My Grandfather's Gift to Me

There was a time when I was writing for "A Picture is Worth a Bunch of Words" on Medium.com. It was a good place for me to publish mini essays that didn't fit on this blog. But that was seven years ago and my thoughts on that have changed. This is my blog, so really, I can post whatever I write! And since I'm not posting much right now because I'm focused on finishing my musical, here are some of my more "artful" thoughts from a few years back.

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My mother’s father was a professional studio photographer. He conducted his business entirely in his home: one corner of his tiny living room was curtained off for sittings, another corner was transformed into a dark room, and a third corner was where he kept his abacus and books. Besides being a photographer, he raised birds and plants, all within a two bedroom apartment, while raising a family of seven on the crowded, little island of Cheung Chau.

My memory of my grandfather was that he was a very quiet man. He spoke maybe no more than a total of a hundred words to me, in Cantonese or English, and yet he made a stronger impression on my young life than any other person. All the portraits of me as a little girl were taken by him through his monstrous old-fashioned camera. He would signal to me, tell me where and how to sit, then shuffle back to his camera and hide under its curtain. Then magically, a few hours later, my face was captured on paper in subtle shades of gray. When I was old enough, he invited me to watch him work in the dark room, not knowing that someday I would develop my own photos under a red light.

I have very little now to remind me of my grandfather. This photo, of my mother and me, is one of the few mementos. When my grandfather could no longer take portraits, his children gave away or sold all his equipment. The dark room and studio were transformed back into a dull, ordinary living room. I wish now that I had had the chance to study under him, or to show him my photos, or to at least inherit something of his. But then again, I did inherit something from him– my love for black and white photography. And if he was here, I would tell him how much I miss film and the dark room, but not as much as I miss him.

Bringing Out the Art in Your Child

I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging. I keep telling myself, "It's 2022 and you haven't posted ONE thing!!"

But I have an excuse. I've been delving into writing for musical theater and doing more visual art. The musical theater stuff is a conversation for another day, but the art... oh my! I'm rediscovering an old love!

And not only am I painting and drawing again, this time I'm posting my creations on Facebook, which is a big step for me. I've learned to stop worrying about "not being good enough." There are a gazillion people on the Internet who are definitely better artists than I am, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'm learning, I'm growing, and I'm having fun.

Seeing my art on Facebook prompted a conversation with a friend. She has a son who is creative and artistic, but won't do any art outside of art class. Her question was "How can I encourage him to draw at home?" Our lengthy dialogue became the perfect basis for this blog post!

So here are some steps to encouraging your child to do more art!

1) Sit and draw with your child. A reluctant child is more likely going to sit and draw if he/she sees you drawing too. Get a drawing book from the library and try a few exercises together. Try one of the drawing games listed below. Suggest drawing something that your child loves (your dog, cars, ponies, Minecraft...) Make it about having fun, not about achieving a goal.

2) Use only encouraging words. Your child is probably reluctant to draw because he/she doesn't feel competent. He/she sees another person's drawings and thinks he's not good enough. Build up his/her confidence by emphasizing that the goal is not to draw as well as a professional artist, but to improve his/her skills.

3) Combine steps 1 and 2! Even if you're not an artist yourself, by sitting down with your child, you are showing him/her that you are also willing to try something new. Put aside your self-consciousness and your child will too! You'll be growing together! And be careful here: use only encouraging words to yourself. No self-deprecating remarks like "Mommy's not that good."

4) Display your work! Frame your artwork and hang it on the wall! Take a picture of it and text it to a friend. Make a card out of it and send it to grandparents. Art is for sharing!!

Now, for some ideas for art time at home!

1) Get a big sheet of paper and draw a scene together! Pick a theme and everyone can add little details to create the scene. Theme ideas: underwater, outer space, your neighborhood, medieval castle.

2) Create a silly creature. There are two ways to do this. One way is simply to give a prompt like "Combine an octopus with a hamster to make a new animal" or "Draw an alligator-chicken." Another way is to make it a group game: everyone gets a sheet of paper, folded in thirds. On the top third, everyone draws a head of some sort. Then fold back the top third so it is hidden; pass the paper to the person on your right (he/she should not be able to see the head drawn on the paper.) Next, take the paper that was passed and draw a body on the middle section of the paper. Again, fold the paper back so that the new drawing is not visible. Pass papers again to the right. On the bottom third, everyone draws legs of some sort. Then open up the papers to reveal your new creature!

3) Invent a do-it-all machine. This one is similar to the silly creature. "Draw a machine that can flip pancakes and make your bed at the same time." The sillier the better!

4) Draw a squiggle monster. Draw a squiggle or blob or weird shape on a piece of paper. Then trade papers. Now turn the squiggle/blob/weird shape into a monster of some kind by adding eyes, horns, teeth, whatever you like!

5) Try March of Robots or Inktober. Sometimes it helps to have prompts. The March of Robots (in March) and Inktober (in October) are both online drawing challenges that give 31 prompts for 31 days of drawing. If that is too intimidating or stressful, come up with your own prompts. My friend Liz and I started our own group! Every week (or so, depending on how busy we are), we take turns coming up with prompts. Then we share our work–it's fun to see what the other person comes up with!

This year, as I was thinking of what verse to draw for Christmas, this is the one that kept coming to my mind. Christmas is not about the lights, it's not the presents, it's not the food. Christmas is about God giving us the one Gift that we desparately needed.

I wish you and your family a wonderful, merry Christmas!!

The holidays are a beautiful time of year, but especially hard for those who are missing loved ones.

Here is a blog post from my friend Susan, who recently lost her father-in-law. If you're having a difficult time this month, may this be an enoucragement to you.

When the Holidays are Hard

More Christmas Stories!

My sister-in-law Simone loves books, and she especially loves good children's books, and she especially loves children's Christmas books. Three years go, she put her love into a YouTube channel called "Sundry Stories", where does read-aloud (and sometimes animated) videos of wonderful children's stories.

This year, she has ambitiously taken on the goal of posting a new Christmas story every day until Christmas. There are three videos so far. Check them out!

Wombat Divine

All is Well

Christmas Tree Memories