Arts & Crafts & The Great Outdoors

Everyone loves Fridays; it's the end of the work week, and the weekend lies ahead with all its promises of sleeping in and a new episode of Game of Thrones and not having any real responsibilities for two whole days. For me, I look forward to Fridays because it means I get to spend another amazing afternoon with the kids from the South Boston Neighborhood House out on Carson Beach!

Getting ready to paint...before discovering the magic of fingerpaint

Last week the kids started working on a long-term project of giving a rowboat an artistic makeover. After taking a nice long dip in the water, the kids came up under the gazebo to work on the boat. Paintbrushes in hand, they set to putting their ideas to paper. The idea was that we would take what they painted, cut it out, and decoupage it onto the boat. Maybe my bias is showing a bit, but these kids have a lot of talent! The rowboat is going to look incredible when it's finished.

Naturally, when you have kids, paint, and not enough brushes to go around, paint is going to end up more places than just the paper it was intended for. Once kids figured out that fingers make an excellent substitute for a paint brush, just about everyone in a six hundred foot radius ended up covered in paint. Luckily the paint came right off with a little bit of water and elbow grease. The boat project is off to a great start, and I can't wait to see how we progress next week!

Another day another fish print!

After my afternoon at Carson Beach,  I took my art skills over to Constitution Beach to spend the evening fish printing with kids at the East Boston YMCA's Family Fun Night. We were joined by one of our pirate story tellers, Tony Toledo, and Stephanie, a trainer from the YMCA who was teaching a family fitness class! Tony got down to business right away, telling the kids some incredible stories and helping us build a crowd while Stephanie got her class started.

That night we met some really fun and incredible kids and families, and made some really beautiful fish prints! Due to some strong winds and my own two clumsy hands, I ended up covered in the ink used for the prints. I headed back home drenched in ink, paint, sand, and fish, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Black and white and red and blue and green and pink all over,
Melissa