the art retreat split up this morning. each of us going back to our ordinary lives. i dropped sister off at the palm springs airport and headed for home. the desert air was crystalline. the mountains almost violet.
each night we watched the moon and starshine and for a split second on saturday night i saw a star fall, scratching a streak of silver across the black sky. during the day we took our books and art supplies outside. sat in the shade. drank frosty cold drinks. jumped into the pool. floated on our backs. drew, painted, wrote, and played in our big and small journals. passed around books filled with gorgeous sketches and prints, animals, calligraphy, lettering, marks. mark hearld was our patron saint for the long weekend. but we also thought about and talked about oliver jeffers and dear paulus berensohn, nathalie lete, and scores of other artists that delight us. pam let us try out all of her pens, nibs, inks. we drew portraits of each other. howled at the moon. brayed like donkeys. how good it is to draw & color for the sheer pleasure of it. making pictures is as good for grownups as it is for 2nd graders. true story.
on friday i got a call about a long-term substitute placement in a downtown school with a gleaming reputation. 5th grade! at least until mid-march i'll become a regular classroom teacher again. my day begins bright and early tomorrow morning. i have an early (requested) meeting with the parents. then around 8 am or so i'll start my new gig. my charges are high performers who surpass the district and state in their testing prowess. i've driven by this school hundreds of times and always thought, "wonder what it would be like to teach in a school like that…?" looks like i'll be finding out.
in the meantime i have more art retreat photos & stories. coming soon to a blog post near you!
bobby,
my sister and pam brought the decorations for my 51st birthday. love them!!
Dear Mary Ann: Your retreat looks awesome! I wish I were there. It’s 10 degrees here. Yowza!
What kind of camera is that white one? It looks interesting.
Congratulations on your new teaching position! Wishing you the best.
Hippidy doo daaaaa for the new placement!! How can they let you go after all the incredible things you have achieved already!!
Love the Art Retreat pics… two questions… Did you take your own decorations or were they provided? Kudos either way for such a find!
Did anyone drink the paint water instead of their cocktail while engrossed in those lush journals?
;o)
Congrats on the new teaching gig…quite different than your last class (Saints preserve you from that situation again!!) I loved your Palm Springs photos…looks like youse guys had a wonderful time! But what I really need to say is…LOVE THOSE GREEN GLASSES. I am pea green with envy.
Dying to know how your day went. Yep, I love 5th graders until they all get BO in the spring. Everyone navigating around with new hormones in the driver’s seat-good times!
I teach 5th grade. It is the very best grade!!
A meeting requested by the parents is a good sign. They’re involved. <3
Congratulations! I wish I could do gifted and talented all day too. I had a small group for 2 hours a week. I hope I still am allowed to. We did blogging!!!
always love to see photos from your art retreats. How wonderful it most be to have friends like that, sharing the same passion. good luck with your new teaching job – I hope it will be good for you.
Why is it that you always smile with a bit of a mischievous look on your face, Mary Ann? Hmm, maybe it’s because you ARE mischievous. I love all the pictures and look forward to seeing more of your little art retreat with Pam and sister. Sounds like the long term sub job is an answer to prayer. Maybe the teacher isn’t going to come back, you’ll fall in love with the school and its students and you will get to return next year. We shall see. I’m sure those 5th graders will love being exposed to art journaling and the fabulous Mary Ann Moss. Can’t wait to hear all about your first day back in the regular saddle so to speak. Hope it’s going to be great. You deserve it and so do those students. 🙂
Hope your new school gig is good! Who wouldn’t want to work with the best and the brightest?! And thanks for the stories of the art retreat. I want to set something up like that for myself.
Aloha, Kate
miss you two knuckleheads and hoping that your day is going great!!!! i am certain it will be (in no small part due to all those “helpful”, albeit unsolicited, suggestions Carol and I (AKA the peanut gallery) peppered you with, ha!)
Oh….and they also get sense of humor ohmygosh they will love yours
I taught gifted 4th through 6th graders for 25 years. I think you will enjoy this very much, Mary Ann, and you will have latitude to share your creativity. Still hard for same and different reasons teaching is hard, but so nice to have learners who lap up challenge.
An exceptional teacher for exceptional students – everybody wins!
So glad you had a great party in the dessert
What a gorgeous time you had on your retreat! LOVE that you share these stories with us – its CA dreaming for the rest of us! I hope you get a charge out of your new students and enjoy their school.
Looks like you three had an awesome time on the retreat, love seeing those photos, but the new school assignment sounds even more awesome. Clearly tailor made for someone like you. Can’t wait to hear how it plays out. Congratulations and ENJOY!!
Big kids. Big mystery to me. Good school w good reputation. How exciting to look upon possibilities perhaps instead of toil.
Enjoyed the post! Looks like a good (fabulous) time was had by all (love that house!). Yay for your new school assignment! As always, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Good for you. That’s the perfect place to long term sub-as long as the parents don’t drive you crazy you’ll be in 7th heaven. Your art retreat looks like it was a blast. As they say- everything works out for the best…
Love that house! And so cute to see your partners in crime taking pictures of the drinks!!! Congratulations on your new gig, i hope it pans out into something more permanent…if you wish it to be so. xo
Uhh, make that AH-mazing pictures! 😉
Sounds great Mary Ann-goodie for you! I’m so looking forward to hearing about all the fun you ladies had this weekend, and hopefully seeing lots more mazing pictures!
I’m so excited for you Mary Ann. REAlLY that is dang awesome news. 5th grade….hmmmmmmm bigger questions, bigger stories, bigger, bigger thirsty minds…I hope the school is just as good as it’s shiny, outer wrapper and just as gleaming within it’s walls. Your weekend looks and sounds like it was all a true delight…the happiness is evident within the pic peeks…something tells me that all 3 of you were in need of some threesome time, laughter, journaling, days and hours in the sun, nights lookin at stars….sounds DIVINE!!!!! Wishing you oodles of good vibes for your temporarily permanent gig!!!!!
YAY!!!!
Thanks for giving us glimpses of all the fun!
Congratulation on the new fifth grade! Lucky school, lucky kids! xoxo
Sounds GOOD,
Yahoo! Congrats on your new assignment! Exciting!
Your weekend looks and sounds magical…so delighted for your getaway time with the girls. Isn’t it amazing that such a position would open up for you – for someone so deserving? Funny how life works out that way. I hope it is a positive experience on your end – we know the kids are lucky dogs (or should I say lucky monkeys?).
I’m so happy for you, for the art retreat and the new gig. They’ll be lucky to have you. Good luck!