"a portrait of my children's artwork, once a week, every week, in 2013."
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this week zoomed by with activities and a fantastic chinese new year production that s's school put on. saturday morning we crept down to the studio to paint for a bit. i showed the girls a photo and we talked about the shape they see when they look at it. you can see the photo and read the post here.
s. sienna sometimes asks, what should i paint. my usual answer is, whatever you feel like, which she then follows up with a heavy sigh. this morning, she liked me suggesting a direction to take. we have been reading the little house series. the winters are bleak. this piece has that feel to me. solitude under a heavy sky. sienna simply calls it, "a tent out in the mountains."
o. olivia liked looking at the pictures and naming shapes, but wanted nothing to do with direction. she worked away at her piece and then painted four more. when i asked her if it had a name, she said yes, it's called, "not a triangle."
Oh, this is idea is a real gem! It's my first time visiting you; I was drawn in from Jodi's by the graphic b+w image your daughter created. She sounds similar to my own girl. WIIL.NOT.FOLLOW directions, mould to norms, or do what is expected.
ReplyDeletethanks for stopping by erica! yes, that's my girl too. gotta love though, right? xx
DeleteLove Olivia's "not a triangle" comment. Isn't that all a part of art too... going against the mainstream. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I would hang Sienna's piece right by my favorite expensive pieces of art in my home. That is absolutely beautiful! Do you matte all of their art and hang them? How do you choose what to hang and what to save? I used to keep so many paintings from my preschool kids. But, now with my own daughter, I know the art will get out of hand. I'd love to hear what you do with all of the "masterpieces" you get throughout the days.
summer, yes going against the grain is where it's at!
Deleteas far as the girls art, there is so much of it. mainly what they bring home from preschool and elementary. i keep all of it in a huge bin. my plan is to sort through it all at some point and keep the essential pieces, but also create a photo book, like through shutterfly too. that way it can be looked at versus just stored. for the pieces on canvas and the ones i fall in love with, i hang and rotate constantly. but i'm like that, i am a constant re-arranger. i don't buy new frames, i just swap out the pieces.
for deciding what to keep, i keep what i love, what they feel attached to and what is more free-form versus just a draw within the lines piece, like many of the elementary school pieces. i also love work with their handwriting on it. i've kept a collection of that over the years. evidence of existence that i treasure.
i've noticed hailey transition out of a "not a triangle" mode, and into a "tell me what to do- within the lines mode".
ReplyDeletei've noticed this change in other areas as well (i.e. friends at school, books)- with the exception of her clothing choices :).
i'm working on this with her.... encouraging her to think for herself (gifted her with the book, "spaghetti in a hot dog bun"~ a book on courage and being who you are).
Yeah, that's coming for us too. That's the hard part, when kids become self conscious. Sienna still has that amazing freedom about her when she's painting, but I can see a subtle shift in her from just a year ago. When they are little everything is completely spontaneous. I treasure that. It seems like you're doing everything right! I'll check out the book, sounds like a great one to read to both my girls.
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