Baby's First Art Project?

Traveling

I'm still recovering from last week. First I went to NAB in Vegas with my brothers for four days, and then I left with my little family for our first trip as a family of four. We went with our friends Mark and Annie to check a couple more National Parks off of our list. (We have a dream of visiting them all.) I've been to Arches and Cayonlands several times, but Two Fish had never been. We camped right on the Colorado River near Moab, UT. It was the perfect time to go. It was warm but not hot yet.

The actual camping was a little rough with the little ones but doable. It was really nice that the adults outnumbered the kids. Our tent was super lame. I think we need to take it back and get a different one. I want to start investing in some decent camping stuff since I think there is going to be a lot of camping in our future. The drive there was a little painful but the drive home was perfect. Both girls snoozed the whole way home because they were so worn out.

We visited a lot in one weekend. We drove through all of Arches and hiked to Delicate Arch, Broken Arch, Sand Dune Arch, and around Balanced Rock. We also got close to Double Arch. It was beautiful.

Then we went to Canyonlands and walk through part of slick rock and got some great views of the Needles. We saw Newspaper rock and several great look outs. We definitely need to spend some more time there. There is way too much to see for one trip.

We took two backpacks so we could carry both girls on most of the hikes. New Fish pretty much fell asleep everytime I stuck her in my backpack because she thought she was just being snuggled. Red Fish liked having "piggie back rides." She also did some walking but it took forever.

Overall, the trip was a success. Now I'm just trying to get my laundry and house back under control.

Enjoying Spring

7 Months

New Fish has so much personality now. She has just started clapping her hands (it's still hit or miss sometimes) waving, and rocking on her hands and knees. She LOVES solid food now and has started sleeping a little longer at night. She loves her big sister and I love seeing the two of them play together. New Fish is very ticklish and she still loves to be snuggled.

Honor Among Thieves

I attended the NAB convention again this year. NAB is the second biggest convention in the world. A place for artists in many industries (and economic situations) to congregate and work toward their goals. I always love meeting with people from around the world who are working in the music industry. At the production music association meeting, I heard an incredible speech given by David Israelson, NMPA president, on how piracy is affecting the economy and the arts in particular. It has given me a lot to think about.

For some reason it has become trendy to steal music, video, photography and other art because it is considered fighting against “the man.” Sticking it to the huge record labels etc. when in fact it is the songwriters, musicians and other artists who are suffering and not making enough money to support a family. The arts and entertainment industries are being ravaged. If this market continues to be inundated by theft- there will be no market.

When a big artist or company complains about piracy and theft of music and visual media, the general reaction is “who cares? They are so rich it doesn’t matter.” Well here is the thing. If you personally have illegally downloaded a song, video, photography or other art related intellectual property- you have affected my ability to make a living in a very real and tangible way. If you burn CDs of music to hand out as Christmas gifts, you have also robbed every composer, musician, and artist I work with. If you steal from our market- it affects all of us. If I stole auto parts from big car companies on a regular basis, it would affect the livelihood of their entire workforce. This may sound dramatic but it’s a serious situation. I’m not out living out on the street. I’m not starving but when a songwriter who wrote a famous song you listen to some big name artist sing everyday can’t afford to feed their family, there is a problem.

An artist is bigger than their size in the economy. When we don’t get paid for our creation it trickles down to affect composers, musicians, designers, engineers etc. in the labor force. Our work may come into your homes, cars, and computers on a daily basis but that doesn’t mean it belongs to you. Downloading a song from Itunes doesn’t mean you “own it.” You own a license to listen to the song. You get to appreciate the work of an artist and have it influence your life, hopefully for the better.

A Kid Rock video “Steal everything” on youtube mentions that oil companies make billions but if you told your friends and neighbors that you regularly drive away from the gas pump in order to teach them a lesson, you would be seen as a degenerate.

We’ve lost an entire generation to a sense of entitlement and a lack of appreciation for the arts. We don’t teach art, music, creative or visual thinking in schools anymore. Kids have been taught that they shouldn’t have to pay for art or music anymore. Outright theft is now seen as some sort of unalienable freedom to possess the work of someone else. How will this next generation understand the perceived difference between stealing intellectual property and taking whatever they want? Why do we treat intellectual property as a different entity in the first place? Why are we undervaluing a third of our economic property? How will the arts even continue under such attack?

I don’t think the country realizes what a problem this is. This is seen as an issuefor musicians to deal with or adapt to. It is so much bigger than that.

If any other American industry were under this level of attack, there would be a massive government reaction and public outcry. Unfortunately, intellectual property is seen differently than other property rights. I think we all have a responsibility to examine our own morals and take a hard look at what we are saying to the next generation.

The Opposite Of Fate by Amy Tan

I think to really appreciate this book you would have to be an Amy Tan fan and I have not read any of her fiction. A lot of the first half of the book felt a bit like reading someone's somewhat self-indulgent therapy notes. This book is basically a collection of essays that are thrown together in a scattered and redundant fashion. The last essay might explain this, as it reveals that Tan is suffering from Lyme Disease. This book definitely needed a better editor. That said, there were a few things I enjoyed about the book.

I did think the part at the beginning of the book about finding her book in the cliff notes section and the inherent duality of fame was funny. I also found some of the insight into her personal artistic process interesting as well as her disclosure that some of the perceived genius of her writing style is just luck.

Overall, this isn't a book I would recommend.

Easter Morning

We didn't do baskets or anything because I felt like the tricycle and car were pretty extravagant for Easter. (But what else can you do when we all have fall birthdays? Christmas is too far away from nice weather for tricycles.) It was fun to see how excited Red Fish was. She is already trying to be a little daredevil and stand on the handlebars so she will definitely be wearing her helmet outside. New Fish just liked sitting on her little car. I don't think she had any idea what was going on.

After watching general conference we went to Two Fish's moms house for dinner. We had a great time visiting with family and the kids had a fun indoor Easter egg hunt.

Tu-tutorial

I bought 4 yards of 54" tulle for each baby tutu. This will make a really full tutu. I cut it into 44 pieces - 4 across and 11 down. For babies made the elastic about 16 - 18". For the tutu Red Fish is wearing I didn't acutally measure the pieces I just started cutting so it turned out longer.

Sew ends of elastic together. You could do this by hand if you don't have a sewing machine.

Tie strips onto the elastic. You don't have to even double knot them. Just keep tying until the strips are gone.Then have someone cute test the tutu. Here is Red Fish testing one last August.

My cousin Leilani did a really cute boa for her daughter out of shorter strips of tulle. I want to make some for my girls.

Best Way To End A Day

It's snuggle time before we sleep.

We had our biannual dinner out with my family. We girls used to go shopping (maybe we will again when the babies are older) and then meet the boys for dinner after the priesthood session of general conference.

How To Entertain Your Sister

Don't mind Red Fish's hair. She had just dipped her head in the dog's water dish again. I love watching these two starting to really play together!

Art Education- All of My Worst Fears

Art Is Elementary: Teaching Visual Thinking Through Art Concepts
by Ivan Cornia, Charles Stubbs, and Nathan Winters

I love the way this book emphasizes the arts and visual thinking as an important part of education and child development. The book is currently out of print but still easy to get a hold of. I wish the basic concepts of this book could be a part of every child's education.

The text is a tiny bit dry if you were to read it in long sittings but for following the ideas as a step by step guide on guiding children from birth through level seven, the book does a great job of presenting a broad spectrum of ideas.

The introduction expresses almost exactly what I feel about the arts in education:

"The intrinsic values of art education are fundamental to the development of a productive, creative human being: therefore, a sound,successful teaching program in this field is the birthright of every child in school. Some people ask 'Why teach art?'-assuming that art is a gift to a few and that 'either you have it or you don't. But the truth is, art can be learned like any other subject. Further, it not only can but must be learned,for it is the foundation for effective visual perception, and the development of visual perception is fundamental to learning in any field."

My children are only 2 years and 6 months but the state of the education system still keeps me up at night. I can't stop myself from worrying that there aren't enough options left that will offer them a truly well rounded education with the opportunities I want them to have. Thinking about this stresses me to no end. While charter and private schools offered "advanced academics" etc. I am worried that the humanities have been so neglected they are just seen as "extras" rather than fundamental parts of basic education.

I've recently had many opportunities to discuss my feelings on this subject with many interesting people. One of the authors of Art is Elementary was at a recent dinner party I attended. After hearing Mr. Stubbs talk about his work lobbying for the arts in children's education and what has happened in our local school system after Mr. Stubbs retired, I was particularly disturbed. He pretty much confirmed all of my worst fears.

Family Night

We went to a zero entry pool with my parents for our family night. Red Fish loves being able to walk in the shallow end. Both of my girls are such water babies!No fear!

New Fish was pretty excited when I took her to the shallow end where her feet could touch. She was jumping up and down in her ring going crazy.