Gallery

Eliza made this for Ani. There is a lot of love going 'round.
(see the fish leaves? my favorite part)

I thought I would really confuse things and bounce around in time again. A little here, a little there, and maybe I'll get caught up!  I figured it has been a while - maybe years? - since my last "gallery" post, which would maybe imply that there is no art going on around here, which would be just silly. And wrong. Along with a long dive into the fantastic coloring books that are available these days, there has been making of every kind...writing, drawing, sewing, crocheting, sculpting, collage. I've decided that the way we're going to make it through February is to set Fridays aside for a full day of meandery making. Doesn't that sound like the best plan?? I think it will be soul-saving for me, and that can't be bad for any of us...

mesmerizing

E's sketchbook, above and below

Eliza flew to NYC with Dan in January, and her last-minute got to get this done!!! project was embroidering these jeans so she could wear them.

Ani's art making often centers around play. She made these fine ladies for herself; I am quite taken with their hair...

The mesmerizing spirals are a tool we've all been using for some meditative time, while listening to music or a story.

Ani's spirals

The girls made signs for their rooms out of el wire. Eliza's says "wander" and Ani's "imagine".

My own making has been more of the postcard variety. My commitment to be more involved in knowing what is happening in our government goes hand in hand with learning to have a voice, and I'm playing a little trick on myself to keep interested: I'm making awesome postcards that - I KNOW, I know, will get lost at the bottom of a pile, but...they make me happy to make and to write and to clip to the mailbox to wait for pickup, so this intersection of art and activism is likely to become a familiar one around here.

My most recent piece of making is thanks to our friend Ari Beloved Jones, who taunted me with several precious octopuses, crocheted within snatching distance of my grabby little hands, before kindly and patiently teaching me to make one of my own. So dang cute.

Gallery and Invitation to Eliza's blog

Patched cloaks, snowshoes, skates...ready for winter!

This post will mostly have Anika's most recent drawings in it. This girl has been busy! She seems to be working mostly on girls and women, focusing on ways to make more realistic noses and paying attention to how eyebrows can drastically change a facial expression.

Mia, Chieftain's daughter

Mom and Babysitter, with many many piercings.

Fashion show

Elfie. With pierced ears.

She has also been digging Ed Emberley's drawing books, drawing skeletons, witches, monsters...

A French Skeleton

Eliza is prolific as always. When I ask what she'd like to do in a day, drawing and reading always top the list.  She has started sharing her work on her own blog, and asked that I invite readers here to come and see her art over at Rattlesnake Plantain!  I think you'll enjoy hearing her voice along with her beautiful artwork...

by Eliza

Gallery: portraits

Ani has been wowing us with portraits this summer.  The one above (it's me, dontcha know) she drew while I was dozing on her bed, listening to a story with her.  She got it all - the lines on my lips, my nose ring, my underarm hair (she was particularly proud of that detail).  Can I just tell you how loved I felt, being looked at so closely and rendered so beautifully? Big big love.

This one is more my super-hero look, I think, which Dan found an interesting contrast to what he sees as his clown self, drawn here as a mouse.  I think she's just picking up and emphasizing the more playful aspects of his character.  See his bike?

Ah, and here he is as a rock-n-roller.  Right? He should be so lucky, to have those pajamas super star clothes.

These really amazed me.  She is going for more realism than I've seen her do before, patiently finding the details and including them in her drawing.

Gallery

This gallery post is so diverse, I'm not really sure what to say about it...other than, here it is!! Art!

Ani's crow, my basket peeking out...

Contour drawing

Eliza's squash

A charcoal cat that Eliza is particularly pleased with

Ani's 3-D paper turtle

Ani's funky abstract art du jour

Working on her crocheted t-shirt rug

Ani's watercolor entry in an art contest - she won first in her age group!

Eliza's collage entry for an art contest - same here! first place!

Ani's splash art monster 

Ani's monster

What Ani does while listening to stories...

Paper people! With dogs!

Gallery

Night Shift Girl

It's been a while since I've posted photos of the art work around here, but that doesn't mean it's not happening...Eliza received a big, black sketchbook for Christmas, and it's nearly filled with drawings. These are some of our favorites.

Sometimes the drawings are inspired by the stories we're reading - this huge bat and rider came out of the trance that is the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins, all about Gregor the Overlander and his family who happen into the Underland, where humans bond with enormous bats, who become their transport. (Whew - was that too much? It's a great series.)

Othertimes they seem to just drift out of a story Eliza has going in her head. This girl is always writing and drawing stories...

 Ani has been spending a lot of her story listening time playing with Thinking Putty and making friendship bracelets, but tonight she drew a picture straight from our current read-aloud (Dan came home for dinner! And an hour of story! before heading back to campus to work on another job application...), Peter and the Starcatchers.  I may have written about this before, as we spent one long car trip this past year listening to this book on tape, but it is a great book!! It's all about how Peter Pan got his special magic and can fly.  It's totally captivating, takes place mostly on boats (a big plus around here), and is populated by lots of pirates;  Dan does a bang-up job on the voices and has us all in giggles.  Anyway, the picture.  It's awesome:

Look at those waves! And the tippy boat! Ack!!

Ani also found the bottles of glitter glue that I bought while we were in Richmond and intended to crack open for Christmas craziness but never got to it, and she squealed in delight and immediately set up shop making making making - I'm not sure WHAT she's making, but she is all about the glitter glue - she really really really loves it.  

oh, the concentration!!

Tada! A gallery full of glitter...

Ani and I got into more art today - this time involving one of the elements we've been studying - but I'll save it for another post!