A couple of weeks ago, Myla posted a link to Pinterest. I put in a request to join and when my invitation came, I became instantly addicted. It’s been an amazing source of inspiration and to-do ideas for the girls and me. We haven’t stopped coming up with craft ideas since, and now that things are being created in the house again, I became inspired to pick up my camera and document them again.

birthday card from Emma

sunflower pot

fluffy peep plush that Lex gave to me for easter

skateboard deck hanging on my wall

sweet little bunny that came to munch clover in my empty flowerbed

polka dotted throw pillow fabric

radiator that I've been using in my sunroom due to unusually cold weather

some little figures that Lex created. they live below her computer monitor

lovely octopus-lady painting Lex gave to me, knowing how much I loved it when she first painted it

another Lex painting... this one a dragon riding into a castle in the sky

another Lex creation, this one a girl standing on a green hill and looking up into the rainy sky

sneak peek of a quilt I made for my cousin's baby-to-be

close up of the baby quilt's binding, which I'm particularly proud of

piglet girl, made by Lex

Lex's most recent painting... I think you know who they are?

violin playing "Star Wars" for me on her violin ♥

celebratory chocotini, celebrating the finishing of the baby quilt

gosling babies & parents

Some people like to plaster their walls from end to end while others prefer a more minimalist approach with a single painting, smartly designed mirror or piece of art in the room. I am a grouper. I group my photos and my art. My groups tell stories. I have a group of photos from a trip to San Francisco, a group of photos from the botanical garden in D.C., a set of photos that a friend took in India, a prominent “family wall” with randomly hung candids and the odd portrait or two, a series of food photos hanging in the kitchen… and many more groups throughout the house.

First on my list of “to hang” were two wonderful drawings that the talented artist Minnie Romanovich (of womaninthemoon.org) did for me last November. If you’re not familiar with her work, take a look at her children’s illustrations. I think I’ve commissioned at least half a dozen illustrations from her over the last decade and I am always delighted when I receive them. Her keen attention to detail with every thing she draws, as well as every personal touch added, makes each piece exceptional.

These drawings represent their subjects so well, even their older brother commented on the likenesses:

Hope dancing and listening to her iPod by Minnie Romanovich

A animal-eared Savannah, peeking out of the picture by Minnie Romanovich

Today, I received my Unfathomable Octophant print in the mail. It reminded me that I had yet to hang the CephaLovePod that my valentine gave me in February. If you take a look at Phineas’ prints, you’ll notice that they sell out pretty frequently. I’m still kicking myself in the head for not ordering Laika before it sold out. I’ll have to wait for another piece to group with these two that I hung this evening:

Unfathomable Octophant and CephaLovePod by Phineas X. Jones

One particular wall in the house has been bothering me for some time. It had become the wall to hang random seasonal pieces but really those things were simply an excuse to fill up wall space while I decided what I wanted to put there. For a long time I thought I’d put a giant redwood photograph there but that became kind of a costly and complicated idea. For months, I had been stumped on what to put there. That blank space that extends two stories up had begun to make me grumble whenever I looked at it.

Jason Jessee - Sungod (possibly my favorite skateboard artwork ever)

Jeff Grosso - Fangtail (this board is too pretty to skate)

What with the ever-growing collection of skateboarding paraphernalia that has been accumulating in this house, the fact that another board arrived in the mail today sealed the deal. I picked out a couple of my favorite boards and printed out a couple of photos I’ve taken of the man skating, framed them, and then began arranging things on the floor to try different layouts. He went downstairs to grab a third board (Corey O’Brien), which balanced it all out perfectly. I’m pretty pleased with the results.

I included some space around the wall in this photo for scale

Closer up

It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it still took me hours to complete. There are several more walls in the house I’d like to finish, but all in good time. In my experience, some of the best ideas come together after the first couple of drafts.

[pullquote author="Em, the 11 year-old"]“It’s nice to look at something on that wall, finally.”[/pullquote]

paints and palette

She didn’t know what to paint at first, or what techniques to use and asked for my suggestion. My reply was that the best art is about expression, free of rules or pre-planning. I told her just to put some paint on her brush and put the brush on the canvas and then just see where things go.

hands at work

her first finished painting, an abstract (my favorites)

her second abstract painting - painted specially for a counselor/friend at school

this one she painted for me (♥)

the most recent, painted yesterday evening

I am loving her artwork. She thinks it’s kind of funny that the ones I like the most are the ones she doesn’t think are that great. In the end, the finished results are great, but I’m really just grateful she finds this as a helpful creative outlet.