Art for Kids

I had a pleasant surprise this morning. I often check the Etsy blog every day, but this last week RJH took a vacation and we've been taking some time to make sure we're prepared for the baby. He's done a huge amount of work building furniture, and we made some purchases. Somehow it seems more real, now that we have a car seat and stroller. Decorating and preparing the nursery is an on-going project, of course. So, this morning I was particularly interested to see the Etsy blog article Art Scouting: Picks for Kids thinking I could gather some more ideas. I love that cover shot and spent some time contemplating how the T.Rex image was made. I scrolled down and was delighted to see my own 'Sailing Ship IV' featured! It and another in the series are already packaged to go to the post office this morning, since they sold yesterday (though I didn't clue in that my print had been mentioned till this morning). I do love the idea that art for kids can serve as a starting point for bedtime stories. RJH has been advocating bold, simple works for babies and that maybe the multimedia work will be better a little later (once the baby's vision is more fully developped.... after all, they can barely focus more than a foot away when they arrive). He might have a point, but I confess, I'm looking forward to the magic of imaginative bedtime story telling - and more complex art too!

There's still several ships in the series, by the way, and reproductions of a couple of the sold one of kind prints in the series are available too. There's some fabulous prints by fellow Printsy members; Cecca's Crocodile Tea Time has been in my favorites for a long time and I love Natalia the Winged Lion's prints as much as her imaginative handcrafted jewellery, as well as some artists who are new to me.

Hallowe'en

Hope everyone had a great Hallowe'en!



I enjoyed my first Toronto Hallowe'en giving out candy from my own place. Almost everywhere else I've lived in the city hasn't been on the ground floor and never got any kids. In my third year of undergrad I shared a house with and and some others and we did get some trick or treaters, but that wasn't my own place. Though we did enjoy another science student's access to dry ice. Sadly, RJH was trapped at work. That meant I didn't get a chance to check out the neighbourhood. But, I sat in the front room (alone, with all the candy) and tweeted the experience.

· one miniature lion, a Renaissance highwaywoman, a cat burglar and a cow... enjoying my 1st Toronto Hallowe'en at ground level...
6:28 PM - 31 Oct 12

The first visitor, a toddler dressed as a lion, was perhaps the cutest. His parents explained it was his first Hallowe'en. I opened the door and he walked straight past me into the house, so I had to scurry to get ahead of him with the candy and crouch so he could see me. I explained that it was my first time as a home owner so it was exciting to me too. I knew the highwaywoman and cat buglars, two neighbouring sisters from a couple of doors down. I asked the elder sister if she was a pirate and she explained that no she was like a Renaissance villain. "Like, a highway man?" I asked, but she didn't know what that meant. Perhaps I should have come up with the French term as her bilingual family is half-francophone, but I confess I have no idea how to say highway man in French. (I associated with the specific, yet hard to explain costumes. At her age, I was an Egyptian princess, but not Cleopatra as everyone assumed. No, I had done research on the Old Kingdom, and had nothing to do with Ptolemaic Egypt, but after a while, I gave up and let adults assume I was Cleopatra). Her sister was a jaunty little cat burglar and their friend the jersey cow looked great.


never got any trick or treaters in the apartment
6:28 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

Spiderman (who does Spidey moves and demonstrated his skills) and a motorcycle cop complete with fabulous handmade cardboard motorcycle!
6:47 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

The young man (aged 3) from two doors down, who calls over to RJH to let him know he should be wearing a hard helmet, when he works on roofs, arrived dressed as spiderman. I gave him his candy and his mother asked if he would show me his Spidey moves. He did a few poses, including a weird sort of one-handed handstand. "Wow, that's awesome," I said. His mother agreed saying, "I have no idea what that was, but it's definitely awesome." Then the young man investigated all my skeletons and started identifying their parts, until his mother convinced him to continue on their way. A 7 year old in a helmet, wearing a cardboard motorcycle with egg-carton lights and pipe cleaner antenna was next. I was very impressed to see such a hand-crafted item.

one skeleton and one tiny fire chief, both of whom had specific tastes in candy (rockets and lollipops, respectively)
6:57 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

The tiny fire fighter thanked me for his candy and his parent tried to leave. "Can I have a rocket please?" he asked, steadfastly refusing to move on with his parent. I had way too much candy, so I asked him to indicate which candy he meant and then gave him five. Imagine preferring coloured sugar to chocolat! To each their own. The skeleton received the candy I offered, then silently looked me in the eye and reached for a lollipop and placed it in his bag.

a tiny chef with a stuffed turkey on his head. He said he wasn't the Mr. Bean Christmas special. That mean someone else wears turkey as hat?
7:07 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

a cowboy... very old school
7:12 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

I wondered if he was specifically Emiliano Zapata with his impressive mustache.

2 Freddie Kreuger's, 2 witches, a cat, tiny guy in hockey jersey, and another lion
7:26 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

The Freddies, one cat and one witch were a troupe of larger children. Then came a mid-size lion with great face paint and a small and friendly pink and purple witch with good manners. I wasn't sure what the little guy in, possibly, one of the Freddie's hats, and a hockey jersey, was supposed to be. I did ask, but I couldn't understand his response.

it's a lot of responsibility being left here with all the candy
7:45 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

a tiny witch and a girl in leopard-spot pj's complete with sleep mask
7:45 PM - 31 Oct 12

Need more trick or treaters, but I think they're deterred by the rain. We still have so much candy. Don't give up, sodden costumed kids!
8:10 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

two cold and wet warrior princesses and one bloody skeleton
8:17 PM - 31 Oct 12 ·

Two older girls were on my door step. One clearly had a crown, and I later noticed a sword. The other appeared to be bundled in a large coat. I asked the bundled one, "What are you?" The first give replied in a British accent which I had not expected, "Ha! Yes. What are we. We're supposed to be warrior princesses." The bundled one struggled to move her arms and lower a sword so I could see it at the bottom of the coat. "Oh, that's great. You look cold! Stay warm," I said as the masked skeleton complete with flowing fake blood barged in to claim his candy.