Memories of Mom

Today is my Mom's 80th birthday! Soon I'll be leaving for her surprise party. I can safely write that because she has never been on the internet and probably never will! Each of us kids were asked to write a "Memory of Mom" for a book my sister is putting together. Here is mine:

Memories of Mom

Andy 1-14-12

People sometimes ask me where I get my artistic talent. Well, nobody else was really drawing around the house but Mom was always doing things in a very creative things. She was very methodical in her processes of baking and the decorations on them were a work of art. Her handwriting is probably the fanciest I have ever seen someone use on a regular basis.

I don’t know why, but I always liked to draw and it was my favorite thing to do. Mom made sure there was always drawing paper for me to work on. She would always buy a sketchbook for me. When each one was finished, she would buy another. I took them with me where ever I went. If she was with me, she would proudly say , “Andy, why don’t you show them your sketchbook?” She would have positive comments about whatever drawing I had just finished.

I was always interested in cartoons and funny pictures. I can remember once she came home from a trip to Mansfield and she said, “Andy, you have to see the posters they have on the walls of Pudgies Pizza.” Soon I made the trip with her. I think it was a college student who used the back of pizza boxes and drew on them to make posters. Each one was a caricature of the manager of the pizza shop. In each one he was reimagined as a different character. The one I remember is him redrawn as Spock from Star Trek with pointy ears and uniform. “Those are called caricatures,” she told me. “It still looks like the person, but each part is exaggerated to make them look funny.”

I can remember we had been at church one night. We stopped at a 7-11 to get a loaf of bread to take home. Mom sent me in with a dollar while she waited in the car. I bought the bread and on the way out the door, I saw a magazine that caught my eye. It was Cracked magazine. I quickly looked through it. It was packed with cartoons and comics. The cover was filled with caricatures of the characters from my favorite show Welcome Back Kotter. I went back to the car and excitedly told her about it. “Mom! There is a magazine in there that is fully of funny pictures – caricatures! -- like the posters in Pudgies!” She didn’t even bat an eye, but she asked me how much it was and if there was enough change from the bread so that I could buy it. The magazine was 50 cents and there wasn’t quite enough change. She gave me the extra 15 cents, or whatever I needed so that I could buy it. I became a regular buyer of this magazine and also Mad. I am sure that these were a big influence on my interest in and ability with cartooning. I learned most of what I by copying the images from the artists who worked for these magazines and they had a big influence on my style.

I can remember bringing home a piece of poster board to work on a submission for a poster contest. I got the design all sketched out and Mom said, “No, you can’t do it that way.” She had me flip the poster board over and start over. She showed me how to use a ruler to measure a one inch border all around. “All of the design should stay within that border,” she told me. Next she showed me how to measure from the top down to make guidelines for the lettering lightly in pencil. After I made the letters in pencil I outlined them in pencil and she told me I should erase the guidelines. She was right, I won the contest. I still wonder how she knew how to do those things.

There were a lot of things that she knew about art and she would tell me about them. I can remember her showing me the art of Andy Warhol and talking about them. “He is just swishing paint over someone else’s photos, but aren’t the colors and shapes just right for the personality of each one?”

Mom was a stay-at-home mom. It was a full time job for her. She did a lot for me. There is a Bible verse that says, “Train up a child in the way they should go.” Some people say that should be translated “in the way they want to go”. In other words, you look at the directions they are predisposed to go and support them. I am glad my parents did not try to make me into a farmer or some other thing I was not suited for. They looked for the signs in me of what my giftings were and they made sure I had whatever I needed to pursue it. From art supplies to musical instruments or lessons or whatever I might need. These are the memories I have of Mom.

The Greatest Gifts

I believe the best gifts are things people make themselves. The painting above is from Anna to me. It is done using the Bozzo Technique. I was surprised. I guess I had forgotten that I had dropped some heavy hints about possibly getting it as a gift for Christmas!

Dan took ceramics this year and made a lot of really neat projects to give as gifts to family members. The snowmen and tree were thrown on the wheel, then details were added. The wheel-thrown bowl below was for me.

Family Art Projects

Below is a card I made for Kristan's birthday today. The heart's are cut out, so you can see a bit of the picture within.



Okay, so I swiped the idea from a card I saw in the store. But, it's just for fun, right? When Nathan saw it, he wanted to paint his own scene of the three of us eating at a restaurant. Below is his painting of (left to right) himself, Daddy and Mommy. We are all eating from orange plates. Daddy and Mommy are eating lettuce but he's eating mac 'n' cheese.


After he finished his painting for Mommy he asked me to draw the Hulk so he could paint it.

Self-Portrait by Anna Wales

This is my daughter's Advanced Drawing final -- a self-portrait triptych.

Anna's Wall of Important Things -- and a Clean Art Room Sink (2009)

Wales Art -- The Next Generation

Up until now, Nathan hasn't shown a lot of interest in drawing, and when he has, his work has been, shall we say -- nonobjective? Today, however, he drew the most adorable pair of self-portraits! We asked him who showed him how to do that and he said "Nobody" -- but he does watch daddy draw a lot.

Things I Learned at the Museum of Play

We took Nathan to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. As soon as we got through the door, he took off like a rocket to try each fun hands-on learning station. We were there for four hours and I don't know if we saw half of it. Nathan wanted an Iron Man costume for Halloween, so we let him wear it here, since there was a big Superhero section that just opened up.

In addition to the activity centers, they have displayed old toys and games from every era. You can find all kinds of things you forgot you ever had, or remember some friend that had one of those, and you couldn't believe their luck.
Here Nathan is serving Mommy at the restaurant.
Of course, Iron Man can handle a few boulders.

The arcade was really neat. Newer video games were side by side with vintage ones and some reeeeeallly old ones. I found out that Kristan was a Q*bert champ and she showed Nathan the ropes on some other ones.
Another neat feature of the museum is that there are quotes on all the walls of things great thinkers had to say about play, and I was furiously scribbling them down in my notebook. Some of them might help with a research project I'll be working on.

1. "Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion, but by play." -Plato
2. "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning." -Diane Ackerman, American author
3. "It is a happy talent to know how to play." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. "Almost all creativity involves purposeful play." - Abraham Maslow, American psychologist
5. "A child loves his play, not because it's easy, but because it's hard." - Benjamin Spock
6. "We all need empty hours in our lives, or we will have no time to create or dream." - Robert Coles, The Overscheduled Child (2001)
7. "Play is training for the unexpected." -Marc Bekoff, American biologist
8. "Play is the only way the highest intellect can unfold." -Joseph Chilton Pierce, American scholar
9. "The opposite of play is not a present reality, or work; it is vacillation; or worse, it is depression." -Brian Sutton-Smith
10. "Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities." -Stuart Brown, American psychologist

Clay Dinos and Painting Pumpkins

Dan made these plasticine dinosaur sculptures for some kind of school project. I think they look really great. He has a good style.

Kristan helped Nathan and his friend Marin paint pumpkins a few days ago. Painting with three-year-olds is not for the faint of heart, so I commend her for her fortitude.

The Man-Cave: Updated

This photo shows me and the Boy Scout troop my sons and I are part of. During summer camp, one of our projects was making a new sign for the climbing pavilion, which the scouts have nicknamed "The Man-Cave". Dan and I sketched the design out and started the carving with a router. Then each of the scouts used hand carving tools to finish the design. The camp loved it and it will be hung from the rafters of The Man-Cave!

Update: The photo at the top of the post shows what our sign looks like now that it's installed.

Eagle Scout Court of Honor

This is from today's Morning Times, the paper in Sayre, PA. I can remember the first night I walked Dan to Tiger Cubs. Going to scouts quickly became his favorite thing to do, and remained so for years. He liked to try to get every badge and pin he could as he moved up through the ranks of Wolf, Bear and Webelos.

It meant a lot to him when he "crossed over" to Boy Scouts, and he especially enjoyed doing a lot more camping -- including those below zero temperature "Polar Bear Campouts". Scouting is a great program, and helps boys become well-rounded young men with merit badges in academic areas, survival skills, and civics. I really believe in the values they promote, and I'm especially proud of my son for going all the way and achieving the highest rank.

In the photo he is taking the Scout Oath one more time before receiving his Eagle.

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Father's Day Roast Comics

In lieu of aftershave and ties, I asked my kids to make me a comic strip for Father's Day instead. I know they're broke, and I've got enough Brut by Faberge. Well, before I share their comics, let me show you this piece of art (above) first. I sat down with the first graders one day while they were making Paper People (they aren't called Paper Dolls anymore). I made a set that looked like my family. I brought it home and put it where all great art goes -- on the fridge.

The trick to making Paper People is to fit all the details for each person within the same general shape. The uniformity and repetition evokes a child-like aesthetic. My daughter Anna (third from left) had just gotten a haircut that was alarmingly short. I was soon to pay dearly for my frank, but accurate portrayal, as you will see later.
Great comic, huh?

My daughter attends BBC, or Baptist Bible College. It's a good school, but they're pretty strict about what they allow on the television in the lounge. I have to keep her informed on what she misses because of this media blackout.

Next comes David's. First, he draws Andar as he might behave if he were under the control of the Puppet Master.
Next, it appears that someone has turned me into a snowman. I really like my Father's Day gifts!

Robotics Competition 2

Here's a video from the recent robotics competition my sons were part of.



If you want to see more, I have a bunch on YouTube, here:

Robotics Competition

Today I got to see a robotics competition that my son Daniel's team was competing in. Since my son David will be in ninth grade next year, he got to go too, and was able to have a turn maneuvering the robot.
Each year, the robotics team is given a specific challenge and a limitted time to complete the robot according to the specifications. All the teams compete against one another. This year, the robot had to move around and scoop up balls and then try to put them in the carts being pulled by opponents' robots.

David (above)

Daniel (above)

Usually the competitions are in faraway places, so this is the first one I got to see. It was smaller in scale than the major events, but I was still very impressed with what these kids can do with the help of their mentors.

Nathan's Masterpiece

There's nothing like the feel of a paintbrush in your hands. This is Nathan's pumpkin painting. He says it's the Hulk!