Living the Creative Life

My kids' priceless artwork

My kids are now almost 11 and 12 years old, but the canvases I have hanging over my desk in my studio are so precious to me, even though they were done years ago. Their artwork is timeless to me. No matter how their artistic capabilities have grown over the years, there's a magic in these canvases that always captures my heart. 

The decor on my the shelf above my desk may change, but those canvases are there to stay. If I had my way (and I hope that I do), I'd love to have that whole wall in my studio covered with canvases that my children create. A timeline of their artistic phrases throughout the years.

As I look back at how protective I was of my canvases and paints, I'm actually embarrassed with myself. I love my art supplies and I tend to be overprotective of them. As the years have gone by and my kids have wanted to express themselves artistically, I've had to let go of some of that. It's just paint. They're just canvases. It's not like there won't ever be more of them at the craft store. Sure, there are still things in my studio that the kids can't use because it would cost too much to replace them and I'm waiting for them to be a little more responsible and mature before they use those particular things, but when it comes to basics, I let them have (almost) free reign. 

How can I not let my kids at the canvases and paints when they come up with things like this? FIREFLIES! Complete with an aura of light around them!

Or sky scrapers with purple tinted windows, a dinosaur and lightning booming around it all! Can you imagine how much I would be missing if I'd held on too close to those paints and canvases?

I think my wall is aching for some new art to be added to the existing art. Looks like we'll need to take a trip to the craft store to pick up some new canvases for the holiday school vacation. 

Creating with Canvas

As a kid, I loved painting. A new set of watercolors (the Crayola kind in the little plastic sleeve) was like candy to me. Glue was another supply that I loved having in abundance. I was always very protective of my art supplies. I was also a neat freak about the, as well as very frugal. To this day, I still open the glue just a tad to put the smallest line of glue onto my project so that I don't put too much or waste any.

I started working on small canvases when I was young. I didn't have too many of them because, coming from a family of 4 kids, we didn't have a lot of money to put into more expensive art supplies. I loved drawing out my own designs and using my small batch of acrylic paints to fill them in. I loved doing paint-by-numbers because it was just another way that I could work on something other than paper.

Now that I'm older, I can purchase my own canvases and love finding them on sale at the craft store. I get a bunch and have them sitting aside for whenever the mood strikes. My kids have also taken a liking to working on canvas so I've had to hide my big stash and now and then, I'll bring out some smaller ones that I've put aside for them when there's a snow day or a rainy day and they're looking for something artistic to do. I have a whole pile of their canvas artwork that needs to be hung in my studio. One of these days soon, I'm going to get David to take out some nails and the hammer to help me hang them above my desk. They may not be something you'd see in a gallery in downtown New York City, but they're beautiful to me and I'd much rather have them hanging where I can see them.

Over the years, I've put more and more onto my canvases. Who says they're just for paint? I like to use whatever strikes my fancy.....mosaic pieces, fibers, glitter, paper flowers, buttons, etc. 

Texture makes my heart happy. So does paint. And color, too.

Hope you find something creative today to make YOUR heart happy!