Water Painting

I bought Davy a calculator and he thinks it’s a portable phone. 😂 He’s carried it around all day and is also practicing counting with it. The best $2 I have ever spent.

He is also really into water painting. How satisfying is this? You paint with water and then it disappears when it dries.

I made these years ago to practice brush lettering and it is fun to see them have a second life. I bought “magic water painting paper” and mounted it to artist hardboard. We have red, green, and black.

I bet this would even work on construction paper, slate, or a dark rock. I just love how its the fun of painting with NO MESS.

I’ve linked the paper we use and a few other options here.

Sourdough Starter

Davy & I started two more sourdough starters (white flour and locally milled rye) right before we all caught the crud. This has happened literally every time I make a sourdough starter. Right when its getting all bubbly and magical we get sick.

But now that we won't have a constant influx of school germs I am hoping we can stay well enough to finish these off. Right now they are languishing in the back of the fridge until I can revive them.

Learning to Sew

My mom can sew absolutely anything. Growing up we put her to the test with various Halloween costumes and Daisy Kingdom dresses (oh, the puffed sleeves!)

She went back to university in her 50s and studied costuming. She made everything from boned corsets to Madame de Pompadour's panniers (the really wide skirts you have to navigate through doorways sideways.)

Woman's Hoop Petticoat (Pannier) England, 1750-1780. Source LACMA.

She taught us the sewing basics growing up, but I always preferred her to sew things for me.

(I mean, when your mom is a sewing super hero, why bother?) Lately, I've been making an effort to sew myself (even if the results are kind of wonky) and have managed a few small projects.

Today she brought over her serger and she watched Davy while I made these...

They’re essentially stretchy headscarf's that wrap over the back of your head and twist in the front. The “Land Girl” look without fussing with silk scarves and bobby pins. I sewed FOUR of these up while mum watched Davy.

I’m going to make headbands next, but ran out of time today.

They are imperfect, but wearable. Massive success!

I am hoping for more imperfect sewing in the weeks to come. If you’d like to make one the pattern I used is here. (I didn’t line mine and serged the edges instead so they wouldn’t be too warm. Maybe I’ll make winter versions another time.)

Soft Sculpture

This week I’ve also revived my soft sculpture. I started this two years ago, but put it away in favor of weaving (because it was more toddler friendly.) Last year I picked it up again, only to find Davy was still too curious about the needle, and put it down in favor of experiments with 360 VR.

Both times I made a few “brain noodles” before pivoting, but couldn’t gain any forward momentum. This week I’m finally gaining traction and I think I’m almost halfway done!

The final piece will be a sculptural brain made of Davy’s baby clothes (including his “coming home” onesie, the pair of pants he took his first step in, a maternity shirt of mine, baby washcloth, etc.) It will be a representation of the soft emotional memories I’ve made over these past few years of parenting.

Making for Survival

Making is truly a self regulation tool for me.

So I’ve been turning to ways we can fold art and making into our days.

Davy is finally to that magic age where he can sit at the table with me and draw or stand at the counter and mix sourdough starter. This is the part of motherhood I was most looking forward to so I’m glad he’ll be home and we can have more adventures together.

I make art all the time, but at some point I became scared of drawing. Growing up and in undergrad courses I drew all the time. I never questioned whether I could draw something or if it was any good. I just got on with it.

Then I went a decade or so without drawing.

Now I feel incredibly rusty.

But (rust and all) I sat down at the kitchen table with Davy and joined The Good Ship Illustration’s art club. What I love about drawing is how simple it is. It’s not messy. It’s not stressful. And it’s perfect for parallel play.

Art club was all about continuous line drawing.

I find this way of drawing to be an exercise in seeing.

I used Davy’s Stabilo Woody pencils and the chunky bold lines meant I couldn’t be precious about it.

But also there’s something alive about this way of drawing that my old perfectionist self never tapped into.

Since that day we’ve pulled out our sketchbooks and drawn together most afternoons.

I foresee lots of drawing at the kitchen table in the weeks to come.

Maybe I will remember how to see.