Drawing Time

Luke has been asking to add back daily drawing time for some time. Unfortunately, it had fallen by the wayside over the last year and I'm trying to work it back into our schedule with a new baby. Last year, Sammy was taking longer naps giving me and Luke plenty of time to listen to music and draw together. It was a relaxed part of our day. I know Luke really liked that there was something in his curriculum that we could do together and that he could have me all to himself for a little while each day. Just thinking about that makes me sad that I didn't make it more of a priority, but I'm trying to make sure we can draw together a few times a week. As things are always changing we now include Sammy during drawing time. Sam has more fun playing with the colored pencils than actually drawing, but that's okay. I know he enjoys just being with us. Here's Luke's drawing of squirrels in Autumn. He drew this based on a page from Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder.


Here's the page that Luke was drawing.

I received a book catalog in the mail with this delightful picture.

I suggested to Luke that we might want to draw our own version.

Here's Luke's picture of a lazy cat and sleeping dog.

Here's my version of the lazy cat and sleeping dog. I concentrated on filling up the entire page with color.

Here's the original catalog picture. It's a lot more vibrant than our work with Prismacolor pencils.

I drew this bird today while nursing Tess. When I wasn't nursing her, I was holding her and trying to draw at the same time. It's quite an accomplishment to draw while holding a baby. I really wanted the use of my other arm, but I'm quite satisfied with the result even though my bird doesn't look as happy as the original.

Here's the cover of the book, How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird. We really enjoy drawing from picture books. It's a lot of fun using our colored pencils, but I have a purpose in these exercises. I'm hoping that this will teach Luke to pay close attention to details. For instance, this little bird isn't just blue and red. If you look closely, there's more than one shade of blue. There are hints of purple, green and even a little yellow making this bird more interesting with all that layered color and texture. Picture books offer more than just a good story. They are a class in art appreciation if you pay close attention.

Remembering Tasha Tudor

Things have been so hectic this summer that I haven't planned
any activities in honor of Tasha Tudor, but I thought it important to remember her. Like Beatrix Potter and Cicely Mary Barker, I was enchanted with her illustrations as a child and now. A few years ago when I was looking for A Child's Garden of Verses for Luke to use for copy work, I deliberately sought out the version illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I'm also certain that I wouldn't have found The Secret Garden nearly as fascinating without Tudor's illustrations accompanying the text.

The recent issue of Victoria magazine has a tribute to Tasha Tudor. Stacey Norwood writes, "She was lauded as a renaissance woman whose personal revolution turned the clock backward instead of forward, and remained until her death dedicated to a vision that was uniquely her own."

I picked this book up at a used bookstore a few years ago and I plan to peruse it a little today and maybe make myself a cup of tea as I enjoy her magical world.

I finished a project!

I finally finished this quilt today. I've had the topper done for the last two years or so. Usually, I start to lose my quilting momentum after I've finished assembling the quilt top. In this case, we moved and I packed away all of my sewing projects and they stayed packed away until recently. The above photo is the back of the quilt.

Here's a close-up. I made this quilt using a bunch of scraps from other projects. So, it is a bit bright and a bit crazy, but I enjoy the overall effect.


Here is the finished project! Now, I've set a deadline of August 31 to finish the rest of my unfinished projects. I still have to complete a small baby quilt for my friend Stephanie's new baby (again, I've finished sewing the topper and yes, I've lost the momentum for now), a crocheted octopus that was supposed to be for Sammy's 3rd birthday (in April!!) and a stack of knitted rectangles that need to be sewn together to create a blanket for Paul. Anyway, this quilt is for my niece, Cecilia. I love the part when I get to give something homemade away and I get to do that today!

Inspring Impressionism and Prince Caspian

On Friday, we took Luke to the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. I'd been looking forward to this special exhibit for a while and our friends, Jennifer and Donny generously offered us their extra tickets. I hadn't been in the new wing of the Denver Art Museum yet either. If you haven't seen it, it's a strange-looking building that for some reason reminds me of a futuristic icicle lying on its side. It's a jarring building that demands to be noticed. Anyway, the exhibit was beautiful and I bought a couple of prints with the hopes that I will actually frame them at some point. I do have a tendency to buy prints from art exhibits with the intention of decorating my house with all the beautiful art I've seen, but most of the time the prints stay rolled up unseen. I've always loved the paintings above and I got to see them in person! I bought the print of the painting on the left by Mary Cassatt.
On Saturday, we took the boys to see Prince Caspian which we had been eagerly looking forward to for over a year. (WARNING: Spoilers ahead) Luke really enjoyed it despite the differences from the book. I, on the other hand had a tough time with it. I understand that the film has to take some liberties, but I was annoyed. I read the book to Luke when he was about six so it's been a couple of years since I've read it, but we did listen to the Focus on the Family Audio Theatre version of Prince Caspian since. I guess it comes down to this for me. I'm battle-weary. After The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the first Narnia movie, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I'm tired of all the battle sequences. Of course, this is exactly what Luke enjoys, but it's starting to feel like I've seen it all before. They all look the same to the point that I am starting to say, "that must be leftover orc footage." Now, that's my own issue and of course the film makers want to appeal to the Lord of the Rings fans. I know that the story of Prince Caspian is supposed to be one big battle between old Narnia and the Telmarines. I know that. Besides my own issue with unending sword fights growing tiresome, it also feels a little empty since Aslan is given very little to do in this film. Aslan, as the foundation of Narnia is almost cast out to the sidelines where he has become remote and somewhat powerless. Also, Peter is angry. This, I found almost too hard to take. The tension between Prince Caspian and Peter I know gives dramatic effect, but I wanted Peter to be more noble. I mean, he is the High King! It's obvious that Peter wants to make it clear that he is the High King and well, he is, but he should act like it and he has been called back to Narnia to help Prince Caspian. He seems not to know that his time as King is in the past and it's time for Prince Caspian's reign. Then, there's a hint of flirtation between Susan and Caspian. Okay, I can deal with this until the end where Susan kisses Prince Caspian right before she leaves Narnia for the last time. What????? Well, overall, the story is there, but it feels a little bare without the over-arching presence of Aslan. I definitely need to re-read the book and I still look forward to the adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader due out in 2010. I'm an optimist.

No more snakes in Ireland

Here's Luke's drawing of St. patrick driving all the snakes from Ireland.

Picture Book Art

Here's what Luke and I did during our daily art time today. We recently read The Lighthouse Cat by Sue Stainton. I read this book to Luke when he was a little younger. So, when I saw this book displayed at the library recently, I knew I had to check it out again. This book has gorgeous illustrations. So, Luke and I decided to draw lighthouses from this book. I've recently discovered the pleasure of trying to recreate an illustration from a picture book from Sweetness and Light. I'm finding more and more uses for picture books in our daily learning! I just wanted to share our lighthouse drawings. Luke gets pretty excited when I post his work to my blog.

I'm reluctant to give this book back to the library!

Here's a picture from Elsa Beskow's lovely Christopher's Harvest Time and here is a sampling of my own drawings from this book. You'll notice that I didn't attempt to draw all of the flower girls! I'm going to have to just go ahead and buy this book for our children's library!