The Teapot Project

I have to tell you about the tea pots. All I can hope nowadays is that the BA doesn't bother reading this blog. Actually, I wish I could block particular readers from the blog, like you do on facebook. For so long this place has been a space to vent and rage. Now I have to be aware of the teen egos that call by.

Taking an enormous risk I still want to tell you about the teapots.

My BA undertook Creative Arts this year; I thought it would be a good option for a girl who loves performing and can write a reasonable essay. I figured they would go to a few plays and films, analyse a few texts...you know the kind of thing. Wrong. They had to do a skills assessment, a practitioner study and ......a product.

Need I remind you again of my BA's talent in the arty/creative domain?

Earlier this year I got a very excited text telling me how pumped she was about her Creative Arts 'product'.

"You probably won't like it Mum," she said, and I determined immediately to like it.

"So what is this project?" I asked nonchalantly one afternoon.
"Well Mum, I'm going to do an art exhibition of my friend's drawings."
(massive exhale of relief as I realise she is not going to try to do the artistic thing herself)
"Well, that's LOVELY darling! Tell me more."
" Well, I'm going to get Vicki to do some sketches cos she's rally awesome at that and then I'm going to arrange them on kind of antique chairs and tables in the Botanic Gardens. In a kind of 'high tea' theme."

Although doubt had already seized my troubled mind, I decided it was best to enthuse and shut up as I had already had aspersions cast upon my ability to be supportive.

Time passed.
"When exactly IS this exhibition mate?" I found myself asking halfway through first term. The far off date; 'Week 6 Term 2' eased my gnawing anxiety and I relaxed.

From time to time I would ask pertinent questions.

Me: Exactly how are you planning to display these drawings? Have you thought about framing?
BA: I'm actually going to arrange them on old fashioned tables and chairs with flowers and
cupcakes.
Me: Uh-huh. Where are you getting the tables and chairs from?
BA: Oh! The Lions Mart. ( a second hand furniture place)
Me: Uh huh. How much are you planning to spend?
BA: Oh Mum! Don't worry about it!

OOOOOOOKay.

More time passed.

I finally managed to convince the BA that she needed to go into the very public 'Botanical Gardens' and talk to someone 'in charge' about mounting a display in their grounds. This was a significant step. Listening carefully, the gentleman in charge of events quickly determined that the BA really had no clear concept of how she was going to pull the thing off and, to his eternal credit, asked her to 'write a submission' which would be reviewed by the Gardens Board. After a few weeks, it was obvious that there would be no submission forthcoming.

I was starting to panic. Student /Teacher interviews came up in the last few weeks of term one and I approached the Creative Arts teacher with some concern.
"Unless, you have a better grasp of the situation than I have, " I opined," this child has no idea of what she is doing!"
The teacher smiled indulgently and agreed that it was time to call the BA to task on the reality of her plans.
"I'm about to rein her in," she assured me; and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Shortly afterwards we were introduced to the 'new' idea. She was going to exhibit her friend's collection of teapots and she was going to do it in the school grounds. Many maternal parts of me rejoiced. Arranging all the teapots......

As the 'event' approached, she started to ask for help.
"Maaam. Can you take me up to the Lion's Mart????"
As we parked I asked her how much she thought she was going to spend on 'old fashioned tables and chairs." The fear in her countenance was now evident to see. "Fifty dollars?" was the timorous response. I suggested to the BA that some old doors may be a cheap option as backdrops for the exhibition. We really had no clear idea of what we were looking for as we made our way over to the door section but at that moment God stepped in and provided us with 7 smallish, mismatched louvre doors from kitchen cupboards. For $15.00!

Pleased with our find we got hold of the teapots and brought them home for perusal.
There were approximately 17 of them although there were some that obviously went together. Casting a practised eye over the teapots, Himself pronounced that the louvre backdrops would need to be painted white so that the teapot colours would 'pop' in front of them. He also suggested that she give each teapot a name and put a few props with each one in order to make the teapots themselves into works of art. It was at this point that the BA announced she had two assignments due and the exhibition was on the following Friday.

Guess who screwed together and painted the louvres, named and created the teapot displays and generally lost sleep for the next three nights. It was Himself and me. Have you ever painted louvres?

Himself came down from the shed at 1.30am on the Tuesday night saying that the screens would need another coat.
"Surely, they'll be fine," I begged,"They'll just look rustic."
"No," he replied,"They just look badly painted."
The following night saw me up in Himself's shed applying the second coat of paint whilst the BA made cupcakes. More about that later.