Sand is the perfect summer medium. Little girl and I have made our usual array of favorite characters in the sand as well as many sprawling castles. This day we got into rock sorting and finishing our usual castle with a rock roof and weed landscaping. It was very important to the little girl that we replant the weeds with as much existing root as possible.

Little girl could not have been more excited when she got a couple chunks of sidewalk chalk. I grabbed a stick and gave her a starting point of some animal's head or body and she finished it up for me. She was into giving generous helpings of neck. We ended up with an animal on each square for a block before sundown brought the game to an end.

Winter is finally starting to break, so little girl and I started playing with some spring themed window stencils. It was about time; the Santa Claus filled windows were starting to get a bit out of place. She started with the drawings and I walked an exacto knife around them trying to keep the basic playfulness in tact. Needless to say, we are looking forward to this winter ending.

Legos are a staple. Even after years, I can still get the little girla excited about creating something in Legos and filling in the gaps of her stuffed toy collection. Here are some examples: Mo Willem's Pigeon with his hotdog and duckling sidekick, SpongeBob (No) Pants, Patrick...and finally...two random skeletons. A white skeleton and a yellow one sporting a pumpkin on his head and an ouie leg.

Here is another paper adventure from The Paper Architect which we got from the library. I received two requirements from the little girl. One, we had to color it, and two, we had to be able to play with it. Otherwise there would be no patience. So I decided to have her color it first and I would fold it out in the wrong direction (cutting lines shouldn't be visible). As for the playing part...it was mostly drawing brown cat paw prints all over the place...a form of cat protest over the small doors.

"Starfish" is a painting that was commissioned for a little girl named Marion which loosely translates to "Starfish". I was able to see the room and take photos so I did all my color studies with a good idea of the context. I experimented with lots of cool blues and green initially, but they all had trouble in the warm yellowy reds of the room. The painting was finished with a custom handmade floating frame painted a deep brown.

A new print, Cloud Seasons, is now for sale in the store. A colorful print about the seasons focusing on a cloud. Little girl and I are having fun picking our favorite color and season. Take a look and leave a comment!