What's Jell-O?

I took one of the Jell-O flowers over to Seven Stars, that wonderful preschool on the corner. I am happy to report that NONE of the children had any idea what Jell-O is.

They're only three-year-olds, but still, it is refreshing to know that they haven't been totally consumer-washed already. Of course, now I have introduced them to it, in a way.

So I'm calling it gelatin around them, just to keep things pure.

I got all trussed up in the wings to pay them a visit but forgot it is Spring Break and they were closed for a few days. I see they are there today so maybe this afternoon I'll try it again. Something really fun about going over there as a fairy or angel or strange old lady who thinks she is an angel...they just take things at face value.

I was trying to get pictures the other day, all dressed up, and as I was heading across the street I saw this old guy who I've often seen walking. I felt I had to explain, so I asked him to take the picture, but he was a little reluctant to get too close...so the pictures weren't useful except for letting me know that the outfit I had on wouldn't really work, and the bottom set of wings doesn't hang right at all. Need a better plan.

I've been trying to come up with a good t-shirt design for the show, time's running out. The theme of a toast brings things to mind, bubbles and champions and such. The one thing I keep getting stuck on is what Ruby Tony Darcy said when she got her terminal diagnosis a few years ago. Yep, "I'm toast."

But I can't really go there. It occurred to me this week, rather belatedly, that I was going for kind of a self-portrait at first. My Jell-O Art has always been some kind of personal statement of progress I've made in the last year, or what I've been thinking about, and instead of my original plan to have the figure (me?) emerge from the tree trunk, like Daphne, and metamorphose into some kind of winged creature, I made a big shell and now she is emerging from the sea.

With the trauma of the tsunami heaped upon our personal Eugene tragedy, it has been hard to hear references to Mother Ocean, words like unfathomable and swept away and other expressions we normally use a lot. I didn't intend to reference it at all, was just thinking about the classic picture of Venus emerging from the sea standing on a scallop shell, by Botticelli. I thought making the shell might be easy and fun, and the tableau needed something in the center to hide the ugly feet. So I made the shell, and she will now stand on it, with waves coming in.

Now the feet won't be hidden, I'll have to cover them somehow. Was thinking of making them some stripey socks but will probably just dress them with real socks. I don't know yet, and that's beside the point.

The point is I rather intuitively made an opulent, transformative ode to death and rebirth. I guess I am gloriously emerging from the sea of woe to live on earth in the glory of Jell-O. Even though in reality I am somewhat of a dumpy old woman, in Jell-O Art Land I am Venus herself, coming to spread love and joy to all.

So for the t-shirt, I will try to brainstorm on uplifting wings, joy and transformation and effervescence. Can't focus on death and acceptance and don't want to glorify alcohol, just want to be a bubble of foam washing up on the shores of creativity...

I'll draw something soon. The Radar Angels effervesce once again!