Artsy Weekend with the Kid

Lilah spent the weekend with me in White River Junction, VT. It was nice to have an "easy" weekend without lots of homework - now that the big comic book project is finished!

She finally got to attend the Comic Club at my school and I heard her get up to present her character designs a few times. I was very proud of her - there were a lot of kids in that classroom! And her designs were pretty cool too.

Then we headed over to the Montshire Science Museum. There's a new exhibit about human bodies and technology. Very interesting - there was a mechanical arm built from Lego! The interactive exhibits do a great job helping explain what it is like to be blind - build different "canes" to navigate a sidewalk with obstacles, or missing part of your body - try riding a snowboard/wheelchair. There was a very intriguing wheelchair that had been adapted for a DJ!

Here is Lilah is experimenting with how extending the length of a person's arms or legs, and increasing their strength affects the height they can jump or throw a ball. The exhibit uses technology similar to a wii game system - her motions are mimicked by a stick figure character.

The place was packed, but they handle crowds well. We were able to take a workshop that used Gelli-plates for printmaking after listening to a short lecture about an artist who does paintings of holes cut into frozen lakes.

And then I sat and drew the giant stuffed moose...

Back at the apartment, we carved rubber stamps and started making our Valentine cards...

And Lilah tested out a new book I just got.

I'd heard about it during an interview at school with an editor at the publishing house. "The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering" is a great book and I would have bought it just because I love lettering - BUT - what makes it pure genius is that they have built a chalkboard into the front and back covers!!!

So you can fold out the back cover and actually practice while reading the book! Lilah did a bunch of flourishes and letters, but got really excited when she found this section on flowers...