The Christmas Art Box

My 5 year-old daughter Clara has recently become interested in art! She has requested both art supplies and "art lessons from mommy" for Christmas this year. Of course, I am thrilled with this new interest and I immediately went in search of the perfect art supply kit to inspire her. I found nothing on the market that was either fun enough for a creative, little girl or had the selection or quality of art supplies that I would like her to have. I decided I would have to create it myself. The result is a entirely custom art box complete with her initials, fun colors, flowers and, of course, a fair amount of sparkle. I found a vintage train case at the flea market and used fabric paint, paint pens, fuzzy letters and rhinestones to give it a new look. This was fairly inexpensive which gave me the opportunity to invest in some of my favorite art supplies with which to fill it. I can't wait to see her reaction on Christmas morning and I also can't wait to see the masterpieces she creates!

A Handcrafted Christmas

My children, whom I am sure to speak of frequently, posed for pictures in their Christmas outfits this past weekend. Seeing how this post pertains to the upcoming Holidays and how you the reader have very likely never met my children I thought this would be a good time to make some introductions. As previously mentioned, I have three wonderful children. Avery is six and in first grade, Clara is four and Oliver is two! My children have played a large part in my decision to have a handcrafted Christmas this year. That is not to say the current state of the economy had no bearing on this decision. It did! But more importantly I want to show the children that Christmas is not about consumption or Santa Clause but about the gift of love manifest in a tiny infant boy. Spending money with reckless abandon does not seam to be in the spirit of the season! Giving, however, is in the spirit and I want to do so creatively and thoughtfully. So, you may ask, what is a handcrafted Christmas? Well, I think the definition will evolve throughout this process as I have never done this before. I am setting up some rules at the beginning to follow. I will craft gifts myself, thus the handcrafting distinction. I may purchase supplies with which to create the gifts. I anticipate shopping at both the craft store and fabric store. I will attempt to craft most of the gifts myself. Those gifts that I do not craft and I must purchase will be second hand from ebay, consignment stores, garage sales or flea markets. I find this exception is necessary because all though I am capable of crafting a dollhouse for my daughter I can not create the furniture to outfit said dollhouse. That is far beyond my expertise! needless to say, this approach to Christmas giving takes considerable planning and time. I started creating gifts in early October and I am thinking now that I should have begun even earlier. I am nearly done with the aforementioned doll house and I will post photos and a narrative of the process when it is finished. I am curious to know if anyone else is crafting any or all of their presents this Holiday season and what those handcrafted presents may be. I hope to encourage a dialog on the subject sharing ideas, tips and expertise!

The oil painting that began this blog

I had not considered starting my own blog until I painted this painting! What does a painting have to do with blogging? It began when I decided to take an oil painting class through the local parks department this fall with Jill, a childhood friend of mine. All though I graduated with a BFA from the University of Oklahoma over a decade ago I had never painted in oils. My degree was in studio arts with an emphasis on printmaking and a minor in art history. The once a week class was a perfect excuse to study fine arts once again and it also afforded me the opportunity to get out of the house and do something just for me. I am a mother of three children ages six and under - need I say more! After a few weeks of classes the instructor, local artist Gill Adams http://www.giladamspaintings.blogsot.com, began instructing us in landscape painting. This is my resulting painting! He then proceeded to ask me if I had a blog where I could post my paintings. I did not! After a week of consideration I have decided to start such a blog. For posterity's sake I wish to record not only paintings but my other creative pursuits. Perhaps this new venture will create a dialogue about all things creative and all things mom!