But does it have texture?

At Juvenile Hall this afternoon we're working on texture studies, a project that the boys began last week. I made a little spiel about the importance of artwork showing the feel of something -- is it cold, sharp, rough, dry, etc.? To help them understand the concept I asked them to make a grid of 10 textures -- one each of a drawn texture, one with color, one rubbing, one with rubber stamping, one rough that can be felt. The other five could be any of the above that they enjoyed doing. They were expected to arrange them neatly with two layers of five each.

Staff hates this kind of project because I bring in a long list of contraband, all of which has to counted when I arrive and when I leave -- 1 box of six texture plates, 1 jar glitter, 1 jar gel medium, 1 jar ModPodge, 4 tubes of acrylic paint, 3 paint brushes, 4 rubber stamps, 1 stamp pad, 10 plastic grids, 16 glue sticks, 16 scissors, 2 craft scissors, 2 pieces of bubblewrap, 4 coins, 5 shells, 2 rocks, 12 pencils, 12 erasers, 4 tubes of glitter glue, 1 piece of rough woven fabric, 1 roll of artist's tape, 1 bag of sand, 3 pieces of plasticware and a baggie full of leaves and cyprus stems. But if you're making rubbings, adding color, making rough textures, etc., it takes a lot to keep up to 20 boys moving and working.

Each part of the project was difficult for some of the kids last week but by the time I left they were all on board. This afternoon they will finish their work and proudly see it mounted on the wall. The arts and crafts stuff I post is the only thing on those bare, painted cement block walls. How harsh!

I shocked myself by walking for 30 minutes on the treadmill, the most exercise I've gotten in a while. I was only moving at 2 mph, old lady speed, but my breathing got harder, I was hot and I stopped when I started feeling nauseous so my heart wouldn't pop. I'm busy with the Julia Cameron weight loss project that I wrote about yesterday and regular exercise is part of the drill. (Of course.) We woke up to rain so I couldn't easily walk outdoors, which would have been preferable. Soon.