How to create a family time capsule and Pet Portrait Gallery
I’m so honoured to be in the Winter Issue of Momazine Magazine. The Winter edition was released yesterday. It’s so beautifully presented and thoughtfully curated, I think you’ll enjoy it, too. It is created as a creative journey for moms, creatives, photographers, illustrators, designers, bloggers, you. Each issue seeks to inspire the heart, the soul, and the imagination. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading more there and that you also get the chance to enjoy some inspiring photography and ideas. I’ve been so happy to learn of many other creatives and photographers through this project.
Prepare. Before getting started, these are 3 questions to ask yourself:
- We love to pets. We started with our bunny Coco and before getting our dogs, the kids were so big on growing our pets that they would even count all of the visiting frogs that would hop into our garden as pets! I’m reflecting that we don’t have a frog piece of artwork but, we do have many Coco-the-bunnies, Henry and Heidi our dogs all hung in our Pet Gallery. In another area of our house, we have “toys.” I can’t remember which started first: the toy photos or paintings but, these pieces of art work practically assembled themselves and still bring us joy.
Ask yourself: “what is something you see every day.” For us, the answer was our pets.
- I originally thought about creating a gallery that would be exclusively self-portraits, but by choosing pets, I felt it would make the kids feel that it was less centred on themselves and that it would provide a chance to focus attention on something meaningful and something we share.Additionally, animal aesthetics can be so full of whimsey and dimension, I looked forward to seeing each of their individual personalities in those project. I love seeing their ideas come out through pens, pencils and paint brushes!
- Ask yourself: What is something everyone in the family loves? For us, the answer was our pets.
-
Create a family story + dedicate space to this.Creativity and connection are what I think we’re all after. Creating a place of imagination sharing in your house, creates a shared space where everyone contributes, has a voice, has a story and this is how family lay down memories. Even as the family grows, these pieces will be treasures and will create the tapestry of what creates you and your special world. Choose one special location. This can be a wall in a shared space, a corner of a child’s room — whatever you have. Dedicate space to the gallery and honour this space by staying true to your theme.
Find a place that you can dedicate to this gallery and exclusively hang only art with a shared theme in this place. This is your Pet (or XYZ) Gallery.
How to start?
- Creating co-hesive space and as a way to anchor imaginations: come up with a theme.
– For us, the theme has been our pets but you can substitute something popular in your house: toys, people, flowers — let family interests be a guide. - Create: This can be a regular process or something you return to time and time again. Here are a few ideas to get you started:1. Doodle Dogs | tutorial here
2. Personalised Art | tutorial here
3. Black and White Portraits | tutorial here
4. Posing Puppy | tutorial here 5. Pet Prompts | tutorial here
Shared art is like sharing walks and the fact that one often leads to another must not be a surprise. When I see a piece of art, I can often, additionally, remember a walk that led to it and tie it to an event. Work on this theme is so abundant that I change it often. Also, since it’s like a journey, pieces that the kids drew when they were 3 work will with paintings they’ve created now. In fact, I think the juxtaposition invokes conversation and adds to the beauty of this wall.
I love to hear from you when you use my tutorials . Have you dedicated an area to a Pet Gallery? If you do this too, share with me on Instagram. I’d love to see what you do. As always, wishing you Willowday Wishes.
ART PRINTS | HERE
FLORAL COMMISSIONS AND ART PRINTS | HERE
