Infant artwork

[ailbhe]

Linnea has produced what I believe is technically termed a metric buttload of artwork. All of it is, naturally, of an exceptionally high quality and shows clear evidence of early genius, but she's bound to outgrow that. We display it on our walls. We shuffled some of it around this weekend, because we finally moved the mirror in the dining room so I can't see myself in it so often, and now have a panel-type display on the chimneybreast.

I actually don't offer Linnea a chance to paint as often as I used to because I'm so bad about throwing the stuff away. There's a huge portfolio behind the piano.

But I should let her at it more often - she deserves it! Her drawings of people now have mouths with teeth, eyes with iris and pupil, hands with fingers - her painting should be encouraged too.

But then I'll have to cull again.

I am a bad, bad mother.

(I realise that the obvious solution is a laminator and a ring-binder, yes, but that would be giving in to my weakness...)

Comments

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

We take digital photos of Colin's artwork and put it on the website with the photos of him. In theory, we then throw away all but selected pieces of the art (we have a portfolio to store special bits), though I'm not so good at that bit... Would this help?

Linnea's drawing is really, really amazing.

[jenett]

The other obvious solution is a scanner or digital camera. For the stuff you don't entirely want to keep in paper version, but might use, say, as a computer screen saver or something.

[ailbhe]

Rob gave our scanner away. I might consider photographing them. It'll be easier in summer.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Do you have a digital camera? If so, you could record her work for posterity without having it entirely take over the house.

My mother used to let us paint with mud. Outdoors, of course. We loved it, and when we were all done she'd turn on the garden hose and wash it away.

[k425.livejournal.com]

I am a bad, bad mother. I throw just about everything away. We keep one or two pics now and again, but there just isn't the room to keep everything.

I'd never even thought about the digital camera, though. What a good idea!

[rmc28]

My mother said she found boxes and boxes of our artwork when she moved house, and then she threw it away. She suggested something a family we knew did: they had a specific "art display area" on one wall, and things stayed there for a maximum of 6 weeks. Most of the time when they came off, they went in the cat litter, but the occasional really wonderful thing would get taken away by the grandparents who lived nearby and visited regularly.

As they got older, more stuff got kept out of the litter tray and in a folder/taken by the grandparents, but as she said "it got them used to this being temporary and allowed to be thrown away".

I think I like this idea, but I'll have to find some wall that isn't bookcased.

[heraldis.livejournal.com]

We used the last stash for wrapping paper. It goes down a storm with family members, and looks really good!

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Linnea's art is gorgeous (her card! thank you!). Unny isn't so into it these days, though he does a bit with K (a lot of the time, she ends up painting a picture while he gets on with his trains). I want to get better about actually hanging his stuff on the walls: at the moment it accumulates in little stashes around the house and mutters at me when I go by.

[supermouse.livejournal.com]

Aquarion has this metal plate which hangs from his book-case, like a locker door but more like a picture back. It's large and flat and light, books live behind it, it swings up to let you at them. Perhaps you could ask him where he got such a thing? Then you can have books and art together.

[rmc28]

IKEA do something like that for the IVAR bookshelves we use. Unfortunately it's pig-ugly so I didn't get it. I think we might have an art-door. Can't shelve books on doors.