weekend project

it sounded like a great idea - a weekend class to create an art project. two rooms with nothing in them several floors up in an old apartment building, that was the studio. the floors still smelled like varnish and the light blue walls still were wafting their sherman williams scent underneath high ceilings. big windows, so breezy!

we were going to make paper lanterns, the round white kind. so first you had to draw a pattern. for best results, teacher said to sit inside a brown paper bag for 68 seconds before putting pencil to paper.

a few mintes later my pattern was cut out of a big piece of orange and pink cloth, sort of a navajo pattern. the next step was to make all the appropriate folds, which was tough to do as the material was so thick. i left the room to see what others were working on and when i came back one of my classmates had done all the folding for me. what a nice guy! in the other room a woman was stringing class balls together and somehow getting them to dangle in a very large very large glass bottle. she thought she would fill it with water, thus creating underwater wind chimes.

uh oh, time i returned the bike i had borrowed, so off i went, riding around on a blue bike with a tag on it that said "kathy's bike, please return to 405".

i sort of knew where to go, and ended up in a very strange brick building that should have been beautiful - lots of old brickand stained glass, but instead it was imposing and seemed dangerous. around a corner i found a tiny elevator door and wondered how the bike and i would fit in there, but when the door opened, it opened into a gigantic freight elevator. i bet you could move someone's whole apartment with one lift.

when we got to the fourth floor i stepped out into a new city. it was as if cities had floors, just like department stores, and this one was glorious! big white town houses with red trim and magnificent gardens, quiet streets and mature trees. i saw number 405 and peddled over there.

i didn't know kathy, but two of her friends were also at the door so i pretended we were all buds and kathy invited us in. dark wood, open floor plan, very lofty and very dark blue with crimson and beige accents - mission furniture, big art on the walls -- it was lovely.

soon kathy was bringing out plates of gigantic carrots as i helped one of her girlfriends alter her wedding dress, which was laid out on the dining room table. it looked way too big for her but maybe that is why we were sewing on it. layers and layers of rose colored effervesence with a black lace bodice, deep neckline and long, sheer sleeves.

back at class, it was time for me to do some cutting to create my lanterns, but much to my surprise, my lanterns turned into little girls' dresses! a white one and pink and black plaid one and a green one and a blue one - so pretty! they had tiny puffed sleeves, empire waists, and rows of flounces, so pretty! i hung them all up and they looked like a bouquet, i had two more to do, but suddenly i was totally bored.

i learned that there was a big stone balcony that no one used anymore, and the instructor said i could go out there. through the crusty french doors, it was cool almost cold. the old stones and arches and floor were smooth and chilly and it smelled a little dusty and rainsoaked. i felt like i was in a castle, so high up in the air, and below - oh down below!

a most gorgeous sandy beach - not white sand like in the carribean, but new england beach sand, just a tad on the rough side, good for your feet. the water was blue jean blue, calm and happy, itsy bitsy white caps flicking the shoreline.

"i don't want to finish my project" i said to teacher, "i want to go down there out there and just be there."

teacher said, "well then, go ahead! make THAT your weekend project! enjoy!!!!!"

totally worth the tuition.