a creative process

Inspired yet again by The Artful Parent (definitely my favorite blog for practical art ideas with young kids), I decided to pull out one of the big blank canvases I got at some time on sale and commission The Girl to make a painting for me.  We talked about how artists are sometimes paid to paint something specific, and so I asked her to paint a big flower for me on the canvas using acrylic craft paint.  I was picturing something like her Van Gogh sunflowers from school art class, but I told her she could decide how to do it.  And she did.  And...well...I didn't love it.  Isn't that awful?!?  She painted a tall, skinny rose, and then covered the background in light blue and lavendar (because she ran out of blue), and then painted bright red squiglies across the background.  It was...odd.

So I thanked her and put it aside to dry and wondered what in the world I was going to do with this large painting that she was very proud of but I didn't care for. 

And then I found this post on process painting at Paint, Cut, Paste.  Aha!  I decided to see if I could convince The Girl to continue to work on the painting with me.  To make it something we painted on a little bit at a time until we were done with it.  No plan, no particular end - just painting. 

She loved the idea!  Thank goodness.

And so we started on our painting, taking the basic shapes she'd already painted and expanding on them while also adding some new shapes.  I added a sun.  She added wind.  As usual - she is the more creative.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a before picture, but here's what we ended up with after our first joint painting day:

You can kind of see where her original rose and the squiglies are.  She was the one who decided to add the light blue slashes, which I thought was brilliant (ok, maybe it's not actually brilliant, but I thought it was very fun!). 

And after one more paint session, The Girl decided it was finished.  So this is our finished project:

Notice she gave it a title.  Yes, we watched Pocahontas recently.

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out, except that there's a little too much of me there.  Though the shapes and colors are mostly hers, a lot of the color blending and final style-look are mine, which is not what I intended.  But she got very focused on those slashes at the end!  Still, I'm very happy we made something together.  And the process helped us both.  I helped her with using a larger space (the canvas is 18x24) and blending color.  And she helped me with her boldness and excitement at trying new things.  It was fun.  We may have to do this again.

And the best part...she gave me $1.52 for my part of the commission.  And I gave her $1.52.  Not the same $1.52.  Oh no, that wouldn't do (I tried it).  A different $1.52.

volcanic eruption

Inspired by Artful Parent, the kiddoes and I made a volcano in our dining room yesterday.  And boy, what is a hit!

I began by making a quick batch of salt dough (4 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 2 cups water, a shot of glycerin).  I made it on the watery side and with glycerin so the kids could mold it more easily.  Really, I should've made more dough, but I ran out of salt.  The kids molded the dough around a quart-size jar (with a little help):

And then decorated the volcano (which is almost as much fun as erupting it) with green playdough, leaves/grass from the yard and doomed lego people:

Having been warned by The Artful Parent, I put some old towels around our tray (note to self: next time use a pan or plate WITHOUT holes in it! - duh):

And then we were ready for the mad scientist part.  We filled the jar about 2/3s full with warm water, blue food coloring (because they wanted blue lava - I should've used more food coloring - you'll notice the lava is only faintly blue-tinged), a few drops of dish soap, and 2 Tbsp baking soda.  Then we stood back and I poured in some vinegar:

I kept pouring in more vinegar to produce multiple eruptions until the volcano was all tuckered out.  I'm not a good photographer at the best of times and had a terrible time with our little camera taking action shots while pouring, but here's a couple of bad photos of the kids' reactions:

There was lots of squealing.  And lots of cheering for dead lego people.  This is something of a violent activity :).  And then lots and lots of water/vinegar and wet salt-dough mess.  Next time I think I'll try to find a piece of cardboard to do it on so we can just dump the thing in the trashcan.  But it was worth it.  A fun indoor activity for a hot summer afternoon.

father's day fun

The Father in our household didn't get home until mid-afternoon on Father's Day because he was away at kids camp.  It made for a long afternoon of waiting, waiting, waiting...but it gave us plenty of time to get our Father's Day goodies ready! 

When Daddy finally arrived, the kiddoes ran out to greet him before he even parked.  And then they carried all his stuff inside - a true Father's Day miracle - where he was greeted with this:

And this:

And then his first present:

A super-hero (and other pop-culture) crown for our own Super-hero Daddy.  Actually he received 2 crowns, because after the kiddoes helped me make this one, The Girl decided it wasn't her style.  So she made another one.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of it (bad mommy), but it had the words "Our Hero" on it as well as a blue ribbon (because it was the best crown, obviously) and a picture of SuperHero Daddy saving the day.

And his second present (idea from Alphamom):

A Hero Survival Kit with this inside:

A letter from The Girl, goodies like Hero Juice and X-ray Vision Drops (with funny tag lines - check the link for the full list), and an "Our Hero" book made by The Girl.  The book involves Hero Daddy saving some people from a falling meteorite, walking home, watching his favorite movie (in his green chair) with his kids and then going to sleep.  Sounds like a good Hero Day :)!

And his final present:

Homemade StarWars toys!  Just print, cut and assemble.  Found at Toy-a-Day.  Are they not so freakin' cute!?!  OK, so maybe die-hard StarWars fans don't care for cute.  But I think they're adorable :). And The Boy loves them.  A good intro to Star Wars, perhaps, as I'm not ready for them to watch the movies yet!

We also made some pictures for the Granddads:

which I printed and framed in a "We Love..." frame.  Man, it was difficult to get a decent picture of the two of them together!  Good photographer, I am not.

And this is how Father's Day ended:

Happy Father's Day to Our SuperHero Daddy (and Granddads)!

summer art

Summer has begun!  I hate the heat, but I am looking forward to the change of pace with the kiddoes.  Though my work schedule doesn't change, we'll have more afternoon time together now.  And since The Boy can get along without a nap (sometimes) these days, we have much more opportunity to make simple plans this summer.  Hopefully we'll take advantage of that.

One thing I know will be a big component of our summer is ART!  And I know that because I'm not primarily responsible for it :).  The kids are both going to art camp this summer - every morning all summer long.  It's a simple, relaxed kind of camp at a small, local church.  The Girl went last year, and this year The Boy gets to join in the fun.  He's very excited, but he'll probably be the youngest there, so I hope he'll be just as excited when he gets home from his first day (today!). 

I also have some artsy kinds of plans for us at home.  First, I need to frame some!  Kid's art, that is.  I'd like to turn one wall of the playroom into a gallery of their art, but I've gotta get the frames and mats (homemade) ready.  My hope is that this will be a constantly changing and evolving kind of gallery.  I just gotta take that first step.

My favorite kids art is the art that they create on their own with whatever materials are available.  No real directions, just process art.  Too many rules can make our art time more stressful and inhibits their exploration and creativitiy.  Now, don't get me wrong - we don't paint on walls here.  But we do sometimes paint on bodies!

This painting is not for the faint-hearted!

Though I'm unlikely to give real art lessons at home, I have been impressed with some of the art that My Girl did in school this year.  And I love that they give us digital copies of some of them:

My favorite is that last one - the Van Gogh flowers.  Gorgeous!  And that snow-woman - the first time I saw that one it was taped to the wall outside her classroom with all the others from her class.  It was immediately apparent which was was My Girl's.  A fanciful explosion is about the best way to describe it!

I love, love, love that my kids are excited about creating, whether it's with paint or crayon or paper or legos.  It's always fun to see what they make.  I remember a mother telling me a few years ago that she didn't allow messy art materials in her house - only the mess-free crayola kind.  And I remember thinking, "But what fun you're missing!" 

down, mama bear

Update on the softball situation: 

I should've pointed out in my last softball post that the games in which I watched My Girl ask her coaches for a chance at pitcher, her head coach was not there.  He was out of town for the week so it was assistant coaches who were running the game.  Assistants who are nice but more intense and stern than the head coach. 

This week the head coach was back.  And My Girl played pitcher in both games this week!  She even got to play first base once, though she had a hard time remembering she was supposed to actually cover the base :).  And in both games, she played infield positions the entire game.  No outfield at all. 

And I had never said a word to anyone.

Sometimes being quiet pays off.

This will be the last year My Girl has this particular coach.  I think I'm going to miss him.  He's been very kind and patient with my funny one.  She's ending the season on a high note, feeling good about herself and her team.  I am proud at how she improved this season.  I am proud at how she continued to play even when she was discouraged.  I am proud that she made a thank you card for her coach after her first game as pitcher.  And I am most proud of the fact that during every game, on the field and on the bench, she cheered for her teammates, jumping up and down for them in great encouragement.  She is My Bright One.

"leap, and the net will appear"

photo © 2009 Rob (via: Wylio)"Leap, and the net will appear" - as seen on facebook, a quote from a bumper-sticker.

Mostly bumper-stickers make me cringe.  Or they make me think, "Yes, but..."  Bumper-sticker wisdom seems too easy, too short, lacking in nuance.  But this particular bumper-sticker speaks to me right now.  Though it flies in the face of how I typically live my security-desiring life, I should've listened to that little nugget sooner.

Because I'm going back to school!  Oh, my.  I swore that the last time I graduated would be the last time.  How silly of me.  I hadn't grasped how the future would unfold, making my degree almost worthless in finding-a-job terms.  Though I've been fortunate to always find some part-time work that allowed us to pay the bills while still allowing me time at home, I've come to a point where I feel the need for more meaningful (and lucrative) work. 

For the last year I have wavered over whether or not to go back to school because I just couldn't get past the financial ramifications of taking on lots of student loans (when I'm no spring chicken).  The one point when I thought I would start taking classes part-time, unexpected house expenses surfaced and I had to drop out.  So finally, finally I decided to just apply for the program I wanted and go for it whole-hog.  No part-time.  No stretching out classes over years and years.  Just do it or don't.  And see where it goes.

I thought I'd have another year to decide.

Because I didn't apply until the program was full, so I knew going in that I'd be wait-listed.

I thought I'd have another year.

On Wednesday I got the letter stating I'd been wait-listed.  On Thursday morning I got a call from admissions offering me a spot.  Hah!

This was the day before we left for our first-ever only-the-four-of-us vacation to DC over Memorial Day weekend, so I frantically filled out the financial aid stuff and went off on our family jaunt, a little in shock.

And well, the financial aid turns out to be better than I expected.  Still daunting, but not as overwhelming as I feared.  And for the first year, at least, (of a 2-year program) I can keep my job.  And I don't think we'll have to pay for extra childcare. 

Why didn't I do this sooner?!?

Because I was scared, and unsure.  And still am, frankly.  I'm a worrier.  But I'm also excited and hopeful for a new direction. 

Sometimes (sometimes!) you just gotta jump.

mama bear

When I held that tiny bundle of pink joy for the first time, I never imagined how she would bless and stretch me.  What fierce love and longing and hope I have for her.  And while I'm more of a hot-air balloon parent than a helicopter one, sometimes my instinct to rush in and defend her kicks in.  Last night was one of those times. 

My Girl is in her second season of playing softball.  She's not a natural athlete, but she has generally enjoyed it, and she's gotten so much better this year, particularly in the field.  She's made a few outs, stopped a few balls, and stayed focused most of the time (rather than making dirt rainbows!).  I know My Girl is a quirky, stubborn one who sometimes struggles to fit in despite her out-going ways, but I've been so proud of her this year. 

She's been getting more and more upset as the season goes on, though, because she never gets to play the pitcher or first base position.  She's played all the other infield positions, but those two are admittedly the most important, and she is not the star of the team.  BUT...all the other girls her age have played pitcher at least once.  And she knows it.  So I talked with her about how to ask her coach politely if she could play pitcher, and I watched her do that after every inning for two games.  And I watched him ignore her every time.  Sometimes it was because so many girls were asking at once, and My Girl is not pushy (surprising, I know).  But sometimes she was just ignored.  Because she's not the best. 

And I wanted to roar a Mama Bear roar. 

Instead I just cried.  Literally.  In my chair behind the bench where I think no one saw me, I cried. 

Over softball for a 6-year-old!  Argh!!!  And not only that, I couldn't go to sleep because I kept thinking about it and obsessing over it.  Grrrr....

But I didn't do anything about it.  I held the Mama Bear in.  Not so surprising, maybe, but it's a little bit intentional, not just a product of my personality.  Because as upset as I was after the game, My Girl wasn't.  For the first time in a few weeks, she didn't cry about how she's not a good player.  She was perfectly happy.  So maybe she should be teaching me - get over it, Mama Bear. 

I want her to figure out how to deal with disappointment without quitting.  I want her to do just what she did - get out and play and cheer on her team and try her best even when she's struggling.  I want her to learn to fight her own battles, and fight them well, with kindness and respect and a willingness to back down when needed.

But if she still doesn't get to play pitcher in her game on Saturday, I may speak to the coach.  Mama Bear won't be silent forever!