We have a famous artist visiting Seward this week. His name is Eric Rieger, but he goes by the nickname HOTTEA. (There’s a touching story behind the name, but I won’t go into that here.) He ‘yarn bombs’ places – writing things on fences, stringing yarn above walkways, and doing some truly stunning installations.
I was excited about this because my sister is an artist who mostly works with fibers – weaving, knitting, creating all kinds of cool stuff. I first learned about yarn bombing from her, so this really spoke to me. In fact, over a year ago I had learned about people who knit covers for stop sign poles to turn them into flowers, and I had started one. I am a terrible knitter, though, so I gave up about two feet in. But with HOTTEA coming, this was my chance! I took it to school and showed the kids the yarn and the videos.
The kids got into yarn bombing, too. At first, my guys were just cutting string into lengths and putting them all over the walls with masking tape. No shame there, that’s how artists get started: by messing around with stuff. Over time, they tried wrapping things for real, “Just like HOTTEA!”
The school-age children got on board and showed some real skill. ‘Yay’ for developed fine motor skills!
We also worked on art for the outside of our building. The school-age children wrapped our downspouts and the school-age coordinator, Mrs. Suhr, had them work on flower petals. Quite charming, yes?
I had my guys wrap a cardboard tube and we stuck it over the pole that keeps people from running into our stair railing. (The bucket is to keep out rain.)
As it turns out, we checked with the authorities and you can’t wrap a stop sign without facing some kind of fine or penalty. So, we wrapped our ‘Private Drive’ sign that is on our property. Some quick finger-knitting and we had ‘petals’ for the flower. Not as satisfying, but it’ll do.
As for HOTTEA, well, the installation he is doing on the courthouse stairs is going to be STUNNING. I bet my iPad photo will wind up sideways on your monitor, but tilt your head – it’s going to be worth it. I’ll try to post a ‘finished’ photo on Saturday when he’s all done.
My kids got to walk to the square Friday morning to watch him get started. One of my little boys has become a big HOTTEA fanboy, so when Eric high-fived him, he was over the moon!
Art is cool.
UPDATE: a ground shot in the morning light. Just stunning!