Art: It's A Family Thing

I was contacted a couple weeks ago about participating in a campaign with Invaluable, an online auction house, concerning art. They are an advocate for all forms of art and a proprietor of fine art, which always gets my attention. Well, besides the fact that I design websites and logos, there is not a single piece of creativity in my bones. Believe me, that is not from lack of my mother trying. Being an artist, she often put me in painting, sculpture, or generic art classes- just trying to help me find my thing. It didn't work- I enjoyed the classes, but I really wasn't very good. My mom kept everything I painted, despite my whining.


My mother is a true renaissance woman. She paints, draws, sculpts, builds, designs, events, writes books, writes poetry, and is an engineer. She writes plays, writes songs, and plays instruments. The woman is really amazing. The book to the left is her first novel- the cover is one of her paintings. The header on her blog is from my favorite painting of hers. I watched her every day after school while she painted it- she would give me some paper and paints so I could "copy" her, the whole time teaching me about life and expectations.

This poem is one she wrote for Tbomb on his first birthday (She calls him Mac- Irish for Son and part of his name).

For Mac

Where Will Your Future Take You?

Will you crop your hair or let it grow,
Wear a cap like Grandaddy pulled low,
May the wind of the Rockies toss your hair,
While the smell of lavender fills the air,
Songs of the meadow lark fill your ears,
And your time on earth span 200 years,
May a Pacific sunset light your eyes,
And no one ever hurt you with lies,
The aroma of low tide sting your nose,
While you stand where swamp grass grows,
May exotic cuisine pass over your tongue,
And may you always take time for fun,
If the weight of the world finds your shoulders,
Let it give you power to be bolder,
May you stroll arm and arm with your love,
And you calloused hand caress a dove,
Walk confidently into you future , Mac,
And remember never, ever look back.


I grew up being encouraged and she was never disappointed if I didn't succeed at something. She simply found me a new hobby to try.

I want my children to have that same environment. I love finding them new projects to try and sharing their journey with the world. My Instagram account is full of their artwork, including Kodabug's first coloring page.

Somebody discovered the joys of coloring #kodabug #crayola #easter2015

A photo posted by cari (@cari_on) on Feb 21, 2015 at 9:59am PST

Art is one of the most important things we can give our children. Art teaches so many things that we never realize. It teaches understanding, forgiveness, encouragement, tolerance, history, science, and so much more. Some of Tbomb and my best lessons in school start with an art project, like this snow one. We had a snow day, and Tbomb wanted to know why we have snow, so while we talked about it, he made a snowflake out of a coffee filter. Now, every time it snows, he remembers part of that lesson.

Making #snowflakes on a #snowday #theseareththingsthatmatter

A photo posted by cari (@cari_on) on Mar 2, 2013 at 8:18am PST

I hope you take a moment to enjoy the art your children make and embrace their creativity. Art is too rare in the world.

Disclosure: I have not been compensated to write this post.