The very definition of t-shirt art

 It's hard to admit but, it turns out, I'm a little bit of a control freak. I know...shocking, right? Case in point, this year's Field Day t-shirt. There are some that might scoff that 4th graders would readily accept, or even want a dachshund as their team symbol but my friend and colleague, Kelly was quick to defend me. "If Amy loves it...the kids all love it too." So...that aside, I really wanted a shirt design that reflected student ownership of the project. Well, obviously that was an idiotic idea.

Inspired by a splatter-design that revealed a reverse silhouette, I sent the family on a fabric paint spray bottle hunt that landed them in Michael's. "Mom, one package is fifteen bucks," one of my daughters whispered into the phone. "Is Daddy nearby," I asked. "No," she answered. "Then buy two."

The kids had a ball spray painting their shirts. That took all of five minutes. Then it was time to address the text features of our project. "You're going to bubble-letter every shirt for them to color in," asked my team in horrified amazement. "Don't you think it makes more of an artistic statement the way it is," Kelly suggested gently. Maybe they were right. I left the school...only to return three hours later to hand-letter sixteen shirts. That took all of an hour and a half and a permanently cramped hand.

My original vision was just for my 4th graders to fill in the bubble letters. As you can see...my vision went a bit askew. Dotted eyes, dachshund smiles and button noses were applied to my reverse silhouettes. Children...gasp...colored OUTSIDE of my pre-designed lines. The kids were graffiti-ing my splatter-painted shirts. "What are those," Geri asked, observing the final projects. "I think they're socks," I sighed. "Well," she said, turning to exit my room in order to continue printing out iron-on transfers for her classroom's t-shirts, "you definitely reached your goal. Those shirts certainly reflect student ownership." I didn't hear her final statement, though, as I was too busy flipping every shirt over to bubble letter their last names on the backs.