It may not be fine art but...

 When I went to Furman University as a Freshman, I had a hard time narrowing down my majors.  My list of possible majors included:  Religion, English, Music, Science (biology), Art, and Spanish.  Looking back I would have added "Health and Exercise Science" and "Education" to the list, since I have become a birth educator and am interested in both teaching and midwifery.  The only subjects I always knew I did NOT want to pursue were History, Political Science, and Math.  All this to say, I have a LOT of interests.  Probably one of my greater weaknesses is my tendency to spread myself thin because I want to do everything.  Well, I settled on a double major in Art and Spanish.  I love art.  I love to challenge my mind to come up with creative solutions and to create beauty.  College was the most fantastic place for art.  With my own studio and every piece of equipment imaginable at my fingertips, the sky was the limit.  Hours and hours were poured into sketching, painting, pottery, furniture making... 

Well now today, it turns out I'm pretty decent at creating human beings too :).  I love being a mother.  Sometimes, though, I think about the day when I'll get more time back for myself so I can again sit for hours painting and drawing.  It has struck me this past month, however, that I find my own unique ways of doing art.  A dear friend commented on the birthday parties I throw and how my cakes look so creative (creative in the sense that makes other moms roll their eyes and say "Now, why did you have to set the bar so high?").  And it hit me that I LOVE making those cakes!  "It is my artistic outlet," I replied.  "I miss art, so I get to use it in making my kid's cakes.  It's ok if not all Mom's enjoy trying to make a pteranadon cake, but I personally love the challenge."  So, I wanted to share the funny ways I've gotten to add art into my life the last month and a half:

 Justin and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on August 7th.  I painted this picture for him.  It is the image I have in my memory of the first time we truly met face to face.  We tossed a tennis ball back and forth at the end of a church youth camp while we waited for my mom to pick me up. No picture from that day, so I did my best to paint the memory.

 My 4 year old daughter, Vera, is enjoying a show called "Creative Galaxy."  It shows kids all sorts of interesting crafts they can do.  "When can we make stuffed animals!?" she cried out after watching.  I initially wanted to change the subject and run away from the idea, but instead I said, yes, we would do that.  Out came my dusty pile of old clothes I was keeping for such a time as this, and before long we had a princess for Vera and a velociraptor for William.  They have a running list of other stuffed animals they want me to make... but we will see. :)  We also made tie dye shirts inspired by the show.

 When I went searching for yarn for the princess's hair, I came across my knitting things.  Turns out I'm creating another one of those amazing kiddos due to come in April, so why not knit my first ever baby blanket?  I enjoy working on this at night with Lea when the little kids are in bed.  We'll chat or watch a show while we knit or crochet.

 This last one might be my favorite.  Justin needed a fake Chick-fil-A sandwich and icedream cone to be used as trophies for work.  He was going to make them out of Lego's but quickly gave up.  I have never really, ever, never ever been able to "help" Justin with work or be a part of what he is doing there (other than eating the yummy food of course)... so I almost shyly suggested, "Maybe I could make them for you?"  I had three days to get them done with little to no time to run out to a store (and I wanted the extra challenge of using materials I had on hand).  My pottery clay was all dried up (so so sad... sitting down in the basement by itself not getting used!), I didn't have any balsam wood to carve, Styrofoam didn't seem quite right... so I made a simple clay from flour, salt, and water.  I formed the sandwich and cone (the cone was much more difficult than the sandwich because it is vertical and the clay was rather droopy).  I baked the pieces and then painted them with my paints (left over from college!).  Almost good enough to eat?

The trophies turned out great and the recipients seemed to agree.  "If I ever had a 'non-mom' job, that's one thing I'd love to do!" I told Justin.  "Tell me what you want/need me to make with limited resources and time... I LOVE to make it happen." 
Thanks for letting me share my creations with you.  Have anything you'd like me to make?? ;)