It has been a stressful week around here. Dear Hubby has been ill for two weeks now. The last week he has been fighting off pneumonia. From the sounds of him trying to breath I am not really sure he is getting any better. Of course there are the trips back and forth to the Doctor, medications and then him having short spurts of energy that makes him think he can conquer the world til he actually tries to move.
With just this lil big going on already I bet you know I am pent up and he is stir crazy. I know we have to have a way to get past this or both of us are going to blow up. Thankfully Carla Sonheim has helped out in this area. I have THE ART OF SILLINESS: A Creativity Book for Everyone by Carla Sonheim sitting right here. Carla is a popular illustrator and workshop instructor based in Seattle. She is known for her fun and innovative projects designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous and playful approach when creating art. Right now with her help, Dear Hubby is actually relaxing his physical body as his mind starts thinking in a different mode for a bit. It is nice to see that lil crooked grin he can get.
With THE ART OF SILLINESS that offers dozens of fun, engaging ideas and activities that encourages us to rediscover the childlike joys of letting the imagination – and pencil – roam freely. The book helps us flex our creative muscles and gets our mind moving in different directions once again. I like that it challenges us by drawing upside down to imagining new worlds. Here are a few of the ways it makes you really think while still having that child like silliness.
- “Draw a dog pretending to be a horse pretending to be a chicken.”
- “Scribble all over these two pages for five minutes straight.”
- “Draw five bicycles from your imagination, using only one line.”
We are lucky to have a prize giveaway of one copy of THE ART OF SILLINESS. Would you like to win it? Well if so just leave a comment below. Tell me what you miss about being a child? What part of the seriousness of play has just missed you lately? Giveaway Rules: ONE prize package per blog: US addresses ONLY, please!
Lol i Really missed being a child not only because everything you do changes as you grow up. But now i really would of love staying little and playing everyday with my siblings. I love my mom and how i remember when she would tell us advices, if i could turn the time around . I definitely would of listen to mom and value what she said to mee.. But sometimes you just have to learn on your ownn.. I miss my childhood :D..... Xoxo
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun concept! I miss the freedom of being able to try new things and make mistakes without worrying about success or failure!
ReplyDeletewilburnnewsome atyahoodotcom
I'd love to win this. I do sometimes draw putting myself in a state similar to just playing and being as a child, it has helped me relax and puts me in a better frame of mind. Not judging the work seems to be key. This book is just what I need right now!
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ReplyDeleteNo bills...lol miss that a lot...
ReplyDeleteLilhottemomma@yahoo.com
What I miss about being a child is that total abandonment when you are making art, doing it just for the joy of it of creating and not worrying what anybody else thinks. I have missed just letting myself get totally absorbed in having fun and being outside all the time. This book would bring back those feelings of childhood when you made things just for yourself. terri.moore30@yahoo.com thank you for an awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI miss just playing- being able to pretend and get lost in my own little world. This book sounds great!
ReplyDeletedaniellepriser(at)mail.com
Thanks to Carla, I can indulge in some of my childhood silliness. I would love to win a copy of her new book. Hope your husband is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Carla, I am able to indulge in childlike silliness. I would love to win a copy of her book. Hope your husband is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteWhat I miss about being a child is the time to create without watching the clock and knowing that you have to be somewhere and do something. I loved that as a kid I could pick up my pencils and draw for hours and there was nowhere else that I had to be or anything else that I had to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Except when I was at my cousins having fun drawing and mom and dad said it was time to go, then the disappointment set in:)
DeleteFirst off, sorry to hear about your stress with your husband not feeling well.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, I've kind of been an adult since my Mother died when I was 6. It is now as an adult that I've been able to act a bit childlike & to feel free to be creative.
I am sorry to hear that. Children go through alot in death and divorce. I can relate.
DeleteSign me up, please! : ) Hmm. There are several things I miss most from my childhood. It's hard to choose. The one I'll choose is seasonal, but I miss having all my aunts, uncles, and cousins come to our house for Christmas Eve. It's either that or getting "The Box" at Christmas from a distant relative. "The Box" contained all the Sunday comics and Peanuts strips for the entire year (we didn't get a paper with them), and my older brothers and I would sit in a circle and read each one through before passing it to the next person until we were done. It was AWESOME!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool story!
DeleteI miss knowing, as I fall asleep, that my big sister is in the bed next to me and my little brother is sleeping in the next room.
ReplyDeleteI miss all the time for art, any kind of art with no real purpose in mind for the end product. Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteHello! One of the many things I truly miss from younger days is the freedom to and ability to get lost in something with no thought of time passing or obligations to be fulfilled. Just to sit for hours absorbed in whatever little world I had created was glorious and nourishing to the soul.
ReplyDeleteAs a child there were no worries. You could pretend to be someone else, act silly and no one cared.
ReplyDeleteWhat I miss from being a child...
ReplyDeleteI could play all day, going from toy to toy, dressing and undressing my dolls,washing them, changing their diapers, changing them, feeding them, and then the next minute, sitting at my desk with a straw cut as though it was a cigarette, and makebelieve I was a secretary talking to my client, then I was talking on my Mickey Mouse phone as I listened to a little record that played, thinking I was really talking to Mickey, then I was in my little silvery shoes and holding my wand listening to a little 45 mp Cinderella record. You could be young, you could be old, you could be a dancer, an instrumentalist, a fairy tale character and a person of your own design. As an adult, life is extremely serious, and you go from thing to thing, trying to settle the problems of life, trying to help others in their lives.
There is so much to miss about being a child! The biggest thing was the glorious niavete that allowed me to live in my imagination. I still have the imagination but reality always has a way of creeping in. Thanks for the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThere's not a lot I would ever miss about my childhood, except having a complete lack of self-judgment where my creativity was concerned. It sometimes seems like my entire adulthood has been spent trying to connect to the little girl inside me.
ReplyDeleteLove that you're having a giveaway for 'The Art of Silliness'!
What I miss about being a child? Ballet was my entire life. My father was often heard to say "Good Grief! Can't that child walk ANYWHERE???" Everything was magical, and mysterious and wonderous and I believed that seals were talking back to me and that angels slid down the rays of a sunbeam and that trees opened up their arms wide to hug you if you'd let them... and thinking about it... I know I still fervently believe all of that today, it's just sometimes life's stresses gets in the way of remembering it.
ReplyDeleteSending good thoughts and wishes to your husband for a steady recovery, and to you for the part it plays in your life right now.
I live in Canada, so if that disqualifies me, no worries whatsoever. If me paying the excess postage is an option, then please consider me for the draw. In any event, thank you for the opportunity!
Shena
I love you Carla Sonheim. You make art as much fun as it was when I was a child. When you didn't worry about what it looked like but just had fun in the creating!
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ReplyDeleteAs an "adult", the thing I miss most about being a child is the fee.king of security in knowing that someone else is going to take of me and handle all the big things life has thrown my way.
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ReplyDeleteLuckily what I loved doing as a child I do now as an adult - playing outside and coloring! The only difference is I have more time restrictions and more house chores. I can't wait to share this book with the kids I teach - they love Carla's other books, so I'm sure this will be a big hit too. Thanks for participating in the give-away (-:
ReplyDeleteI miss getting to tell my parents about my adventures.
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ReplyDeleteAs an adult I most miss my NON-critical eyes on my work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post and reminding me to go with the flow and not worry about a piece of wasted paper.
Good luck to me on winning Carla's newest book
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ReplyDeleteWhat I miss most about being a child is the ability to be in the moment most of the time. I didn't think about the time I was "wasting" or should I be doing something more "productive." As adults we try to get back to that state of mind by meditating or things like art making. Works for a while but not quite long enough! Thanks for offering the giveaway :-)
ReplyDeleteI miss being able to color outside the lines of having the freedom to create exactly what I want without having to worry about is it good enough? Will other people like it? Oh and thanks for the chance to win Carla's book:)
ReplyDeleteI miss free time to sit and read, create, daydream.... I'm trying to make time for these necessities, and would love Carla's new book for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI miss my fearless approach to art I had as a child with no expectations at all except to get the color applied anyway I could! Now I deal with the inner critic beast...as well as all the (line, form, composition, etc) technicalities!
ReplyDeleteI miss not having to worry about bills, a clean house, and what I'm making for dinner!
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ReplyDeleteFirst, best wishes to your husband for a speedy recovery...What I miss most are the toys. They all had their personalities and their stories.
ReplyDeleteI miss my childhood friends. As you grow up some move away you lose touch and some just change into a whole different person.
ReplyDeletei miss the boundless energy. i have never really grown up. i still do silly things and like to play... just can't jump very high or skip very far anymore and when i daydream and pretend i usually fall asleep.
ReplyDeletehope your husband is feeing better soon. pneumonia is so hard to get over and it takes way too long. so glad the silliness is helping pass the time.
Oooh, yes, I'd love a chance to win this book! I have Carla's Drawing Lab and Imaginary Animals already and am itching to see this latest volume. I've always been a firm believer in art therapy (formal or informal) and could really use a strong dose of silliness right now. :)
ReplyDeleteoops - forgot to mention in my comment the what-I-miss thing! what I miss about not being a child anymore is the feeling of so much time and possibility ahead of me--now it too often feels like it's too late and I wish I had a "do-over" card to play!
ReplyDeleteI miss being happy go lucky and the only thing I had to worry about is what I was going to play next. I miss that for the kids now a days to.
ReplyDeleteI miss how slowly time went by as a child! As a grammie person, the decades are starting to blend together!
ReplyDeleteI miss fitting in to small spaces where bigger people couldn't. It was one of the rare privileges in a world that seemed to be filled with rules and "no's." Nooks and crannies felt reserved for the youngest who imagined them as caves and cliffs.
ReplyDeleteI took one of Carla's Art of Silliness online classes and I must admit it was one of the most freeing exercises I've ever done. I come from a family of 'perfectionists' and rarely had the freedom to have art be 'play'. I've enjoyed reading the comments of others and wish you all lots of Silly Art time. : ) If I'm fortunate enough to win Carla's book I will be so pleased. Thank you for the chance. cindy lee
ReplyDeleteI miss having all my family living together in one house. Now miles separate us and our visits are so infrequent. In regards to silliness, I should make time in my day for silliness, just like I do for other "chores" in my life. I would be a happier person for sure :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say that I don't miss my childhood at all, coming from an abusive family. The scars are still there mentally and physically, decades after it all happened. My father beat me so much that I have had two surgeries on my spine and now I live with daily chronic pain, a constant reminder of him. When they died I was not even sad...but when I lost my beloved cat, I was broken hearted and still am.
ReplyDeleteWorking with art has been a therapy for me and I have totally enjoyed Carla's books immensely. Doing the projects has boosted my self esteem that I can create art! It makes me very happy and takes me out of myself...I totally go into The Zone!
~~J~~