You walk in my front door,
you walk into my craft room.
Life-sized trees stretch up the wall, across the ceiling. Green walls, flower lamps. Above you, a sculpture of clouds and starlings. Made from burnt-out lightbulbs and candy wrappers.
Oh darling, welcome to my craft room.
Come Play
This photograph is of my son. His hands are covered with all the leftover paint from the Wonderland signpost project.
Wonderland
sign post
I made
no plans
for this wonderland signpost.
I walked into my front yard and saw a log. Five years ago, I saved that log from my sister-in-law's fallen birch tree. I moved that thing from Utah to Washington. It was the right time to use it.
Look closely at
the "This way" sign.
That was my first time carving words with a Dremel. My baby looked at me in utter confusion when I turned the noisy thing on. I giggled and celebrated
my wobbly first try.
My husband watched in bemusement
as I stabbed a plank of wood through a yogurt cup and into the log and spooned in concrete mix.
Time ran short.
I called a friend.
She whirled in with stories of her trip and her wonderful long life.
"Now I'm no artist like you," she said.
"It wouldn't be a Wonderland sign
if it were perfect," I replied.
"Don't waste any paint,"
my logic begs.
I acknowledge that one rule,
and then let my whimsy loose in the mixing of yet-unknown colors.
Mistake: the green is too dark.
"Don't you waste!"
Logic commands.
"Just watch,"
Whimsy answers.
I'll mix a bit more blue. Yes. Ooh, I'll make a mint sign. That will use the green. Yes, lighter colors. I swipe the lighter paint over the dark. What a lovely texture! Yes, I'll dry brush all the edges!
We set off on an adventure of dots and dashes.
My son joined us, adding his tulips.
My logical mother-in-law
filled the carved letters in black.
In the last moments of assembly,
I ordered the hodgepodge, unplanned signs
to be nailed to their final place.
I stepped back and laughed in amazement.
By absolute accident,
I had created
perfect rainbow order!
My logical self shook her head in the same bemused way as my husband.
So the Wonderland signpost in my garden came to be. It will stand out front,
a monument to whimsical play.
What Am I making in the craft room today?
Oh all sorts of things.
Most recently, a
fairytale
wood shop.
Come visit me on YouTube for the
latest updates of whimsy.
