What We Do Wednesdays

For this weeks "What We Do Wednesdays" I'm bringing you to the studio!  I recently tidied up in my craft studio, so we are taking full advantage of the space and creativity that comes from it!

We've been spending a lot of time painting lately.  Dylan has been loving all the mess making that comes along with it, and I have a project I am working on (top secret! you know how it is).  Jack decided that he needed a proper canvas and the only blank one i had was quite large.  He's working on a big rig painting and it's going well.  I am allowing Jackson to use my professional acrylic paints for painting, but little DD is still using the non toxic, washable paints.  Once he stops putting things, like his paint covered fingers, in his mouth, the he can graduate to the "good" paints.  It's not so much a question of if it's worth letting him have the better quality paints, but a question of safely ...... and wall, clothing clean up!

We are pretty casual with painting.  Sometimes we paint for an hour (while just trying to get Dylan to stay in the room!), sometimes we paint for ten minutes.   We make big messes and it's more about the process than the end result, as with most things for the under 5 (7, 10, 12, 30?) set.  So have fun!  Grab some brushes, random utensils, paper, paints and get down and dirty with your kids!

Make

We have been busy sewing and making other crafty related things!  I had to hem the curtains (only a year after we moved in!) and realized that i have been sewing sans pincushion for far too long!  I LOVE those cute tomato pin cushions, so I made one.  Well it's sort of a tomato ... cute none the less!

top with vintage button 

bottom.  this button makes it sit just perfectly on the table!

full of pins!

This is the Valentine's card we are handing out at Jack's preschool today.  He came up wit the dinosaur part and i sketched out the rest.  It met his approval, so I carved it on lino and printed away!  To make it two tone i carved it all as one stamp, then carefully cut out the heart so it became two stamps that match up perfectly!  I think I might sell these in the shop.  They are just too adorable for words!

Crafty Boy!

Jack has been drawing a lot these days and I've been doing a lot of drawing and carving of lino.  I just love the way carving feels and of course love that i can make a million prints of things!  Jack decided that he wanted to turn one of his drawings into a carving, so we set to work!  First he had to learn how to hold the blade and lino properly .... no fingers in the way!  This was the most nerve wracking part for me, but I tried not to let on.  Then the ink rolling and print pulling began!  It's been a factory of sorts around here!  Dylan had been very interested, but e just usually sticks his fingers in the ink and makes his own little art pieces.

I have also been asked to do a guest post on a fantastic blog that i follow.  It's called Pamplemousse!  Check it out!  I'll be doing a tutorial on the carving and printing process of lino.  I might even use these photos, as it's a bit tricky to take photos of myself doing it!

the carving .... perfect technique!

rolling the ink on

and the print!!!

I am thinking of selling a set of these as blank greeting cards in my etsy shop soon.  With all proceeds gong to a charity of Jack's choice!

New Project

Like I don't have enough on my plate. Like I need more challenges in my life!  This however is something I've been wanting to do for a long time!  Check it out and join if you feel so inclined.


Sketchy Project

Repeat Repeat Repeat Change

This is Jackson's art show. He arranged all my "in progress" canvases on the floor, then took a long time to arrange all the shredded paper. At one point he turned to me and said, "I am going to have to spend some more time on the paper. It's not really working, but the paintings are really working well for the show!"

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Sometimes it just gets to me. The constant repetition of "please don't push your brother" pelase don't growl at your brother" "please don't hit your brother" blah blah blah...... we try very hard not to have many rules, unless they are safety concerns or respect of others. Things are getting so much better with the boys, but I am rather tired of Jackson not giving his brother any space ...... ever.

Apparently as a child, i just ignored my little sister. I just wasn't that interested in her until she could talk maybe ... I don't know. With Jack it's the opposite, he won't leave Dylan alone. Usually Jack means well, but just gets too excited and ends up knocking Dylan over. Sometimes i wish Jack would let Dylan be, even for an hour!

Right now I am just a bit worn out and sick and tired of all things mom related. I have decided to set some "work" hours for myself, so I can do some things for myself. These work hours won't be too long, or too often, just enough to get one thing done a week. Weather it be craft or art or just organizing and making sense of things around here!

From His Eyes

I gave Jackson my camera today. Not the broken point and shoot, but my good one! Yikes! Surprisingly I wasn't nervous at all. He was amazing to watch. He'd push his eye right up to the view finder and push one leg out a bit farther than the other, then twist his foot out to get a good stance. He didn't just run and click; he really looked at the subject and when the time was right, he'd click one or two shots. The commentary was pretty good. "a piece of wood. i need to take a picture of that. and yes, a branch. ......... that's FANTASTIC!" He'd say that last one a few times after reviewing the shot, just after taking it. and they really were fantastic! a nice variety of subject matter too! I haven't edited or cropped any of them, this is what Jackson took:

This was the last photo he took. He had put the camera away a while before, but just had to take it out for the red trucks!

This was one of those, "that's FANTASTIC!" shots. I wish I could have recorded him saying it!

He experimented with different angles and levels. Looking up while under a weeping willow.

This is my bum. We all got a good laugh out of this one!

Lots of ducks!

Jackson thought it was amusing that a baby was crawling with the ducks and geese. I thought it was gross. I'm all for getting down and dirty with nature, but all that duck poo?!? on hands!?!

This was another experiment with angles. There is something about this one i really like.

He took an aweful lot of flag photos, most from far away, but this one he framed up for a long time before taking.

This is the first photo he took.

A squirrel came to steal some of Dylan's cheerios and Jackson followed him around. Both Jack and the squirrel stood still for quite sometime while he took this one.

Okay that's all. Have I bored you? As you can tell I am that beaming, proud mama! There are more stories to share and more moments I captured of our day (farm, ducks, picnic, photoshoot, drive, beach, dinner out ...... long day!), but this post is all about my big boy and his new love of photography!

Art and The Sniffles

i am getting sick, no. I am sick. I hate getting sick. it really makes it hard to deal with the stuff the kids throw at me (yes sometimes literally throw). Sniffles, sneezes and all on such an important week! I don't think I have mentioned what is going on Friday.

Jackson and I have decided to host a weekly art club for kids and their parents/caregivers. Jack named it, The Messy Monsters Art Club, and so that's what it's called! We have a blog and a facebook fanpage. This Friday morning is to be our first meeting! We have a fairly simple project planned as I didn't want to tackle anything too extreme for our first go around. I am not too sure who will show up, but it's exciting! Even if it ends up being just our family, that's cool, I love doing art with Jackson.

We paint or draw everyday, often a few times a day we have little art sessions. Now that my craft room is a bit more set up, it makes these spontaneous art times easy!

This weeks project is painting with found objects. If you'd like to know more about it here is the blog:

The Messy Monsters Art Club.

We need a logo ..... I plan to work on that right now!

The Men of the House

Here are the new men of the house. I will add more info on them when I get a chance! The Titles and statements are on cards we received with the paintings. They were translated from Hungarian.

What do we think???? Do you have a favorite? Wait til you see the frames they came in!

The Starost (Burgomaster):
Typical figure of the Russin Steppe's. One of the moujic's of the village. He is the wise old man of the community, honored and respected by all. With the might of the straightforward talk and authority of love and understanding he rules and exacts his duties.

The Wiseman:
It is not enough to have knowledge, it should be used with wisdom.

The Vice-Regent:
With power, pomp and wisom represents his lord, treating his subjects with good hart and will. Are there such living ones?

One day this will be a nice bouncy pouf for Jackson!

Art and Xmas Junk!

Today we went to a church bazzar and picked up some great kitchsy xmas things! There were some great old shiny glass ornaments, and those strange cotton snowmen. I was going to get a great tree skirt, however I was distracted by these three fantastic paintings. They are portraits of some old men wearing strange hats. Very bright colors, really quite crazy! Apparently they are from the 1950's Hungarian finger painting movement! $200 for the set. I think it's a great price and though the bazzar is now closed until january, we might be able to get them tonight as long as Cory thinks they are okay. They would have to be put in new, less ornate frames, so that is an extra cost. They are truly fantastic ..... I wish I had a photo! The most comparable work is from Derain, as far as brush stroke and color.

We've never bought art for our house as I paint and we have received some awesome paintings from Cory's mom. So I don't think $200 is that crazy, for original artwork! Cross your fingers for me!

Art Time

Dinner: Cheese Souffle, with sausages and veggies
Song of the Day: Drop the Needle by Maestro Fresh Wes
Current Thought: I wish I could paint forever!
Project of the Day: art installation for dining room
I Want: nothing right now

Four posts with no photo!!! How horrible, sorry!! I always look forward to the weekends! It's so nice spending time together as a family, even if it is just doing errands! Today we dropped off a HUGE load of stuff at the second hand store, then got some little chairs for Jack's table. In the afternoon, I got time to paint while Cory and Jack skateboarded and played in the sandbox. I really want to finish the current projects I am working on before the baby comes, but I doubt I will be able to. I am working on an art installation consisting of 10 paintings. Most are small, but two are a bit larger. I thought they'd come along much faster, but I keep mixing up colors that aren't quite right. Anyways, we'll just see what happens.

I've been having a lot more braxton-hicks contractions lately, some even with a bit of pain! Also I've been having waves of nausea and a bit of light headedness. yay ... always fun in the world of pregnancy! So tomorrow is another great day together, not sure what the plans are. Other than me wanting to finish my paintings. I'll have to take photos of all of them tomorrow, whether they are complete or not!

Real Chicken

Some Artist Trading Cards I completed today for a swap ...... handmade lino prints!

Dinner: Chicken with Roast Potatoes and Carrots
Song of the Day: The Laying Down Dance Song
Current Thought: i hate being sick **sniffle**
Project of the Day: tidying the house
I Want: to breathe easily again!

Tonight Jack asked us one of those questions that I've been dreading.

J: Is this chicken real?
M: yes it's real
J: real chicken?
M: yes, real chicken
J: like the chickens in the chicken coop?
M: yes, is that okay with you?
J: yup (stuffs mouth full of chicken)
M: okay then. so you understand?
J: (mouth too full to answer)

i've never wanted to tell jack that we eat animals, especially because up at the farm he feeds the chickens and collects their eggs. But he asked, so I had to talk about it. I was happy to hear that he was okay about it all, and I'm pretty sure he understands the concept. It was my biggest fear that he was going to hate us because all this time we've been feeding him animals. I used to be vegetarian, almost up until i became pregnant with him. So maybe nine or ten years vegetarian. Now I eat chicken and beef, but mostly chicken. Once I am no longer pregnant with our second baby, I'd like to go back to a more vegetarian lifestyle. I have many allergies including peanuts and soy. This makes being vegetarian a bit harder ..... you can only eat so many beans! I do sometimes still eat tofu when not pregnant as I'm not totally sure if I'm that allergic. Really I should get tested again! Anyways so there we go ...... uncomfortable conversation #1 dealt with .... now just waiting on the billion more awkward questions that will follow in the coming years!

Hoot Hoot

Crested Owl

Flammutlated Owl

Eastern Screech Owl

Dinner: Fernwood Pub (they allow kids there!!)
Song of the Day: Bob the Builder ..... ALL day!
Current Thought: i can't believe i slept way more than usualy today, but feel more tired than ever!
Project of the Day: more work on the baby blanket
I Want: to sleep for a full 8 hours without waking or worrying about J's fever!

Today was a complete write off. Jack was rather lethargic and cranky most of the day. He did have a few bouts of energy here and there, but we mostly just hung out on the couch. I'm so happy we went to the library yesterday and got some new shows, otherwise we'd have been quite lost. We ran out of mailk and some other staples, but Jack wouldn't put clothes on. We had to wait until hubby got home to get milk. I don't do well without milk. Being pregnant; I am going through tons of milk, mostly due to cereal consumption. I think I average 4 bowls a day now!! We did enjoy a nice dinner out at the pub/restaurant in our neighborhood. It was rather loud and we had to wait a bit of a table, but the food was great and enjoyed by all. Yesterday I had a chance to work on my owl project and I've posted a couple. I'm planning on doing twelve, then framing them in one big frame above our bed. Also I'm finished my crochet specimen display for the living room and almost completed the feltidermy. I've been crafting up a storm, trying to get as many of these projects closed before I do more baby crafting. I had planned to machine quilt Jackson's quilt today if he went to daycare, but there was no way I was sending him off, coughing and sputtering! Alright time to do a bit more work on the owls before an early night!

Too Excited To Wait!

I've been working on some art for our bathroom. I really liked the idea of this print, but really wasn't happy with the colours so I decided to just draw my own version .... i drew them, then scanned them and coloured the drawings on the computer . It's the first time I've used the computer to aid in my art and I have to say I'm pretty excited! I can't wait for my next set of drawings for our bedroom ..... the owl portraits. Let me know what you think! The big person in the tub is Jackson and the little one is our new baby-to-be! Jackson loves the idea of being in my art.