Oh, she LOVES the cute little moccasins I made her!

... she's mad because 1) she wants the camera 2) she wants to put on her other shoes 3) I won't let her nurse all night long 4) she's a raging, opinionated toddler and this is freaking me out! I wasn't counting on having an angry little lion cub for a third child.

Anyway, about those moccasins... they were quite satisfying and fun to make, and maybe she'll warm up to them one of these days...?

Les petits artistes

I am back in the saddle again, teaching for the first time in two months (I assumed no one wanted to attend classes in my backyard during the blazing hot months of July and August) and it feels so so so SO good to be playing and painting and making art and getting messy with these SWEET little dears... I have been glowing all day and into the night from the wonderful energy of it all... and with not one but two of the youngest kids I've had in this class yet (12 months exactly) and they totally enjoyed it and enthusiastically participated, as you can see...
thanks to the brilliant and beautiful Kiera (mama to this adorable little blond Ari) for the fantastic photos!

Oh and additional sweetness for me... little Henny has attended my classes many times, as a babe in a sling, but this was her first time when she was big enough to join in.... how fun, what a milestone! She took to it like a duck to water, too.

NOT like the FISH!!

When my husband Matt and I were younger folks of the footloose and fancy-free variety, I lived just around the corner from this awesome bookstore in the West Village (OH that gives me a pang... imagine all that time when I could go there for as long as I wanted, whenever I wanted, and I had no idea what a luxury kid-free time in a bookstore was! It's like gold!) and we used to go there from time to time, and once I bought this book which was a huge gigantic anthology of Little Nemo's Adventure's in Slumberland, which is a comic strip from the 1910's by Winsor McCay, and we both totally fell in love with the unbelievable intricate and astonishing and psychedelic art of this comic strip. At some point I guess we were pretty serious about each other and decided that if we ever had a kid we would name him Nemo Truly (Truly is an old family name on my mother's side) or Clara Bow (also there was a Clara Bow retrospective across the street at Film Forum and she won my heart...) but, as fate would have it, well, you can probably guess. We're just lucky that we didn't name him Nemo and then the movie came out. Strangely enough, I was talking to a librarian about graphic novels fairly recently and this exact same thing happened to him, except with his cat... he named his cat Nemo and everyone thinks it's after the fish in the Disney movie. Nothing wrong with the movie, you know... just don't want to name your kid after it.... maybe your cat, if you roll like that, but not your kid...

Anyway, it's just melting my heart lately that our boy is old enough and I can share this really meaningful book with him. He's been poring over it... the writing is small and the language is totally antiquated and unusual (which I love) but he's digging it. Since he was even called Nemo in utero, he probably has a particular affinity for it. Each one ends with Nemo waking up from Slumberland and his parents scolding him for falling out of bed or making noise, "You'll have to give that boy another dose of turpentine and sugar. Listen to him, he can't sleep. He eats too much candy, Dear." or , "You've woken us up again, Nemo, after your Mother cautioning you about eating sardines before going to bed, eh?"

How foolish we were... it seems obvious now that we were to have a Jack and no one else.
Though sometimes I secretly think he's just a little Nemo-y around the edges.

Prototype

Hee hee! Here's my funny little attempt at moccasins. But I am SO proud, because I've been wanting to make Henrietta a little pair of softie shoes for SO long. I was thinking of waiting to share these 'til I'd made a really sterling pair, but I just had (yet another) conversation with someone about the illustrious Soulemama, and about how reading her blog without the appropriate grain or two of salt can cause soul-crushing nausea (in the most Sartre-ian sense). I think if Mrs. Soule over there shared a few more of her gaffes and blunders we'd all feel a heck of a lot better. But that's not really our business... she can knit her kids everything from undies to bathing suits with the utmost love and care, and our challenge is merely to admire without giving ourselves over to the green-eyed goddess of Jealousy....
Anyway, I'm psyched that I finally tried this ( I love this book so much!!) and it was easy as pie. You could easily make a pair during the watching of one movie (I was watching Charlyne Yi things on Youtube... she's funny) and my little one has been needing soft-soled shoes so badly... she seems like she's a few months away from hard soled shoes of which we have a pair so I'm lazily trying to avoid buying her any proper footwear... I said I was going to buy her a pair of these adorable shoes but I'm too lazy and too cheap... and I'm not really the person who buys their children the proper things at the proper times... I just kind of sloppily make-do with whatever is lying around or comes my way... maybe someday I'll change.... actually I just had a huge pang in my heart when I realized that I probably just have one more year at the outside where I can buy or make anything for my littlest and she won't rebuke me.... when she'll submit and won't necessarily insist on whatever her style may be (which will almost surely be the complete OPPOSITE of mine...)... so maybe some visits to Etsy are in my future. Just a few cute things for the road.

Eating out

I've wanted to do this for simply ever... have a little suppertime cookout at a local park, no particular reason, just because.

Who doesn't like a picnic?

No Impact Man

I just posted this over at my other blog, Mungo, but I thought folks over here might enjoy it as well... In all honesty, I get so scared of getting depressed that I have a hard time going to see those hard-hitting documentaries like Food, Inc. and An Inconvenient Truth (which I still haven't been able to make myself see!) so anything that can get across some great ideas with a dash of humor is great for me. This one looks good... I'm actually looking forward to seeing it.

Some great stuff from 'Young at Art'...

...which is this fab fab book by Susan Striker about doing art with children, which basically changed my life... I read it two and a half years ago, it totally changed my approach to working with kids, and I decided to teach my first art class shortly after. I was just sharing some resources from the book with the group of fine folks who are going to be sharing their sweet little toddlers with me for my upcoming art class in September, and I thought I'd slap 'em up over here as well. It's really good stuff... she's a little overly fervent and believe you me I've given my kid the dreaded coloring page and I'm pretty sure he's not ruined for life... but I really like the reminder to be respectful of children and their work.

By the by, Susan has a whole series of 'Anti-Coloring Books' which are actually really fun... if you've got a kid that likes to draw (which I do not, sadly...) you can print some of the pages out for free here.


TEN CARDINAL RULES FOR TEACHING CREATIVE ART

1. Let go of your own expectations of how an art project should be completed, and let the child's imagination decide how the art materials will be used. (Instructions can prevent exploration, which is the essence of creative thinking.)

2. Never draw, paint, or write on a child's artwork. (The child's own art is more important than any contribution you may make and it may discourage age-appropriate work.)

3. Never point out accidental similarities to realistic objects. (this can distract from the value of the kinesthetic activity of the project.)

4. Never show a child "how" to draw, or entertain a child by making realistic pictures. (these lessons can quickly become substitutes for creative exploration.)

5. Don't ask "What is it?" or "What are you making?" ("What" it is is not as important as "how" it is being made."

6. Never give a child coloring books, dot-to-dot, magic paint with water, molds, drawing machines, drawing computers, or similar anti-art toys. (There is no value for a child in completing something another person created.)

7. Never encourage children to participate in art contests or other forms of competition that pit child against child. ( Children benefit most from setting their own goals and competing with themselves.)

8. Encourage a child to come up with many different solutions to problems, rather than only one correct answer. (In life there is rarely only one "correct" solution to problems, and sound art experiences can teach children how to solve problems.)

9. Don't scold for drawing on unacceptable surfaces. Offer paper and say, "Oh good. I see you feel like drawing." (Emphasize the positive--- your child wants to draw-- and provide an acceptable substitute surface.)

10. Do not rush a child to the next level of development. (Each stage is important and there is no advantage gained by rushing through one stage to reach another.)

			HOW TO ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD' S CREATIVITY Be a role model. Instead of saying “I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler”, say “I love to create things”. The process of creativity is far more important that the product. If your child sees you taking risks and making things, he or she will follow your model. Don’t only hang your child’s art on the refrigerator with a magnet. Your child already knows that “real” art is framed and hung throughout the house. Take something your child makes to the framer and hang it in an important area of your home. Show a clear preference for your child’s original work. Let your child know that copying, tracing and coloring-in of adult art is not creative. Help your child understand that solving problems while creating a work of art leads to solving problems in all areas of life. Verbalize why you “like” a picture. “Pretty” is not particularly helpful. For example, “the colors are so bright and cheerful, there are straight lines and curvy lines and they look well together, the colors remind me of when you were so sad”, are the kind of phrases that can help your child expand his or her vocabulary. They also reinforce what is already being done on an intuitive level. Visit an art gallery or museum with your child. There are many to choose from right in your own town. Look at the art work and encourage your child to look at and talk about the art without worrying about being correct. Make holiday cards out of your child’s drawing or painting and mail them to everyone - even your boss! Have your children’s birthday party guests decorate their own cake, using squeeze tube frosting and candy. Set aside an area of your home that can always be “messy”. Put an easel, chalk board, crayons, paints, glue and a box of scraps there. Call it the “art studio”, and encourage daily use. Buy a big portfolio and save art work. There is nothing more discouraging than working on a picture only to have Mom throw it out on trash day. Occasionally buy plain, light colored things for your child to decorate, such as t-shirts, curtains, sheets, dishes, canvass bags, etc. use them! Buy a leather-bound blank book for your child to use every day, even when you travel. Use it regularly and it will soon be a delightful record of your child's growth and development.