Not Too Shabby For An Amateur

I have zero artistic talent. Zero. I still draw people the same as I did in the 5th grade. I kid you not. I still have artwork I did in that grade level. I have not improved.

However, I do find myself attempting to be creative for the sake of my children.

And I think I may have found my calling.

I have done various art projects over the past two years for the kids. Little things I have purchased at craft stores to paint and the like.

About a week and a half ago, our neighbors around the corner had their interior doors replaced. I know this because they chucked the old ones out onto the curb.

I took two of them.

Looking like the poster child for National Geographic, I balanced the damned thing on my head and walked through the neighborhood back to my house.

I am sure the neighbors got an eyeful.

One of the doors was a closet door, and I thought it would make the perfect play table.

Hubbie thought I was nuts.

I probably am.

After a quick trip to the local orange hardware store where I raided their odd-lot paint cans, I decided on a pirate scene to go with the Tiki Room theme of the playroom. Here is what seven bucks worth of paint and a couple of hours will get you.

Architect-In-Training

This afternoon, LittleBird helped me plot out the border. And yes, that is a dashboard hula dancer you see. We call him our "Hula Dude". Seriously. When LittleBird wants to play with him she yells "Mom! I wanna play with the Hula Dude!"





Welcome to Elementary School

Then I traced and freehanded some pretty rough-looking sketches.



Filling in the Ocean

Okay, so not only is it tacky enough that I am wearing a wife-beater, but it is on inside out. And pecker-head Hubbie didn't say anything. To add insult to injury, all I can think of when I see this photo is the Mel Brooks classic: Why didn't anybody tell me my ass was so big?



Turning the Corner

Silhouettes start to appear. This might not be so bad after all.


Filling in the Details

I did eventually let Hubbie do a few things, but I was having so much fun it was hard to share.



Almost there.



The Finished Product--For Now

Done for the night



Where it lives in the playroom.


I will be adding in sea animals like dolphins and and octopus or two. I think this is a damn fine piece of art for an evenings worth of work. I could seriously do this on a daily basis, I enjoyed myself so much.

The next thing on the list after adding in the animals is to seal the damn thing so that the kids don't fuck it up with markers and crayons. I want to be able to wipe it off and make it waterproof. Thanks to Krishanna over at AlteredArtist I've gotten some great advice on how to do that.

LittleBird is going to be pissed that I painted without her, but I am pretty damned proud of myself tonight.

So what did we learn today? My kids are going to end up with a kickass table for their playroom. I will never wear those shorts again. And I may have found my second calling.