My grandson said recently:
“Grandma enjoys stress. It gives her something to do.”
This is my bathroom shower curtain. The curtain was purchased at Walmart.As you can see, it’s an oceanic world, an underwater scene of fish and coral. Every week I buy stickers and when my grandson sleeps over, he puts them into the scene. My favorite is the Spongebob and Patrick you see here catching a ride on a colorful fish. I also like the pirate ship we put into the scene which we’ve balanced on a piece of coral. With stickers, getting things to ‘scale’ is optional! The pirate ship sticker came from a kids’ meal at KFC.
Together, we’ve made our own birdnests from materials like plastic Easter grass, twigs, and dryer lint. Every year we make our own Christmas ornaments. We draw and paint together; plant seeds, build birdhouses, make mosaic creations…Art binds us. This is not surprising. Creativity is part of who he is.
My grandson’s mother likes to make Diaper Cakes for baby showers. These are diapers rolled and stacked in such a way that they look a tiered cake; decorated with bottles, socks, pacifiers, etc. She also likes to decoupage and create such things as foamboard shelving to hold her nail polish bottles. She’s an avid Pinterest fan!
My grandson’s father (my middle son) used to make stop motion movies with an old Hi8 camcorder. This was when he was 10 to 12 years old. He’d spend eight hours in his room. The final creation was a 15 minute action sequence: plastic action figures actually seemed to climb up his dresser drawers, unwrap tootsie rolls and throw things at stuffed Pokemon dolls…This son of mine also got the knack of origami, without being taught. He would often bring me an intricate paper swan when I most needed an emotional lift. I would place them amongst the leaves of my plants. He would confiscate Scotch tape and make elaborate mini sculptures with the tape. He’s almost 23 now and working on a series of paintings in a Pointillism style (series of dots) for his own art show. His sense of composition, color and intuitive placement of those dots really inspires me. Every year this son of mine writes me a detailed poem for my birthday in the style of Dr. Suess. I’ve been publishing these poems on my personal Facebook page every year and people really look forward to them. So Do I!
When my other son- my oldest son, was a kid, he used to write elaborate stories. He was also fond of disassembling electronics: radios, phones, alarm clocks, and gadgets he would find at tag sales… He would systematically remove the heads and limbs from his action figures and with the aid of duct tape pilfered from his father, he would replace the action figures’ appendages with the gears and inner guts from the electronics! Sometimes stuffed animals from his youth sported the heads from the action figures! What an interesting soul he is.
My daughter, now 18, was given a ukelele at the age of 5 or 6, a souvenir my oldest son brought back for her from Hawaii. She began to pick out tunes. Eventually she would be accepted into an Arts And Humanities High School, where she picked up on cello, guitar, drawing, violin, creative writing and more…
Why do I share this with you?
My focus in a lot of my blogs is art because it’s such an integral part of my life and the lives of those around me. Art often goes hand in hand with depression, OCD, and other brain differences. Artists have structurally different brains. And brains are my pet topic of study. I can’t know enough about the brain.
But enough about my family. At the end of this blog you’ll see links to art I’ve been checking out lately. I hope you’ll find them as awesome as I do.
The following three pictures are from a site about the 25 most creative sculptures in the world:
I wouldn’t have thought this next form of art expression was legal, but Mark Wagner has been doing it a while, so I guess it is! Check out these works of art, made from money:
Photographers always astound me, the myriad ways they capture things and shift the art of perceiving. Here are things lined up neatly:
I will leave you now with the links I promised you…But first, check out some of my favorite photos:
ABOVE: I’ve been decorated! Mime picture is my daughter and I, circa 2003
above left: That grandson I was talking about. above right: Remember the son I was telling you about? The one who writes me the Suess birthday poems every year? He also likes to photoshop me! I believe that’s a ravenambition/Hasselhoff morph
The best thing I ever got from a coin operated crane game. This stuffed orange is on my shelf so I can see it every day. Orange you glad I shared it with you?
LIKE this blog and then check out these interesting sites
Mark Wagner dollar creations:
„Currency Collage“ made completely with Dollar Bills by Mark Wagner (12 Pictures)
Creative statues from around the world:
25 Of The Most Creative Sculptures And Statues From Around The World
Austin Radcliffe’s curated Pix of things lined up neatly:
http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/
Thomas Wightman’s book sculpture:
http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/
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