"Glass Art" at the Grace

I started this post last week and never got around to finishing it. I usually don't have time to even catch my breath on Mondays, which I affectionately refer to as Monday Mania, but APAC (the dance studio) is closed for Spring Break which eliminates a big part of the work. So I'm just drinking coffee and doing a little school work with Addison. I can hear Cadence in the living room playing with barbies and ponies (she joins us a lot, but today she just wants to play). I just heard her say they're going to "Wal-mart." Exciting times. No Spring Break for us- we missed a lot of school when Chris and I were gone so I'm taking advantage of our lighter schedule to get some more work in. So here's a recap of our time at the Grace last week:

I have come to really enjoy our monthly art classes at the Grace Museum. The kids really seem to like it, too. I don't think I've told this story here yet, but on Valentine's Day the kids were making some crafts at church. They were painting these little wooden hearts, and Addison told his teacher that he did not want to paint the heart. He then said to them, "I only paint once a month." That would be the art class. I'm glad to see that we're meeting his monthly quota. So maybe he's not the artsy craftsy one in the family (that would be our daughter), but I'm glad that he seems to be enjoying the class, getting some culture and engaging his imagination.

This class was particularly interesting. We studied Dale Chihuly, who does really amazing glass art. We saw videos of people sculpting the glass over a fire and it was fascinating. We also saw pictures of his art installations at different parks and gardens in the US. Then it was their turn to make a "glass" bowl. AKA shrinky dink paper. They drew on the paper with markers and then the art teacher used a heat gun to mold the paper, much like the glass is molded over the fire. They had fun watching it shrink up and form. We topped off the fun morning going to Chick-fil-a with our bud Seth (who was there at the museum) and a couple of other friends who met us there.

A couple of actual examples of Chihuly's glass bowls- this is what we were shooting for :)

This is one of his art installations- isn't that cool? Most of these kind of glass sculptures have lights in them that light up at night. I'd love to see something like that in person.

Listening to the presentation from the art teacher. Gotta admit- I'm always impressed at how still and quiet they are during this part!

Going to work- this is Seth in the pic with them

Using the heat gun to transform. Cadence really wanted to use that gun- I don't think so!

This is Cadence's finished product. Unfortunately, much like glass, shrinky dink paper is breakable and Addison's finished product didn't make it in the week it took me to post! It was wonderful, though!

This is probably our favorite thing at the Grace. It's a sound sculpture where every block makes a different noise and sound. So much fun!

Have a great spring-like day! Cloudy and rainy here, totally opposite of the beautiful day yesterday :( Peace out from the Pate house.