art
Family-themed art is a look into one's living room; it depicts celebration, crises, and the quiet moments of familial interactions.
The Joyful Art of Scrapbooking
The Joyful Art of Scrapbooking Every picture cut, snipped and clipped by scissors tells a story. The world-renowned artist Romare Bearden would have been a great scrap-booker. Since the concept of Scrapbooking is about taking scraps, and other pieces of material to create a visionary explosion of cohesive imagery, the ‘Father of Collage’ would have excelled at the craft. He was also an author and songwriter heavily influenced by the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. His art especially collage and photomontage prove that colorful images can impact its audience and tell a story, evoke an emotion, and relay a powerful message about the community and even the world. That's what Scrapbooking does for me. The inspiration from Romare Bearden encouraged me, someone who is not a renowned artist or even a professional one to create art through my scrapbooking. When I look at his collages whether it be The Block, Jazz, Kansas City, Mother and Child, Young Students, Carolina Shout, or any other of his collages, I am inspired to create.
By Saja Bo Storm5 years ago in Families
Cut out to be a crafter
I remember cutting up cardboard boxes in the back of my Mum and Dad’s shop, where I entertained myself during long summer holidays, fashioning things to play with, indulging in creative ideas. “Can’t you sit still for five minutes? You’re always licking and sticking,” my Mum would complain from behind the counter. I was too young to walk down to the seafront on my own and my parents worked seven days a week. But I didn’t mind that, I was completely absorbed and consumed by my latest creative whim, intensely mindful and entirely in the moment. It was the kind of creativity where the project at hand was so pressing, and the process so instantly gratifying, that perching uncomfortably on a chair-edge, getting cramp in your leg and forgetting to finish your half-eaten jam sandwich barely registered.
By Lucy Johnson5 years ago in Families
Sewing Ostomy Pouch Covers
My children mean the world to me. When my youngest daughter Katharine was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 19 and in college, my heart was broken. After all, my oldest son needed to have his colon removed at age 13. Katharine made the decision to have her colon removed at age 23 after 3 years of suffering from the disease. She also opted for an ostomy and stoma, which again broke my heart. However, I had raised a brave and optimistic (plus beautiful and intelligent) girl. I was there through her surgery recovery (along with her boyfriend of several years, who will become her husband in 3 months).
By Debra Imrie5 years ago in Families
Snowflakes in the Desert
Quite a few years back, I was a stay-at-home mom of five kids, ages ten and under. We were on a very tight budget, trying to live in Southern California on one income, with really no money for anything beyond bills, food, and gas for our minivan. Christmas was approaching and we knew we couldn’t even afford a tree. We had a handful of ornaments from my childhood, a string of lights that had belonged to my grandma, (and were somehow still working!) and a few other random decorations we’d picked up over the years, but not much.
By Alison Albert5 years ago in Families
The Power of Craft
In my view anyone can be creative, but it's when you include the element of craft that creativity can then become elevated to art. And whereas creating pictures merely requires materials such as glue, paper and paint, performing a craft requires professional equipment such as scissors, knives and rulers.
By Aaron Needle5 years ago in Families
Generational Creativity
My Great Grandma turned 91 this year. I recently visited her for the first time in over a year and a half because of the pandemic. She’s tiny now and her eyesight has deteriorated progressively over the last few years so much so that she can no longer see the tv, read books, or do her beloved creative hobbies. A keen beadsmith and dressmaker throughout her younger years, she made beautiful beaded jewellery and dresses. She was also a medium, which she didn’t talk about often, except to tell us when we’d been visited by spirits.
By Shelbie Walker5 years ago in Families
The Journey of the Sacred Scissors -- Uniting the Women in My Family
No one! And I mean NO ONE was ever allowed to touch mom’s sacred scissors. The hiding place of the forbidden scissors Sneaking into her bedroom, where the Singer sewing machine was always set up, I loved to open the round wicker blue and grey sewing basket filled with so many wonders. While she was well occupied making us a delicious dinner, I would carefully lift the shiny silver blades, admiring the warped reflection of my tight curly hair and guilty face in the contours of her most prized tool.
By Maria Calderoni5 years ago in Families
Gifting Happiness in a Jar
How to Make a Jar of Happiness For starters, you want to try and muster up some happiness. Think of the people you love because this project will require some happy thoughts. Now open your mind. Relax and breathe. Began to think of the people or person who you want to bring happiness to. Ask yourself; will be using the jar? Capture an image of them in your mind. Hold on to it and think up all the things they like and who they are. If the jar is for you or your family, make sure you think about everyone. Any only positive energy…
By Opal A Roszell5 years ago in Families
Costumes
I have always been a highly creative person. I give credit to my mother’s sisters, and they, realizing that I was also a creative type, exposed me to many craft forms throughout the years. Some I liked, some not so much. I was always on the lookout for another outlet to satisfy the craft craving that was always gnawing at me. What are these crafts? Well, there is a list a mile long - well, that's an embellishment for sure, but there are quite a few. Let's see...there was knitting, tatting, crocheting, painting, sewing. I still sew because I really enjoy it. The others? Nah, they weren’t for me. I will, however, take the opportunity to brag loudly about my Aunt Kathy. She knitted, tatted, and crocheted some beautiful things and I admire her skill, as well as anyone else who mastered those skills for that matter.
By Carolyn McWhorter5 years ago in Families
Maybe art isn't what you think it is.
If there’s one thing I love, it’s starting a piece of writing with a seeming non-sequitur (that of course will actually be a clever and delightfully relevant hook into the heart of the prose). Here, I’ll start by owning the fact that I HATE playing with my six-year-old daughter. HATE. Like, I would rather stay up all night dealing with a stomach bug than play dolls for half an hour. I love her so much, but I find basically all play intolerable. I hope she doesn’t read this someday (Charlotte, it’s nothing personal).
By Julia DiPrete5 years ago in Families
