Finished?

I nag Julia a little, about her art. I shouldn't. This is a piece she started in her art class before Christmas. A two-hour class isn't much time to finish something.

I like her watercolors. I like her buildings and houses. I really wanted her to finish this one.

So I sent it back with her last week. She likes the cross atop the steeple, sitting clear above the fuzziness below. Is it mist? Fog? Just a watery sky?
I hate to nag. But I also hate having a stack of artwork, all unfinished, you know? To nag or not to nag .... I remind her that I'm paying for the class. That's probably not helpful either.

But she's obliging, and she completed the piece and gave it to me. She would not hand over the little acrylic she painted this week, the one with the black trees. She liked that too much. She's given her only oil -- a very nice one -- to Peter, who wanted to take it back to his dorm room! I put my foot down on that one. No Art In The College Dorm. New Mama rule. So I'm babysitting it until he graduates and has a home fit for it.

It's been too cold here to walk the last two days, but the last time we had a warm morning, Julia and I started our school day with a good walk around town. Here's a view of the bridge I haven't shared before. She sitting there, gazing out to the river. Homeschooling is often very nice, especially when you have only one student and you've been doing it awhile. If you think there's no way you could take your kids out of their daily school setting, the grind of assignments, classes, bells, people, rides, practices, and all that, sit and talk with them about it. You might find one of your kids who would rather take a walk, sit under a bridge, paint watercolors, play with the dogs, and do occasional algebra ... instead. You never know.
(If anyone wants to see more of Julia's art, the best way is to just click on the "Art" label over there on the right sidebar.)