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
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
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
Over the weekend, I got to spend a few minutes out in the shop with Scott. He needed my help to move some giant thing over onto the lift, and then push it under the back of the torn down vehicle. See how technical I can get about cars? Then we moved that big thing into position, and I held up the leaf spring so … Continue reading Race Car In Progress
Ah – the glories of learning off the computer! Could there be a more exhilarating way to see in a quick moment all the geometric wonders involved in those wonderful Cathedral windows of old? (Perhaps it is because I have learned to love Math so very much, that this is so astounding to me!) This week for our Art Day on Wednesday, we looked at … Continue reading Rose Window Geometry
This article is based on a prompt from a blog I enjoy called the Tao Te Ching Daily – which gives beautiful, peaceful, soothing, inviting, mindful advice about living. The Tao, as I understand it, is a philosophy of thought, read and enjoyed by C.S. Lewis among a multitude of others. On her blog, writer Amy Putkonen works through her interpretations of the writings within The … Continue reading Parenting and The Doorway to the Mysteries of Life
Saturday, we wanted to run down to the Eagle Point Farmers Market for some veggies, but instead ended up at The Wood House for their Farm Festival. My boys adore antiques and things that show how life was in the Olden Days. The Wood House isn’t open to the public every day, so when it is open, we want to be there, and walk through … Continue reading Farm Festival at the Wood House
After Scott and I finished Morning Chores, he left for a day of removing an emergency tree. Ben started his day by inviting me to join him at the Kitchen Table. “We can pull out all the art supplies and just color and draw together – everything but the paints, because that would get too messy.” He said he’d gotten an idea from something he … Continue reading Let’s Start the Day with Art
That, apparently, is what it is like to be an artistic welder, and spray sparks all day in the process of creating. This is according to Cheryl Garcia, whose studio we had the distinct pleasure of visiting yesterday for an Art Excursion. When she said this, Ben’s eyes lit up in recognition. He knows the joys of shooting sparks and creating something from inside a … Continue reading Playing with Fireworks Everyday!
There are certain kinds of people who can handle antique stores. I know the difference because I have sisters who cannot stand the musty smell or the idea that other unknown people have used these items. When I was little, we would sometimes go for long afternoon drives on Sunday, and just meander around not going anywhere in particular, but looking at things, and taking … Continue reading Dusted off, and Fluffed – Spruced, and Dolled up
For some reason, I want to start at the end this time and work my way to the start. We did an Art Excursion today. The last thing we did was go to the Butte Creek Mill in downtown Eagle Point (a favorite destination) for ice cream bars. It is still chilly in Southern Oregon, so we walked with our treats to a little bench in … Continue reading Dreamy, Sparks Flying Day
It has been a crazy day. Bean started out doing some artwork out of my What Your Preschooler Needs to Know book – with lots of paint and colors to keep him occupied while I got a turkey into the oven. Most of the time, Scott does the cooking around here. It’s safer that way. But today he had 5 estimates, and so he asked me to … Continue reading Art Wednesday has Never Been So Decadent and Delicious
Since I am no longer working full-time at a regular day job, but at home with our farm and our tree service, my preschooler, and my 3rd grader… I am able to pick Ben up from school on his Early Out Wednesday each and every Wednesday, hopefully, and go visit an Art Gallery for Art & Music Day! We started out with Ice Cream cones at the … Continue reading First Wednesday Gallery Visit
For starters, this was supposed to be finished yesterday, when it was still Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday. It is a whole lot of thoughts mulling around about being an artist, and what it means to feed that. The other morning, on my first morning of not getting ready for work in an office, I found myself sitting and staring out the window at the front … Continue reading Sitting and Staring, and Starry Starry Night
Just thinking of the word Perspective tweaks my brain a tad. There are so many points to consider. Last night, my boys and I worked on the idea of a Vanishing Point in art. We looked at some YouTube videos of learning to draw a scene based on a single vanishing point, and all the lines you should draw across the scene to make sure … Continue reading Spatial Relationships on a Flat Surface
Yesterday, Ben and I had the amazing privilege of meeting Reginald, the owner of Ravenswood Leather in Medford, OR. I had visited them the day before and seen the knights helmets, the leather gear, the bows and arrows, and pirate stuff and thought this would be the kind of store Ben would get a kick out of seeing. Also, I’d told them that he has made his … Continue reading Playfulness in Art and Work that Keeps our Hearts Young
We are not staging a revolution. But I read an article by Lisa Russell today on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists, which had originally been posted on HuffingtonPost.com, and it struck a chord. We have talked at our dinner table about how the problems of the world will be solved by artists who can combine math, science, creativity, engineering and passion. … Continue reading Young Artists Making Revolution Irresistible
