Recent Work
Washington Post
For a story about a woman who was to spread her mother's ashes over a certain rock.
Pencil Box
Invitation cover for event to be held at the docks at the Ritz-Carlton Miami
Indianapolis Power & Light
Series for a community outreach campaign
The Baltimore Sun
Every week for two years I created an illustration for the Baltimore Sun's Sunday Supplement.
ELSEWHERE:
The Blog
Jun
20
Want to know the truth? Veda usually doesn’t love to make art. (I KNOW!! Is she really my child?!?) She’s not a typical kid who be handed a box of crayons and you don’t hear a peep for hours on end. In fact, she told me the other day: “Mama, I really don’t like drawing. I like EVERYTHING ELSE (said loudly). And food.” I sighed (inaudibly) and said: “I know, babe. I’m really glad you like so much other stuff!”
What she does love is telling stories (like her writer dad). She tells long, elaborate stories that involve things changing into other things, people going to far away lands or perhaps outer space, what they ate, who they saw, what they were thinking, etc. Her imagination runs wild in her tall tales and she only needs slight prompts (“Really? And then what?”, “Is that right?”) to keep going… and going… and going.
I accept this. I don’t push.
Today I wanted to see if we could combine drawing and her stories. I asked her if she’d like to paint together and we donned our aprons. She chose some paint colors, made some big swoops and swirls on the paper and then I put the paint aside and started asking her what she thought the swirls could be. Immediately she started telling a story, coming up with some fun stuff — a dragon with roller skates and a helmet, a flamingo eating a gigantic fish, a turtle wearing glasses, a pelican flying over the sun, a rocket ship blasting through stars with her sitting on top… and I helped transform the swirls into what she described with a few additional drawn lines. She did what I was hoping and made more lines on her own, too, to illustrate her vision.
When her dad came home from work, the drawings were the first thing she wanted to show him. She was really proud of them. I listened to her describe them from the kitchen where I was making dinner, and I smiled to myself. She’ll probably still reach for the play dough or the story books before she ever grabs for the colored pencils, but at least we had fun. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll illustrate a book she writes. :)
i hope so! i bet it will be an amazing book. thanks for sharing such a sweet window into you and your daughters relationship. continue to be a supportive and thoughtful mother.
You are a cool mom for not pushing and letting your imaginative little one explore what drives her on her own.
Being an artist, myself, I always saw my own daughter’s potential talents, but I never pushed her. She was a lot like Veda as a young child. She waxed and waned in the crayons and paint department. When others would ask why I didnt give her lessons in art, I told them I would if she asked me to. I never wanted her to feel compelled to follow in my footsteps by some half hearted sense of loyalty to me. She went on to be accepted and attend a magnate high school for the visual arts where she is a rising senior and an amazing painter.
But even more interesting is her decision not to pursue art as a career (like me). She wants to become a certified ASL translator for the deaf. It is a choice that satisfies her love of people and her desire to be of service to humanity.
She explained to me when she started learning sign that it is like speaking in pictures so it really gels quite nicely with her visual, creative mind. She will always have her art but her path is diffent than mine.
So what I’m saying, in my long winded way, is that it really is all good. You may well find yourself illustrating the stories of your child one day. The best part really is the journey in watching her become the amazing, mind blowingly wonderful woman she will one day be.
I so identify with you on this- kids just surprise us. It’s like we have to learn being kids with personalities we don’t have a clue about!
One of my biggest joys in life has been watching my kids (14 and 15) discover themselves! Their interests will come and go and change and assert themselves. It fascinates me. Enjoy the ride!
This does not surprise me! I remember being blown away by Veda when I met her — how observant she is and how she verbalized them at just 18 months! That is not normal. It’s a gift. I love your collaboration, too! I get really inspired with T in story ways too. They are so free. Thanks for the inspiration — perfect timing as I’m nurturing my own stories. Of course I can’t help but wonder what Veda would think of them… xo