I love how much art and music envelop us at every turn, and how the boys have learned to channel their own feelings through art and music to take the edge off of some of those overpowering emotions. They know they are not alone in their highs and lows, because they listen to musicians who can speak their pains or their joys and allow their listeners to feel the connection and the parallels. Continue reading “Can Music Save Your Mortal Soul…”
They were the original reason I fell in love with San Francisco in the first place. I saw a 2” x 2” picture of these houses in black and white in an encyclopedia when I was 14, and fell head over heels in love with a city I knew nothing about. Continue reading The Painted Ladies
So, tears come easily perhaps. And the pain others put into story form, to allow others to see into their world, see what their challenges and struggles were, see what they rose up from, what brought them to their knees – I feel these things deeply. Continue reading Tears Cresting and Falling – Moved by Literature and Theatre
When the kids were smaller, we did Art Excursions on a regular basis. We have been thinking about gearing up for doing that again. We all are fed by art in various ways. We seek out and find things to do with our creative brains and hands. Tonight wasn’t exactly an excursion. It was dinner from a taco truck, and I saw this mural on … Continue reading Gearing up for Art Excursions Again
par·a·dox noun \ˈper-ə-ˌdäks, ˈpa-rə-\ : something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible Ben went through a Phantom of the Opera phase a while back, after reading a kid version of the story at school, and made the mask, and acted the part, until I had to rent the movie, … Continue reading Before These Moments Slip Away
Because Ben and I are both artists, and experience a large range of emotions, we’ve had to learn about anger and how to handle it, manage it, subdue it, understand it and live with it. We each have a tendency to fly off the handle and we’ve had to study the Primitive Brain otherwise known as the Fight or Flight part of the brain that … Continue reading Primitive Brain – Fight or Flight – and Homework
This was put together originally by Ben and me as a Powerpoint Presentation for his Elementary School Talent Show during the last week of his Fifth Grade Year. I was to voice the narrative, and then the last screen said, “All this has led up to…” and then “Cue the Music,” which started the IRON MAN song by Black Sabbath – and then he walked out … Continue reading Iron Man Build Slideshow
This happened. Ben worked all through the summer of 2014 making prototype after prototype, until he was happy with all the moving parts. For his 5th Grade Halloween parade, he got to walk down the middle of the hallway, with the entire school in lines on either side of the big hall, getting high-fives from every kid and teacher and parent who was there. (I can’t … Continue reading Halloween 2014 – Complete Cardboard Iron Man
Painted by Bean three years ago, when he was Four. It should have dawned on me sooner that this may be his thing. As I was hanging the boys jeans up to dry yesterday, I noticed that on every one of Bean’s pants – whether school clothes or grungy jeans – there are paint splatters and smears. When I found him painting something in the kitchen yesterday, … Continue reading Slowly it Dawns on Me
Have I mentioned that Ben has been building Guitars lately? Paper, tape, cardboard, Lego’s, duct-tape, wood. You name it. Continue reading A Wealth of Guitars
Ben and I were reading about Castles in the Middle Ages yesterday, and we decided to try to find a YouTube video of some of the greatest castles in the world. Sadly, we didn’t find what we were looking for. We found some with music, and some that were about haunted castles, we watched part of one about The Castle of Fear, but the video … Continue reading Designing Castles without Plans
This was originally posted on my Artful Homeschool Blog – but I think I’m disbanding that after one day. I’d rather have one blog here at Country Kid Farmers. Continue reading We Start with Art
Ben started with a drawing, then did a paper cut-out of the body for this guitar, then headed to the shop to use his new saw that cuts angles. His dad helped him cut out part of an old license plate as the pick-guard, which was something he dreamed up and was very clear that he needed for the design to work. He glued and … Continue reading Guitars from Scraps
Even though we buy paper and tape in bulk, tonight Ben just needed another form of canvas, and so he started giving Bean tattoos with marker. We discourage this sort of thing, generally. A long time ago, Ben started giving himself tattoos every day, and we had to put a stop to it. We were not sure that markers were terribly good for skin. But … Continue reading Tattoo Artistry
This was Ben’s Saturday Project. We were in the process of de-cluttering, and making a dump run, and Ben kept pulling cardboard out of the dump pile that he could use for building. I walked into the Living Room at one point, when he was just putting the whole thing on, and the timing was just too perfect… he turned around and said, “Hey, this … Continue reading Cardboard Iron Man
