I’m pretty sure this is an example of situational irony - and even if it isn’t, it’s certainly perversely appropriate!

(Click through to read the entire story at the BBC web site.)

Add cornstarch to Easter egg dye, and you get a pretty good sidewalk paint.

Add cornstarch to kids and you get ghosts!

My back was turned - all right, I was inside, getting more supplies! - when they decided that since cornstarch felt so good on their hands (this I encouraged before going in), they should rub it all over their arms, and maybe a little on their faces wouldn’t hurt either (these two were not my ideas!). T-boy kept saying “corn starter” instead of cornstarch, and his friend is the one who decided they were ghosts. What you can’t see here is that the “cornstarter” bag had a hole in the corner, so much of it ended up on the porch.

(They’re wearing matching shirts because we went on a field trip in the morning.)

Yesterday (Earth Day), my friend Kathy told me to go outside, so I did. After all, she’s a teacher, and we have to respect teachers. :^) I took the office camera, ostensibly to take pictures for a project, but mostly to see if the daffodil line was blooming. Along the way, I decided to capture a “spectrum” of colors. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a blue picture (the scilla are abundant this time of year, so I could have!). I also meant to capture a forsythia bush (more yellow!) if the battery held out, but I forgot. But even so, it was a nice break from the stuffy office…

(see more photos on Flickr - start at this magnolia and work back through the photostream until you get to the mosaics shown above)

A few months ago, I learned about Project Spectrum from Kathy. It’s a no- pressure, creative outlet, celebration of color. I was especially intrigued by a comment to incorporate the element into the work beyond the color, e.g. the fire of a kiln to produce ceramics. After following the Flickr group for a week or so, I took a deep breath and decided to dive in. The first two months (Frebruary and March) were “Fire” - red, yellow, and pink. As it turns out, I don’t do much with these colors in general. However, I was taking a ceramics class, and even though the red glazes in the studio don’t appeal to me much I could get to “fire” that way. I did manage to contribute a few items, including some “ice into fire” photos accomplished through color manipulation. (My full set on Flickr is here - currently my 5 “fire” items, but I’ll be adding to it over the year).

Next up: earth - greens, browns, metallics. I’m much more of a green person, and clay naturally fits into an earth theme, so I’m likely to be much more productive for this segment!