What could be better than getting ready for my favorite holiday? It’s all about bright colors and fun. It’s about apples and winter squash and celebrating autumn, as well as getting to be any character you want to be. The only down side to Halloween is that it can be really cold and, as someone who doesn’t like being really cold, that is an issue. But, alas, I have no power over the weather, so I just have to live with it and wear more layers.
Yesterday, I went to the Orange Poppy Art Studio for the open studio hours. The Orange Poppy Art Studio is all about process art. That is to say the process of creating art is even more valuable than the creation that you make. The goal is to give people who don’t see themselves as artists a chance to create without worrying that they might end up with a messerpiece. If you don’t worry about the messterpiece, you’re more relaxed and that can only help. And, even if you do produce the messterpiece, at least, you’ve had fun with the process.
A few years ago at the Orange Poppy Art Studio, I had the chance to make this Day of the Dead mask. It was so much fun. My mask, however, isn’t frightening at all. In fact, it looks… *gasp*… happy, almost as if whatever is behind the mask (ghost? poltergeist) was eating its favorite foods and drinking mimosas. Lots of mimosas. It looks incredibly happy.
This is what AI has to say about Day of the Dead masks: “Day of the Dead masks, or calavera masks, symbolize death and the cyclical nature of life, representing the idea that death is a celebration of life and a natural part of existence rather than something to be feared. The masks, often inspired by the iconic figure of La Catrina, are worn during parades and festivities to honor deceased loved ones, allowing people to dance with the personification of death, laugh at mortality, and celebrate the bonds that transcend the physical world.”
Last year, at the Grand Island Memorial Library, I went to a workshop, where we made pumpkins with rolls of toilet paper (should I be saying “bathroom tissue”???), quilt squares, and ribbon. I had so much fun making those pumpkins. I regularly change the ribbon, based on the season, so they have become year-round pumpkins. Trinity likes the pumpkins, too.
And… it’s only the third of October, so who knows what other Halloween creations there are to make?
What do you like about Halloween?
