Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso
You see, my husband and I live in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, and up until 3 years ago, it was perfectly spacious. We used the 2nd bedroom as a computer/art room, where I could keep my supplies out and ready, as well as, unfinished projects. Then I got pregnant. I nested, painted, cleaned, made lists upon lists of things for my patient husband to complete, I decorated, shopped...even sewed curtains and pillows (imagine that)! Those are the curtains below! Everything was redone 
except that 2nd room. In fact, that finally (and reluctantly) became our daughter's room when she turned 2! So, then the computer was moved into our bedroom and my art (and by now, we're adding a store's worth of scrapbooking material) stuff was to be out in the dining area. Unfortunately, I had to pare down what could be out there and what needed to be boxed up since the area is quite small, but, I still had a place I could call my little nook. Tablecloths are a necessity to cover up the boxes, totes and shelving units filled with more stuff! As my daughter started to take an interest in arts and crafts, she wanted to have a place of her own, where she could have her things available to her when she was in the mood for creating. I set up a desk in her room....she never used it. I would then move my things out of the way, let her use MY nook, then clean her stuff up and put my things out again....this proved to be a waste of time. She likes to have her paints and brushes at her disposal, her markers at hand, clean paper waiting for some color. I can't blame her, it's so nice to sink into the chair and let the imagination flow out of you. Heck, she paints at
least once a day, I figure she earned the transfer of ownership of the nook. Now, I move her stuff out of the way when I create (usually when she's at school or sleeping) and put it all back when I'm through. These are just a few of the paintings she did today. Call me unsentimental, but I throw out about 10 to 15 paintings of hers every week. The good ones get rotated onto her walls in her room....the really exceptional ones, I keep. Oh well, someday I will have a nook all to myself and as I sit down with my cup of tea and am listening to my ecclectic music selections, ready to put brush to paper, I'll be missing that little voice asking, "Mommy, can I paint, too?"
I found a website http://www.creativeeveryday.com/ that offers the challenge of finding ways to be more creative everyday. It is a very casual, supportive site run by an artist and I liked the idea of there being themes for every month to help inspire new thoughts and direction to lead you on a journey, whether that be being more mindful of your everyday actions or starting a grand masterpiece....everyone will get something different out of the experience. I instantly wanted to be a part of this challenge, since I do work better on a deadline. However, The thought of a daily, even weekly challenge, seemed a little overzealous....I am a procrastinator, afterall. So, I figured the baby step for me, would be to take the challenge theme (this month is BODY) and use it as a starting point for some new art or craft project to be completed within a month's time. I think that sounds reasonable, perfectly doable, with a little more effort made to carving time out for working on these challenges....plus, at the end of a year, I'll have a great habit and 12 new works to be proud of. I've come to this challenge a little late, as I just signed up for it yesterday, but I'm thinking this wed's photo shoot with Killian may help kill 2 birds with one stone. If I can take a really beautiful photo that meets the criteria of the challenge (the website is very liberal with any rules for participating, I just have some self-imposed guidelines I've set for myself) then I can submit the photo to the challenge and still use it as a painting reference later. I also re-organized my (I mean my kid's) little art desk to help make being creative a little easier....I hope.
You see, my husband and I live in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, and up until 3 years ago, it was perfectly spacious. We used the 2nd bedroom as a computer/art room, where I could keep my supplies out and ready, as well as, unfinished projects. Then I got pregnant. I nested, painted, cleaned, made lists upon lists of things for my patient husband to complete, I decorated, shopped...even sewed curtains and pillows (imagine that)! Those are the curtains below! Everything was redone 
except that 2nd room. In fact, that finally (and reluctantly) became our daughter's room when she turned 2! So, then the computer was moved into our bedroom and my art (and by now, we're adding a store's worth of scrapbooking material) stuff was to be out in the dining area. Unfortunately, I had to pare down what could be out there and what needed to be boxed up since the area is quite small, but, I still had a place I could call my little nook. Tablecloths are a necessity to cover up the boxes, totes and shelving units filled with more stuff! As my daughter started to take an interest in arts and crafts, she wanted to have a place of her own, where she could have her things available to her when she was in the mood for creating. I set up a desk in her room....she never used it. I would then move my things out of the way, let her use MY nook, then clean her stuff up and put my things out again....this proved to be a waste of time. She likes to have her paints and brushes at her disposal, her markers at hand, clean paper waiting for some color. I can't blame her, it's so nice to sink into the chair and let the imagination flow out of you. Heck, she paints at
least once a day, I figure she earned the transfer of ownership of the nook. Now, I move her stuff out of the way when I create (usually when she's at school or sleeping) and put it all back when I'm through. These are just a few of the paintings she did today. Call me unsentimental, but I throw out about 10 to 15 paintings of hers every week. The good ones get rotated onto her walls in her room....the really exceptional ones, I keep. Oh well, someday I will have a nook all to myself and as I sit down with my cup of tea and am listening to my ecclectic music selections, ready to put brush to paper, I'll be missing that little voice asking, "Mommy, can I paint, too?"
No comments:
Post a Comment