rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Four years ago, when my then-88-year-old Mother moved to "senior apartments", she reduced her collection of art-created-by-my-kids to one object per child, a collection that would fit on one side of her bed-side table. A couple of weeks ago, I went over there to borrow this from her so I could photograph it under better conditions.

I made this in the spring of 1961, just over 56 years ago, when I was an eighth-grader, just a few months away from high school, where I would choose my own schedule {and art class would never fit in}. Our teacher had melted down lots of old crayons and poured each batch of melted wax into a half-gallon milk carton as a mold. Each of us was handed a chunk of wax and told to make something of it. In later years, when our daughters were of that age {especially when our younger one was playing soccer} I would tell them "your brain is your best tool/weapon"; I guess I followed that dictum myself. Inspired by the primitive art of Easter Island {I had read Kon-Tiki by that time}, I came up with a design that required as little freehand cutting as possible.

So, the next time my contribution to a discussion is prefaced by "I'm not an artist", you should think of this.



Because of use of the "Ignore" button, I cannot contribute to the "empty magnification" discussion. However, I would point out that this simple image is 3674 x 2756 pixels.

(Download)

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

You must be quite the sculptor....

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

I think it is way cool. Everything about it, the story, the tradition, the object.

I say the following in fun and in compassion: If I had done this work when I was in my youth, avoiding art classes, it would be my avatar and my user name would be BlockHead.

It is awesome!

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Thank you to both of you.

I'd hate to give up my current avatar. Magic was my buddy, but died at age 7 of lymphoma.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks for sharing this charming glimpse into your childhood and life!

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Story is better than your photo but thank you for sharing.

firtree Loc: Florida, USA

Wow, that is really a great story. I also like both the sculpture and the photo. My mom wasn't really that way....sometimes, I wish she would have been.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

As the proud owner of two generations of Child Art, and a frustrated child artist of many years past, your wonderful story speaks to me. Should I at some point move to some senior living accommodation, the things I'd want with me most are the child art and my photos, which finally gave me a vehicle for doing the art I wanted to do but simply couldn't. My efforts at creativity, up until I got my mind wrapped around photography, were less successful than yours. My cousins, who sewed up exquisite little outfits for their dolls, finally taught me to make the socks. A simple L shaped pattern, one single seam. I wish I still had one of them to photograph.

You have included more levels in this little story than the casual viewer might notice. I love that kind of story, and you do it well.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Your teacher was recycling before it was in vogue. Your mother must have really liked it since she only kept one art item from each of her kids. Nice memories that you may want to pass on to your kids. But they will probably will not appreciate it until they themselves are adults.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Thank you.

After thinking about your comments, I believe there are two levels of response to them

(1) I believe writing is an art, just as sculpture and photography are, and spending a few extra minutes planning what to do and then doing it carefully is just as important in this art as in the others.

(2) As you can tell from my words and my pictures, context is very important to me. When I take a picture, in most cases I eschew subject isolation, because I want to show my main subject in its context (*). By its nature, the image that started this thread is an exception to that rule, so my words were necessary to provide context.


(*) For example, when I posted a series of pictures from my train trip to California
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-434756-1.html
I struggled with the first picture, because I wanted to show that the station was in a "cut" {ditch} in Grant Park on the edge of downtown Chicago; I couldn't find an angle I really liked, that looked down into the cut but also gave a good sense of the park and the city. Grant Park also includes a fabulous fountain, which I remember from my boyhood days spent in a suburb of Chicago; I am guessing that many photographers would use subject isolation there to emphasize the fountain, but I would use a smaller aperture to show how much city is so close to it.