Art in the eye of the Beholder

My sister Jessica is outrageously creative. When we shared a room as kids, she was constantly beading, designing, drafting and twinning. My young self's artistic contribution was limited to a 12 x 12 Lego board and the finite number of lego pieces we owned. Once I brought home a cat I drew with pastelles in Ms. Winoker's Lakeville elementary school art class and it made it to "Framed" status. I am as artistic as a straight line. Jess is calligraphy to my block lettering. Mom always made each of us feel celebrated and respected for how hard we worked, not how pretty our work looked. Unfortunately this undying support and encouragement did nothing to assuage my worry when art was on the homework docket.

With three kids happily settled into elementary school, I developed two serious dreads:  explaining a math concept higher than 3rd grade level and "do-it-at-home" homework art projects.  All math-related problems are turfed to Todd. Remi + Chad + Eden + Math = Todd. I'm on my own with the kids in the Art World. Creative and super talented Auntie Jess lives in Los Angeles, too far to save me. Todd, quite an artist in his own right, is making me embrace the burn of art supervision, one crayon at a time.

Artist and her Pride

It never fails that after a Galleria exhibit, the kids-on-mom hazing begins, "Did you see Vladimir's project?" "How come his fish project had electricity, a sculpted scuba diver in a mini neoprene dive suit and underwater-themed background music and mine didn't?" "I bet his parents helped him and gave him ideas and didn't make him suffer alone on his project. His parents must love him more than you love me because you made me do my project all by myself and only with crayons and markers  A nice mom wouldn't do that to her child."  Smash me over the head with a Rodin sculpture and put me out of my misery.

It's easy to spot kid crafts.  They spill  honesty and effort.  It's even easier to spot parent artwork made to look like kid artwork made to look like, "my kid's just a better artist than yours" artwork.  Shame on those parents for doing their kids' assignments and shame on them again for putting that type of pressure on parents like me.  I won't do Remi's, Chad's or Eden's assignments and if I did art enhance their craft projects it wouldn't matter anyway. My art ability is so underdeveloped it's pre-hieroglyphic. My creative aesthetic akin to that of a caveman -- primitive and embryonic. What I lack in skill, I make-up for in ambition, dedication and best-effort attitude.  This is my gift to them.  This is what I offer and demand from my children. This will set them up for their bright futures.  This is also what is lost on my children currently.  I lend them encouragement on their homework and artwork minus any hands-on mommy contributions.

In our house, there is a direct correlation between levels of satisfaction, pride and personal accomplishment.  Homework at our homestead is an individual sport, not a team event.  Art homework is a solo trek to the finish line.  In our house, our children can color in the lines or out of the lines.  Mobiles in the style of Calder are hung even if signs of the muse are missing.  Reward in the form of positive feedback is doled out to the kids for best effort, not the best looking.  And lastly, toothpicks are used for cleaning your teeth and picking up cantaloupe cubes not for the framework of Taj Mahal-style dioramas.