My first post

I made this for Daddy one day and today i was looking for it and look were it turned up!

This is what I remember about high school...Part 1.

I got through many a high school class making pictures like this. You
fill in the blanks. Here is an original pencil drawing made in the
early 80s paired with a more interesting version I made today.

Posted via email from Arbitrary Frothings

fire-breathing dragons

Tessa's dragon is on the left and Trenton's is on the right. These colorful dragons were created using a mixture of liquid watercolor, salt, and sharpies at Shannon's house.

"The Skittle King" by Tessa

A present for dad.

"Vampire Girl" by Tessa and "Untitled" by Trenton

A couple weeks ago we watched a movie called My Kid Could Paint That about a child painter named Marla who painted large abstract paintings that caught the art world by surprise a few years ago and consequently made her family a tidy sum of money and then controversy... Anyway, the kids remain very inspired by her story and the next day both wanted to paint large canvases so I pulled out a couple 16x20" canvases and they set to work. Tessa started creating an abstract painting in the style of Marla by squirting large amounts of paint on the canvas and swirling the paint with brushes, sticks and her hands. It had moments of brilliance that ultimately turned to the mauve-gray that covers the entire background. She let it dry overnight and the next day added a face but when it didn't end up exactly as she pictured her in her mind she started to create the vampire you see here. In the end she feels it is her best painting ever. Trenton's painting was done over two days as well. He was less liberal with the paint and instead focused on trying to achieve the texture he see's on Larry's paintings in the house. There is a richness of layers on his finished piece that is really nice.

first in a series

The day Tessa painted me (see image below this post) I was sitting next to her painting this girl. She kept asking me if it was her, and I guess it could be, but really I am just working on a series of face paintings and playing with color.

"mommy"

Tessa painted this picture of me last month. She is currently obsessed with red hair so, of course she painted me with that color... I love the big flower in my hair and the cirlces of blush (I do like that pop of color on my cheeks!) She stared filling in the face, but decided it would take too long... perhaps I should make this my new facebook picture?

Seurat + O'Keefe

this flower was a classroom experiment where Tessa and the other students painted large flowers using q-tips in a pointillism exercise.

iconic dogs

dogs covered with icons... love these! Trent created the purple dog and Tessa created the red dog complete with crown and wings!

where the wild things are, or an experiment with collage

The kids created these fun images at Shannon's house this summer using liquid watercolors and magazine clippings. Each of the pictures have long stories detailing exactly what the picture is about... Trenton's art is on top; Tessa's image is below.

art for daddy

the kids created a couple pieces of art for Kyle's birthday...they used liquid watercolors and the colors are fantastic!

let's paint!

The kids have been painting more lately and thanks to a sale at the art supply store we have a nice stash of canvas that they really enjoy using... the sunroom offers a space for the kids to work and gives all of us an opportunity to come back to a painting another day... Here is a sampling of new works hanging in our house. The top image is Trenton's, the middle one is mine (and yes, painting the kids proved extremely difficult for me -- I was way outside my comfort zone and this one needs revisiting to figure out how to fix it and tie in the funky circles) and the bottom one is Tessa's -- she has promised to paint a Roxy picture to hang with this one...

family trees

Shannon had the kids create family trees and draw animals and birds to represent each member of the family. Trenton "lovingly" made Tessa a mockingbird because she copied each of his ideas on her painting...

picasso-esque dogs

undersea watercolors

These two watercolor images were created using liquid watercolor and salt. The kids then collaged sea creatures by gluing cut images and adding details with chalk. Tessa's mermaid is the top image and Trenton's coral garden full of sea life is the bottom image.

summer art classes at the arthouse

my girlfriend offered art classes this summer and the kids produced some stellar pieces. They created so much art that we are finally pulling down older pieces and pinning up all the new ones. Check out her blog to see all the cool projects: http://arthouse-easel.blogspot.com/

The images below were created on raw canvas. The kids drew creatures and cut them out of felt. Shannon sewed them onto the canvas, then they drew backgrounds, wrote words, and painted. Tessa's pink bobo is on top and Trenton's tale of two dogs is below.

The Beatles

These are the beatles of The Beatles. One of Tessa's favorite bands and a very cool picture. Notice that Kyle is also in the picture...complete with his fuzzy beard.

mommy and daddy are happy

In Tessa's words: "Once I drew this picture when I was in the car. On the one in the upper left is mommy and daddy having a picnic. They are happy because me and Trenton are home with a babysitter. On the upper right is mommy and daddy on a mountaintop. Daddy gave mommy a flower and it made her happy. Down on the left, is daddy carrying mommy in the moonlight. Down on the right mommy and daddy are being happy because they are playing hide-and-seek with their friends. The End."

the many moods of Tess

Yesterday we were at the grocery store and a young girl, maybe 4, was having a doozy of a tantrum complete with screaming and spinning on the ground. As I drove home with the kids they asked what their tantrums were like...we had some chuckles about them. And then this morning as I sorted through the 2008 art I rediscovered a sampling of Tessa's pictures she started creating last year whenever she was angry, upset or sad. She would make the pictures and then place them around so everyone would know her mood. If you were the person she was most angry with she would place it in front of you. Mostly she used them as a way to start a conversation about what was making her angry, and it has been so much more effective than the tantrums of the past.

Trenton's anthropomorphisms

Trenton created several series of drawings where fruit or appliances became alive and most were moments away from meeting their grisly demise.

where did the year go?

It is February 2009 and I have not posted to the art blog since August 2008. Perhaps it it simply too much to update three blogs in concert with everything else going on...but for whatever reason I cannot let the idea flat line just yet. So, I am posting today some of the 2008 items in my folders and will try to post to the art blog monthly this year... the kids and Kyle and I are all trying new things with our sketchbooks and having a forum to post them helps me to review them through time and to share items that are a small glimpse into the creative spirit of our family.