The Vashti Project

So I've been casting around for an idea for something to do with Jo this summer. Some ongoing project that could be broken down into smaller projects - like every day identifying a tree in our new yard, but less her-looking-over-my-shoulder-while-I-look-things-up. On Saturday we spent all day visiting studios for the Toe River Arts Council Studio Tours and also down in Asheville for the open studio day in the River District. I decided to cap off the day by reading a few of our favorite books about creativity with Jo. We started with Milli, Jack, and the Dancing Cat. I love that one. Then we moved on to The Dot by Peter Reynolds (featuring the very best art teacher in the history of the world) and it hit me. We could spend the summer making dots!
In the book, Vashti won't even try in art class because she thinks she can't draw. Her teacher encourages her to make a mark and Vashti (who is clearly feeling pissy) just jabs a random dot on the page and shoves it at her teacher. Her teacher, undaunted, picks it up, looks at it thoughtfully, then hands it back and asks Vashti to sign it. The next time Vashti comes to class she finds HER little dot, hanging over the teacher's desk in a swirly gold frame! Wow! She decides she can make a better dot than that and she's off on an artistic bender. It's awesome.
So I mentioned the idea to Jo and she loved it. I told her we would start the next day and we would use paint. As soon as she woke up she asked when we were going to make dots.

So here is round one. It's always fun to get out the paints and mix colors. Jo and I each made a few and these are her favorites - one favorite from me and one from her.