One of the important parts of my development as an artist/puppeteer/learner/whatever is to give credit to where credit is due. I intended about a week ago to honor my mother on the "contrived holiday" of mother's day. Those are my mother's words also, not mine (another reason that makes her so cool). While I didn't give her a gift or a card, and I was out of town spending time with another mother in my life, I still thought a lot about what I wanted to say in this blog post about and to my mother. I have distinct moments and memories that are instilled in who I am and how I do things, how I learn, how I celebrate, and how I respond to disappointment. So here are a few things I have been thinking about lately, but this is by no means everything:
- I have had the gift of seeing you as a grandmother to my nephew and niece since I moved back from Chicago three years ago. A seasoned early childhood educator, you know you are amazing with young children and providing structured yet creative experiences. You always had/have a stock of paints, brushes, markers, crayons, and whatever was needed. If there was no play dough, we made salt dough. Hours were spent in the kitchen over the years playing with materials, singing songs, and listening to you banter with silly yet strange (and sometimes scary) impersonations. You taught me that the product was not never nearly as important as the process, and I have kept this in my mind as I have been re-learning how to to paint, draw, sculpt and tinker this year. Hence, thank you mom for my ferocious sense of play, and thank you for always
articulating why it is important to a child's development. Thank you for
letting me spend hours and hours dancing and pretending while listening
to Zoom, Annie, and Free to Be You and Me on the record player. Thank
you for realizing that playing with dolls and Barbie was good for my
emotional and social development.Thank you for putting up with me as an angsty child, teenager and adult (well, sometimes) and for giving me a creative outlet to explore and express this through.
- Even in the years of my life where I was sadly yet intentionally shutting out my creative self, I stayed connected through the craftiness of candle making. I remember the first candle you taught me to make with some gulf canning wax, string, crayons, and a milk carton. It's been 15 + years and making candles remains an annual tradition for me. It's segued into a drive to learn other DIY home stuff, and the playful attitude I learned gives me to the confidence to learn these things. Thank you for supporting me as a learner, particularly as I struggled with tying my shoes, reading, being myself, and dealing with rejection and failure. Learning to make a candle taught me that I could learn most things if I just took the time to do it.
- As I create, create, create, I am realizing how I really love shadow puppetry and paper cutouts. I have been thinking about projects I want to do and checked out books on paper crafts and silhouettes. As I started reading these books, I realized where my love of prints and paper craft came from. Remember when you taught me scherenschnitte? Wow! That was a long time ago. For those reading who don't know, take a look at this Ted talk video and you'll understand why I am in love with this art form. Mom, you'll love it too. http://www.ted.com/talks/beatrice_coron_stories_cut_from_paper.html
- Lastly, I love that when I posted about my impromptu trip to Toronto that you immediately volunteered to go with me. I consider my love of travel and excellent navigational skills with public transportation to be something I take pride in, and something that I DEFINITELY get from you. Thanks for the adventures in life!
One more time: Thank you for all of your support and the gifts you have given me. I am pleased that I am no longer taking them for granted and am using them everyday!
