Art therapy

The last few days have consisted of the gloriously warm, sunny weather that SoCal winter does so well. Yesterday, I remembered that - far too long ago - I'd bought a cheap watercolour set for Miss Pie, put it aside for another day... and promptly forgotten about it. Guilt set in as I realised the poor poppet has only ever really had a jar of pencils or crayons plopped down in front of her to get arty with, and nothing else.

When the Faery was that same age, she'd been in day care several days a week, for a good year or so. I never felt bad about the fact that I didn't do much arty/crafty stuff with her because she was able to experience that sort of messy fun to her heart's content at day care.

Miss Pie will be starting preschool soon, but sadly for her, I've neglected her in the messy paint and crafts department so far. When I set up the paints for her yesterday, she was beside herself. She wasted no time in getting colour to paper, only pausing every now and then to exclaim how fun it was. Man, have I been doing her a disservice. What I'd intended as a brief activity turned into nearly an hour. It could have gone on much longer if it wasn't for the inconvenience of nap time. Every time I suggested we pack it away, there were squeals of protest. She loved it.

Seeing how deeply she'd immersed herself in it, I wasn't really surprised. Aside from how much her sister loves getting arty too (well, don't most kids?), I was the same - am still the same. I remember being incredibly aware - in my early teens - of how soothed I felt when losing myself in drawing or painting during art classes. To an extent, I get a similar kick out of photography.

I've been telling myself for years that I'll take up an evening class and get back into making art again. Maybe 2013 should be the year to make it happen.

Babble, Instagram, and me

A fun thing has happened this week. Mommy Shorts - who also writes in the Toddler section over at the US Babble site - has published an article about ladies who she believes to be 10 of the Best Moms on Instagram.

Ten ladies that were chosen because "they post on a daily basis, take pictures of their kids (but NOT ONLY pictures of their kids!) and most importantly, are really good photographers. They are all selective about the shots they share, and I look forward to each one popping up in my stream."

Of those ten ladies? I was included. If you saw the company I'm with, you'd understand just how immensely flattered I am. This kind of recognition is lovely. I like that my photos are appreciated because I take photos of more than just my kids.

Go and check out the article here, if you haven't seen it already. If you love huge doses of sarcasm (as I do) and am not familiar with Mommy Shorts, then I suggest you visit her here... and if you're on Instagram? Come and say hi to me (@madinla). Don't be shy.

Faking and creativity

Do you ever have moments where you feel something in you brighten, just a little? Days where that light hasn't dimmed from whatever's been happening, but you look at something and feel brighter? Or perhaps hear some music which makes that little inner light glow stronger? Maybe it's something you read, or something that a person tells you... but whatever the trigger is, you feel a spark inside.

I had a moment like that last night. I haven't had a great deal of those moments recently, but I want more moments like that. It was the most minor of things that triggered it - I just happened to be reading about a little gimmicky photography trick, and the next thing I knew, I'd spent an hour googling images which had been created using that trick. Although this trick (miniature faking) tends to be done on computer software, I remembered reading - when I first got my lovely DSLR camera - that it was possible to edit photos on it to give the same effect.

Here's an example: (edited 05/17/11 - I've removed this image and accompanying link as this post was coming up at the top of Google searches for 'miniature faking', and sending far more traffic to this post than I'm comfortable with)

I skimmed over various articles about this effect, and a lot of people seem to quite dismissive of it. Tacky. Gimmicky. Unnecessary. Those were words that kept popping up. Whatever. I think it's a fun little trick, and when I finally went to bed, my mind was racing with ideas for where I could go to take photos that would work well with that effect. Just for fun.

The little light inside us that brightens at times? For me, this happens when I feel inspired, and have creative moments. The creative side to me is a part that has been, sadly, buried a little during my adulthood.

I'm not a writer. I don't claim to be, but I do have fun with it and enjoy it. As a school student, I loved being given creative writing tasks - they were my favourite English class assessments. I relished these. Much more fun than dissecting and analysing novels and poetry. Although my posts here couldn't be classed as creative writing, I'm having fun, nonetheless.

I'm also not an artist, but here's a secret: I'm pretty good at drawing. I used to do a lot of it in my student days, and for me, drawing achieves the same sense of calm that others get from meditation.  I've always intended to explore other forms of visual arts and now I realise intention is no longer enough. I can't remember the last time I picked up a crayon or pencil, just for me. I need to get more creative again.

Part of that is improving my photography skills. I'll admit to being lazy much of the time and using the automatic settings, but I'm slowly understanding the manual settings and busting out of my comfort zone to use them - I just need more 'me' time to do this. For some reason, it's not as enjoyable with a bored toddler or preschooler in tow.

So these little light-brightening moments? I need to pay more attention to them. I had a huge moment a couple of years ago, which had me examining my lack of creativity. I was at a concert - one of not many that I've attended since having kids. J and I were seeing The Presets at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, and having a fabulous, thumping good time. I was enjoying the music, and feeling a little like the old me who used to go out and dance all night long in London.

Listening to their music, I began marvelling at what a wonderful thing it must be to create great music, and leave that as your legacy. Something your kids will listen to one day, and perhaps gain some deeper insight into who you are or were. I began to also think how that could be applied to so many other forms of creativity too. Painting. Photography. Writing. Sewing. Film making.

I want that. I want to be able to leave something that my own kids will be able to look at. Or read. Something that will help them to feel closer to me. Maybe whatever the legacy is, will be just tucked away in a box somewhere and not for public consumption. I don't know what my legacy will be, but I want one.

So there you have it. Further ramblings from my mind. I kind of feel I've put a little piece of my soul here, just now... but that little light is feeling bright today, and I'm grateful for that.

Did I mention one of my all time favourite artists is Vincent Van Gogh? Well, now you know. I'll leave you with one of his paintings which has also had the miniature faking, or tilt shifting effect, applied... pretty cool, eh?