To gear up for Nature Art in the Park, Sasa and I made our second visit to Leakin Park today. Though I have never made an outdoor piece before, an idea came pretty quickly to me about what I would like to create. One hint: it's going to be interactive.

Some reference shots:

Check back later for more updates and make sure you make it to Leakin Park this summer!

Yesterday after finishing up teaching my Serbian Easter Crash Course, I dashed over to School 33's Lotta Art. I was in School 33's Walk the Line last year and am a big fan of their shows, events, and programming.

Last night was my second time contributing to Lotta Art, a fundraiser where artists donate artwork, and guests buy tickets to be entered into a lottery-style drawing. Once a guest's number is picked, they can take home any piece on the wall.

This time I decided to donate something that would be easy to display in a home: Silhouette 1 and 2.

These pieces are made from handmade paper. I told the "buyer" of my art that it makes a big difference what color wall you hang the pieces on, so try a few and see what looks best. All in all, I loved getting to see Silo Point again, getting to see all the other artwork, and meeting so many art lovers in Baltimore.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the awesome opportunity to teach a Serbian Easter Crash Course at Mesh Baltimore yesterday with my friend Lora. For everyone's information, Serbia celebrates Orthodox Easter which falls on May 5 this year, so this workshop was just in time.

From an artist's perspective, I don't think there is a holiday more suited for me than Serbian Easter. Read on to learn how you can make your own beautiful eggs!

What you'll need:

- Onion skins (spinach, beets, coffee or other colorful foods can work, too)
- Eggs (brown tend to work better)
- Leaves, flowers, grass to decorate with (you can also use other found material or wax)
- Panty hose cut into 3" x 3" squares, approximately
- String/yarn
- Oil

How it's done:

1. Peel brown skins off the onions and put them in a pot. It's OK if some onion gets in the pot. The more onion skins, the stronger the dye.

2. Fill pot with enough water to just cover the onion skins. Boil the onions skins for 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat to let mixture cool down. For darker color, let sit overnight.

3. To prepare the egg, place leaves or flowers face down on the egg. Soft, smooth, flat leaves work better for this.

4. Once you have positioned your design on the egg, wrap the pantyhose over the egg tightly. Gather the excess pantyhose and twist before tying it with a string.

5. Add eggs to the not-too-hot dye pot and make sure the eggs are covered by the liquid. Add water if needed.

6. Bring to a boil, and boil 5-10 minutes. After the eggs look dark, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit at least 5 minutes or until cooled.

7. Cut off the pantyhose and remove leaves. Rub with a little bit of oil and you're done!

Customs:

- Serbian Easter Eggs are normally made the night before Easter.

- The first egg that a household makes should be completely red with no patterns. This egg a symbol of protection and prosperity and will be displayed in the house all year until the next Easter when a new one takes its place. Family members symbolically "wash" their face with it the day after it is made. This is done by holding the egg intact in one hand while splashing your face with water.

- Families make plenty of eggs to exchange with friends. After you exchange them, you can eat them.

- There is a game that everyone plays to see whose egg will not crack. Friends tap each other's eggs tournament style, and the person whose egg does not crack, wins.

To see more pictures from our workshop, check out my Facebook page!

I had what I like to call an extremely "art-filled day" yesterday. It started off with my having the pleasure of teaching a Serbian Easter Crash Course to a group of learners at Mesh Baltimore, and ended with me catching up with some great folks at School 33's Lotta Art event in the evening. Actually, the day ended with me completely zonked out on the couch, unresponsive to my husband's urgings to at least move to the bedroom, but what can I say? Art is about energy and action, and when you do a lot of it, you earn your rest.

Please follow my blog to stay up to date on all my creative activities in Baltimore. I hope this blog will help you see