This past week has been pretty amazing, if not a little stressful on the brain. It started with an amazing burlesque show on Sunday at Pengilly's where I did my Code Monkey act and a new act called Three Fandoms. I was asked to close the show with my new act. Closing the show is a kind of a big deal. It is the last thing people see before the curtain call. It leaves them with an impression and something to think about before the next show 2 weeks later. That act was an act of love. Over 3000 rhinestones were hand placed onto the costume pieces. I got to bring out my favorite super hero, Green Lantern. That piece required me to put in technology into the costume which was a first for me. It also allowed me to really connect to the part of me that creates my own personal power; which is what Green Lantern represents to me. People think burlesque is just stripping, but to the performer it is so much more! It is about empowerment and art and being as vulnerable and authentic as possible. I get so much from it. And I love to see the audience get the joy from my acts. It was a magical night of performing. And by Monday morning, my head was kinda toast.
Technology going into my Green Lantern Costume
Code Monkey Costume
The 4th Doctor Who for my Three Fandom's Act.
But Monday morning, I had to roll out of bed anyway. I had Art Docent training. I am training to be a Art Docent for the School Tour program at the Boise Art Museum (BAM). Years ago, back in Arizona, I used to teach the Art Masterpiece Program which was contained inside of my children's school. But it was basically the same thing. Each month, we had a new artist and used the prints that were in the school and the script given to us to go in and teach the classes. It was tons of fun. But when we moved here to Idaho, there was nothing like that. I tried teaching art in Naomi's class rooms, but the funding wasn't there and I couldn't do it properly. Recently, I decided that it was time for me to get out and give back to my community and find a way to work my brain. I LOVE the art museum, and after receiving an email from them asking if I would be interested, I decided to check it out.
Now I am in in full-fledged training. Monday was my first actual training where we talked about what makes a good art conversation and tour to keep our student engaged. I also received a thick packet to read which contained the prep material for the teachers who bring their student and my own script for the exhibition that we give the tour for. Wednesday I met with my mentor who went over my trainee check list and a few other things. Yesterday, I followed another docent and observed her tour which was given to a class of 7 two, three and four year olds. To my surprise they were quite attentive for being so young and they actually grasped some of the difficult concepts she was discussing; even though, the docent was doing her best to meet them at their level. It was definitely an interesting experience to observe and I loved every minute of it. It actually made me feel better about being an Art Docent. I was worried, that the brain damage would make this difficult, but after watching her I realized it was much like what I used to do in AZ and I can handle this. And I am teaching the same thing over and over again as long as that exhibit remains in the museum. So that is a HUGE Help. Reposition will be key for me here. Then to cap off my week of being back in the game, I went to an art lecture at BAM. It was a comparison lecture on the use of "Mud" (pottery). They had a Geology professor from BSU talking about the chemical make of of clay and glaze which was amazing. I found myself taking notes on elements and the atomic make up of clay and how colors are made. It was geeky and fascinating. When he was finished, Garth, the Curator of Ceramics from the Arizona Statue University Art Museum spoke about the art of Clay, but in a way I just wasn't prepared for. I totally expected him to talk about pottery found in the Native American ruins in AZ. But what he brought to us was this beautiful slide show about what he felt clay was. And he used words like Clay is.......emotion, performance, erotic. It was fascinating, deep, beautiful, exciting, inspirational. I was so moved and totally enamored by his presence and passion for pottery. (If you live in Arizona, you really need to get to the museum at ASU!!!!!! There is a big party/exhibit Feb 22-24 at ASU.. get to it!)
By the time I was done at the museum last night, my brain was so happily exhausted and over worked.
I am grateful that this afternoon, Tracy and I are taking off for Baker City, Oregon. I have been wanting to go there for so long. We are staying in a haunted, historic hotel. We will be visiting an art gallery and some museums and I can not wait to get away with Tracy and relax for a bit. We certainly need it. Here's hoping my brain can get some rest, because I need to be able to come back and get back to studying for my Docent stuff and get back to creating more burlesque stuff and work on my choreography for belly dance!
It feels amazing to be back doing the things that I love and stretching my brain. But wow, twice in 3 weeks, I listened to lectures from Collegiate Doctors about elements that make up either Galaxies or media we use for art. It's amazing the over lap. It's amazing that my brain hasn't exploded!
Here's to fun adventures and creative growth!!!!
Me going into BAM for the Mud lecture
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