Monday, August 11, 2008

Hot August Days

In many parts of the world the winter days descend with such a bitter cold that the children must remain indoors. In California we enjoy the freedom to frolic out of doors without interruption for the better part of each Fall, Winter, and Spring day; but, those Hot August Days require that we seek shelter. No, we do not seek the roar of a cozy fire, but rather the roar of an icy air-conditioner. With many days near (or above) the 100-degree-F mark one must find entertainment suitable for the great indoors. As a home without broadcast tv or cable and plenty of restrictions on movies and other video entertainment, our kids must find other ways to fill the gap between awake and asleep. Since we school year-round and take music lessons as well, we keep pretty busy. We all fill up on a steady diet of books, writing, drawing, building, creating, and anything else that catches one's fancy on those looooong afternoons of sheltered play.

Lydia said it best the other day:

"With a little imagination you can go anywhere."

Thus she and Rachel set out for a day at the beach. Sunglasses, sunscreen, a picnic on the "sand" complete with shells, rocks, and a bright Pacific blue "ocean" provided much fun.

Later when I went past Rachel's room I caught sight of a lot of litter that just screamed "I'm creating!" Not known for tidiness, this child regularly creates order and beauty out of chaos.
(Sometimes she merely raises chaos to an art form -- fortunately the Lord blessed us with a house adequate to provide each his own room.) Recently paper art has captured her fancy. "Mom, do you need ALL of these index cards?" or "Do we have any more tape?" regularly spill from the eager artist. Too many times the "reading time" before bed gets "exchanged" for art time. It may not be conventional, but then few would label us as such. And so, the sight of this mess brought back memories of other notable paper creations.

Like the cute octopus with "eyeballs that really work," according to the artist ...
Or some freehand cutting that resulted in some pretty adorable characters.
These days, however, Miss Rachel has taken her art 3-D. This cast of creatures entertained us with their zoological specifics.
This Hawaiian surfer (note the lei) exhibited some pretty daring athletics with the "wave in motion."
But nothing prepared me for the details of this piano sculpture Rachel presented to her piano teacher. Rachel chose this "self-portrait" complete with many details to match her own piano. (You may notice that all of the "faces" belong to Rachel. She loves to supply a portrait of the artist.)
After depicting her Piano, Rachel went on to explore her dreams of a grander piano. She has been known to change her favorite color on a weekly basis, which may explain the rainbow assortment of grand beauties. In honor of her teacher's warning that a performer should strive to be comfortable on many types of pianos, she has included one upright ... a red one. (I think piano shopping with Rachel will prove to be a bit more interesting than we experienced while harp shopping with the other girls.)

I think Rachel appreciates her freedom, and thanks us for it artfully.

14 comments:

Becky said...

Wow! That is some great creative juice flowing through that Rachel. I love the animals. And those pianos!!! I will definitely have the art supplies handy for Friday ;-)

FancyHorse said...

How sweet! She is very talented, artistically and musically. You are blessed.

Have you seen those amazing paper cut-outs? I got an email showing them some time ago, but I deleted it. I'll see if I can google it up.

Karen Deborah said...

so cute!!

CONNIE said...

Wow, Deb, what a talent! She deserves an A in my art class! Those pianos are so cute. Have you introduce origami to the girls?

Talk to you later.

Julie said...

She sounds like such a blessing! What a wonderful mom you are for giving her plenty of encouragement, not to mention art supplies. My son recently got a book on 3-D origami, but this girls looks like she might not need a pattern to follow! :D

Anonymous said...

Somedays I wish we did not have television, I would much rather see my kids make these beautiful art objects! Lovely, and thanks for sharing!

Lynn Cohen said...

Your daughters art is awesome!!!!!
How old is she?

Reminds me of making doll furniture out of old small cereal boxes when I was a kid.

Grandma Tillie's Bakery said...

Wow--brought back memories! I used to do this when I was her age. Good job mom and dad for helping her imagination come to the surface!

Niall MacC said...

Amazing! Glad you shared them with us.
Ruth

Niall MacC said...

Hello again! I didn't recognise your link to my blog and know it was you that left those comments until just now!

You got saved when you were 10? Sounds like lyou had it hard? Thanks for your encouragement about my spiritual birthday. I have posted a little more about it so I hope if you have 2 minutes that you will pop over and read it. Have you ever put the story of your salvation down on paper? I would like to read it.

I read what you said about Sean's sailing to him to encourage him. He seemed surprised that somebody would comment. You can say a quick hello to him here at his blog if you want?

http://irishboysean.blogspot.com

Well, God bless you and your nice family.

Talk again soon.
Ruth

Karen Deborah said...

See what happens when you don't have a TV? CREATIVE children play and make things! Absolutely some of the cutest stuff I've ever seen. Give that midget a hug from Aunt Nannie. Tell her to rock on!

sukipoet said...

These are fabulous. Rachel is a dream of an artist. How wonderful you encourage creativity, rather than sitting in front of a tv. I esp love the animals and the pianos, well I love everything but those are particularly special I think. Sounds like you have a lovely house and wonderful children. And lots of good feelings there in your 100degree heat.

Sharon Goemaere said...

Wonderfully creative!Imaginative!Makes me wish sometimes that my husband didn't love TV so much...our g-daughter would be so much more creative than she already is...Blessings~Sharon

Flea said...

Rachel is so creative! Wonderful work. Does she play as beautifully as she draws?