Painting

It all started Christmas 2017 when Derrick gave me some acrylic paints and canvas as a gift... well, that's how Derrick tells the story anyway.

There was a time when I said I would be an artist when I grew up.  However, as the years passed that seemed less and less practical, and I have always had a healthy dose of practical in me.  Once in a while it did sneak back in.  My last semester in high school I just couldn't take another French class and dropped it for an art class.  In my first year at university I had to take one class from the humanities I chose an art class.  I would have done more, but there were always more practical things to do.

Well, it snuck back in and this time I think I may have found a number of practical reasons to have it stay.

In 2018 I needed a distraction from social media and news. I got out those paints Derrick gave me.

(this was multiple layers of "failed" paintings that I finally washed off in the pouring rain one night which turned into something I really liked, map of Nicaragua drawn on top)

Well, painting canvases was not going to be practical... because space is an issue.  So I found an old set of watercolor paints and started painting cards.  This became an act of prayer and therapy during tense months.

I found that it could also function as an act of love and making cards for people has become one of my favorite times of painting. (plus, see how practical it is, no waste!)

Well, it's been almost 2 years since that provident gift from Derrick.  I've invested in some nice paints, paper, and even a sketchbook- for those times when I can be less practical and just learn and explore.  Derrick says I'm an artist, maybe he's right.  Mostly I'm grateful for a way an activity that is bringing me joy and maybe some others as well.

Geckos and mosquitoes

We enjoy the company of geckos crawling around our house.  They are amazingly fast, can walk upside down on the ceiling, make an interesting chirping sound, and although I've never actually seen it happen, they apparently enjoy eating mosquitoes.  I'm told that geckos were brought in to Managua in the 1990s to help with mosquitoes, although the story seems to vary depending who I talk to.  The names for these creatures also vary from person to person or region to region, possibly because there are a variety of lizard species around here.  So to one person they are cherepos, lagartijas, pichetes, maybe perrozompopos or even escorpiones.  And another person will say absolutely not perrozompopos, that's something else, or absolutely not escorpiones, that's something else, and so on.

Anyhow, here's a fun little song with the kids.




Geckos and mosquitoes

Hello, gecko
Wall racer, mosquito chaser
Where did you go?
Thought you were just here
I stand below
What are you after, up the rafter?
I am so slow
Is it me that you fear?
     Can it be so?

And what if I try to catch you?
I try to catch you
I try and try

Oh, mosquito
I've tried to swat you, thought I got you
At my elbow
Why must you be here?
I stand below
Wasting my time, losing my mind
I am so slow
I need some help here
     Where's the gecko?

You are an artist

I've been trying to convince Rebekah to put together a blog post on her artwork.  Maybe sometime soon? In the meantime, here's a sappy little song.

You are an artist

You take a sheet of plain paper

You take water, water and color

Imagine

Like a prism to light

You bring out life

And a bird takes flight

Walk with you through the ordinary

Sunrise like any other morning

But you invite me to see through your eyes

These are joyful sights

You are an artist
You paint love into where the world is darkest
You bring things together into something beautiful
And that something comes from the beauty that is you

Quiet night at the kitchen light, you're making

The elegant and simple drawn from the invisible, creating

Do you know

Where your art might go

Here a flower grows

Sit with you over summer night ice cream

Crickets singing and creaky park swings

Precious time

Your smile and your bright eyes

You're a joyful life

I just want to thank you for listening

Lia in teacher mode, negotiating classroom behavior with Silas and Miriam.

Observations...

1. As I've written in previous posts, sometimes I tend to mull on things and am not as good as I wish I were at processing things through discussion.  Something to keep working on.

2. We live in times of great polarization.  How do we ensure we are hearing one another? Our social networks (in real life or in the digital world) often seem to be narrower than they should be.

3. As a family, we have routine conflicts that we need to work through: finishing homework or a plate of food, following parents' instructions, sharing or not sharing toys, etc. How do we keep our cool and communicate/understand concerns in these conflicts?

Also, thanks again to Lia and Silas for their help with this song.





I just want to thank you for listening

I just want to thank you for listening
taking time to understand
I just want to thank you for pausing
being there you lend a hand

I just want to thank you for sharing
even when it's hard to hear
I just want to thank you for speaking
we must not be held by fear

Hold these words
Take a moment and breathe
In the midst of the noise
We'll find our voice

I just want to thank you for listening
Teach me too to listen well
In your listening you tell me some things
you need no words to tell

I just want to thank you for sharing
hearing you gets me out of me
We will dare to build a bridge trying
to see what the other sees