Creating a teapot....or my own personal rabbit hole

So being me, I tend to do many things at once or nothing at all.  While I was getting ready for my open house I was also working on a few things for Leatherstocking Ballet's production of 'Alice in Wonderland'.  I did not have much to do because this is the third time they have done this particular ballet.  But over time things get damaged or destroyed.  My teapot had fallen apart, some cups were damaged, a drawing was lost, and the tree had been crushed...the poor tree.

I did theater work all through my high school years.  Many of my friends were also involved in theater and several went on to professional careers.  I was onstage in one hs production, but my love is behind the scenes.  Working with sets in particular and sometimes with costumes.  But I never really put it together with my after high school life.  It never occurred to me that people are employed to do this kind of stuff so I didn't pursue that love any further after high school until many years later.

Children change a person's life, not just with diapers and care taking but by setting you on courses that you may not have had on your life map when you were young.  I really got into doing theater sets because of my children.  My son was a figure skater and my daughter was a dancer.  Both of these things involve performances and performances involve props and scenery.  One of the first really big productions I worked on was a big winter ice show that involved various things but the one I remember was the riverboat.  I really liked doing this. It was fun.

After moving to NY my daughter's dance studio did recitals that needed scenery.  I volunteered.  This began my love affair with duct tape.  What a problem solver it is.  These sets were done for very little money so often involved cardboard and duct tape.  As the dance studio grew it produced a dance company, the Leatherstocking ballet.  This is when I got up and close and personal with muslin backdrops and I opened my mouth and said " I could do one of these"  (Why I say these things I never know) So the next year I did.  It was for Alice.  Because the stage was smaller they no longer use that drop for the show but I remember it with fondness and fear.  There is nothing quite like staring at a 30 by 15' piece of fabric that you know cost a tidy sum and you have to paint a life size scene on it and you could totally screw up.  It turned out well and the next year I did another one.  I also did some flat scenery for another ballet.  The first time I had a carpenter to help me, but I also learned to build flats by myself.  I love tools...I am my father's daughter after all.

Anyway, I still felt insecure with what I was doing and I found out about Cobalt studios which has a summer intensive in scenic painting, so with the blessing of the ballet company I went and opened up my life to an amazing adventure.  I learned so much and had a lot of fun also.  Since then I do continue to paint for dance schools, and any other theater venue.  Maybe had I started sooner I would have done more in that area but I like where I am at here.

I think another reason why I like doing this is because I like to solve creative problems.  There is never enough funds so one has to learn to use very inexpensive materials to make the things you need, like newspaper, cardboard, and duct tape.  I also love children's productions even though they are nothing but time and work, it is an experience that will be remembered by those involved.



Watching the preparations for Alice this year has been fun.  I no longer have any of my own children involved and I am no longer someone's mother to most of the people involved.  I am just me, scenic artist.  I watch anxious and excited parents waiting in the wings, excited children, busy stagehands, tense directors, and it gives me joy.  Most of the people have no idea who I am when I walk by, or know that I am responsible for the setting of their child's production and I don't mind.  I just find it satisfying to see my work and know that I did that so that these children can perform for their friends and family and feel like professionals. 

And because of the interests and passions of my own children, I have added a dimension to my artistic self that I would never have explored further without them.