The Mischievous Mommy: baby

16 month old

"A Mother's Embrace" - A Collaboration with my Toddler

January 16, 2017

15 month old

"Best Friends" - A Collaboration with my Toddler

December 23, 2016

A Collaboration with my Toddler

"Best Friends"

by Theodore & Ruth Oosterman

My little man, Theodore, is now 15 months old and quite the rambunctious ball of energy. He is sweet and shy but man does he fly across the room, climbing anything and everything he possibly can. While Eve and Theo are similar in many ways they definitely differ in this area with her being more calm and focused, perhaps it is just the age difference.

One of the few moments he is quiet and calm is when he paints. Eve has taught me so much over the last 2 and a half years and one of the most important lessons is that no one is ever "too young" to paint (or too old!) Theo started painting at 13 months with brushes and watercolors, earlier than Eve did, his fine motor skills are already allowing him to hold onto even the smallest of brushes. This has opened the door to a whole new world and it is incredibly exciting to watch his developing passion for creating and experiencing the paint. This passion and raw need to feel the textures and paint slide across the surface is such an inspiration for me and I am so blessed to witness both Eve and Theo create. I don't have just one muse, but two now.

Of course, this also means being able to collaborate with him at an earlier age and watch his artistic skills develop in their own way. I think he has created at least 100 paintings by now with no signs of stopping.

This collaborative piece titled, "Best Friends," was inspired by Theo's deep love for dogs and what I think he will look like in a few years. The minute Theo sees or hears a dog, whether in person, a video or picture, he literally drops everything and comes running at full speed. He even says,"Awww," and begins to pet the air even if there is no dog around, it melts my heart every time.

Above you can see Theo's original painting and the collaborative piece inspired by him. Through trial and error, I continue to discover what works best when creating collaboration. If you take it too far and collaborate unevenly then your work takes over and their magic disappears. To avoid this, I try to work quickly as a reflection of their spirit and make sure to step back every few minutes and reassess. I know I could have used some of his paint marks to create a butterfly and flowers and add more to the dog's back and arm, but then I risk losing his original lines. What makes these collaborations special is ensuring that the fine balance to each of our contributions remains and their portion continues to shine!

I hope you enjoy this piece and make sure to check out the time lapse video down below!

15 month old

Collaborating with my 15-month-old, Theo.

December 04, 2016

Eve and I began officially collaborating when she was just two years old and now a few years have passed filled with many changes. One of them being, Theodore, the latest addition to our family.

Eve's little brother, who is now 15 months old, is quite the tornado of energy, maybe it is just a thing with boys but his motor skills also seem further along. He is already holding a paint brush quite well and going to town whenever allowed... that being said he has yet to say Momma. (although it does come in handy at 3am when all you can hear is "Dada," and I get to roll over and go back to sleep...)

I knew that I would jump at the chance to collaborate with him one day, but it came as quite a surprise to see him already at the stage he is now. He absolutely adores painting and more often than not I find him climbing up on my office chair and trying to steal paintbrushes, which was cute at first but now I am thinking not so much. (Just the image of him standing on tippy toes at the edge of the chair as he reaches for them makes me cringe.)

I thought I would share one of his first paintings and what I believe will be our first collaborative project. I definitely see something in this piece but of course, I wanted to ask you what you see!?

One of my favourite parts about sharing the collaborative process is getting to hear what each of you see in the artwork as each answer is a reflection of your soul and imagination coming into play. It is truly beautiful how diverse our world is and it should always be something that is embraced and never feared.

Imagine the world we could create if our individuality was celebrated and put together as puzzle pieces creating a masterpiece rather than our diversity being ignorantly criticized, leading to chaos and hate.

Our differences are what makes us great. When shown the exact same piece of art, in this case created by an infant, I can guarantee that each of you will see something completely unique to you and your imagination.

The same image, different opinions. No one is wrong and no one is right, just the simple exercise of accepting and respecting another's thoughts.

There is an almost poetic beauty to be found in that.

So what DO you see?!