So we’ve made the decision to move. Not now, but next Spring after we’ve done some home improvements and (hopefully) there is a vaccine for COVID. Unfortunately, I did a pretty ‘me’ thing to do and put all the pressure of parenting & unschooling during a pandemic, deep cleaning a house and multiple home improvements (including painting all the kitchen cabinets and all the rooms in the house) on my shoulders. Fortunately, I realized the absurdity of this a month and a half in instead of 6 months later.
I was able to talk all this over with my husband and release a lot of the self-imposed pressure but there was still some hangers-on especially when it comes to balancing my creative pursuits and my daughter’s needs. Then I came across this interview with author Austin Kleon (I’ve mentioned him before). What’s funny is that the interview was written in 2019, long before COVID hit, but I found it incredibly applicable to my current situation. For instance, this is what he would tell other parents who are juggling a career:
It’s not you. You’re probably doing the best you can. It’s just that everything is stacked against you. Everything from a lack of affordable child care, underfunded schools, crumbling infrastructure, bad health insurance, to a world that’s just really and truly insane. It’s near impossible and it’s not your fault. Just keep going. Do the best you can.
He was also very honest and wasn’t afraid to talk about the less than perfect moments of parenting such as yelling at his kids and looking forward to their bedtime. I struggle with yelling too but so often parents who share online only show the picture perfect moments or ‘tips & tricks’. It was nice to see that I am not the only parent struggling, even if his words are from a different time, in what feels like a galaxy, far, far away.
Things have been tough over here since the start of the pandemic as they have been for many, many other people across the world.
We are choosing to stay home, just the 3 of us, to celebrate Thanksgiving (minimally as it’s a crap holiday) and Christmas this year but want to still stay connected to our families. This is the first year that I will ever send a Thanksgiving card but I think it’s an important year for me to do so to remind our families how much we love them and miss them.
Watercolor and ink.
I think there is something special about sending a handmade card in the mail. It says, “I took the effort to make this for you.” Reminds me of this poster I made a while back: Ways To Show You Care. This is an updated ‘Socially Distant’ version.
I have a cast iron tea pot that looks very similar to this. I created the ‘texture’ of the teapot by drawing a bunch of tiny ‘X’s before coloring over them. It took forever but it was worth it.
I just really like drawing teapots (and sometimes tea cups too).
I was going through old watercolor paintings today and found quite a few that had evolved and changed over time.
The first evolution: I am Living the Dream. It’s clear I was learning how to even use watercolors and learning different styles of lettering. These were my first ‘real’ watercolors – my previous experiences being the crayola washable watercolors for children.
The next evolution: Get Messy. At this time, I was learning new-to-me watercolor techniques via YouTube videos. I love this one where I used a straw to blow the watercolor into the ‘splat’ shape. I was also further expanding my lettering skills.
It’s fun to go back and look at old art and see how things have changed and progressed. I really had no idea what I was doing at the beginning. As a recovering perfectionist, it was hard to even start knowing that it wouldn’t be very good. But, like my art, I’ve changed and grown and I now know that everyone starts at the bottom of the barrel when learning something new. And I’ll never get to where I want to be if I don’t try. It’s doesn’t have to be perfect or even good – I just have to start.
I’ve been thinking a lot about noise and what I put out into the world. During this time of self-isolation, I’ve felt a stronger desire to share but I have many issues with social media and find it’s best for my mental health if I mostly steer clear (which I sometimes forget and then am painfully reminded, as I was today). So I’m going to try an experiment of sharing more, because it’s what I want to do, here on my little corner of the web.
I recently read about a cool idea on Happiness is Here blog where, overnight, she leaves out cool supplies on her children’s table for them to discover in the morning. I’ve been trying it for a couple of days now with my young daughter, and she seems to be enjoying it, as am I. I get very excited to put things out after she goes to bed, as if I’m a fairy leaving little gifts of discovery and curiosity.
Today’s supplies were for collage art: I left out paper, glue, scissors, magazines, and a printout of some collage art examples. First thing this morning, she was very intent on playing with slime so the collage supplies were pushed aside for that. And I was (mostly) fine with it. I set these things out because I thought she might like them but I did my best not to have any set expectations that she’d interact with them.
Later in the day, she was ready and asked me to join her and we had quite a good time making these. 🙂 The rest of the day has been quite challenging but this was one good thing that happened. It reminded me how much I enjoy collage and you might just see more of it from me in the future.
My daughter’s creation. These are the eyes and lips of Helen Mirren in case you were wondering.
My daughter’s second creation.
My second creation. I cut out dog eyes for this face and my daughter started sobbing when she found out in case you were wondering how things are going over here.
My first creation: Gecko For President. I started out trying to make the gecko pop out of a cake but it transformed into this.
I was about to open my computer when I saw a beautiful screensaver photo and I had a strange urge to sketch it. Turns out it was Ireland. This is significant because before the pandemic started, we were beginning to plan a family trip to Ireland – I even have a couple of library Ireland travel books still sitting on my bookshelves.
I’ve had a rough time handling things recently and this was a lovely reminder that this self-isolation and pandemic will end. This is temporary. And we will get to live our lives, out and about in the world, again.
This is my sketch of a photo by David Soanes Photography. The photo says it is Antrium, Ulster, Ireland.
This Love Series post is dedicated to George Floyd and his family. This is me sending love to George Floyd, his family, and his friends, many of whom are here in Houston.
This is also me sending love to all those who have experienced and continue to experience racism. You are not alone. We will eradicate racism together. <3
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