The Difficulty of Having Me for a Mother

It’s not going to be easy for them.  We made a fabric painting for Father’s Day and I asked them to re-do it three times. It was the sizing in the fabric and the types of paint we used that caused the need to experiment.  By the final go, the three-year-old didn’t want to paint anymore.  I did let them choose the colors and paint any way they wanted.  I am working on the control issues.

In the end, we went with a washed canvas fabric (to remove sizing) and acrylic paints mixed with water.  The kids squirted the paint on with squirt bottles to create puddles.  Then I cut the fabric into strips, stapled the strips to an old wooden frame and the five-year-old weaved the strips together.  I would like to do another one with just three or four nice bright colors and keep the canvas intact.  The uncut painting looks good, doesn’t it?  I was thinking of the work by Helen Frankenthaler.  I have always loved the rich, bleeding images she creates with unprimed canvas.