a new year and a new focus

I'd like to channel my inner four-year old. Trouble is, over the years, that spontaneity, confidence and whimsy has been burnished away by erasers, photoshop, and over-thinking. Inspired by my grandson's drawings I want to simplify the lines I use, explore the relationship that drawings have to emotions and plumb the depths of mystery. I can't do that without some help.

Do you have a stash of children's drawings somewhere in your file cabinets? Is there a masterpiece hanging on your refrigerator door? Do the young ones in your lives tell stories through their drawings? Can I borrow and interpret them?

how to begin

I'm looking for robots and monsters and beasts. Robots to explore the future. Monsters to plumb the depths of imagination. And beasts? They can be that soft stuffed puppy we bring to bed each night or the big bad wolf in the woods we dream about.

The drawings need to be fairly simple, best is black and white but color pieces could also spur the muse. I will interpret and stitch the drawings to cloth and add my own interpretation of the subject through background stitching and added elements (see a sample piece here). My goal is to create at least one composition per month, ending with 12 pieces by the end of this year.

Your artist will get credit

Each composition will include the child's name on the label and, if you grant permission, mention of their name in my online journal when I post work-in-progress shots and final results. If you prefer not to include your child's name please let me know. Either way I will be publishing images to my website and to this newsletter as the project moves along.

how to participate

Scan the image (no larger than 1800 pixels on the longest side) or take a photo of it and send it to me as an attachment via email
Or contact me via email and I will send you my mailing address if you want to send me the actual drawings. Please let me know if you want the drawing back. I will be happy to return the original.
Or, if you are near, stop by with your children and visit the studio. I would love to meet the artists.