And just like that...

Just like that my three girls are all at school. Seems like not very long ago they were all so little and now they all go to school and their time at home gets shorter and shorter. But my time to make things and do things gets longer and longer which is good for us at home in the long run I think. 

The busy-ness of Spring

It's been a few weeks of crazy around here. But here is a glimpse of our days. Some things that we have been up to:

We created the sets for the Turning Pointe Dance Studio production of The Firebird.

Tessa discovered that she likes a lot more foods. And she likes to climb through tunnels too.

Lucy learned to ride her bike. By herself. Without training wheels.

A new Pinkletink Baby exclusive design was released after a very long wait. Which means I am shipping out baby carriers all over the world and work is seeming never ending.

The chickens are laying lots. Some of them are also molting and look idiotic.
We are eating a lot of quiche and poached eggs and scrambled eggs. Not all together.

The peas are growing taller every day. The broccoli I started in the little greenhouse is up. And the basil. And the lettuce. Summer veg is just around the corner.

The world awakening

Lucy and I pulled the mulch and stuff off the garden a bit yesterday. It looks rich and loose and ready and we got good and dirty poking around in the soil. We moved the garden to make room for the swing set last summer and now we are beginning to turn it into something new. It is a long rectangle of soil now, but oh, what will it be by summer?

Inside we poked through our seeds and found the ones that need to be planted soon. Peas. Carrots. Salad greens. We will work on planting those on Saturday. Lucy is impatient. "Can we turn over the earth, Mama? Can we make it ready for the seeds?" She pokes in the soil with fingers, sticks, the toes of her shoes. She misses her big sister who went to a farm for the week with her class from school and asks, "Will Ella be home in time to help us with the garden?" All in good time, all in good time.

But everywhere there are reminders that plants are ready to begin their Spring time work, that some have already begun their push toward the sun. We find reminders everywhere poking through the leaves. We enjoy the warmth of the sun on our faces. Tessa is eager to explore these new green things too. She touches the flowers and laughs. She knows they are good. She is happy to be outside hatless and to feel the breeze in her hair. She wants to know what we will do with those rattly paper packets, what is this mound of soil in the back yard? Soon little one. Soon. Spring is almost here.

Meeting where they are

Today my three girls are making things. Here at home we are surrounded by the cloth, thread, needles, and notions of creating things by hand. We are busy, quiet except for the occasional "Ouch!" as a needle meets a finger, or "Help, Mama!" as a thread comes to an end and needs tying off. And here, watching the girls work and play, I am struck by the fact that they are all doing the same things, but they meet the task where they are in their own development: Ella, at 9 years old, is busy embroidering am intricate picture onto a piece of white muslin. Lucy, at 4, works hard to create a wild abstract masterpiece of stitches on her muslin, learning to make stitches and use a sharp needle, to hold an embroidery hoop and to not sew through the extra cloth hanging from it's edges. Tessa, 17 months, plays with the snipped off bits of cloth and thread on the table, piling the scraps and thread into little piles, patting them, taking them apart, and piling them again. All of them are happy to work with the bits and pieces, but in their own time, their own ways.

And me? I have been sewing this week too. Perhaps that is why they asked to sew today, having seen me at the sewing machine. The dress on Tessa was made in less than an hour yesterday. A skirt and another dress were made last week. The girls are fascinated by my box of cloth... which piece will turn into a summer dress? Which piece a hat? Amid all the other things I should be doing (making sets for The Firebird ballet, working at my actual Pinkletink Baby work, house work, etc... the list is endless!), I am creating the kids summer wardrobe. I look at it as creating our summer photos, creating the look of our days. And what to create next? A drawing, a painting, a dress, a new baby carrier design for work, a ballet set... the creative possibilities are many.

Back in the saddle again

I have been drawing every day again lately. T is 16 months old and plays pretty well on her own now, and that means I can draw. Well, at least I can draw for a few minutes at a time. So here are a couple drawings I have done lately from my small moleskine sketchbook of "tiny things".

since I was here last...

Almost a year has passed since I last posted here... and probably no one has really noticed that I disappeared. But, if anyone did notice here is a quick update:

This year I had a new baby, was very sick with pre-eclampsia during and just after pregnancy, taught several drawing and painting classes, and then got sick with what seems to be a never-ending sinus infection... it's definitely been a year of ups and downs. I have hardly made any art in months, but I made a beautiful baby, so it's not like I was doing nothing at all. Hopefully I will have more time for art again soon...

Baby sling warning by CPSC

Well, there has been a big flap in the babywearing world in the past couple of days. It seems we are about to be warned that "slings" are unsafe by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The problem is this: No matter how you wear them, no matter how you cut it, BAG SLINGS ARE ALWAYS UNSAFE (You can see one in the photo to the left). I teach this all the time in babywearing classes. A bag sling can not support your small baby in a safe position and I ask parents who bring them to me for help to simply throw them away (many have!). When a baby is crunched into the bag part of the sling the baby has no support for a safe spine and head position in this style of carrier. A child can get curled up with chin mushed against chest and can have what is called Positional Asphyxia, or PA, which basically means, they can't breathe because their tiny airway is crunched up. So, yeah, bag slings are bad.... however, many carriers support children in safe and comfortable ways to support their back and head in a way that is safe and appropriate for their developing spine and neck.

The problem is, this is one style of carrier and the media seems to be jumping on all baby carriers and slings as being potentially harmful. Well, let me say this... most things are potentially harmful if used incorrectly, whether it be your baby's car seat, their crib, their swing, their stroller, or their sling or other baby carrier. The important thing that most media sources are failing to report is the information that parents need for safe carrying in a sling or other style of carrier. As parents we are given more instruction on how to keep our babies safe in cribs and car seats (though not enough) Here are some guidelines for safe babywearing:



1) Your baby should always be CLOSE ENOUGH TO KISS. That means their head should be high on your chest.
2) Your baby's knees should always be higher than his or her bum so that your baby is sitting safely on their bum.
3) Your sling or carrier should extends up your baby's back to their armpits (if they have head control) or to support the back of the head (if they do not yet have head control).
4) Your child's face should NEVER be covered by the fabric of the carrier or by your clothing.
5) Your baby's bottom should never be below your waist level (if they are close enough to kiss they shouldn't be below your waist).
6) Your baby's head should always be higher then their body.
7) Your baby's head should always be supported unless they have complete head control.
8) Your baby should be snug against your body, not dangling or flopping away from you as if in a sack.

This is a good list of guidelines, and most carriers if used correctly by parents meet these criteria.
If at any time you, as the parent, feel that your child is not safe or comfortable you should take the carrier off and seek help to make it work correctly.

There will be a class on babywearing safety and safe positioning at the Center For Breastfeeding in Sandwich, MA on March 22 at 10:30. If you have questions or concerns I urge you to email me (nora@pinkletinkbaby.com) or come to the class. I am always available to help with slings and carriers.




Let me just say it again... Babywearing is a good thing, but bag slings are bad.... like anything, babywearing can be done incorrectly (just as there are accidents in cars, cribs and strollers!) and things can go wrong. But when done right, babywearing can be your most treasured and special baby bonding expirience. You, as the parent, need to be educated about all aspects of taking care of your baby and it can be a tough job, but babywearing should be something that you strive to do because you and your child will benefit by it. As with everything in life, it is hard to separate fact from fiction sometimes... but the facts in this are simple, babywearing is safe when you follow the rules... just like driving and swimming and using a carseat... all safe and good things, when you are educated and informed.

Here are some useful links to other sites with information about bag slings and sling safety.

What is a bag sling?

Correct Positioning

Common Sense

NY Times Article

Northhampton News report

Clarification for Lucy

Clarification for Lucy, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

My daughter Lucy is entering fully into the spirit of Valentines day this year, complete with heart shaped pieces of red and pink paper, crayons, and glue... she is thrilled to be making things and the fruits of her labors are scattered over the table and the floor around her. "See my clementines!" she shouts with glee! And Ella corrects her for about the thousandth time, "Silly, Lucy, you mean 'valentines'." What's a mom to do but laugh and paint the picture that pops into her head? And, then it dawned on me... clementines do have one important thing in common with valentines besides a rhyming ending.... they are both at their best when they are proffered after dinner with some nice chocolate :)

Lunch

Lunch, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

My sense of smell is beginning to return. The sniffles are a little less. It's more like a golf ball up my nose now, not a baseball. With my sense of smell back I can taste things for the first time in days, and I was desperate for good bread. Man may not be able to live on bread alone, but I would make a case that man could live on bread, milk, and fruit alone... at least, I could quite happily....

I finally took a picture of this door that I really like. I wanted to sit and paint it, but in the shade on the other side of the street it was about 25 degrees and windy, so only a photo. When the weather is better I want to paint it though.... right now I think sitting in the wind and the cold would probably bring back the disgusting drippy nose and make the cough more ear (and throat) splitting.... my daughter is complaining about how my cough woke her up this morning.... well, tough luck little one, mum's got a cough and is very tired.

sick and snow

journal page, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

it snowed down sludge and it's cold and windy today.... and I am sick. I have been for a couple days now and it's a nasty snotty disgusting cold. I feel like someone stuffed a baseball up my nose.... it's both totally stuffed up and dribbling... gross.

On the bright side, I got to do this little sick self portrait with a nice new W&N series 7 kolinsky brush.... I have been slowly replacing all my lousy old worn out brushes (synthetics and blends mostly) with good brushes and I must say, I do love a good brush.... especially in teeny tiny sizes like size 2 and down, it's nice to have brushes that will actually carry a bit of paint even in a very small size.

I made a few valentine postcards for my daughters today too... I will drop them in the mail later today... they are always so thrilled to get mail of their very own :)

cool videos and what have you

I am sick with a snotty and disgusting head cold and I spent the day being a total sloth and sniffling and watching youtube videos and reading blogs and stuff like that... and I spent way too long watching the videos at Peter Woolley's website... if you register there you can watch a whole heap of demo videos in watercolor... cool stuff... he makes it look pretty effortless and his art has pretty cool light effects... worth checking out if you are into watercolor.

I also checked out Tommy Kane's blog for a while... it's good fun and he does some pretty great line and wash and he is a pretty funny guy into the bargain :)

Ella's all better and wishing for vacation

Ella's all better and wishing for vacation, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

Ella had her follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital with the pulmonologist. They said her lungs are completely back to normal from the pneumonia and pleural effusion and all back in October. I heaved a huge sign of relief to know that! Not that I thought there would be anything wrong still, but it's good to know it's well and truly behind us.

The landscape here is an imaginary coastline in Prince Edward Island... We go there for our family vacation in the summer, but this year we can't go until August and planning our reservations right now seems so silly when it seems so far off! Alan will be away for most of the summer on a research vessel in the Pacific though, so August was the earliest we could go! I am so wishing for summer though... and tomorrow it's going to snow :(

lagoon nebula sketch

lagoon nebula, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

I made this sketch last week in about 15 minutes before going and teaching a painting lesson to the 7th graders at the Waldorf School. The kids really struggled with this painting, but I found it a lot of fun and pretty easy... just goes to show the different perspective I am coming from than them I guess. This painting was a real walk in the park compared to some paintings I did in 7th grade though, so maybe they just like to complain.

parking lot drawing and chinese food

parking lot drawing and chinese food, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

The Jeep was a 5 minute drawing while waiting in a parking lot while Alan ran into CVS. The color tests in the upper right are Stabilo fine tip markers. The chinese food container was from our chinese food leftovers from the weekend.

a gnome went for coffee

gnome and the upper couple of stories of Coffee O in Woods Hole, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

Drew this a few days ago while sitting in the Dyer's dock parking lot in Woods Hole in the car.... it was cold but sunny and I had an hour to kill before meeting Alan for Coffee at Pie in the Sky... the building is prettier at Coffee O, but the coffee and pastry are better at Pie in the Sky :)

Paintastic conversion

So, a while back I figured out how to take apart an Elmer's Paintastic paint brush and turn it into a waterbrush much like the far more expensive brushes like Niji and other companies make for doing watercolor painting while traveling. My kids wanted waterbrushes like my Nijis and I didn't really want to spend a lot of money... so I put it off and put it off and then one day my mother gave them some Paintastic paintbrush pens and I took one apart figuring that it must be basically a waterbrush... and it is, basically, with a little modification. So, here is what I do to convert a Paintastic into a waterbrush. (this happens to be a mini Paintastic that I am demoing here, but they come in a larger version too, which can be handy as well)
Find yourself some Elmer's Paintastics like this:



Unscrew the top and you will have the two halves of the pen like this:


Then you need to pull out the blue end on the paint reservoir piece like this:


Now pull the tube off of the blue end, like this:


Pull the second, smaller tube out of the blue piece now and you should have all these pieces:


Now, throw away these pieces. You don't need them... I have tried using the brush with and without them and they don't seem to make it any better particularly, so I just take them out and throw them away. So, get rid of these:


Now, take the paint reservoir piece and pour out the paint... don't worry too much about getting it all over your sink, it's kids paint, it washes off things really easily!


Now, rinse out the paint reservoir really well until the water you dump out of it runs clear. When it's clean you can fill it with water and then put the blue end back onto the filled water reservoir like this:


Now, if your Paintastic brush has been used by your kids already then you will need to clean the brush end by running lots of water through it. If it's new and unused the brush will be clean and you can skip this step. If your brush is full of the paint though, it's best to run a bunch of warm water through it until the brush looks clean and the water runs clear


Now you can put the brush all back together again. If the brush has been used in the past I usually squeeze a full reservoir full of water through the brush before using it to paint to be sure that any paint has cleared the whole system.


Now, simply refill your waterbrush reservoir with water and you are good to go! :)


Ok, now as far as I'm concerned this is the best part about the mini Paintastic brushes. They can't do as fine painting as some waterbrushes, but for quick sketches they are fine and they fit PERFECTLY into a twelve 1/2 pan paint box! (ok, I know my twelve 1/2 pan box has 14 half pans.... but, hey, they fit, so why not!)


Hope you all find this useful... if nothing else, for those with kids who have these anyway it's a good way to re-use them and not just throw them away when the paint is used up, which I like. I also refilled one for me with black ink and it makes a nice little ink brush pen for doing quick brush sketches.

Have fun!

First grade

DSCN9681, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

E began first grade last week at our local Waldorf School. She loves it and can't wait to get there in the morning each day. She seems so much happier now that she is in school. She has a large class and a teacher she loves. I am so glad to see her so happy as the last few weeks of summer vacation were a little rocky and she seemed to be really wearing out on being at home with me and L. I think she is getting to an age where she needs some time when she doesn't have a little sister begging to be a part of everything she does and I am so happy that she is going to a school where I feel she will be taken care of and taught well.

today

I am tired and I have spent the evening staring at my old art books wondering "what next?". I am finding it hard to feel enthused about drawing things outside the kitchen somehow... in this Autumn weather somehow I am pulled unavoidably to draw pears and apples, garlic, fresh baked bread... to caress their contours on the page as though caressing the fruit itself. I remember painting some apples once in watercolor.... those apples live forever in my memory so that I can almost smell them, taste them 8 years later

I think I may be obsessed with two things... art and food

I wrote a letter to a friend recently about wishing I could set up an easel in the produce section and draw and paint there all day.... and, while I didn't actually set up at the grocery store, I did set up in my kitchen... I love drawing in the kitchen... the familiar contours of garlic, peppers, the dirt still clinging to mushrooms, bowls full of apples and pears. My two passions converge in the kitchen... art and food... and I am happy there.

summer's end

It feels suddenly like summer is finishing up. The tomatoes and raspberries are heavy with fruit, the sunflowers on my table remind me of Vincent and the air in my kitchen smells of ripe fruit in bowls on the kitchen table. The heat and haze of August is slowly giving way to the cool breezes of Autumn... it is hurricane season, when we begin to lay things down in the freezer and hope with fingers crossed that a hurricane doesn't come and take our power for days on end so that we have to eat up all that defrosting abundance in the basement. My girls are in their element in the garden... muddy fingers and toes, raspberry stains, and wild hair combine to herald their exuberance in the harvest of the fruits of late summer. The eat more than they bring indoors and I don't mind... I laugh at the smears of raspberry juice on faces and dresses. They are me 20 years ago, and it makes me so happy to relive my childhood through them.