As soon as I've got a background going here, I shall start putting in pictures, mine, and hopefully yours. No, I don't expect any of you to reveal your souls, but I do think we're a creative and funny bunch most of the time, and I think it would be brilliant fun to see each other's 'loo sketches' as well as some more serious stuff. I don't want this conference to turn snobby, and so I'll share some of my serious work with you, those of you who want are VERY VERY welcome to share yours. Even if you don't intend to go professional, it is still nice to have feed-back from others, to discuss things, and well, just keep the creative part of our minds working. But I also want this to be a place where we can display silly sketches of things we see every day - no talent required. I'm very bad at sketching, so none of you have to be shy. Art isn't about being able to draw or not - it is about our interpretation, the pleasure we can derive from looking at things. My daughter's scribblings for example, are as much art to me as Picasso paintings - simply because it gives me pleasure to look at them. I think it's time to scrub the fancy gold plate off the concept of art and see it for what it really is: something for everyone. .

hear hear! i am possibly the most appaling artist in the sense of "motor skills" - I just don't have any. but i have a fiery imagination, which i get so frustrated with because my hands just won't make it come out! heeee...watch out world :)

Thank you for your willingness and support, Mike. It is very much appreciated. I'm going to go open a topic, okay?

okay. hey, i'm good with stick figures, does that count?

that's one step above my ability...

finger painting is good. duz you needs a huggy wuggy? me thinks you do *hug*

Stick figures, finger paint, paw print, rock painting, a blotch on the wall - they're all wanted and welcome here.

ever make pictures with crayon shavings and an iron?

yep! (of course, having waxed paper helps also...)

if'n you're using your own iron, that is!

no one else will let me borrow theirs...

I refuse to iron and Brandon will NOT let me touch ours for art projects! Eh, wrinkles are a fact of life!

why not? the iron plate can be cleaned off! (i hate ironing, but i hate wrinkles worse)

I've NEVER heard of it!!! Stacey what are the chances of getting one of those into the Gallery? See, that's just the sort of thing I want. We can all learn about and appreciate each other's ideas. And I'll go open a topic to discuss this sort of thing in. Thank you!

I'll send you some of my students' work!

can't say i've ever tried it, maybe i will....now if i can just find the crayons the dogs didn't get to (what is it with dogs and crayons?)

We used to do the crayon/iron thing on T-shirts in Girl Scouts; we called it batik, which is Malaysian for clique-y-WASP-activity-to-earn-a-merit-badge.

I remember it from vacation bible school, school, and cub scouts...

do you guys remember those yarn cross things? you know, you take two sticks, place them on top of each other in a cross fashion, then weave yarn in and out between them? those things were fun, but i don't remember how exactly to do it. (like to show my kids, y'know?)

They're called Gods-eyes, we made them at Vacation Bible School last year. I think it went like this: you use 2 dowels the same size, make a cross shape, and secure them together with 2 individual pieces of thread in an "X". Then start with your first color of yarn; knot it to one arm of the dowel; completely encircle the dowel and go to the next arm, and so on. After several times around, knot it off and start in on the next color. It is easier to picture than it is to describe, so I hope this makes some sense, Wolf.

yes, it does, just couldn't remember how to start them or what they were called. (and how do you do the crayon on the t-shirt thing?)

I have those instructions around here somewhere...I'll post them next time I'm on. It's real easy.

and real messy, too, huh? thanks, Autumn!

ojo de dios, in Spanish, for the yarn cross thing...

cool!

You're becoming a language (S)EXPERT, Wer! Stacey, I would love to put your kids' pics on here - tell them I'd consider it an honour.

i think that would help open up people's eyes to what they can do, maybe start breaking down the stigma, you know?

Absolutely. And I find children better artists than we grown-ups anyway. Their work is free and open and unpretensious.

i know, we're too busy following rules that we forget to let go once in awhile..

I almost think we are unable to let go like that as grown-up artists. I learn alot from Isa's art. I feel more free to just do anything, and not merely go for what I think other's might like.

my kids just draw. doesn't matter that the sky is purple or anything. i think, though, my son is losing that a bit.

I sometimes wonder if that (and I remember starting to make blue skies around ten or so) can be seen as a symbol of one's gradual becoming aware of the bleak realities of Life as you grow older and change into an adult. How old is he?

*gulp* 9. he's really growing up.

Frightening, isn't it? A friend of mine had a baby boy on Monday morning. Today I visited, and holding him I could have had another on the spot. I kept thinking how familiar it felt, and smelled, about the deep contentment I felt at the births of my babies, you know that mixed sense of wonder and responsibility that such a small baby brings. It was like only a day or so had passed since I had Elza, and there she was, running around the room, and fighting with her sister and saying, 'My baby, Isa, not yours!' I realized my baby had grown into a toddler, and felt cold all over. I cannot imagine never feeling like that again, and so I feel really really really broody at the moment. But Chris is not so sure - the round birthday has somehow upset us both. I want to have another before it is really too late for him, he wants everything to quieten down now. The one problem about big age differences in men and women, I suppose. I don't know. Perhaps I'm just afraid of the way it all goes so 'too quickly'.

i'm at a nice round age (and nice round middle) that i can't see having more babies. mr wolf doesn't mind the idea, but i dunno. i like to hold people's babies but then i like to give them back. it's alright to brood now and again. and i understand what you mean by it seeming just a few days ago. my baby girl (and best buddy) is now 5 and she is in a struggle with her wanting independence. she lashes out at me every chance she gets. it's hard to want more babies when they're being so ugly, you know? mr wolf and i are merely a year apart.

That must make things easier - sometimes we just seem to have totally different goals in life. But we usually manage to work it out okay. Chris is a strange and hard and kind man. And I know what you mean by them being ugly. Isa is great fun, but at 3 she can also be a real pain at times. Sometimes we just have these 'cop' days, as Americans would put it. That's when I don't want any more children. I just think it will be so much fun when I'm in my thirties, because they will both be over ten by then, and we could travel and go merry-go-around hunting together. I don't want more babies to stop that from happening. Anyway, so then, at the end of such a day, I'll say to her: 'You know, Isa, today was a cop day. I felt like a cop all day.' And she'll just give that sleepy smile, and say, 'That's okay. Go to sleep now, Mummy.' And I just feel like having another six!

haha! mine will say to me, 'i don't like you when you're ugly' and then i'll say 'now you know how i feel.' now she calls me her 'big fat mama' and boy don't i ever feel so good....

Oh, you poor thing! I know, they can be HORRIBLE at times! When I scowl and tell Isa off for shouting at me for nothing, she says, 'Please don't hurt me, Mummy, please!', and wimpers as if I were some monster, and it just makes me feel like the wicked witch from the west. (south in this case!) Once Chris and I were squabbling over which restaurant to go to on his free day, and she said, 'You TELL her, Daddy!' Well, I suppose they also get fed up with seeing my old face all the time.

yeah, but as much the monster that i am, as soon as the mr wolf starts stomping around they can't wait to take shelter with me, the big monster! oh and she'll be the first to tell daddy not to yell at me or whatever!!

SAME HERE!! Hilarious, isn't it?! OH, daddy can just say 'no' once, in a friendly tone, and they side with me like a pair of fanatics! Little lunatics! Then I'll say 'no' to something, and they run to him! One can't win! ha-ha!

yup. funny, for all my hollering, those kids still want to follow me everywhere!

Hellish fun, is what Chris sometimes calls it!

yeah, think you really have to be looney for them to put up with it, you know? how many of your friends would you allow to throw ugly temper tantrums in your house?

oh wait! I throw ugly temper tantrums in my house, but it's MY house, eh?

Ha-ha!! Me too! With my kids I take the open approach. If they pi$$ me off, I make sure they know it, and if I pi$$ them off, then they can tell me too. Keeps it simple, and nothing gets bottled up. It just get a little embarassing when they come out with an 'oh, shutup' or a 'damn it!' or a 'bloody he��' in front of the grandparents!!! My mum is the mother of all swearing, she says she only started swearing after having twins, but Chris' parents are very old now, totally unapproachable, hate the fact that he didn't marry a more dignified person of his own age and standing, very conservative, and very deaf, except to swear words it seems. So they get a little perturbed at times. I had such a laugh once. Sometimes when the kids did something sweetly naughty, I pretend to smack them by putting my hand on their bum, and smacking my hand, making it sound like the real thing, and they laugh themselves to bits. Last time we were in England, I was thus smacking them for playing hide-and-seek in the suitcases, and messing up the clothes, when the talking in the front room suddenly became very silent, so I told Isa to scream every time I hit her. Well, she was very convincing, pretending to scream and howl - and they all came charging into the room, thinking I was abusing my poor children!!! Isa and I thought it hysterical, but they were not amused, so I was gravely admonished by the grandparents who think this girl from the bush seduced their poor innocent little(!!!!) son! ha-ha! Chris laughed himself to bits, but it's been months, and we've not been invited back . .. . should have thought of it alot earlier!

haha!! over here, they'll turn you in without finding out anything and begin an investigation. granted, it's good for those who do abuse their kids, but what about the parents who are taking care of their kids? one lady was turned in because she slapped her son after she told him to quit hitting his sister in a grocery store. they took him away!! give me a break! and the poor little guy was, like, i deserved a smack, i didn't listen to my mom. thankfully, they were reunited. that's terrible, to cause such heart ache. all they'd have to do was talk to the kids, not just rip the whole house apart because of some over-zealous child-abuse watcher. my kids do not act up in stores, thank goodness. they let their hair down here!

i think you guys need to disappear into the parenting conf (if there is one)

there is one, i avoid places like that (not to offend anyone here, haven't been to this one yet) i always feel like i'm doing everything way wrong! as if there is one right way to deal with children. reitte and i went off on a tangent (but you were polite in your comment *smile*)

Okay, then I officially rename this topic to PERMISSION TO SHOOT THE CHILDREN!! No, just a joke. Sorry we went on like that, everybody. And thanks for the criticism, Mike. See? I don't blow up EVERYTIME someone criticizes me. Just every other time . . . . :-D

oh, good, must mean it's my turn...

And would YOU like to criticize today, Wer? I'm all ears and all spears....

Um, if anyone is interested, here's the crayon batik directions: You need a pre-washed all-cotton shirt, crayons, newspaper, and an iron. Have the child sketch out a draft of the design on paper. Bold, basic shapes (such as hearts, stick figures, etc.) work better than intricate patterns. Lay the garment on a hard, flat surface and tape it down to secure. Have the child decorate it, pressing down firmly and retracing/reshading once or twice. Red, blue and green work better than pastels. To make letters or numbers, try using scotch tape to form the letter/number and color around the edges (kind of the opposite of a stencil). Peel off the tape (this is important!) and place a thick layer of newspaper on the ironing board. Lay the shirt, colored side down, on the paper and press the back side of the design for a minute or so with the iron on the cotton setting. Peel off a layer of newspaper, lift the shirt and place it down on a fresh layer of paper and press again. Repeat until no color comes off on the paper. Wash the garment in cool water and tumble dry (this is what the directions say but there ain't no way a shirt with crayon on it is going in my dryer!) Have fun.

Thank you, Autumn, I'm going to try that as soon as my finger is better. Sounds like fun!

cool :) I'm sorry, my response wasn't meant to be criticism, i just pressed the submit before putting the little grinny face in. so here it is, to make up for it: :-)))

ha-ha!!! Wasn't offended in the first place though. And if it were a criticism, it would have been fair.

Will somebody shoot now, please? This waiting is making me rather nervous...

*bang* feel better? not me, my hair's standing on end. (a little wolf humor there)

ha-ha! I feel alright - or will soon; honestly, I don't know why you had to shoot me with rabbit droppings. Leftovers from dinner?

how'd you know?

Keen sense of smell....

And an extensive knowlege of by-products?

haha! or wolfie excrement!!

Perhaps just generic manure?

generic? hardly! this wolfie has unique droppings even if i say so myself. ok, can we please quit talking about poop?

Consider it done.

*whew*

I came in on the end of that one.

Be thankful for that!

what a clever play on words, wer! *grin*

thanks!