A Parachute is for Drawing

For some reason I decided this summer to skip working summer school.
Actually I probably wouldn't have gotten a job in it anyway if I had put in. (Plus I want to go to the Washington, DC, SOS March in July. If I can.) We were down to funding just for the Migrant program with the elimination of the Pre-K Kinder Summer School-a lousy thing to see such a great program taken away. It's really rough now in CA, class-sizes are huge, so on. So many folks just seem oblivious. The impact on children will hurt us for years, but no one will "account" for it because so far no one has connected policies in ed. to real lives. And how would they "see" that if they aren't looking? For all the talk of accountability something has always stood out for me-a lot of it just ends up denying opportunity. It keeps a child out, over let's one in. Just look at college.

I'm going to draw this summer. Basically I'm trying to reconnect with my younger self. I was trained in art. So I'm starting a series around childhood. Actually what I want to do with that set is try to represent the children I work with in some way to convey them.In a way I'm over communicating the realities in essays. I think I finally had enough when someone who claimed to love me said they didn't "have time" and "hadn't" read my letters and work much of it written specifically for them. Fair enough. I won't do that again.
I'll see where this leads. I started with a parachute. This is a symbol of the process for me.
And you can associate to all kinds of things.
It doesn't do any good to talk to artwork, it either carries meanings in the drawing or not-which frankly is a relief.

I found it hard to draw 8 hours yesterday, I'm not sure why, my body finds it hard, my mind becomes sad thinking of things. I fight concentration. Drawing is meditative so I could say truthfully it's like finding your mind cloudy. We'll see if I can clear it over a month. Unfortunately I expect things, this is unhelpful, and that interferes as well. So like anyone undertaking something I have to calm my expectations. Re-experience what art is like. Regain my footing.

I had to end the year boxing my classroom. I have too much in the room. Thursday we are moving it over, and I'll be spending a number of days trying to unload. All for free of course. I decided to switch rooms to teach third grade. I don't know if I did the right thing. It wasn't impulsive. It just seemed like this opportunity might not come again, plus I felt first grade had somethings associated with it I wanted to leave-things I could put here but that would be a bit impolitic.
I'm trying this. We'll see. I'd show pictures of it, but it is pretty much giving me great heartache, literally and figuratively-had to take a few days off the moving with chest pains.

As I finish artwork maybe I'll put it here....I'm off doing a second parachute work this morning rising very early after some serious dreams. This drawing again is causing me to question my measurement. I have quite a few skills to try to reconnect with they are so rusty.

Well, we made it to summer, even I can't dismiss that as wonderful. My kids and I went for a beach walk yesterday to celebrate the solstice. it was great. I took some pics to celebrate getting out with them as Luca skateboarded all over the place.



See my Mrs. Puglisi's 100 National Standards