A new baby girl Archives - Dora Sislian Themelis Art

Photo for Friday

Here’s a peek at my little mushy! Just a teeny peek, okay?

I’m waiting for The Princess to arrive this morning. Tuesday is my day to play! I am ready. I could get the chance to paint at some point, but not counting on it. The Princess takes ten minute naps for the most part. As you know, I could make a short time limit work, but maybe not just ten minutes. The equipment is ready just in case the nap is a little longer than I expect.

Everything The Princess needs is ready too: formula, bottle, bowl, spoon, and toys! She is now five months old and learning to eat cereal. So, okay, most of it comes out when I try putting it in, but I can get it to go right back in! No problem, but if she eyeballs the spoon we’re in trouble. She’s smart. She knows what’s coming with that spoon and she’s not sure if she likes it.

Things are done differently these days. When my kids were babies we started solid food with a ripe, mushed up banana. Now, due to dietary ideas on obesity and the like, the doctors recommend cereal first, not to begin with the sweet stuff. But the sweet stuff gives them the idea that what’s coming on the spoon might be something they may want to taste.

Whatever the routine is today, I am happy to oblige. Tell me what to do and I’ll just do it. No issues here, just happy to see that squishy baby girl! Baby beats out painting any day. Yup.

Back to the Future

When I was in college studying for my BFA in painting, my professor threw it out there that women very rarely become full time artists because they end up getting married and having children. Oh great, thanks alot. But really, when the time came that’s what happened to me.

In the field of study I chose, I was able to do studio art, commercial art and art education. I had worked for a studio doing paste-up work on fashion catalogs and electronics magazines, so I had that knowledge. I liked the idea of art education, but hated the high school kids I did student teaching for. Real cocky kids, not my cup of tea. After I graduated I landed a full time position as a paste-up/layout artist where I stayed for a few years up until I had my first son.

Those days most women were still at home with the children and that’s what I did. Even if I had the idea to keep working there was no one I could trust to leave my son with, every family member I had was working. Let me say I was thrilled to be at home with him. No more jealous bosses, crazy co-workers and wild fashion magazine overtime. No thanks! I’ll take my chances being at home raising my kid. I marveled at how he grew and changed every day. We played, sang, took walks, drew pictures and it was all fun for me. When he slept I painted or did pastels, knit, sewed little outfits, cooked, cleaned, and did the things to keep the house. I ran the roost. I was the boss. My son was my side-kick, my little helper.

Art had to take a back seat like my professor said. Over the years I made my art in fits and starts, while my babies slept and later, when they were at school. And as the time passed the field of commercial art changed so much that I couldn’t go back. The paste-up artists’ bull pen had been reduced to one artist and the computer. I missed that boat. So it was back to painting.

Now I’m home having a ball watching my granddaughter. Thank goodness I’m an artist at home or I wouldn’t have this precious opportunity. I am back to the beginning, painting while baby sleeps! This time around I have more experience under my belt and I know how to get more art in. That great idea of twenty minutes of painting was unheard of in my college days, but now it’s how I roll. Twenty minutes is working. Even though I hit the brick wall of resistance a little bit ago, I’m back in it.

I am back to the future. Life is amazing.

The Princess’ Visit

Tuesday is my day with the Princess. She’s here and after having her bottle she fell asleep. I know I have said it before, but she is just an amazing thing to look at. I am just so lucky to be able to be such a part of her life. I am blessed.

A while ago, before the Princess was born, I ran into another grandmother with her charge in a stroller at the supermarket. We said hello and started talking about grandchildren in the aisle. She told me she has hers 5 days a week. I said I would probably switch off with the other grandma, at the time I wasn’t really sure what our arrangements would be. This woman had retired from teaching and for her, being home with the baby was lonely. Oh man, not for me!

Being home with this baby is great! She’s a good baby, with rarely a peep from her. I was able to be home with my boys. I was busy as anything, if I had a job I don’t know how I could have handled it. And I need time to do my art. Besides, I like my own company and the quiet of my house. In other words, this is heaven!

Will I get to paint later? Maybe. Unless the baby is awake and feels like playing!

Friday Photo

Day Off Friday With Photo

Friday is my day off. I had a lovely three days of babysitting my amazing granddaughter and can’t wait for next week. Of course, I think she is the smartest thing at only 6 weeks old. She is alert as a whip, when she’s not asleep, which is alot of the time. You know, babies need sleep to grow, so that is cool. She’s adorable when she’s asleep. When she’s awake her eyes are wide and steady. She can and wants to raise her head and look around. I don’t remember my kids doing that this young. She’s a voracious milk drinker when she’s hungry, but right in the middle of her feeding she nods off to sleep! Then she’s awake and looking for the rest of that bottle. And her legs keep moving, kicking, pushing with a purpose.

She is very interested in her crib decor here at my house. Who knew polka dots would be fascinating? One side is lime green with dark brown dots, the other side is brown and white herringbone. It’s the dots that makes her excited. She turns her little head to see the herringbone for a few seconds and turns right around to the dots. Her arm extended, those little legs pushing in the air, she’s all into the dots. Her breath quickens and she starts to vocalize at those dots. So I do too!

Am I running off about this princess? I might be.

I think helping to raise a child is a huge responsibility. There is so much to learn about the world and themselves. I am thankful to have the time to devote to her. While feeding her I had Mozart and Frank Sinatra music playing. We looked at shapes and colors. We talked back and forth. I helped her push her legs and flip herself over for a few minutes. We took a walk in the carriage in the lovely fall weather. I walked, she slept.

And during one of her naps I sat at the dining room table for twenty minutes to paint while Mozart played. I had already set up a still life of the usual objects of late: rocks, leaves and apple. As I had pulled out the tomato plants from the garden and culled the small green tomatoes, I added one to the mix. Twenty minutes was enough to keep me in the painting mode. Twenty minutes and I was done.

I can’t wait until this baby can hold a paint brush!

Day With The Princess

Day #1 is over. Well, it’s been over for a couple hours, but I just had the chance to post here now. In fact, I’m writing this post on my iPad because I’m too lazy to go to the computer.

Needless to say I had an amazing day with my infant granddaughter here at my house. I felt terrible for Gorgeous, she returned to her job, so I took photos of the Princess with my cell phone and sent them to her. It’s hard to leave that little bundle of cute baby and go to work, but things are what they are these days.

However, the luck is all mine! I get the chance to be with that adorable munchie most of the day and I loved every moment of it. The to-do list, errands, chores and painting can wait for another day. Right now is the most important time of this short period called infancy. Babies are babies for only so long so we need to make the most of it.

My mom stayed at home when we were kids. My grandmother lived with us, but when she wasn’t at work she took care of us. Built in babysitting. As both parents work now, grandmothers are in high demand, and many of them are working too. Me, the artist, I’m at home. I never thought I would be so happy to step into this wonderful opportunity. Do you know that in some parts of the world it’s not cool to be a young-ish grandma and watch the babies? That’s just not cool to me.

Son#1 brought the Princess in the morning. I gave her the bottle, changed her diapers, put her down for a nap and pretty much looked at her in amazement. This infant is my baby’s baby! It’s like a dream. Where did the time go? How is it possible?

Want to know what the best part about this job is? I get to do it all over again tomorrow!

Equipment is Essential

Every job has it’s essential tools. As artists, we must have implements that help us do our job. The right brushes or pencils, paints of all sorts, surfaces and surroundings, allow us to be somewhat successful at what we do. We can get along with substandard equipment, but for how long?

What do I mean by substandard? I know I can get along very well with non-professional equipment if I just think about the process of creating art. Will I be thrilled with the result is another story. As I go along this art journey I’ve learned that having the better supplies makes the journey easier. Knowledge is power, as they say these days. I know I should have signed up for those iMac classes when I purchased this computer, as an example, because using it wouldn’t have been such an uphill climb.

Same thing with art supplies. Except that sometimes we can over indulge and end up going overboard. Like those watercolor paints I bought a while back. I always used tried and true Windsor & Newton paints or Grumbacher. The colors were what I expected in these companies, but I was lured to MaimeriBlu and now I’m not so happy with them. Through the wonderful blog commenters I have stepped up to a better watercolor surface though. Now I’m very happy using Arches papers. I’m learning.

The down side is that now I have plenty of MaimeriBlu paints and I would rather paint from my teeny travel set of Windsor & Newton half pans. I love how the former paints look on the paper, but the latter colors are exactly what I expect. Alizarin Crimson in MaimeriBlue is not the same hue or strength as in the other company’s paints. Okay, so I’ll just have to live with it for now.

Which leads me to my new venture. Tomorrow is Day One and I think I have the equipment I need. Take a look at this:

This is the carriage I used when Son #1 was a baby. Twenty eight years ago there was no sparing any expense for that precious newborn. Remember Perego carriages? Who uses this kind of thing today? Nobody! I used it for a while with Son #2 and then that was it, we went to those little umbrella strollers. This carriage is a classic! It’s practically brand new the way I kept it covered up and put away. I wish my mother could have kept my carriage. Now that was a piece of equipment. It was so big that my mother would go food shopping with my sister in it and have room for bags of groceries. You can’t find those anymore, but I kept this one.

Tuesday is the day. Our princess will be with me a few days a week and with her other grandmother a few days a week so Gorgeous can return to her job. The weeks flew by and things are what they are.
If the weather is good we’ll be taking a nice walk. I’ve got the equipment!

Decorating Old With New

Sometimes I jump start my creativity by cleaning up my art space. The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, suggested re-arranging a room to spark ideas. Doing something methodical like vacuuming a carpet, or mopping the kitchen floor can release pent up energy and while doing the repetitive motions the brain can trail off and daydream. Why not? Works for me!

As you can see by my photo I’ve been very busy redecorating. It’s kind of freeing in a way, my brain can get away of thinking about the art process, how/what/where/ to paint, or not, and the guilt with not.

So maybe after it’s all said and done I’ll feel like getting back to that painting I’ve left behind for the moment? Not sure. But looking at fabric, colors, shapes that are pleasing to me has had it’s wanted effect.

This was such an enjoyable project! Where and what is this? Well! I have set up my sons’ crib, which I kept, in his old bedroom. On a shopping trip to the baby store with Gorgeous we picked out this bumpers and sheets set that blends nicely with the existing furniture in that room. And, it’s not Pepto Bismol pink! Comfortable colors and shapes on this set make it a cozy haven. I know my granddaughter won’t have a clue, but it’s comfy to me!

I’m ready to receive my precious one. And I had better get organized or I’ll find myself scrambling!

Time Out From Busy

Did I say busy? Yes, really busy doing all sort of things on the never ending to-do list. Trying to cross things off the short list takes forever. What about the long list? Fuggetabottit! That’s NY-ese for forget it. Not going to bother. The long list can take a long hike off a short pier. And in these times, the long list is never going to see the light of day if this keeps up.

The short daily list is about all I can focus on. However, there are alot of things on this “short” list. I know I complain all the time about no time, but what else can I do? Who cares if I have lots of things, everyone has things!

Today I had to double track because with all the things I had going on yesterday, I left some important things off and they just had to be done today, like hitting this blog. Mind you, there are plenty of things, but Surprise! they’re not going to get done because, well, I think I might want to ignore them. So there. Hah!

Besides the usual errands, I need to arrange Son #1’s old bedroom to accommodate his new baby’s crib! Now THAT I don’t mind doing, it’s a fun thing! I get to purchase new baby bedding and such, for when Gorgeous goes back to work and I get to babysit. Fun! So you know the to-do list is getting shuffled around to accommodate the fun stuff. Who needs to make doctor appointments and other phone calls, fix the light in the studio, call the dishwasher repair guy, organize the computer desk, shred old papers, etc. Who really cares about those things? I’m hunting around baby items!

Ok, so not to look like I’m a complete jerk, leaving important things off the list of to-do’s I found time to paint yesterday afternoon. The opening in the day was there, the rocks and broken shell waiting patiently, arranged as they were on the dining room table, yes-not in the studio. Out popped the travel watercolor set and a half hour of freedom!

I think I’m on to something with this “no time” business. Things seem to get done and I find a small window of opportunity to paint. This must be an omen, or a directive: have still life items strewn around, the small travel paints and paper pad out and available. Is the small set with mini brushes and paper less intimidating? Maybe. The long to-do list certainly is intimidating and possibly costly. All the better to ignore it, my dear.

Category: A new baby girl