Dollar Store Arts and Crafts, Thursday, Period 1

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Class met at the Causeway that morning, as per a handwavy message sent the afternoon before. Hardison was standing next to a van with a Lyft sign in the window "Hey all," he said, giving them a nod. "Why don't we hop into the van and I'llexplain what we're doin'."


Once everyone was in and buckled up, the van started heading into Baltimore proper. "This is Dollar Store Arts 'n Crafts," Hardison said, "a class devoted to provin' you can still have fun an' make cool stuff without breakin' the bank on fancy supplies. I teach art sometimes an' while messin' around with oil paints an' stained glass is cool, that ain't somethin' that everyone is able to afford on their downtime. So this class is kickin' it old school. No portals, no high-end art shoppes, no supplies with multiple zeroes on 'em. We're only usin' supplies you could find at your local dollar store. Creativity don't have a price tag, y'all."

Ten minutes later, the van pulled up in front of a Dollar General and Hardison led the class out of the vehicle and into the store. "A'ight," he said. "Y'all got ten minutes to look around, grab some art supplies, an' get cashed out. Call me over when your cashier is done ringin' you up an' then get back to the van, a'ight? There's plenty of moddable stuff in here, so use your imaginations. Grab paint, pool rocks, shaving cream, discount Christmas ornaments, whatever you think you'll need to make somethin' cool today. Your time starts..." He made a show of checking his phone. "Now."

Comments

Re: Introductions

[white_oleander]

"I'm Astrid," she offered, holding up her work. It was a collage, bright and colorful, where she'd taken all these little images and tokens and illustrations from the flimsy children's book, the mass-produced money-grabs cashing in on popular media and all their cheap knock-offs too (especially the cheap knock-offs), but more than that. All the little pictures easily made a big picture, all the colors layered and placed so that, at a distance, it was just a California beach sunrise, all yellows and reds and purples.

"I like art." And understatement. She shrugged a little. "And I like collages, and those books had a lot of rich colors that reminded me of home, so I just took them apart, put them together, and came out with this."