June and Daddy make art.

I (Karl) have been closely following Kendra's blog ever since she started writing the "follies," and while I've been deeply involved in the ongoing life that has been chronicled here, I have not as of yet contributed anything in the way of writing...

June and dad have shared lots of special time making projects, from mom's birthday drawing to June's halloween costume to birthday cards for friends and family.
The other night we had a daddy/daughter date to the Figge Art Museum. She thoroughly enjoyed the hour and 45 minutes we spent at the Figge (both looking at art in several of the galleries and making art in the awesome Artica gallery), but when asked what her favorite part of our outing was, it was the apple dumpling a la mode we shared at Woodfire Grill afterward (no contest here!).

Today was a cool day. I promised before telling June she needed to take a "quiet time" that I would do some art with her. She did not fall asleep during her quiet time, and she held me to that promise. :)
So as Kendra and Ruben got a nap in, June and I put on some Bon Iver and set up an easel to do some watercolor painting.
Watching my 3-year-old girl dance around our kitchen on her tiptoes to "Skinny Love" while watercolor painting was a beautiful experience for this proud dad.

After doing a couple of paintings making marks independently, I decided to see how June would do mimicking brush strokes. So I picked a color and painted a letter and then encouraged her to do the same color and mark on the other side of the paper. In between colors she learned to dip the brush in the water and "tap tap tap" the side of the cup before getting a new color.

Then we switched order. She chose the colors and made the marks she wanted and I echoed her. It was a cool, colorful, conversation. June very carefully crafted her sun with radiating beams; then her face took on a bit of an onery smile as she dipped into the black paint and then proceeded to smash the brush into the paper and watch the paint splatter a bit. She got a kick out of my echo and was sure to coach and correct me if I didn't apply the same force as she had...

All in all, we made 5 18" x 24" paintings. Time flew quickly, and in retrospect I'm impressed but not necessarily surprised with June's attention span for our painting project.

Art is a gift to be shared with others, so I asked June to whom she'd like to give a painting. "Jan!" was her reply. So after writing a quick note to our neighbor, friend, adoptive grandmother, we delivered one to Jan.
What better first gallery space for a 3-year-old's painting than Jan's fridge, held in place with 4 heart magnets...

I'm so grateful for June's interest in art, and the outlet that it gives for me to share something near and dear to me with my daughter. While I don't want to force June into doing things that I'm interested in, I cherish the moments we have painting and drawing and cutting, and I hope there are many more to come.