The kids got to this one. My little boy finished off the collar and buttons for me, and also drew his own version down in the corner. This is my mom when she was in second grade. I don't typically draw from photos, but I needed a break from my super wiggly models.

You have to know when to quit. And today I knew when to, but I kept drawing anyway.
Sometimes its just too tempting to try and make beautiful lines.

Sometimes you wonder how it is you started posting late night sketches on your blog. Oh ya, your brother got you to agree to it.

And other times you draw your husband late at night while he plays the guitar. But his hands are moving fast and that makes it a little challenging.

Because sometimes, in order to find time to draw, you have to make your baby draw, and then you have to draw her drawing.

Ocean School

Just to make sure we go completely over the top with my child's marine life obsession, at the beginning of summer I decided we were going to make our own ocean. I taped blue butcher paper over the largest free wall in the house. (In the kitchen.)  Then each week we checked out every book the library had on one marine animal at a time - dolphins, whales, sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea lions, sea horses, squid....etc. We immersed ourselves in that mammal/reptile/fish, and then added it to our ocean. Most of these, the kids drew. I tried to get the animals to be in proportion to one another. I also find it humorous that our now 3-year old can correctly identify several of these sea creatures correctly. I mean, she doesn't respond to "how old are you?", but ask her which one of these is the Mako Shark, and she'll be spot on.

Just how big is a whale? / Summer Painting

I have a child who has been obsessing over marine life for about a year. And what I have learned about these obsessions is that you dive in, and obsess right along with the child. They are going to whether or not you are along for the ride, so you may as well join them in going over the top and make it fun.

 

We live around lovely older people who are fairly quiet. They don't drive in and out much. We view this as a perfect opportunity to take over the street whenever we want. 

Marine life obsession ("Just how big is a whale mom? A bottlenose dolphin?!! A common dolphin?!!") combined with our quiet neighbors has resulted in some serious street painting this summer.

For the curious, a bottlenose is around 10 to 12 feet long.

And a blue whale is over 100 feet. So our blue whale is over 100 feet.

Blue Whale took us 4 hours to paint. And it's a darn shame that I couldn't get up in a helicopter to photograph him because the pictures will never do him justice.

And the common dolphin is around 7 - 9 feet long.

The killer whale is about 35 feet long. Yes these are all life size.

Art Time - Cookie Cutters

We started with jar rings, tracing circles all over a paper, overlapping. Color all the intersecting shapes a different color. We also used their first initials, hearts, and other cookie cutters.

Abstract Class

 I have been musing over how to teach my kindergartener about emotions, controlling them, but without talking about it directly too much. (Because frankly, when I start to talk, he glazes over and starts to think about dolphin pillow pets.)  My first goal was to work with color, abstractly.

I set out all the markers, and navigated to the iTunes store on my computer. I then turned on a sampling of music - all kinds of music - and asked him to draw how the songs made him feel. (iTunes store song samples are the perfect length for this activity - about a minute and a half).  One full sketchbook page for each song. I did say I wanted to see all kinds of shapes and lines and that the lines did not have to be anything other than lines. Not a new trick, for sure, but a good one.

The unintended bonus was that he literally danced as he drew. So funny.

Our songs included:

Dooley
I will survive
Nature Sounds - Thunderstorms
Ode to Joy
Groove is in the heart
Mariachi
Nature Sounds - Dolphins
Istanbul
Monster Mash
Pachelbel's Canon in D
Somewhere Over The Rainbow - IZ
Moonlight Sonata
Like a Prayer
Mad About You
Take a Chance on Me

Stealing

Originally posted on my art blog (which it has turned out I have never had time for) almost one year ago.


I have given every ounce of artistic and creative energy I have to my children since the first one was born.

My reasons for doing this:

They need(ed) me. Every minute they were awake. So I needed to make it fun for me.
I have to have a creative outlet.
Art brings me joy and if I am happy and enjoying what I am doing, they will be happy.
I wanted to give them a childhood full of happy memories.
I wanted to give them a childhood full of unusual memories.
I wanted them to learn about art, because not much of it is taught in schools anymore.
I wanted to teach them about art in a unique, fun way. Many times in ways that were not in our studio.
I feel I have a unique gift or even simply a unique desire to teach my children about art, and doing this has unleashed more creativity in me than I have ever felt in any other artistic endeavor.
I want to fill every aspect of our lives with art, most likely to fill the hole in my own life. The gaping hole of not sitting in front of paints and wood. But it has not only filled that hole in my life, it has made it overflow. It is enough to just do art with my children. I feel no saddness about not doing my own art.

And so we come to the title of my post. Stealing. I cannot escape the feeling that anything I do for just myself is somehow stealing from my children. They are small. They need me, and at no other time in my life will it be more important to be with them than right now. I will never regret time or energy given to them.

But then again. Are they so small? Yes. I mean no. I mean, yes. We've changed, as a family. Literally overnight. Some of my children are not so small, and need me a little less. So today, I took a few minutes from my duties to creating a happy, clean environment for my family, and I drew this self portrait.

And I felt so fulfilled. And happy. And a little frustrated because I cannot quite make the lines do what I want them to. Made me feel like making a cake for Picasso. Because we would all be happy about that. And we would all be fulfilled.

And I think of the time in a few years when they will all be in school. And no one will be begging me to do "projects!" with them. No one will be asking about which artists birthday we are celebrating. And the art studio will be clean.

And those thoughts, fill me with indescribable loneliness. So I realize, I must start to draw and paint for myself again. A little here or there. Because one day I will need it. When my little ones no longer need me. I know it won't be as fulfilling. But I know that I will always need art.

**Edit: I know so many people who have struck the balance between being an artist and a mother - being an artist independent of their children. I envy them. We have no balance in that respect - which, as I said is totally fine for me. All of our situations and children are unique, and our solutions will all be different, yet beautiful. I in no way think my life is the answer for everyone, it is just the only solution I can come up with for now to keep us all happy. And it will change and evolve, because that is what life is about, right?

A long, long time ago... I got a short haircut and went to Europe for 2 months. I went with around 30 other people, none of whom I knew.

Me in Florence, Italy

Of course I did make friends. Many wonderful friends. Many of whom have gone on to become really fantastic artists. One friend in that I made is Cass Barney. On this Europe trip, she was in the stage of life that I am in now. She and her husband were hauling their two little girls around Europe. I was fascinated by her because she was a mom AND an artist AND she was making it work. I remember visiting her studio, her two little girls painting at a small table. I paid attention. I knew one day I would need to try to make it work (being a mom and an artist).

In Spain, at a Flamenco dance.

Anyhow, years and years have separated us as we've each gone down paths that never crossed...until I discovered her blog 2 years ago! Ahh. Reunited friends at last. I am still fascinated by her for many reasons. I've always loved her work. And she's still making it work. And she is still bubblingly happy.

On her blog several months back, she announced a new project she was doing the required participation....and I participated. You can read about it on her site. Below is "my" painting. On her site, if you click on this painting, a pop up comes up that describes it. (No, I didn't paint it...I just shared with her an idea, and she came up with the painting).

Last Friday we went to the show to see the painting in person. The paintings are exquisite. All have great stories. The show is up at Kayo Gallery, until July 15th, I think. The painting means so much to me. Thanks for telling my story Cass.

Josef Albers

Today we celebrated German-born painter/designer Josef Albers' birthday. I had about a million ideas of things I wanted to do, but of course, not enough time to do them. So I picked the 3 easiest.

Michelangelo

Today is (was?) Michelangelo's birthday. Naturally, we had to celebrate in some way. We started with coloring our own Delphic Sibyl...
...which we then hung on the ceiling of the kids' bedroom...





And for dinner... pizza, of course.