The Artist as a Mommy

"Pretty Dolly" Copyright 2004 & Beyond Kasie Sallee

This was really the first "colored pencil painting" that I did. I have used Prismacolor colored pencils for years, but I never really knew about the technique of layering them. I read Ann Kullberg's book Colored Pencil Portraits and everything just clicked. I was so excited to learn that you truly can create beautiful fine art with colored pencils.
I haven't done much art since my second daughter was born 2 years ago. I have determined that this will be the year that I really work seriously at it. When people hear that I am a Stay-at-Home Mother they think that I must have so much free time. Ha! It is much harder than you would think. I read a post by an artist whom I truly admire, Maggie Stiefvater called How to Juggle and other Parlor Tricks. You really should read it. She is my hero.
But, to demonstrate how easy it is to get artwork done with little ones, I would like to share with you a day from last week:
Tuesday night I got the brilliant idea that I would wake up early Wednesday morning to get a little quiet art time. So, even though I am not a morning person, I somehow rolled myself out of bed a little after 5:00 and tip-toed into the kitchen. A few minutes later I was settled in at the drawing table with a yummy cup of Jave Dave's Snickerdelicious coffee and a quiet house. Ahhh!
I had not been working for very long when I hear my 2 year old tossing and turning and making little noises. "Oh no!" "Please go back to sleep," I'm thinking. Nope, the noises turn into a sing-songy "Mommy!" It is waaay too early for her to be up. I decide to just let her play in her crib a while.
A few minutes later I hear my Hubby wandering into the kitchen. He says that he heard me get up and couldn't go back to sleep. Now, I love my DH with all my heart, but can somebody explain to me how the same man who can't hear a baby screaming in the middle of the night can somehow hear me sneak out of bed with amazing clarity? So now I'm feeling bad for waking him up.
My 2 year old's singing is getting louder and louder. She's reallly trying to get my attention. Then, the big shocker, I hear my 5 year old asking if she can get up. Now, the little one has always been a morning bird, but most mornings I have to coax, plead and pull my oldest out of bed. So to hear her awake and alert so early just confirmed my theory that little ones have "Mommy radar"
I come up with a brilliant solution. I get both girls settled in on the couch with pillows, blankets, spill-proof cups of juice, baggies of cereal, and a cartoon. I still have a little time before the pre-school rush.
I get settled in at my drawing again only to hear "Mommy, Savannah is dumping her cereal!" I peek in to see my 2 year old scattering her cereal all over the living room and crunching it into the carpet. She is trying to sort the cheerios from the raisins. As I'm on my hands and knees, trying to gather cheerio crumbs into a pile, I make a mental note to vaccuum the carpet later. I have noticed that there are a lot more than just cheerio crumbs down here.
I get the girls settled in again and chat with my Hubby for a few minutes before he leaves. By this time I really don't have much drawing time left so I decide to check my email and maybe a few art blogs. I sit down at the computer only to hear frantic screaming in the living room. I rush in to see that it's a mayfly that must have come in when Daddy left. My girls are convinced, however, that it is a flying, biting, spider monster. That is, until our normally lazy cat discovers it and begins pouncing all over the living room. Now, we're all giggling histerically. I glance up at the t.v. as I hear the theme song of the hero of our household "Doo da Doo doo da Dora!" I know that it is now time to start the clothes wrangling, hair-combing, backpack finding preschool morning routine. Maybe I can get some art time in this afternoon. "Sigh." I think I'm going to need another cup of coffee.