Talented

Both of my parents were artists, whether they got paid for it or not. My dad earned extra money doing lettering and pinstriping on boat transoms, and he was an avid carver when he was retired. My mom taught watercolor classes and could have sold her own work, if she had the interest. Dad could build furniture; Mom could make kick-ass Halloween costumes.

I inherited the interest, but not the grit required to practice something until I was really good at it. I can’t draw or paint, and my furniture-building skills only look good if the furniture in question is on a stage and the audience is pretty far away. I’m good at copying things, and I’m good at following directions, which is why the needle arts have always come easily to me. My knitting and crochet may not always be beautiful, but it’s generally RIGHT, even if I had to fudge a few things to get there.

When Liza started showing interest in art, I did everything I could to support her. Supplies, lessons, attention, dedicated space for her to work ... look back through the blog, it’s all there. And to my surprise, she’s kept at it, even when things weren’t working out to her satisfaction. She’s putting in the hours, and it shows.

My dad passed away before he really had a chance to see Liza’s talent bloom, but my mother stuck around long enough to see the first flowers. She was always so proud of Liza’s work, always happy to have her art on the fridge or in a frame. They did some projects together, back before Mom got sick, and I wish they had been able to do a lot more. My mom would have been so proud to see how much Liza has improved in the last year.

Eye see you

Liza is taking a class in fashion illustration at Bay Arts, and today they got to work in charcoal and chalk pastels. I feel like she held her own with the high school students:

(Especially since this is the first time she’s ever worked in charcoal. Guess I might have to borrow some from Mom’s supplies so Liza can play with the medium at home.)

I came, I S.A.W., I Squammed!

I'm still planning to put together my thoughts on the experience, but here's a video from Jen Grey that shows where I was last week.  I'm in the video (look for the red capris around 1:30-2:00) and my partner in crime is the lady in short overalls walking through the dining hall later in the movie.  Thank you, Jen, for capturing the experience so wonderfully and sharing it with us all!

Book recommendation

This week Liza and I are focusing on learning about art, so I checked some books out from the library to expand our repertoire of craft techniques. One of the books I'm most excited about is called Easy Art Fun, by Jill Frankel Hauser. This book is really designed for use in classrooms, but a lot of the projects lend themselves to home crafting, as well.

What I like best about the book is that it's designed to be used by early readers, so the format of each page is the same, and it's all really clearly spelled out. Each project fits on two page sides (which face each other, so there is no flipping back and forth to finish something), and each offers variations on the project to make it more complicated or with a different theme. There are sections that focus on coloring, cutting with scissors, making toys, making gifts, making things for pretend play, making music, and making wearable art.

Liza is not quite five, but she reads really well, and she was able to breeze through reading several of the projects to pick out one she wanted to do. The book is a great way to get kids some practice with real-life reading, rather than story reading - practical reading really does use a whole different subset of words and phrases that kids need to learn.

And the projects are quite nice, with several old favorites and quite a few that I've never seen before. Liza chose to make the Monster Mouth game, where you decorate a paper bag like a monster face and try to throw balls of paper into the open mouth. Personally, I want to make some bendy people (paper cutouts with baggy ties taped to the back to let you bend the dude into different positions) and a few other projects that are new to me.

Butterfly, butterfly

Liza and I went over to the Cleveland Museum of Art today, and we made the most astounding find ... CMA has a piece by Damien Hirst on loan for the next five years, and it involves neitherformaldehyde nor dead animals.

Er, actually, "Bringing Forth the Fruits of Righteousness from Darkness" does have dead animals. Lots of them. Like thousands and thousands of them. Thousands of dead butterflies, glued down precisely so that the pattern of their wings mimics a triptych of stained glass windows.

check here for a larger resolution copy of the pic - it's worth the extra click to see it

The piece is huge and gorgeous. From a distance, it's a beautiful piece. From up close, it's astounding. There's really no other way to describe it. Liza wanted to draw something inspired by it in her journal, and we sat on the floor in front of the piece for maybe 20 minutes. Yes, I was crocheting at the time, but I was still captivated by it.

Now, if I could just find a print of it, I'd be super, super happy. Or maybe I could just wallpaper my bedroom with a similar print ...

Best turkey ever

Gee, I wonder what I'll put on the front of the postcards we send out for Thanksgiving this year?

Baby's first poem

When I suggested the other day during our homeschooling work that she could practice her handwriting, she said, "Sure! I'll write a poem!" And while I rummaged around for more practice paper, she made this:

I'll have to see if I can get our own little Beatnik to perform this on camera, because it really is too priceless. According to Liza, the correct reading of this is (descriptions mine):

Picnic! (very excitedly)

Mmmmm ... (like Homer Simpson)

Oh! Oh! (like uh-oh, only with two ohs)

Rain. (disappointed)

(I believe "rain" got written at the top because she ran out of room at the bottom of the paper.)

Collaboration

Last year Liza made me a drawing of the yarn store we had visited earlier in the day.  I thought it was so cute that I decided to make it permanent by embroidering it, using my own yarn stash to add some color to what was originally a monochromatic drawing.  I finished it yesterday, and I'm still trying to decide how to display it, but I'm inordinately proud of the results:

For anyone who cares, I used embroidery thread and a stem stitch to make the "shelves."  The yarn I used for the "yarn" includes remnants of three pairs of socks I've made, including Liza's Christmas stocking and the first "real" pair of socks I ever made.  It's all stitched down by couching them with regular sewing thread, which by now I'm getting really good at.

I love the result.  Now I just have to decide how to display it ...