While the Fox Eats his Dinner, the Siren Tempts the Kraken

Rosie and I are both taking classes at The Art League for the first time this semester (okay, the second time for me, but the first for both of us). My silkscreen instructor told us a few classes ago that there would be a student show open to all current Art League students; we could each enter one piece, no charge. Heck, I thought, why not enter? It would be a mild ego boost for me and a big feather in Rosie's cap. Decision made, I filled out the forms and we each picked one piece from our class portfolios.

Rosie chose an oil pastel drawing she made of a reclining fox, ready to eat his dinner. We have at least one family of wild foxes in our neighborhood and Fantastic Mr. Fox is a favorite movie, so she is familiar with her vulpine subject.

Mine was the second design I made for the term, a five-edition print of a kraken and a siren, completed in three passes with four ink colors. The design was transferred to the screen using a photo-emulsion technique that I'll need to experiment with more at home. The underwater scene is composed from antique renderings of a giant squid, Edmund Dulac's 1911 illustration of the mermaid from Hans Christian Anderson's A Little Mermaid (a favorite book illustration from my youth), and my own drawings of fish and coral/sea plants.

Monkeyrotica and I made plans to meet BFFs Kelly and Mike at the Art League gallery to see the student show along with all the kids after having a wonderful lunch at Atlantis. So consistently tasty, is Atlantis! After we arrived at the Torpedo Factory Art Center and while I was waiting on everyone to finish taking potty breaks, I got a call from the gallery (just one floor below us). My Kraken piece had sold!! I was elated! Luckily for us, the buyer had agreed to let the gallery keep the piece until the show closed and we could still visit it. Monkeyrotica wanted to take a photo of me with my artwork and the kids insisted that they be a part of this moment:

I had gifted an edition of The Kraken to Kelly, who told me later "You should have seen Thea's (pictured far right) face when she realized that the piece hanging in the gallery was also hanging in our house. So impressed in her own 7-year-old-way." 


This whole experience has left me wondering why I never followed this route professionally or even as a hobby. The last time I entered a gallery show was in my senior year of college, too many years ago to count. Okay, honestly, I've never thought I could make a living as a fine artist, and I'm still not sure I have the marketing stamina to make a go of not working for the man. Having artwork in a gallery—and selling it too—has been a great experience!

P.S. The "We will miss the bees" t-shirt I'm wearing was created by Tina Seamonster. 

Rosie's Self Portrait

I'm so impressed with this self portrait that Rosie drew in her 2nd-grade art class! Mrs. N, the art teacher, was telling me how wonderful it was before I had a chance to see it, and now that I've had a peek, I agree wholeheartedly. With just a felt-tip pen and crayons, she drew a beautiful scene of herself and our family pet parrot, Weegee. I love her beatific expression with a slight smile. She's set herself in her (imaginarily pink) room, holding Weegee next to his cage (that *does* have yellow, purple, and brown toys in it). In her right hand, she's holding his pelleted food, since she's now in charge of feeding him. Around her neck is a bow, tied with her purple cape's strings, and the magenta dress with a red heart she's wearing is adorable. These articles of clothing are imaginary, although she does have vinyl butterfly decals on the walls of her room!

Her school has been kind enough to offer to reproduce this drawing on mugs, t-shirts, or journals. Hard to resist—I'll be purchasing several items as gifts!

Dash's (first!!) Family Drawing

While at the back-up daycare last Friday (the regular school was closed), Dash drew me this lovely representation of our family. This is the first time EVER that I've seen him draw something figurative that looks anything like he intended. His typical drawings tend to be, um, much more abstract (and are awesome!).

He told me that that's him on the far left, then Rosie, then ME (the biggest, and most important, I'd like to think, right?), and Monkeyrotica on the far right. I forgot to ask why his daddy had dots on his hands and feet, but he told me all about what I first assumed were some sort of dickey on our chests. They are our tongues. Explanation? He has been rather obsessed with his new Pokémon toy, Lickilicky.

A flower family

Rosie sent this drawing of hers in to work with me today and it just makes me all warm and mushy inside every time I look at it. We all have little hearts flying next to our smiling flower faces (except Dash, who got more of a teeny blossom than a bloom). Weegee the "bard" is flying nearby, too. I'm sure he'd love to be able to fly, poor domesticated, clipped pet that he is. Her teachers at school are encouraging the kids to sound out their words and take a crack at
independent spelling before resorting to assistance. That's where we get "mam" and "bard," I'm gathering.

(Sorry about the awful lighting--d@mn fluorescents.)

Mommy chases me around the beach

I just found this drawing of Rosie's, dated 6/17/08, and remember the event clearly. She caught my expression of anxiety very well! Rosie can sprint, and I learned just how well on our beach trips to Rehoboth. She'd take off down the shoreline and before we knew it, she'd be almost out of sight. I'm so glad my dad & sister were there to watch Dash while I chased Rosie at full speed! I was SO angry at her for taking off without saying anything, but at the same time, I was impressed, thinking, We need to get this girl involved in track events!

Some perspective, far-away and close-in

Rosie Paints
Originally uploaded by nylonthread

Amidst all this discussion on the Kindergarten work with Rosie (which if you haven't noticed, has thrown me for a loop?), my mom came over with some (very) old papers the other day. What might they be? My very own elementary-school evaluations from 2nd through 5th grade.

To paraphrase, every single one had sentiments such as:

"Nylonthread is a joy to have in my room! She needs to concentrate on finishing her assignments more thoroughly." Mrs. Sobol
Or, "Nylonthread has a real gift in art and drawing. If she can learn to do her work on time that will help in her next grade." Mrs. Williams

I'm cutting her some slack, of course.

Pictured: Rosie in her patented "too close to the paper" pose. Looks to me like she is completely engrossed in her activity. I don't see any warning signs of dangerously deviant behavior here, do you?

Rosie's art!

I'm amazed at how Rosie's drawing skills have progressed in just the past few months. For a long while, most of her drawings looked like these first two, with tiny heads and long triangular dresses. The spiral locks are an indicator that they are portraits of herself (Rosie=curly-curls).

But, just this past week, she has brought home several of these other types of drawings: a large head with detailed features, large lips, eyes with iris/pupils, even ears with earrings, and a shirt of some sort with sleeves. I'm loving her color combinations! I also am delighted that she's made Cinderella a brunette.

Up until a few weeks ago her daycare teacher has been telling us that Rosie has trouble listening, focusing and wasn't participating in class projects. I don't know what turned things around, but we've been hearing wonderful things lately! Rosie's listening, participating (bringing a prolific amount of projects home), practicing her letters A LOT! and has even been helping her classmates with their work. I'll have to see if Ms. S has any insights.