paint cut paste

we are feeling springy over here this week… the trees are already pink and white with blossoms and it’s been in the mid to upper 60s this week. yesterday novi and i went for a long afternoon walk around our neighborhood, looking for treasures and for signs of spring.

we meandered through streets, ducked through bushes, gazed up at trees… we collected all sorts of nature’s gifts, like leaves, sticks, berries, acorns, seeds, flowers… the sweet friends the earth has put in our new california neighborhood. we are still acclimating to our new digs, and feeling our way through the scenery out here. the specimens we gathered were like evidence of our move; like clues to our new surroundings. we studied them.

getting personal with a palm tree

when the sun was setting and we made our way home, i remembered a cool project i’d just seen in a very cool book novi got for her birthday last month called nature’s art box. (i also recognized it from the artful parent blog as well.) the project was about making a clay fossil to preserve the textures and shapes of natural objects in sculpey.

bag of goodies

when we got home, we looked over each treasure while putting it into a bowl on our table. we talked about what it was and where we found it.

then, i busted out our trusty box of sculpey, and we went to work making and squishing little balls of the polymer clay.

then we pressed some of the objects into the clay to make textured discs. like little thumbprints from mother nature.

granted, scupley is not my most favorite clay to use with kids, as it can be toxic while baking. so, i made sure to do that part after novi was asleep on the other end of the house with kitchen windows open and her door closed. (next time, i may try my trusty model magic and see if that works…)

after the discs were baked, i put them onto a pretty plate that we often keep on our nature table or altar.

i wrote with a brown sharpie on the backs of them what the object was, the city, and the date. novi is enjoying examining them and guessing what made the print. they’re a good size for her to carry around and be proud of, too. it’d be nice to poke a hole in the top of some (or all) of the discs with a straw before baking to make pendants or ornaments out of them, too. i enjoy the white of them, but they may also be nice if painted (a light watercolor wash, perhaps) or glazed.

i loved doing this activity – mostly the walking, talking, and paying attention to so many intimate details. seeing the world through novi’s big, new eyes always keeps things fresh for me. i’d love to repeat this activity in different places, like on a beach vacation, almost like a 3-d photo album from a trip, without the photos.

i recently posted a poll on the paintcutpaste.com facebook fan page (hello sweet fans! thank you for your support!!!) about what your child’s favorite art material is. my comment was that novi’s favs are watercolors and crayons. what was i thinking?! most of the art done in my house is so very temporary… it’s on the MAGNA-DOODLE!

sun, person, flowers (36 months)

she adores this thing – has ever since she was about 18 months old, i recall. she has worn out the pens on at least three of them so far. by that, i mean that she draws so much with it that the coating comes off the tip of the pen and it starts to scratch the drawing surface.

"just a guy" (32 months)

i find that documenting and keeping record of novi’s magna-doodle art has allowed me to really see her chronological artistic development. because it is the simplest graphic medium – black lines on a grayish-white surface – i am able to really pay attention to how her lines and forms progress without a whole lot of variables. we leave novi’s out on the coffee table at all times in our house, and often that’s where she can be found. sure, the art is meant to change and move and grow and be erased and redrawn, but i encourage parents and caregivers out there to maybe take photos every week or every month over time to really witness the beauty of your child’s visual language unfolding over time. so fascinating!

some of the first people she drew (31 months)

a person, 5 weeks later (32.5 months)

a person with features, holding flower, duck, sun, cloud, groundline, and text; 3.5 months later (36 months)

i also enjoy how novi tells stories while drawing on the magna-doodle. it is fun to sit and listen to her creative process unfold, as she is still young enough that her internal dialog is expressed verbally. (oh how i’ll miss hearing that as she grows older!) some of the fun magna-doodle stories have been:

"this astronaut is flying with the birds!" (33 months)

"the mommy sun is feeding pomegranates to her baby suns" (32 months)

my personal fav: the day the "balloon boy" story broke, we told novi about it and this was her depiction of what happened (32 months)

another fun piece of magna-doodling is how novi is using it to practice writing her letters alllll the time. she makes up words quite a bit by stringing letters together on the screen and asking me what she spelled.

left: mirror - right: magna-doodle. odd. (33 months)

the amazing graduate school i attended to study transpersonal art therapy, naropa university, was buddhist-oriented. i consider myself somewhat buddhish; however, one of the many areas where i fall short of  the whole buddhist philosophy is how to handle the transient nature of a magna-doodle image. i just can’t let go of these masterpieces that novi creates. thus the obsessive photographing of this little fischer price toy, and entire web photo albums dedicated to her magna-doodle pieces on our private family site. i even added some to my i only have the account so i can see others’ photos flickr page, click here if you want to see more, though i realize this is a photo-heavy entry already. (they’re just too fun!)

happy doodling!

in the autumn of 2007, novi began to speak. at 7 months old, she said dada, then cat, then mama (yeah, i ranked after the cats) then bye bye. several weeks later, within her first set of 15-20 words spoken was the word YETI! we have this great book called tibetan tales for little buddhas and in it there is a story of a monk who, despite his fear, helps a yeti get a splinter out of his foot, and the yeti is kind to him in return. for some odd reason, we began to read this book to novi when she was teeny tiny, and she reeeally was fascinated by the yeti, and had a deep grumbly voice reserved just for when she growled “yeetiiii” even at just 10 months old.

the yeti from the book is apparently being nice here and giving fur to the monk to keep him warm

in december 2008, novi saw rudolph the red-nosed reindeer claymation cartoon for the first time. to this day, she will have you know that the story is really about the “abominable snow monster” and not so much about some misfit reindeer.

the abominable snow monster in rudolph

sometimes people are confused about yetis… i understand them to be the same as bigfoot or an abominable snowman. either way, novi has always been obsessed.

this month, novi has taken to doing some great yeti art (after being re-inspired by seeing rudolph again) which i wanted to share here:

chalk yeti in the snow, with trees/mountains behind

brown furry yeti

yellow yeti, who i adore

"this yeti is running to his birthday party"

there were five other yetis of different colors, two of whom were “carrying cakes to the aqua yeti’s birthday party.”

i also got into the yeti art this year, and created this little felt yeti for novi’s holiday stocking. hee hee.

momma-made felt yeti

we made a little yeti card on jib-jab just to amuse novi. it’s the background image on my computer right now, and she loves to climb into my chair and giggle at it several times a day, cooing to me saying, “he’s such a nice, sweet yeti! he’s giving us a big hug… awww…”

also, we ordered these “yeti for bed” pajamas for her for christmas! love them!

from chasing fireflies

and our most recent yeti quest? we joined the yeti club!!! (oh check this out, yetis abound!)

so i suppose this isn’t an art activity-with-your-toddler sort of post, but my reason for sharing it is to say that whatever whim or seemingly random fixation your child may have, support them in exploring it to the fullest! you never know what deeper meaning is beneath it for them. additionally, for a figure such as a yeti, which can often be seen as scary or dark, it is important to stand with your child and walk them through these curiosities – together – rather than abolish their interest in it completely. each of us holds light and dark within us. if these golden opportunities arise, go into and through these darker places with your kids, as there is wisdom there to be gleaned. this goes for nightmares, as well. learn more… try not to abolish the “bad” but to move through it and get curious about it. art has the power to hold these seemingly negative energies and to allow your child to befriend them. little ones can create the image, control the image, manipulate the image, dialog with the image, and ultimately gain mastery over it — how empowering! all of our children will certainly will face darkness in their lives in some way, so why not give them tools by using safe metaphors, like the beloved yeti, when they pop up?

thank you, sweet yeti, for your gifts.

yesterday we busted out the acrylic paints, and novi began a self-directed portrait painting session.

artist at work

her favorite thing to do these past couple of months is to draw faces. so she brought that inspiration to her brushwork. i think it is so important for kids to have free art time, or open studio time, as we art therapists might say. often we come at them with directives and materials to “make something” but out of these free play times with art materials, so much growth and confidence blooms!

i thought i’d share some of her portraits here — all are her ideas, her brush strokes, her color choices, and her commentary in quotes. the one just below is her self-portrait with blonde hair, blue eyes/nose/mouth, and orange eyebrows. she drew an orange sunshine in the upper right and on the left, the letters “i o v” are for “novi”

novi's self portrait

"daddy"

"novi & mommy. but novi doesn't want a body"

"guy with a sideways face & buttons"

"i'm painting over this one with water"

the one just above is my husband’s favorite. he says it’s “so zen.” novi’s first house picture showed up today, via purple crayon. i love this because i’ve never shown her how to draw a house (or a face, for that matter!) so it is an authentic representation of how se sees houses.

"this house has lots of windows"

i recommend doing “open studio” with your child at least as often as you do planned art projects or crafts with them. sit back and witness what images come to play with you!

crayola’s model magic is magic, and today we were magicians turning plain white putty into adorable animals! i love that model magic is mess-free and so easily malliable for little magicians.

novi had a great time squishing and smooshing the model magic for a long while before we made any “thing.” this sort of art-making time is what it’s all about — it’s the process, not the product. in those moments, she is having a sensory experience, and she is fully engrossed in imaginal play, telling stories and making up dialog and voices. i live to listen to these activities, and it seems like sculpting supplies really brings my daughter into that inventive space. (of course, paint does, too. i love art.)

her first creation today was a sphere that got smooshed, and then she gave it a face. she’s getting good at figure representation.

first face sculpture

then i remembered that i saw this clay owl on the 4 crazy kings blog, and i knew i had to make some! novi and i both adore owls (they’re one of my totem animals,) as do many of my friends, so these will make festive autumn gifts, or perhaps holiday ornaments. we followed the simple instructions from the blog, and made an entire owl family. novi was able to help me make the balls, smoosh them, and also to indent the feathers and eyes with the end of a marker.

magical owl family

then we got model magic happy and made some cats, fish, and turtles, too! this goop comes in tons of colors, but i like to get it in white because it’s easy and fun to paint and/or color with markers.

colorized

we brought these animals to life with paint after they had hardened 24 hours after making them. such fun!

creatures with features

as you’ve witnessed, novi and i make a LOT of art. she has her own portfolio where we keep her works, and we have also been hanging them on the fridge and on walls. when we moved into our new place in northern california, i decided to create an art gallery for novi in her bedroom, where she can proudly display her masterpieces!

el museo de novi

i realize that pottery barn kids (and the like) sell a lot of cute, pre-fab art display kits, but that’s just no fun for us DIY girls in my household. so i got some kitchy-cool, assorted cabinet knobs (somehow i have a bag of these around the house, waiting for a special occasion such as this) and some picture wire from michaels (framing section.) thin rope and yarn would probably work, as well. we strung the wire up on novi’s wall with the knobs screwed into the wall at the endpoints. for longer wire, eye-screws work to keep things lifted along the way.

knobs anchoring the art wire

then i found the bag of plain old clothespins i had at home, and decided they needed some gussying up! i modpodged pretty papers (a few are even pieces of novi’s paintings) onto some of the clothespins. from this, i learned that modpodge doesn’t adhere to wood, so i had to glue it down in the back first. i painted others. then i craft-glued shells, buttons, figurines, and assorted fun things from around our art studio to the bottom part of the pins. (if they were glued to the top, pinching the pin might get hairy. this is why i did this as a mommy project instead of involving a 2.5-year-old.) kids even just a bit older might have the dexterity to decorate their own clothespins.

decorating clothespins

here’s a set of 18 that i whipped up during novi’s nap today:

fancy!

after the wire was hung and the clothespins were fancy, it was time to hang the art! novi chose her favorite pieces to oh-so-proudly display, and we made her bedroom into a museum!

wall of masterpieces

some other fun ideas for storing and displaying your kids’ art that i’ve run across:

• install curtain rods on walls, and string curtain rings or shower curtain rings/hooks on them with which to attach art
• laminate your favorites to use as placemats
• create a yearly calendar with 12 of your favorite pieces to give as a holiday gift (and keep one for your house!)
• use art as gift wrap and for greeting cards
• hang small pieces from a photo mobile (amazon sells one that’s shown below)
• frame favorites in simple frames with white mats. hang in your playroom, kids’ room, kitchen, hallway, anywhere! rotate new pieces into the gallery periodically.
• use fun clips that you find at target or office supply stores (even chip clips or paper clips) to attach art to colorful rope or yarn strung along a wall or the ceiling
• print your kids’ art onto anything on moo.com or cafepress.com
• blissfully domestic has some great ideas for framing your child’s art, too!