A Mother's Admiration

Hi Knitters,

While I was gone in New York I called home off and on to check in with everyone. One time The Collector got on the phone and announced that she had made a moose and she couldn't wait to show it to me when I got home. This same moose conversation went on a couple of different times over the days while I was gone. I didn't quite understand what she had made over the phone because my husband said she had just sat down with some kitchen aluminum foil and masking tape to make this moose. It didn't sound all that promising.

However, when I got home TC greeted me at the door with her sculpted moose. I was stunned. It is an incredibly elegant and beautiful sculpture of a moose. At that time it was sculpted foil covered in masking tape. I couldn't believe the long legs that stood in such a lovely stance, the balance of the piece (it stands so easily), the sweet tilt of the head and the amazing antlers she had created while sitting at the kitchen table.
TC may be a sculptor? I had no idea she could do this. My husband told me she got it in her head to make a moose. He had no idea why. She then pulled up a photo of a real moose on the computer and would occasionally walk over to reference the photo as she worked. I guess she worked for a long time, very quietly by herself. When she finished her sculpture my husband couldn't believe her moose. He just shakes his head in disbelief.
Since my initial viewing of the moose TC has put a layer of newspaper and Mod Podge over the top to create a hard shell. She wants to paint it this weekend. I can't get a great photo to capture the feeling of the sculpture accurately. It is really cool. Maybe I am crazy but I see something more to that moose than just the foil and tape and newspaper.Here are a few other pieces of TC's artwork as of late. This brother and sister pair is her art teacher's favorite drawing that TC has made at school. I like it, too. It's so graphic and look at the careful strokes of crayon she used to fill in the grass and sky. I love crayon artwork.
She made this silly ladybug by combining some other pictures she had seen. She pronounces the name like Betty, not sure what the interesting spelling is all about. I like this one a lot. She has super-clean lines. The heels are too good.
This is a woven piece TC created at school. They splatter painted two different pages, cut them into strips and wove the strips together. I really love this one.
She dropped this in my lap yesterday after school. This may be my favorite. She doesn't see at all what I see. I think that pig is amazing and artistic. I asked her about it and she said, "Yeah, I ripped up some paper and made a pig." That's it. I see the curly tail made out of teeny tiny pieces carefully placed, the tip and angle of the ears layered on the perfectly shaped head and round ripped piece at the end of the snout. I love the simple pencil letters spelling Pig at the top.

I know I may be seeing her work through rose-colored glasses but I admire her abandon. I love her ability to make things out of nothing and to sit for hours on end completely absorbed in her making. The world vanishes around her. I love her nonchalant attitude about her work. I love her sweet excitement when her ideas work out. I see her natural finesse and her ability to make it all look so easy.

This little girl is a maker down to her soul. I can't wait to see what she does with her natural talent. I am a bystander.

I hope she never loses sight of what she has inside. I admire her so much.

best, susie