As I pull out my sketch book and various pencils and colored markers, my thoughts turn to spring and my enjoyment of flowers.  I’ve often drawn and painted flowers, used them dried in crafts, and gathered them for bouquets.
Recently I viewed a demonstration by a fabric artist where she used her floral sketches for small mixed media “quilts.”  She scanned her sketches onto firm
fabric, treated them with gesso, and then filled in with scraps of fabric, paper (including torn pieces from a phone book), yarn, floss, and other embellishments.
Before there were too many embellishments, she did decorative stitching by machine.  …read more

“Mary, I wish I could do the crafty things you do,” a friend remarked when my daughter was young.  “I’m not talented. I just watch TV when I’m not taking care of the boys.”

How sad, I thought, that this young mother of four boys didn’t feel she could pursue arts and crafts or anything creative.  How sad that she couldn’t find activities to interest her…and teach them to her children.
Creativity was instinctive when I was growing up in a household without much money and before television.  My siblings and I, with our mother’s encouragement, made our toys and dolls and games.
It seemed natural …read more

Writing Tips

Although I always thought of story writing as something achieved with words first and pictures after (even though I might have scenes in my head), I’ve discovered that many young writers work better if they start out by sketching.
“I like to doodle,” one youngster told me during a writing workshop I taught at his school.  “Then when I see something taking shape, I write about it.”
Other youngsters draw realistic pictures about the stories in their heads, then put the ideas into words.  Maybe they’ll draw a picture of something they see from a window, viewed on a outing, or did at …read more