18 January 2018

The weather has passed, the ice has thawed, the snow has mostly melted, and we have crawled out of our hermit holes and resumed daily life.  While we are sad to say goodbye to the diminishing white, we are happy to be able to move about in the wide world once again.

Where did we go?

The Huntsville Museum of Art.

My children love creating.  Drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting, beading, sewing, taping, gluing, cutting…you name it, they do it.  Perhaps they get this proclivity from me, the source of most of their good and bad habits, because seeing is generally doing and they SEE ME DOING A LOT!  It could be that they are biologically inclined to pursue arts and crafts, their bloodlines infused with artsy inclinations from painter- ancestors like Julian Onderdonk. More likely, they simply relish the opportunity to “get out of their own heads” for a while; escape all of the studies that focus solely on abstract thought in isolation of the body, and actually engage their hands in the manipulation of the physical.  I know  I do.   Regardless of the why, they are interested in art of all types.

During the holidays, therefore, I signed both of the children up for a six-week course in building and sculpting in clay at the museum.  They’ve done a bit of this before with our beloved Mona Dunson, art teacher extraordinaire from a few years back under whose devoted guidance they were introduced to all kinds of media:  yarn, paint, pastels, plastic, cardboard, wood, canvas, cloth, and even clay.

These were the children’s pinch pot creations back then.

Today was the first day of the course.  Beginning with a tour of the museum’s current exhibits, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera and Cut Up/Cut Out, the children and I were shown some incredible art and given a peak into the sometimes extensive creative processes behind its production.  Brimming with fresh ideas and fresh inspiration, the molding and shaping of their own lumps of clay began.

In a few weeks, I’ll be able to see what their hands produce and what their minds imagine.  I can’t wait.