Rap Music, Mosaics and Birds

Day four of the workshop was very fun. I went in and got right to work determined to lay some tile and achieve some progress. I decided to quit freaking myself out about every little thing and just plow through with the knowledge that I will make some mistakes and that is ok.  Everyone in the room seemed to feel the clock ticking and the morning was rather quiet with a lot of focused energy.

One of my classmates has a lovely home just outside of Dallas with a lot of land and she invited everyone out in the evening for drinks and dinner.  It was quite a treat to kick back and get to know my classmates and teacher better in a casual setting. We sat outside and enjoyed a lovely breeze and watched a wide variety of birds feed at the many bird feeders in the garden.  We talked mosaics, pets, food and birds. I don't know if it is widely known, but Emma Biggs can imitate bird songs very well. She was however outdone by our lovely hostess's rap song that accompanied the gift she gave our teacher.  Yes, one of my classmates gifted Emma with a rubber chicken purse and an improvised rap song that went with the gift. It was a fun evening. Oh, and the rap song was actually a call back to part of one of Emma's lectures. At some point in her lectures she compared pattern & meaning in mosaics with the rap songs of M& M.  I think it is Emma's ability to allow people to see inside her thinking that makes both her artwork and her teaching skills so unique. She is full of passion and complex thinking about everything, from song birds to rap music. Tomorrow I will discuss a little about what I learned, and I will post a few pics.