Closing night for Tosca

The children stayed with me while their mom worked the final night of Tosca. Tonight we switch to Standard Time, which means it will be darker when they come to see me in the evenings. While Evan painted this mask, Bella helped me experiment with a flashlight/torch for lighting. As Evan went on with his work, undistracted and undeterred, Bella and I concluded that the shadows are too harsh unless she stands further away, but if the light is further away, it’s too weak to make a difference. Conclusion: flashlight not satisfactory. 

After he finished the mask, Evan spent about half an hour working with stamps and colored pencils (and his thumbs) to make a “story picture,” a complicated drawing (see Extra) that represents a story you read from bottom left to right, and then to top left, as follows: “The spiders have been having a contest of memory in the Forest of Wonder where they were born, and the ones who could remember best are now wearing crowns. They come out of the forest surrounded by mist and twinkling lights, and a good witch checks their tickets, which have pictures of mushrooms on them. Once they pass the good witch and she makes sure their crowns are on properly, they follow the Mushroom Way. They pass a pink fairy who flies over them in the mist to be sure they are safe, and the fairy sprinkles stars to show them the way. They hop from mushroom to mushroom till they get to The House of Frogs, which is shaped like a crown because they’re all winners and they all have crowns. In the House of Frogs they get to play together and make art.” 

While he was working on his story picture, Bella turned my bedroom into a dance studio and created choreography for some Youtube songs. She had some terrific moves, but I couldn’t photograph them. Not enough light.

Then Evan made cookies, we all rolled them out and shaped them together, and while the cookies baked, we watched reruns of the British baking show and then ate hot cookies with milk (almond milk for Bella, who is vegan).