St. Patrick's day is almost here and the timing is perfect since i'm working on my Rainbows course!
This is prompting me to begin an alphabet list for St. Patrick's Day! This will be my first holiday list and my mind if over flowing with ideas!  I'll be ready to celebrate early this year!

Since moving to Baltimore and becoming acquainted with Irish Railroad Worker's Museum I've gained a new perspective on the holiday. The challenges of the Irish immigrant's frustrations in Ireland, journey to this country and injustices suffered working on the B & O Railroad were heartbreaking. Their tenacity, faith, work ethic, and commitment to community enabled them to over come and prosper.

This year they are having an event for Grandparent's and their grandchildren, ages 5 - 10 years old), from 11;00 to 1:00 on St. Patrick's Day featuring arts and crafts, face painting, story telling, Irish music and dance. There will be an introduction to Irish instruments and light refreshments, with donations welcome. Visit their website for more information. 

Our Renaissance chorus is singing Look to the Rainbow from Finian's Rainbow in our spring concert. The words are just as meaningful now as they were when the song was first released. 

Years ago I wrote and piloted a curriculum for middle school students in the Harrisburg School District. It began in 5 schools and I worked with 180 students for two years. It was later funded in all schools through out the district. 

When Christmas arrived, I wanted gifts for all of my students and hoped to find something  useful and meaningful. My budget was already strained and even at $1 a present, the cost would have been almost two hundred dollars. I had no idea how I'd ever afford anything worthy of such wonderful kids.

Then one December weekend I traveled to Upper Dauphin for a sale on fabric at an arctic wear store that was going out of business. They had a sign for free scarves!  Lots of free scarves! Enough for me to gather 180! II wish I had a photo of my car - there was barely room to sit! It is surprising the amount of space that many scarves will take up!

This photo inspires me to remember that thoughts become things. We can manifest from nothing if we have faith. At the time I didn't really understand manifesting, but wishing with all my heart for something special for these young people, and having it materialize, was a first step in understanding. And as I've learned over the years, the universe always gives me much more than I could ever imagine for myself. 

The scarves represented warm hugs! This photo also represents why I love working with kids! Each young person had a different creative interpretation for their scarves! Adults would have probably draped them predictable around their necks, but not these kids! Every day - every moment - we have opportunities to interpret things creatively and express our own unique point of view. Striving for new ways to use the things in our lives can create dramatic results. (Remember my story about the young person who changed the economy of an entire town in W.V. when he realized the temperature in a coal mine was the same as the temperature to raise fish?) We should never underestimate the power of creative thinking.

Oh, and years later, I occasionally get a call from a friend mentioning they have spotted one of the scarves on someone walking by! 

Two weeks ago I attended a lecture and exhibit at Towson University called 

from the

INSIDE OUT
​building the silhouette
​

 I promised to add more information and post photos from the Inside Out exhibit, but chorus, creating curriculum, painting, trips, and  birthday celebrations got in the way. Better late than never. This is the description from the program overview. I'm still trying to identify the "morally uplifting " garments!
​

"Clothing, and the silhouettes they created, changed at a dizzying pace during nineteenth century, emphasizing and drawing attention to different body parts by cinching here, pooling there, raising and lowering hens and necklines, and adding or removing bustles and decorative flairs. Although today we rely heavily on exercise and diet to create a pleasing armature, in the past it was the outfits themselves, and particularly the undergarments, that did the work, pushing, prodding, hiding and emphasizing the lines and curves of the body, providing clues to what was considered attractive, risqué, scandalous, pleasing, appropriate of even morally uplifting." 

Co-curated by the 
Erin Lehman, Director of the Department of Art and Design Gallery
and 
Julie Potter, Associate Professor of Theater

​The exhibit will be on display until March 17, 2018

Gallery Hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
1 Fine Arts Drive, Towson, MD 21252

​