Altered Canvas

Schools out for the year. Taylor is moving on to being a Freshman over at SHS. It's been quite a year for Taylor, starting a new school, the challenge of making new friends, finding a niche where he fits in. The first semester was very rocky, fortunately he proved himself academically and he was able to take choir for the first time.
Taylor started out very cautiously, but soon found with encouragement and praise that he really liked singing. He had some great teachers at SMS and I'm grateful for them all, but Mr. Duke stands out in my mind. This man had to teach children who were REQUIRED to take music/choir. Most of these kids didn't want to be in this class, then take into account they're between 12-15 years old, respect isn't being given to their teachers, well it's hard to teach these students. Mr. Duke struggled to teach these kids and succeeded. The boys managed to bring home a trophy from choir competition, and Taylor brought home a Excellent Class III.
Our teacher's gift to Mr. Duke was an altered canvas. My girlfriend Becky bangs these baby's out all the time it seems and they're great. So with her inspiration, I set out to make one. Okay, they're like sooo much fun to make, I used things like gesso to build up the texture and ultra think mod podge to adhere and seal everything. I'm ready to make more and decorate our home with images of the kids.
Thanks again to Mr. Duke for teaching, building self esteem and giving Taylor something he can call his own. We'll miss him as Taylor moves to a new campus and as Mr. Duke sets out on new adventures.