{investment}

Creating is a gift.  I love the way that nothingness can become significance simply from the movement of a mind and the melody of a heart. I adore the passion in believing in what is not yet there but could be.  Creativity is life moving.  It has no rules or guidelines; no parameters to confine; no protocol to kennel.  It is you making your mark with one big twist of emotion and thought.

In teaching the boys, I make it a point to encourage that their time and resources be well invested.  Little to no worksheets or bradded paper plates with glued construction paper triangles only to be thrown away.  We read from content of their passions.  We play mathematical games of strategy and have writing journals to learn how to communicate and tell stories more fluently.  We take walks and get dirty too. And, we paint.  This documented project being their sixth together, they have become quite a team.  

Eli, the eldest, has quite a way as a leader.  He is driven and compassionate, short tempered yet so very thoughtful.  Casey, the younger, is infectious when it comes to learning and expressing.  He is driven and detail oriented too.  Eli began this love story with the Titanic and its enchanted and tragic decline.  And, in no time. Casey was hooked.

We have watched nearly every documentary, read every book possible and studied and stared at pictures until their glossiness is crinkled for the past six months.  Eli even opted for his April 4th birthday celebration to be delayed so that he could honor and remember the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's demise with his birthday family gathering this past April 15th.  He decided this in January of this year.

And, there you have it.  Two brothers passionate and educated about a historical event.  Thus, the creating commences.  I ask that each boy sketch and scale in their journals a full color drawing of  whatever it is we plan to paint.  We talk a lot about lines and curves as well as what "looks right" {i.e. proportion}.  From there, they are ready to begin drawing their joint version on canvas together.  

They do this so very well.  Their first art piece was done when they were 2 and 4 years old.  In pencil sketching together, these 2 know one another's strengths.  I love that they look back to their own journal drawings and talk about lines and edges with one another.

Little details are awesome.

Once their sketch "looks right" to them, they move into the next phase of creating:  paint.

Again, completely as a team and with minimal guidance from me, they select acrylic colors to mix and use.

They have learned quickly that the right tools help tremendously.  How many adults do you know that have yet to learn this simple lesson?

I snap pictures and smile and sometimes re-direct if needed, but these two spend little to no time off-task as this is meaningful to them.  For 6 months, their hearts have held onto this part of history.  Their journals are choc full of their own stories written both fiction and non-fiction about this majestic liner.  Sequences of her timeline to demise  have been drawn over and over again by their little hands.

"Eli, you mix the paint. You have the best eye at seeing what the color should be."

                                                                                                                     Casey Cobble
                                                                                                                                age 5                                                                    

Within two days, the project is finished.  The boys and I celebrate by taking their canvas shopping so they can select just the right frame for their art piece.  I love Eli's deliberate work on the White Star Line flag as well as the crow's nest.  He was adamant that the 4th stack be without smoke as in reality it was just there for aesthetic balance and grandeur.  He learned this by reading all about it.  Casey's touches with the waves were astounding to me.  He kept telling me the water needed texture.  

An investment.  That's what growing is.  It's connecting content with passion.  It's defining yourself as a learner and producing work that means something.  It's not wasting the time that is so precious to us all with hum-drums and hoop jumps.  

Nothingness can become significance simply from the movement of a mind and the melody of a heart.

Life is moving, boys.  Create.

Mama :)

{week 34}