Yesterday I began thinking about what now seems vintage to me -- Barry, Carly, the many large flower prints and owls that adorned our house in the 70s. And I wondered: what will my kids' perceive as vintage when they are my age? What will stick out in their minds? We do listen (and inevitably dance) to Dancing Queen more frequently than I should probably admit. Maybe ABBA will be their Carly Simon? Or will it be something I currently think of as hip such as Natasha Beddingfield and her ubiquitous Pocket Full of Sunshine? Hard to say. I would love to stage the moments of my kids' youth that they will remember and hold dear as I do with my basement melodies. Unfortunately, I am certain that is not how it works.
In my vintage-inspired reveille, however, I decided we should watercolor huge, colorful vintage flowers. My son immediately said he didn't like flowers -- they are girlie after all. Pish, posh. I asked him to Google Georgia O'Keefe images for inspiration. He happily obliged. I explained that we could use our imaginations to see the flowers from the point of view of a bee or some other perspective. I encouraged them to ensure their subject touched all four sides of the piece of paper. We sketched the flowers in pencil and then began painting with bright, beautiful colors. We then traced over the pencil drawings with permanent markers. We all really got into our work and I think our finished pieces are gorgeous!
Perfectly modern and vintage all at the same time.
Happy Painting!
