The Article About My Blog

show & tell
preserving MEMORIES and children's creations
by Emily-Sarah Lineback

CHILDREN'S ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS are made up of imagination, sticky stuff and a hefty dose of love. The end result can often be something near-magical that renders mere mortals (family members, moms especially) captivated beyond reason. That explains why a picture I painted in kindergarten still adorns by parents' laundry room door more than three decades (and two houses) later. When I asked my mom why she'd kept it, her voice held all the emotion as if I'd just completed it last week: "You did an excellent job," she said. "I couldn't part with it." Sentiments prevails, and artwork transforms into something far beyond paint on paper.

Children's artwork, like other objects, can become family props for storytelling, says Carol Eickmeyer, artist and downsizing specialist. "Our family history is tied to tangible items." She cautions that we must "find a middle ground" in choosing what to save, what to share and what to "recycle."

Little hands are prolific at cranking out creations - just a week of art camp at Sawtooth can generate enough for multiple art shows, never mind what one year of elementary school produces.

"Each person has a different organizational style, but it's helpful to find ways to preserve and purge pieces," says Kristi Johnson Marion, mother of two and a teacher at New Philadelphia Moravian Church Preschool. She says part of moms' enthusiasm of children's art is because it "preserves something of their age that is fleeting." For herself, she says her children's art is precious because "it captures their imagination at that moment."

Following are methods from area moms for controlling, displaying and sharing children's creations.

BIND IT

Photo albums and binders work great for smaller, flat artwork. "I preserved some of my daughters' artwork in clear sleeves within a three-ring binder," says Bonnie Leonard Walker, a kindergarten assistant teacher at Boonville Elementary School and mother of two. "I always asked the artist to explain her work to me, and if it touched the very heart of me, I kept it." She says she chose binders because she'd seen a friend with older children do so. Walker's daughters are 27 and 19 now, and she says that originally their creations were "just mementos of the grade they were in, but now that they're both grown women, the artwork is priceless." She says even a million dollars wouldn't be enough money. "I will always treasure the pieces their little hands created with guidance from innovative teachers."

BOX IT

Marion says that a lot of her preschool moms use storage boxes to contain growing artwork collections, and depending on the volume, separate art by the year. Other moms create their own portfolios: "I use empty pizza boxes - clean, of course," says Courtney Ellis Spence, mom to two. She says the boxes are sturdy, can be decorated for each child, "and because they are large, they can hold larger pieces or irregularly sized artwork." Spence also likes that they can stack on shelves, under beds, or be placed behind furniture. "My current collection box is behind my china hutch."

FRAME IT

Framing especially adored paintings or drawings is a popular method. "When my children were young, I had many of their creations professionally framed," says Mona Hanes Templin, mother of two grown children. She says if they didn't sign the print, she had the framer place a small enameled piece on the front with their name and date. "Mainly our walls display the works of art done by our children. I thought they were beautiful at the time, and I still think so."

In addition to permanently framing artwork, you can request removable grommets on frames so that you can rotate like-sized pieces. I did this with some of my son's artwork from last summer's Sawtooth art camps, which allows us to have a running "show" of some of our favorite drawings and paintings.

DIGITIZE IT

Cheryl Ann Roberts uses the web to preserve her son's creations. "I created a blog with my 7-year-old son to record pictures he took with his camera," says Roberts. "Two years later, his blog also includes pictures of his school artwork, at-home drawings, and writings." She says the blog was created to satisfy them both: He gets to save everything while she keeps the house intact.

SHOWCASE IT

Amy Jones redecorated her kitchen with her two young daughters in mind. "My wife redesigned our kitchen with the idea that it would have an art center complete with art supplies drawers and a location to show off our two girls' artwork," says Amy's husband, Chris, who built it and the other kitchen cabinetry. Amy says the old kitchen lacked space for creativity and storage, and shares that they made art a priority because their older daughter enjoyed it more than playing with dolls.

The center literally spotlights the girls' current artwork, and Amy says it's a product of two factors: giving their daughters a special place for their self-expressions, and moving artowrk to its own place of prominence leaves their new stainless steel refrigerator clear. "For now, they are completely in charge of their own creative center," says Amy, "and it has been so functional for our home that when friends arrive for playdates they know right where to go when they want to be artists, too."

SHARE IT

Or as Eickmeyer would say, "thoughtfully redistribute" creations. the moms we talked with do this in numerous ways, from tucking drawings in cards they mail on special occasions to using some pieces as wrapping paper. "We do this with gifts for Grandma, which she loves," says Marion. "And of course she saves it."

Roberts says that her son's blog receives good traffic - mostly from family members and close friends - and making things public digitally has been a fun way for them to share his artistic growth, too. "Cade is sometimes embarrassed to go back and see previous entries. But overall, he's proud of his development, as am I."

REMEMBER IT

In addition to the kindergarten painting I mentioned, my parents also still proudly display a rock with Pilot Mountain painted on it - my masterpiece from second grade. As Eickmeyer says, it is a storytelling trigger that, when my parents and I started talking about it, prompts memories for each of us. They were barely older thank I am now, and I was their little girl.

When I look at things that my 6-year-old son has created, I imagine a future conversation that leads my heart right back to this moment, a time filled with his grand imagination, the belief that all the world is his, and I am at the center of it.

Emily-Sarah Lineback is the editor of Winston-Salem Monthly magazine.