A Day in the Life of an Artist

Today Liv and I had a great day.

We started the day off sleeping in until 8 AM!! Wow, was that nice!! Then we had some pancakes and milk for breakfast.

We then took advantage of the sunshine and fresh air, spending time outdoors at the playground across the street (it's the elementary school's playground - the same school where Liv's going to start Kindergarten in the fall of 2011).

"Yee haw!!"

 

She wanted to pose for a photo before running off to play again.

Running is good!

 
She also spent time riding her scooter - the one her Uncle Joe and Tia Pia had given her for Christmas a couple years ago.

"Cheese!"

 

 

But the highlight of the day? It was being an artist for the afternoon!

There is this great store here in town called "The Dreaming Bear." It's got a ton of artsy stuff, and Livie and I just LOVE going there every so often.

And guess what?! They have an art studio in the back. On Saturdays (and on occasion, other days, like during local schools' spring breaks), they have "open studio" hours. That means that anybody can go in and do art! (Click on this The Dreaming Bear link to read exactly what "open studio" means).

So we got there and Liv was a little nervous because she wasn't exactly sure how to be an artist. I told her that there is no right and wrong - all she has to do is go with what she likes, and use her imagination. And not to forget: the messier the artist, the better the art!!

She had a BLAST! First, she got to choose what piece of art she was going to decorate from their stock. She chose a flower, and then decided to paint it and put some "jewels" on it. But first, I put a "Dreaming Bear" apron on her. Then the very nice artist who was staffing the studio helped her get her paints.

Here she is, very excited and just getting started with painting. Yes, she chose pinks and purples.

She's really concentrating on painting now.

After she finished painting her flower, she had the artist staff member hot-glue the "jewels" onto her flower, with Livie standing there, requesting that certain "jewels" go on very specific spots. I'm afraid she (the artist helping Livie) really hurt herself, though. One of the jewels kinda flipped in her hand, and landed hot-glue side down, right on one of her fingertips. It really burned her. I felt sorry that she hurt herself, but she kinda laughed it off (even though I'm sure it caused a blister).

Anyway, before we headed out to pay for the materials Livie used (as well as the studio time, which was $3/hr), I asked Livie to pose with her artwork.

She was very proud of her flower, and declared, "I'm an artist, now!" I agreed, and promised that we'd come back; I decided I'd probably do some artwork, too!

Once we got home, she chose a spot on her dresser to showcase her flower. Then she told me that she loved being an artist, and when she grows up, she wants to be an artist. She promised she'd make some special artwork for me.

And then she said that while it was hard, it was "so much fun!!"