people - the parade is TOMORROW!!  Good golly, I hope they're feeling better...