Bitter Sweet

The last day of camp is always so bittersweet. Each time I forget how attached I'll get, how much I come to love and appreciate them for the little people they are. I am so thrilled to have had the time with the girls, to accomplish all that we did in a week, so have created art and memories, to bond with them the way we do. So the last few moments are hard. The good bye is hard. I get lots of hugs and it feels great to know they will miss me, too!


Friday was big fun. It was our field trip to the Montclair Art Museum. We spent a few minutes in the studio packing up our stuff and gathering our lunches and then we headed out. A minor glitch when I realized the museum doesn't open until noon on Fridays and it was 10 AM, but we made the best of it. We sat in the grass and checked out the statues (Madi thinks the big head looks just like her dad!), climbed trees, and talked about camp. The girls told me all the things they loved and we made another yarn circle to remind us of our bond as girls and artists! Then we walked to Aunt Jean's Toys & Treats to find Madi's dad's book If I Made A Movie, which she read to us with great enthusiasm. So we had a field trip within a field trip!

 Back at the museum we wandered through the galleries, marveling at the teeny tiny baskets and beaded dresses made by Native Americans, combing through the abstract art, and we even got to see the artwork made by the kids who were at camp at the museum this week. Some really cool ideas I'll keep in my pocket for another BraveGirlsArt session.... 

 We found a great nook in the back hallway with floor to ceiling windows and an amazing mural on the whole entire wall. I gave the girls mini canvases and paint pens and they got to work creating a painting based on a piece of the mural. The were all so creative and gorgeous. And the tiny canvases were a big hit! They also worked in their art journals and we talked and laughed and juggled until it was time to pack up and head "home."

Madi's bird-haired girl

Ella's gorgeous colors, inspired by the mural

Abby's vibrant apple heart

We had a great week!

I hope the girls loved this week together as much as I did. I hope they keep pieces of it tucked away in their hearts. When we made our yarn circle in the grass I asked them each to make a wish before I cut the ties. My wish was that each one of them always remembers how powerful it is to be creative, how great it feels to be a girl, and how brave they can be!

Someplace We Can Belong To

We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been - a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done.

Arms to hold us when we falter.

A circle of healing. A circle of friends.

Someplace where we can be free.--Starhawk