While driving north northwest on Friday evening to go camping and kayaking, I thought about that doorstop and the other objets d'art from my childrens' schooldays that I have scattered around my house. Things that could have been admired at the time they were made, then stuffed in a closet and forgotten about until eventually they were thrown away. Things that, instead of putting them aside because they didn't fit the decor, I put to use where they would be seen. So, my house is a little quirky here and there, like the Seussian house doorstop, but it works for us. And everyday I have little reminders of the effort my kids made to create something I would be proud of. Deep down, every kid wants to make their parents proud, whether their behavior displays that desire or not.
There is, of course, the Seussian house. A lump of clay fashioned into a tall, narrow 'house', then painted cement gray by DS2 during an art class taken in the midst of his high school career. This is the son that insists he is not artistic (the one who just finished his mechanical engineering degree this spring) yet he has, through his life, made some really outstanding pieces of art whether drawn or sculpted.
Called the Seussian house because it makes me think of the dwellings in Dr. Seuss books.
The Seussian house is an example of his rough work. An example of his amazing work is a wheel turned pottery bowl he made the same year.
DD1 also took the same art course, just a year later. Most of her work she didn't care enough about to even bring home. But she did gift me with what she called a 'square pinky-purple ashtray-looking-thing' that was her best work. She is adamant that she does not have an artistic bone in her body. Whether she does or doesn't, that square pinky-purple ashtray-looking-thing is perfect for holding the small amount of make-up that I own. So that is how it is made useful to me.
Other objets d'art in use around this little place here are:
a hand-painted bowl done on a 4th grade field trip
a pencil holder made during VBS
a drawing of our house at this little place here;
drawn for an elementary school art fair
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