“Everyone put on your glasses,” I tell my clients at Ann’s Place @annsplaceinc. “I think you all need some motivation when you make your grassheads. Given what you see, who or what will you use as a model?”It’s a comical sight, over a dozen clients stacked on a screen wearing faux Groucho Marx glasses. (I wish I could have taken a picture to share with all of you but privacy rules forbid it.) As everyone introduces themselves they come up with a wild variety of things they plan to make. A chicken, a cat, a person. It’s very strange.
But it is well-suited to the exercise of making grassheads, a simple version of a chia pet. Everyone sets up with fake eyes, a nylon legging, glue, felt, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, grass seed and soil. “The thing you need to be most careful with is how you disribute the grass seed,” I say. “If you spread it around too much you most likely will have faux hair sprouting from orifaces you don’t want hair to sprout from.” A knowing chuckle emerges from the group and they start to work on their creations. In the dead of Winter, working remotely, there are few options to have classes that use live material. Growing grasses is one that is simple to kit and delivers quick results within a week.
“In a certain way you are all Dr. Frankensteins creating a life form of your own making,” I say. A few raised eyebrows follow but everyone keeps focused on the task at hand. Soon the first creations come to life and everyone compliments each other with their unique heads. My simple head pales in comparison to those created by my clients. Typical.