Its Nutcracker time Once Again: 12/7/11

Rehearsal at the Waverly in Woodstock Illinois Photo by Dan Swinson ©2011

Claire, photo Dan Swinson ©2011

I am trying so hard to savor each moment of my 2011 Nutcracker Experience.  It will be a bitter sweet one I'm afraid.  Colin and Claire have one more year before they move on.  They will go separate ways.  My twins will begin to have their own lives, apart.  I don't want to dwell on that.  It is hard enough knowing they will soon be seniors.  I want so much for each of them.  I want their dreams to be fulfilled.  I want them to be the best they can be and I hope they will always stay in touch. I hope they will want to come home on the holidays or that I and their Dad can go to them on the holidays.  I hope.....

So how is this years Nutty shaping up?   As I said, I am trying hard to savor each moment, smile with each trip I make to the Opera House because something was forgotten, rejoice when I have ballet shoes to sew, take the home Christmas decorating in stride even though I have Christmas this year, shrug when I spend umpteen dollars on carry out meals through rehearsals and performances, make no comments about how many small loads of dance apparel I have to wash each night for the next two weeks, revel in each performance that I have tickets for (I have five performances that I am seeing and 3 that I am ushering), be a proud Mom no matter what happens in each performance, be a kind Mom when first time Nutcracker parents are trying to figure out scheduling and the tricks of the trade (so to speak), and finally, soak up the compliments with humility from other parents and friends.  I want to remember everything.  I want to be a part of Colin's and Claire's triumphs.  I just hope I deserve all these precious moments because they will be over all too soon.  Merde my dear Colin and Claire. 

Love MOM

So much to be thankful for: 11/22/11

So its the eve of my second favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  Reflection time for me is always right around this time of year.  I've had one of those years that as a mother, realized some of my worst nightmares.  My daughter Kaitie has had two close calls as of this writing.  The first was the accident on June 4th that totalled her car and realized an ADHD diagnosis.  I had a hard time coming to terms with just how close she came to being seriously injured or worse.  After spending some quality time with God, I resolved to be a better mother to her, to be more patient (something I have never been able to do), to love her unconditionally and accept her for who she is, not what I want her to be.  That accident was every mother's or parent's worse nightmare. Continuing, just when I thought life was good, God sent me another wake up call.  Kaitie was rushed to the hospital last week.  She had developed a serious kidney infection (started most likely as a UTI) which went septic.  We spent two days on pins and needles as the health care team tried to figure out an antibiotic scheme that worked.  I tried so hard to be strong for her but I did finally break down in front of her, my family, the nurses, and her boyfriend.  I could not believe we were facing this.  How could this happen and get to this point?  I have always been able to catch her illnesses before we had to resort to emergency care.  You know, step throats, ear infections, and even a UTI when she was very young.  How could I have missed this...  I really guilted myself out and for the last week have been pretty subdued.  How can one protect this young adult?  Is it even possible.  Well she is home now, back to school and work, and even though she is still on the antibiotic regiment, she is herself again.  I know God would not give me more than I can handle but really...two close calls in such a short time span?  I am grateful that I finally had enough sense to get her into the hospital, too much longer and it would not have been good.


So what else am I thankful for.  Well there just happens to be this wonderful man in my life.  And then there are my twins, my gloriously talented twins.  There is my home and my wonderful greyhounds.  My health, my friends, being gainfully employed (both of us), my art, and of course the Nutcracker (which is just around the corner). Lest I forget my God who keeps me grounded in reality.
  

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.  I for one know just how blessed I am to have my family around me on this holiday....  

 K

 

Surfacing Again: 10/30/11

I simply have not been able to put together contiguous thoughts nor meaningful ones for the past 3 months.  So do you ever question why you started a blog in the first place, do you wonder if your words are worth reading, who really cares, do your talents make people want to come back and revisit your work/writings...  I am in one of those periods I guess.  I have never really been good at keeping this resource up to date.  My priorities switch so often.  Perhaps its a touch of my ADHD (really).  So when I am feeling like this I try to go back to the real reason I started writing using this venue...yep...for my children who are almost young adults.  I hope truly that they find this little gem one day and really peruse through the stories and artwork...maybe they won't judge me so harshly.  Gosh this sounds like a pity fest.  The funny thing is, I'm really OK, just a little befuddled at times. 

Skulls for the Passionate Frida

Most of my August was spent ordering, organizing, and preparing for my part of the Passionate Frida Workshop.  I honestly don't know how I got through that.  For four nights, I spent my time with the dancers from this ballet making props which included 24 skulls, over 200 paper flowers, decorating maracas, and teaching (not only the art part but the history of Mexico from early 1900's through Fridas death in 1954).  It was so important to me that the girls and guys understood the essence of Frida, and that essence is in Mexico herself.  I hope the kids learned something.  In these pictures by Dan Swinson you can see two of my props.  The folding screen contains a mural that was copied from one of Diego Rivera's works.  Mrs. Svalander wanted her Diego to be working on a mural.  And below is the cubist painting that I copied again from one of Diego's originals.  This was used during the scene when Diego was painting a portrait of Christina, Frida's sister.  I have to say this experience was very rewarding.  It pushed me as an artists, to go where I have never gone before.  By completely immersing myself in the life o

Frida, I was able to almost understand her passions, Diego, her art, and Mexico.  Then when the ballet premiered, it felt almost surreal.  The dancers were absolutely incredible.  Because I studied Frida's life for the workshop, I could follow in depth the symbolism used in this work.  It was a once in a life time opportunity.

Since Frida, I have been preoccupied with preparing mixed media classes for the Studio School of Art.  I also took an on-line workshop with the Fabulous Katie Kendrick which was relaxing and freeing.  Because Frida was so much on my mind, during Katie's class, I started a collage which is all about Frida.  I started it in September and it is still waiting for me to finish :)  My ADHD has gotten the better of me and I am now working on several projects at once getting no where.  I have two workshops coming up.....  Oh and its Nutcracker Season.  Colin and Claire are in the thick of it...They still do not have a license and I'm still driving... 

I'm going to leave my entry at that...I read some of my back logged favorite blogs today.  So glad to see beautiful art...                  k

Nutcracker Aftermath: 12-24-10



Colin and his Clara



Colin and his Spanish Princess

Merry Christmas to you all. It is Christmas Eve and it will be Christmas Day by the time I actually post this.  I am sitting here now reflecting on my 2010 Nutcracker experience and still seeing visions of Sugar Plums.....  These last two weeks have been all about the Nutcracker, as they have been for a good 10 years.  I have told friends that I felt as if I was watching the events unfold hovering from above.  I never felt really present but rather floating through each performance.  The culmination of three months of rehearsals ended with the Tech week at the Woodstock Opera House (December 7-10).  Those four long nights of rehearsals went surprising well.  Colin and Claire even got their homework done.  And then came the first weekend of performances followed by a week of rest and then the second weekend (Dec 18 and 19) of performances.  As I am the proud mother of two very talented dancers, my opinion is very biased.  However, to put it mildly, I was blown away...yes blown away by the quality of dancing, the quality of the performance, and the high energy that the Nutcracker held for me this 2010.  Colin and Claire just get better and better.   I received many compliments from parents and relatives etc.. Many of the people that literally grabbed me, I did not know.  How they knew that I was Colin and Claire's Mother is beyond me but I have to say I enjoyed basking in their light, even for just a few moments. 

Colin and Claire as Chinese

Colin was the Nutcracker Prince this year.  He was also the Spanish Chocolate Cavalier soloist and the Chinese Tea soloist.  Claire was in the snow scene as a snowflake and she was the Chinese tea soloist, partnering with her brother.  When I saw Colin for the first time,he came on the stage as the nephew of Uncle Drosselmeyer.  He was as tall as Uncle Drosselmeyer (about 6 ft).  Tears welled in my eyes as I realized that my precious boy was now a young man.  I just never realized how tall he had grown in just a few short months (he was 5' 10" in July).  So here was this young man playing the part of the nephew, soon to be the Nutcracker prince.  At that moment, I knew that these shows would be marvelous.  And my Claire, she stepped up to the plate in her first solo appearance.  To see them both dance together was one of my happiest and proudest moments as a Mother. Their performance was something I will never forget.  After two weekends of nothing but Nutcracker  (yes I saw every performance) I realized that even though these past weeks, many weeks of preparation for these performances, were full of stress, it was worth every minute and yes, I would do it again in a heart beat.  Thank you Colin and Claire for the best Christmas gift ever. 

As a final note, all the pictures on this page are courtesy of Dan Swinson.  His website,

A final Kiss.  I cried like a baby.

http://www.danswinson.com/photography, is full of beautiful shots of the JSSB (Judith Svalander School of Ballet) Nutcracker performances.  These were pinched from his facebook photo album.  Thank you Dan for being such a generous artist.  These pictures are awesome.

And so it is that Christmas has arrived.  I do hope you have created many memories this holiday and that 2011 brings many more.

k

The cast

The Crystal Lake Christmas Parade: 11-26-10



Colin, the Nutcracker and his Clara

 The day after Thanksgiving is always a Christmas decorating day for our family.  We pulled out the Santa's, the nutcrackers, the holly and pine cones, the wreath and greenery, the linens, the tree, the lights...you get the idea.  Of course half of that stuff is sitting on my living room carpet but we did manage to get a good portion of the works up and in place.  It will take me another couple of days to finish the tree.  Oh and then I have pointe shoes to sew (the dastardly Gaynor-Mindens), and Colin's canvas ballet slippers as well. I really need to stop dreaming about getting back into my studio, even though the need is strong.  Preparations for the Nutcracker have barely begun.  My son and daughter have had several "guest" appearances in and around the area with one of the first being the Christmas parade.  I did not get many pictures but these two will give you an idea of the motley crew that participated.  Everyone froze.  I guess that is a tradition around here.  It wouldn't be the same if one could feel their hands and feet during the parade.  And so, onward to the craziness.  Even though I cease to exist in December, I would not have it any other way!  Happy December first!


the motley crew:  Colin, the rat king (AKA Rachel), to the right of the rat king is
my Claire (Colin's twin) as a caroler, Emily, is Clara, on the other side of the rat king, her twin
Jenny (next to my Claire),Sugar Plum Fairy (AKA Fabi) and another caroler
(AKA Helen- far right).



Time never stops....11-29-10

Where did this month go?  How did I get through Thanksgiving?  How many more days until Nutcracker or Christmas for that matter?  I feel like I have been floating through this last month, sort of looking down on the days as they pass.  We've been holiday busy as I am sure most of you have been.  Thanksgiving week was a blur of cleaning and cooking and eating.  And now we press onto Christmas.  I do hope your Thanksgiving was filled with good family memories and for those who do not celebrate this holiday, I do hope your month of December celebrations are shaping up nicely.



More class participants



Claire and her purse

Right before Thanksgiving I finished up a class in which we altered ballerina pointe shoes and satin purses and sandals.  I promised to post some pictures and because these past few weeks have been blurs, well I am just getting to posting them.  I did finish a very special pointe shoe, the Nutcracker 2010 shoe, for the Judith Svalander School of ballet.  That was the secret that I was working on.  I presented it to Mrs. Svalander right before the holiday and I am thinking she loved it :))))  So here you can see some happy participants and their creations.  I really loved this class because it was so laid back.  No pressure to create a master piece...just fun.  My kind of class.  Enjoy the photos!!!

Nutcracker Altered Pointe shoe

altered purse









altered flip flop



altered purse









more altered pointe shoes



Found Art: 9-23-10

Snowscape
by Kathy LaRocco.  Mixed Media and Collage on canvas board.

Today I left my little 4" x 4" collage at the Starbucks in McHenry, Illinois.  I had been trying to get it out since Monday but we have had iffy weather and some deluges.  I used a little duct tape to secure the plastic baggie to an outside chair (check my fan page on FaceBook and you can see the pictures) http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Artful-Musings-of-Kathy-LaRocco/134584443222432.  It was gale force winds (well may I am exaggerating a little but ya know...its my art and I want someone to find it.  I included a little flier for the ART OF THE LAND fundraiser along with my found art write up. I created this small piece with scraps from "Blue Moon 12/31/09."  Nothing goes to waste!   I am a happy camper. 

Oh and I sold my first art print today on Etsy.  Thank you Karen!  The print was one that was inspired from my kids performances in an annual Nutcracker.  Its titled "She Bowed for Clara," and Karen received number 1 in a series of 50 prints.  Karen, someday, after I am dead of course, that print may be worth something (ahhh wishful thinking on my part). The second print has been uploaded to my Etsy Store.  Being a mom who has teens in the ballet and who has teens that do a nutcracker every year, it is hard to find "Nutcracker gifts."  Flowers were never appreciated by my children, and so that left basically really junky stuff, or really, really expensive gifts (like Nutcrackers made in Germany for 300.00).  So why not a work of art, an original work of art or an art print?  I don't know...just a thought.  OK babbling now. 

Off to feed my greyhounds.  Art of the Land begins on Friday and I am so excited.  More to come.
k