Potato Printing

I've been wondering where my time is going, when actually, we've been really busy doing fun stuff. So this week is hereby designated as Craft Week, and I will spend it sharing the things we've been making. First stop: potato prints.

These are standard kids art fare., but I don't ever remember making them. I can see why it's so popular, because they are super fun and easy. I also think it's a great way to get the kids practicing with color and design without worrying too much about drawing shapes or naturalistic representation.







This time, we went the simple route. Just slice off the end of a potato- ours were covered with "eyes" but it doesn't matter for this. We used washable tempera paint, but you could use whatever you have on hand. Pool some paint on a paper plate, dip the sliced potato into the paint and blot off the excess. Press onto art paper, and voila! Repeat!



They really did have a great time trying out different color combinations and making texture with different amounts of paint. While they were working, I was working as well. I bought some little tee shirts for Fiona to wear to bed. (Regular PJs don't fit over her fatty cloth nighttime diapers.) I love the Under the Nile brand because they are so soft and well made- they last forever. Even after two boys, their clothes still look great. The fact that they are organic is a bonus in my book.

For the first one, I cut and shaped a slice for the petals and a slice for the center of the flowers. The second one is just a slice, au natural, like the boys used. I think I like that better. It's very simple and organic. Of course, Baby Girl looks adorable in either one!

Arts Fest

Because we didn't come here to stay in the house all day...




The Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Lots of fun artwork to look at. Even fun artwork to make.

Out and about....photo compliments of Trevor!

Pet Rock

Apparently, one of these used to cost about $3.50 in the '70's. Ours was free since we started with an obliging rock from our garden. Introducing Trevor's pet rock: Ladybug.

ART 101

Budding Artists? You never know. But we had fun anyway. I've been meaning to do an organized project with them for weeks. It still wasn't organized, but it was our first time working with acrylic paint. It's so much easier to see how colors work together in acrylics versus cheap watercolor.

Just look at that concentration!


Braden did an exceptional job of "filling the canvas." Maybe he's a natural.

Museums, Cactus and Snow

In the afternoon of our first day in Phoenix, we decided to try one of the mountain bike trails as a family. We had researched trails and found one that we thought Trevor could handle at the McDowell Regional Park. It looked a little cloudy, but we had driven all the way up there we didn't want it to be a waste. So we headed out. About 10 minutes into the ride, it started sleeting. Yes, sleeting. But why turn back? We drove all the way up here. So we pressed on. No hats. No gloves. Just jackets and determination. We got about 1/3 of the way around the loop and decided we'd better head back. See those little white dots? That's snow. I think the kids would have been slightly more excited if they had been able to feel their appendages.


The next day we had better luck with the weather. Ev rode a great trail by himself in the morning, while the boys and I headed off to the Phoenix Art Museum. Everyone had a great time. The boys especially loved an installation called Fireflies. Then after lunch we met up with some friends and did some hiking. This time we hiked Usery Park in Mesa. Amazing views.

This is a Saguaro cactus "skeleton." The fleshy part has died and left behind the wood "ribs."

Our last day in Phoenix we went to the Heard Museum. It's dedicated entirely to Native American art and culture. It is much larger than we expected and we didn't even get to see everything. They have a fantastic children's area with many hands on activities. We were also lucky enough to be there on a day when they had a group of Hopi dancers come to perform.

Not bad for a mini vacation. Then we headed home to rest and clean up from our Christmas. A great end to a great year. Happy New Year, everyone!

Taliesin West

We decided we should take advantage of Ev's time off this month. So we left the Christmas carnage where it lay, and packed up our things to drive up to Phoenix on the 26th. Ev's main goal for the trip was to do some mountain bike trails, so as a concession, I got to choose the first activity of the weekend. So we went to Taliesin West. It is a school of architecture established and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937.

Can you find the roadrunner in this picture?

This petroglyph stone was found on the property. Wright liked it and decided to use the second symbol from the left, in his design.

It's located in Scottsdale, up on a hill overlooking the city. Although, when Wright arrived, Phoenix was just a tiny dot on the map, and Taliesin didn't overlook anything but cactus. After having seen Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob in Pennsylvania, it was interesting to compare how his style changed to adapt to the desert landscape. As an added bonus for me, there was beautiful sculpture all over the property. Ev had to keep calling me to keep up with the tour group.