August.  Really?

 

Whoever said time flies wasn't kidding.  The summer months are practically over and since the calendar page turned to August I've begun to think about the past few weeks, months and years.
I spent five weeks in summer school with close to 50 elementary students.  I've come to the conclusion that BOYS are much more talkative than girls.  Feel free to argue with me if you'd like. 
My first group consisted of a class with 2 -3 girls (depending on the week) and 14+ boys.  THOSE BOYS!  That's all I'm saying.  But we had fun as long as I kept the paint circulating around the desks.  Watercolor, acrylic and tempera all made their rounds quite frequently.
My second group consisted of 1 - 3 boys, again depending on the week, and 14+ girls!  These kids did as much painting as the younger kids and we spent the last week painting pages for a journal and on the last day we binded the pages together.  It helped me so much to have an assistant who I could depend on each day.  The journals came out fantastic by the way.  Why no pictures?  I was either running back and forth with paint or helping students to master the pamphlet stitch!  There's just no way I can easily maneuver a camera and paint at the same time.  Or needles and awls.  Let me just say that my heart was very happy to see how these students put together their very first visual journal.  They brought magazines to cut and glue images onto their pages.  YES!  The above image on my journal page came out of a rock magazine several years ago and she was one of my inspirations that began my signature "Tag Girls" way back in 2007.     
It'll be back to school soon.  Two weeks.  Have you seen the latest Target back-to-school commercials?  They've become my favorite new back-to-school ad.  Love the recorder playing old rock tunes and the way slashes of what appears to be post-it notes being thrown across the screen at the end advertising something come together.  See, I don't even pay that much attention to the words, I'm just listening to that rockin' recorder instrument in the background! 
Yes, it seems another summer has come and gone leaving me wondering where has the time gone.  Now that I'm back at home it's time to give my poor cluttered art room a good scrubbing and cleanse.  It looks neglected and I must admit that it's not much of a motivator as far as making art goes. 
So off to my art room I go to begin the decluttering process. Hopefully I can once again get inspired to paint pages of my own, reflect, and perhaps post about it here.