Shadow of a horse

Last summer the Prague Botanic Garden hosted an exhibit of Zimbabwean sculptures. My favorite sculpture was this horse. As with many other horses I have met in my life, I wanted to take him home with me, but we are missing the garden he needed to graze in. At least now I have the sketch to remember him by.
.....
Caroline, by the way, insisted on adding eyes to the horse when I finished scanning him in. Rather than give him away so quickly I printed out a copy. She has spent thirty minutes coloring it in quite completely. A new coloring book in the works?

Curls

At two, she had curly hair. Now it is straight and long - beautiful hair for brushing and the braids that she likes. To finish the look, she has requested that I add "dratky", or wire, to her braids this weekend to give her that just right Pippi Longstocking look. If we succeed, I'll post a picture.

“22 Weeks (and 11 inches)”

Tonight you rest content to roam
within the small space we two
have spun. Home is a narrow room
you’ve backed into, head tucked tight.
“She feels safe that way,
look, there’s more room behind her,”
the doctor says as she ciphers light
from silent sound on the monitor.

But times are, I feel you
elbow out, reach beyond those lines,
stretching my longing point too.
Time soon will be, face to face
we’ll begin our divide. Then will
I remember this balance of roll
and righting? How easy it seemed
to carry you, by my side.

-me, February 19, 2003

Though truthfully I'm actually 23 weeks pregnant today. I meant to post this yesterday but fell asleep with Tuesday-ness. How's that for some news?

First Dance

A sketch from today for a bigger piece I'm experimenting with right now. This drawing shows Caroline at her first dance performance last summer. Dressed up like a kitty, she had a fan to wave and her tutu to show off as she and her classmates leaned from side to side, following their teacher.

As you might be able to tell, she was perfectly mezmerized - by the audience, by the stage and the lights, by the music playing so much louder than she'd ever heard in class. She loved it though and for the rest of the summer we played "dance divadlo", complete with applause.

*divadlo = theater

Air, vent, cartoon

A few blocks away from our flat, on the edge of a park, an air vent for the metro blooms from the grass. I am fervently in love with this vent because it is the three dimensional version of what I imagine air venting in a cartoon might look like. If I can, I drag our guests to see it and I'm sure Will is tired of the many times I've stopped us on our way to the park to take the vent's picture once again.

This drawing doesn't do the design justice, but it is Tuesday, my pen ranneth dry (really! I must forage tomorrow), and it is what I have tonight. How are you doing near the middle of this week?

Shoe portrait

Years ago I started taking portraits of my feet at various seasons. Since Caroline learned to use a camera, she has jumped into the habit herself. I based this painting on a picture she took of her feet last year in her new winter boots. I like the angle of the sidewalk and the primary-ish colors. Caroline calls it her (Czech) flag picture and though the colors are rotated, I know what she means.

Trabi design

On the way to sledding today (it snowed downtown, we went sledding in our favorite park, I found snow pants for Caroline on Friday, hurrah!!) we passed what looked like a minor Trabant convention. Five Trabies were parked on a hilltop waiting to drive away. After much grinding of gears, off they drove, but not before I'd snapped a few pictures for sketching later. Trabies might not be the ideal car, but they definitely are cute.

The alpine lake where we did not go swimming over Christmas (as you can see from the sign, "BADEN VERBOTEN", swimming is forbidden). We did go sledding and skating however.

Coffee doodles

Will starts his day brewing a pot of coffee in our moka machine. We have two - a 3 cup and a 1. When we go on vacation we often take the largest, just in case coffee is in short supply. Will uses the small for his early morning brew, and it is blackened with use.

I love the 1930s design of these machines, and thought of the pot as the perfect doodle subject after our visit to the Josef Lada exhibit at Obecni Dum (Municipal House) today. Josef Lada's line drawings are inspirational, to say the least, and the thirties were prime time for him. I can just imagine him having a cup of coffee from one of these, carefully poured and steaming.

The Kiss

For today's art, Caroline and I played with my oil pastels. While I drew away, she practiced writing her favorite words in many colors. HO HO HO and NO are tops for her, but she learned ZOO today too and surprised us with HI.

This is a picture of C lavishing her love on her cousin Julian.* Even though we live several countries away, she talks about Julian all the time and named her latest babydoll after him. She has requested this drawing go up in her room for posterity ;-).

* Christina at {my typography} and bella art girl inspired me to try a kid's portrait - something I'm generally wary of attempting. Thank you guys!

Butterfly markers

Caroline and I spend a lot of time playing with magic markers these evenings. The sun sets at 4:15, the wind howls down the street and we draw reminders of spring.

Art in January

{my topography}, a favorite blog of mine, is running an every day art in January challenge. I've decided to try my hand too, with emphasis on "everyday art" rather than daily updates ;-).

When we were in Switzerland this Christmas, one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the alps close to my sister's house. Coming home in the evening, the light was beautiful behind the houses on the hills, all lit up for Christmas and covered in snow. Here's my favorite view.

Ice Cubism

A Year in Quotes

Deliberations
"I’ve got to tink about it.
(taps head, paces back and forth)
Tink tink tink...okay!!"

Gender distinctions
"I like bonbons, you like bonbons. We’re girls. Dada is a boy."

"Dada you’re too whiskery - kiss the hand."

Not gloating is she?
When I was a little girl I used to sing 'Twinkle twinkle' too.
"And now you grownup and you my mommie."
That’s right, and it’s the best thing in the world to be.
"I know dat."

Party thoughts
"Mommie, can we not go to sleep?"
You don’t have to go to sleep yet.
"Can we play? Can we par-tee?"
How about we read a book.
"NOOOOOO!"

At Halloween
“Trick-or-treat - what does that mean, is that like hello?”

Recent news flash
"A baby boy, yipee!! We're having a boy! We can call him......KITTY CAT”
Kitty cat? Caroline!!
"Okay okay, how about 'boy'?"

December negotiations
"Santa brings two presents right?"
Right, only two so he can share with other boys and girls.
(long silence, accompanied by hmms)
"Well, that’s okay, because Ježíšek can bring everything!!"

New Years Eve (before the artillery began)
"I love fireworks. Fireworks are my favorite!!
Mommie, what's a firework?"