Ohhh, whatever. (Art anyone?)

Now I know where Jack gets that phrase from. I'm in a "whatever" mood. Don't have anything exciting to say. The day was a blur as always. I have bootcamp in t-minus 8 hrs 45 min. Really. That is depressing. It's soooo cold out! Ugh. So, any thoughts on what I should write about today? I was just on this cute blog "a simple love for art" and was stalking my new follower, poking around, and I realized that I should talk about art.

Helloooo, 5 years of art school! Not that anyone's counting. Ahem. And not like I DO art at work anymore. I do do art with Jack. And I just wanted to say doodoo. Okay, let's stay focused here. Now, being that my whole life has been dedicated to the fine arts (by "whole life" I mean thousands upon thousands of college dollars, plus my 23-year career in graphic design. Please use that term loosely.), I naturally thought that Jack would possibly be of the same ilk. He's going to magically come out of the womb with a piece of cold pressed paper and a set of Koi! Not so.

Jack never really had a desire to draw, or even color for that matter. He'd pick up the occasional crayon and scratch a few lines out on a coloring book and then devise a way to make said coloring book into a live-action credit card crusher machine that will save the earth! His crayons are all still pointy. :(  Now, insert the little fact of his being red/green color blind and now we're on to something. I think he was frustrated at his lack of color knowledge, though it certainly wasn't his fault. He just hated being stumped and therefore avoided colors altogether.

Fast forward to oh about 4 months ago, maybe longer, when I introduced Jack to my love of geometric design books. They fulfill my secret sense of order, my love of black and white, and my desire to use primary colors in a nice orderly hopefully symmetrical way! I never thought Jack would give a sh*t.

OH was I wrong.

Jack: Mom, what IS this?

me: It's a design book. You can color the designs in with these small pointy markers.

Jack: Can I try?

me: Go right ahead.

Jack: (2 hours later) Yawwwn, I just have to finish this one design and then it will be good!

me: You don't have to do it all at once. Your eyes are crossing. Maybe we should go watch TV.

Jack: I'll take a break but I want to finish this tomorrow. Do NOT close the book.

(he organized everything the way he likes it and gave it a minor OCD once over)

me: It will be there tomorrow Jack.

Jack: I really like doing designs.

me: How come? You never really liked coloring.

Jack: The lines are thicker so it's easier to stay in the lines. And the pictures don't mean anything.

me: What do you mean?

Jack: Coloring books make you color animals or pumpkins, but designs can be anything you want them to be.

me: Well, what are you making with this design?

Jack: Stained glass.

me: Oh! That's cool!

Jack: What does stained glass mean?

me: Glass that's been stained a color, like in church windows.

Jack: I want to make a church window.

me: Well you're doing a great job. It's beautiful.

I've never seen Jack more proud of anything he's created. Our neighbor came over for a quick visit and Jack had to show him his design. He talked about it with his friend and explained all about how "hard" and "complicated" it is. How you have to really "concentrate". He actually likes that! I thought he would be bored. Even after 5+ years, we're still figuring out how his little brain works. Now if only I can get him to hand me the red marker when I ask, instead of him reaching for the green one! I'm afraid he's going to have to learn to live with that issue. Thanks Grandpa and Daddy!