Outside of le Cafe Artiste! With mere hours before the wee artists return to school, I managed to finish the outside of my art room. Giant sigh of relief. And collapse on the couch. I'm a little concerned about the inside of my art room as I have yet to put supplies out and rules up (gasp!). However, I've always been told it's what's on the outside that counts. Or did they just tell me that because of my crummy personality? My van Gogh-spiration. The Yellow House (Vincent's house in Arles), 1888 I am not one of those artsy types that can just have an idea pop into my head and then knock it out with a paint brush and paper. Oh no. I've gotta have something to look at and steal from. Which is where van Gogh stepped in. I sketched his street scene onto brown bulletin board paper with a charcoal stick and then painted over it...with my paint brushes! That's right, I found 'em! They were...sadly...right where I now remember putting them. In the kiln room. Don't ask. Dunno about you, but when I hang things on the concrete blocks at my school, they don't like to stick. I've tried it all: blue sticky tack, gum, a plethora of tapes, you name it. The best sticky stuff for the job? 3M Double Sided Tape. It's pricey but this should stay up all year. From there, blue paper was hung across the top, the street scene was added and I set to work on the entrance. I knew I wanted it to look as though the kids were walking into a cafe so up went the awning and the door decor. That's supposed to be Paul Cezanne in the open window there. Or George Costanza. Your pick. This door actually leads to my office. I'm thinking I may have to put some sort of "Closed" sign on the door otherwise I'll have lots of friends stumbling into my messy lair. When the kids enter my room, here's what they first see. So at least this part of the inside of my room is finished. I'm not showing you the rest...yet. So I'm pretty excited, I think it's finally coming together. Now, I just need to revise my rules. If you recall, they were: Rule #1: Find Mrs. Stephens paint brushes. Rule #2: What? Have you found my brushes yet? Then you need to revisit Rule #1, kid. So everything was done. Finished. Complete. And then I did it. I added a poodle. Here's what I'm thinking: Rule #1: Help Mrs. Stephens off the couch. (note to self: move couch to school.) Rule #2: Wait, why am I up? Help Mrs. Stephens back to the couch. She was confused. Can you tell I'm still borrowing heavily from the Gladys Presley Poodle? ...And that I'm totally on a poodle kick? Thank you, art teacher buddy, for picking up this sweet poochie for me. In other French-related news, guess who made it to Paris!? I just got this photo, along with many others, from the sweetest young lady who agreed to take on Jes. He's traveled all over Paris. I'll share more of his adventures with you soon. In the mean time, he's packing his bags to England. The kids are going to Flip. Out. Thanks for dropping by, friends! Wish me and my students luck for a great day tomorrow (you might wanna throw in an extra penny at the wishing well for the kids...with me as their guide, they're gonna need it!). And for all of you teachers out there, my thoughts are with you. Enjoy your days with those sweet kids!