Motherhood intersecting with art has probably been one of the most inspiring things to happen in my life. Before Lucy arrived I was so afraid that I would lose my desire to create (you can read about it here) but instead, the opposite happened! I have MORE love and desire for creating than ever before and I have my little muse- Lucy Matisse to thank.
My latest creative endeavor has been been making handmade coloring books for Lucy. After watching her take my sketchbooks and try to color over my drawings I decided to get to work creating some simple little books with lines drawings that she could paint and color.
I know that creating a handmade coloring book is nothing new but I love the idea of making custom art for my daughter to color instead of buying something. And what started out as a simple idea became a process that was very profound and special for me as an artist/mom. All the drawings were made with lots of love and made me feel even more connected to my little one. Each page, though simple, was made with her 1 year old interests in mind, I used all of the words that she knows, images that she loves and drew them one by one. They are by far some of my most profound work...imagine that!
When I finished drawing, I photocopied the pages and created a few books by biding the pages together with twine. (perhaps when she gets older I'll do a fancier job of biding!)
I even made a little book full of dots and tiny little doodles- this kid loves to color dots!
The result is a collection of wonderful little custom coloring books for her to color, paint or even rip apart and feed to her sock monkey (it happened). It is a creative project that that I will continue for as long as she lets me!
For those who have asked- I let Lucy create with just about anything (crayons, markers, watercolors, acrylic paint) as long as we are supervising.
