Graffiti

I have very few memories of preschool. I remember wanting to play in the housekeeping area and there not being enough room. I remember playing at the table toys area because there was no room in the housekeeping area. And I remember going to the art area, seeing blank sheets of paper and thinking, “Gee, I wish I could fill those up with something.” Even then, I felt the impulse to create. Until this time in my life, that creating had been through words and music, but I’ve found a different artistic medium: jeans.
It started as a way for me to remember my 3-5 year old students. During the last week of school, I’d wear a pair of on-their-way out jeans and have the kids grab a Sharpie and write their own name or draw a picture, or scribble.
This past school year I forgot to do this, and I honestly don’t know what possessed me to start scribbling on a pair of jeans with a Sharpie. It was a way of therapy, I think, to forget about or deal with very recent feelings of loss having to do with He Who Must Not Be Named, and it worked. It was great. When I’d filled them up completely with random pictures, words, whatever, I wore them out and two of my friends gave me their jeans to graffiti. They even paid me. People tell me that I should advertise a bit, that more people would pay much more for a pair of personalized jeans. I don’t know about that; I just have fun doing it. Below is a pair of jeans that I’ve had for years and stopped wearing for whatever reason. I guess the pre-cut holes made me feel too juvenile. In any case, A  few weeks ago I started Sharpie-ing them and below is the finished result. My lovely roommate Sally is indispensable when giving me ideas and inspiration. This time she suggested the front be everything bad in the world: guns, war, death, destruction, poison, weapons, and that the back be everything sunny and happy and fluffy and wonderful. This is what came out of that suggestion.

So much fun!!!!!