Make Believe Art Gallery
Here in New Jersey we are looking forward to a visit from my sister Emily and her family, who will be making the trek down from Maine. Sitting in my office looking at a piece of artwork my sister painted for me several years ago, I was reminded of something we used to play when we were younger.
I believe our babysitter Janine was the brains of the operation who came up with the fun little diversion. In part one of the game, armed with the personalized notepads of former coworkers that Dad used to bring home from work along with our own assortment of crayons, markers, chalk pastels and watercolor paints me, Emily and Janine would set about creating works of art.
When we had created an impressive number of works, it was time for part two of the game. We would each claim a corner of the family room and set up our own art gallery. Then, our pockets fat with fake money crafted from the same notepads, we would visit one another’s galleries, buying the artworks that most appealed to us.
We used to spend hours playing this game of make believe art gallery. Sometimes I reflect on how the game never really stopped.
Besides oil paintings based on old typewriter ads (okay, to my knowledge she only ever created the one for me) my sister creates one of a kind works of art out of found pieces of driftwood and other materials. She sells her artwork through her Maine Studio M Etsy store. It is in many ways very much like a version of our family room art galleries, though in this case thanks to the miracle of the internet her customer base is much larger and, thankfully, the money is entirely real.
While I am neither a painter nor a driftwood sculptor, thanks to digital art software I can turn my little doodles into graphics for an assortment of products. In their own ways my Teepublic shop or my Spoonflower storefront are also simply versions of those make believe art galleries that kept us entertained as kids.
This week I worked on turning this little drawing of a puppy dog wearing glasses and a bow tie
into artwork suitable for illustrating tote bags and a gazillion (or something like that) other products in my make believe art gallery Zazzle store.
So, I guess some of the games we play as children never really end. That said, a childhood friend and I used to play a game where we imagined we were stewardesses serving food to unruly passengers on an airplane experiencing such extreme turbulence that we would inevitably accidentally on purpose spill the imaginary food on the imaginary passengers. I can’t say that I’m disappointed that game hasn’t manifested itself as my present reality.
So, here’s to childhood games and the power of imagination. I hope you can find some to play this week. — Alissa
Weekly Inspiration
What I’m Reading: Penny by Karl Stevens
What I’m Watching: Canadian TV series Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays on Netflix
What I’m Listening to: The birds on top of the chimney serenading us with their spring melodies
Find out more about my books at alissagrosso.com
Find out more about my digital art at alissacarin.com
My apologies for the typos and such this post is almost certainly riddled with.