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Photo by Missy Kaiser

Stephanie Tully, Nurse at the Stillwater Cancer Center
Dennis McGrath Jr, Water Treatment Plant Mechanic for the City of Stillwater
Jace & Jadlynne Hanan

Things haven’t changed a lot for Dennis and I. We both still go to work everyday so we seem to be coping just fine. 

A new ritual my kids have inherited is going to their dad and step-moms for “school” everyday. This has bought our families closer! 

The worst part of quarantine, in my opinion, is just the lack of social interaction I have with my best friends. We like to regularly hang out and that’s obviously not allowed anymore. Also my daughter is very much missing her dance studio and all the interaction that goes on there. 

The best part of quarantine is the “slow down” (so to speak) of life. Not having to rush here and rush there after getting off work is nice. Dinners at the dinner table and games of basketball in the driveway will not be forgotten. 

Most thankful for time with my family, Zoom and FaceTime to keep us all connected. And the springtime sun!! ☀️

Tired of puzzles but want something that scratches the same collective itch? Create a family-size zentangle! Start with an outline of a favorite animal on a large sheet of paper or, even better, poster board. From there, create some sections, large and small. In our whale example, we created lines on his underbelly and dots on his nose. Once you have your sections, place the drawing on a table and leave it out with fine tip pens so that passers-by can stop to draw their zentangle patterns. Zentangle is a playful combination of lines, dots, curves, and shapes that are repeated to create widely variant patterns. These patterns sit side by side and create a whimsical, textured look to any drawing. Pro tip: use permanent pens if you plan on using watercolor on your finished work. As always, have fun being creative together! For more art activities and prompts, visit our Creative Classroom.

Does someone in your household have a soft spot for sweet, cuddle-y creatures? This simple, homemade heart plushie is a great project to develop a young maker’s hand work skills and satisfy their love of all things soft and sweet. Consider up-cycling fabric from a beloved but worn old tee shirt or pillow case. If you don’t have filler on hand, use cotton balls. In our example, we used embroidery floss but you could also use standard thread. If the maker has the running stitch mastered, try out the back stitch.

Photo by Lee Brasuell

It was wonderful to get together at Prairie Arts Center for this Porch Portrait photo shoot. We hadn't been together in person at the center in almost eight weeks. We miss our gathering around the art shop table to plan upcoming classes and events every Tuesday. We miss our coffee runs on longer days or just rainy days. We miss laughing together! Mostly, we desperately miss the energy provided by the people who participate in learning and teaching at the center. While we have worked to provide our community with sparks of creativity through our online creative classroom, we know it can't replace these bricks and connections made in person.  We hope you have taken advantage of some of the ways we have moved outside the center and. when it is safe to return, we look forward to creating together again.

Take Care,

Missy and Hank
Meghan and Luna B
Jen and Arjuna

(Left to right of picture)