1st grade drawing-portrait-day

Some days I am very lucky and get to go do art with my son's first grade class. I love watching kids make things. They always deliver, don't they? Today I showed them some great portraits - one by Albrecht Durer, amazingly realistic, and one by Modigliani - abstract and expressive. After a few little tips on technique, proportion, and blah blah blah, I made my son's fabulous teacher sit in the front of the class and be our model.


Then this afternoon I stole a quick hour during the baby's nap time to put the drawings together into a book for the teacher, an idea I read about here.
(My novice book-stitching is really bad, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

Mary Cassatt inspiration

I love Mary Cassatt. When I was growing up my mom had several prints of her paintings around our house, and we'd go into the city to see her paintings at the National Gallery often. They feel like old friends to me. Recently I was looking through a book I have and came across this gorgeous silvertint, on the top. Brilliant, isn't it? And very modern, I think. I love everything about it: the perspective, the composition, the way she let a little color creep in to the picture, and most of all that connection between the squirmy child and the mother. Inspired by Miss Cassatt I've been trying to make my own mother-child drawing to paint (that's me on the bottom, in my pj's). I've been working on my little sketch off and on, and decided to post about it today to hopefully motivate me to work a little harder... maybe one day it will make it's way onto a canvas.

portrait of the three-year old

Here's a painting I just did of the sweet, crazy little 3-year old in my life. I have a wall downstairs that I'd love to cover with painted portraits of our family members (if you've ever seen Lauren Child's great book, The Princess and the Pea, there are amazing little portraits on the wall throughout her illustrations. I don't think I can post a picture of that because of copyright(?)). Anyway, I used egg tempera paints, which are a lot like watercolor, and new for me. I think I still need to varnish it...

people that I know

Volia my submission for the May art challenge of portraits. This is a bit unconventional perhaps, but I like unconventional. The word for the day is metonymy. For any of you who have studied literature, in the broad sense this means "a part to represent the whole". This concept could be a good spark for many creative endeavors. Below are a series of sketches of eyes of people that I know. For those of you who know me or my family personally, you might recognize these eyes. It would be fun to extend this and sketch a family tree of eyes, or noses or hands. Whose eyes do you have? Your moms? your dads? your uncle Joe's? I think I have my mom's...

sculpture

Look at this - my friend Lora's mother is working on this in her scupture class. Isn't it amazing? Look at all of those layers. I hope she sends us a picture of her finished product...

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!! i hope everyone gets good long naps today. Because as far as I'm concerned that's what mother's day is all about.

Welcome back Melissa!! Your photos are amazing -- those french are just so effortlessly chic. It kills me. I'm glad you had a great trip!! I can't wait to talk to you so I can hear more about it!!

I'm posting 3 pictures: baby foot, because I just can't pass up a shot of a sweet tiny foot; 2 - inside a pouch i made for a friend, because I really love this fabric! (and of course the friend i made it for!) and 3 - our table for mother's day brunch yesterday for my mother-in-law. we made little menus for everyone and the 6 year old was our fabulous waiter. until he lost interest. which was very quickly.

My first portrait

this is a portrait that i found, done by my three-year old. i suspect this may be a depiction of me.