Forgotten Files: Yarn Chalk Drawing

Frequent moves as a child and a natural aversion to hoarding led me to regularly cull my collection of artwork over the years. I tend to only keep the stuff that I really like or that holds the fondest memories. As this New York Times article attests, kids produce a ton of artwork in school these days and if not kept in check, it’ll soon be more than any parent (or grown-up artist) can handle.

This special mixed media piece of mine has fortunately survived the last two decades. It was created sometime in 1988 or 1989 and was featured in an art exhibit in Colorado. This was art that triggered, for the first time, that immense feeling of satisfaction when everything is going the way I want, when hours can fly by but I’m so happily occupied that I don’t even notice. It’s a feeling I strive for whenever I’m creating something.

I scanned this artwork for my digital archive so that a facsimile exists even if something happens to the original. Additionally, as I was illustrating the forthcoming Adelita and the Veggie Cousins, I found a great opportunity to let this piece live on in printed form:

You can see the artwork in the hallway, just behind Adelita’s head in the upper left corner of the illustration.

I can sympathize with parents today who have more children’s artwork than they can store, but it’s important to maintain some kind of archive for the young artist. These days it’s easy enough to scan everything but only physically store the most treasured pieces. You never know what will become of it!

Forgotten Files: Back to School

In honor of all the kids going back to school today, I wanted to show the “Who’s Who in First Grade” worksheet that I filled out on my first day of 1^st grade at Douglass Valley Elementary back in 1987. Two things of note: 1) I knew then that I wanted to be an artist, and 2) apparently I’m stuck in “girl” mode since I still love horses, the color red, and cherries. 

Here’s to another great school year!

Forgotten Files: Preschool Snowkid

This is me as a snowkid, drawn during preschool in 1985.  My early attempt to spell my name was hampered by an odd habit of writing it backwards and missing several letters. For some time afterwards I would still spell “Chrissy” with a backwards “y.”

With summer almost over, Minnesota will surely be seeing snow sooner than I’d like. Too bad I don’t enjoy it as much as did in preschool!

Forgotten Files: Kid Poetry

From the deep archives (my parent’s attic) comes this poem I wrote and illustrated back when I was 7 or 8-years old.  The poem doesn’t rhyme, but I remember that I enjoyed drawing the pictures (click to see the whole book):

My If Poem
To: Daddy

If I broke my glasses,
I’d use pineapples for glasses.

If I broke a flower,
I’d use a butterfly.

If I didn’t have a friend,
I’d use my dog.

If I didn’t have a dog,
I’d have a cat.

By: Chrissy

At least my illustrations have gotten better over the years.  Wish I could say the same for my poetry skills!

Humble Beginnings

Hooray for trips down memory lane! This picture was taken during a long-ago era known as “The Eighties,” when a chalk drawing of mine (up top) made it into a children’s art show at one of the museums in Denver, Colorado. I guess you could consider it my first show! This honor, along with the many that followed in my childhood, helped set me on the path to becoming an artist.

Here, sometime later, I made a diorama on Charlotte’s Web from an old box, a Halloween spider ring, some thread, and a few crystal beads. I remember that my mom hot-glued the words “SOME PIG” onto the web for me. This went over rather well in the classroom.

I think this poster and sculpture project was from the same school year. Lucinda, my childhood pet, visited my classroom on “Show and Tell" days, moved around with us in the military, and was the best cocker spaniel ever. The Play-Doh sculpture had a sad adventure, though: a couple of boys decided to roughhouse and threw my sculpture at each other until the head broke off. Fortunately I didn’t see it happen (I might have cried), and a little Elmer’s Glue fixed everything.

I often like to show these photos during school visits since little kids really like to see how grown-up artists started out just like them. Plus, I looked pretty goofy as a kid, so they're good for a laugh!

What were your humble artistic beginnings? Feel free to share in the comments.