New Smocks and Wet on Wet Painting

The main mama-made for Rowan's birthday was painting smocks for both boys.  Rowan loves to paint and is notoriously messy, so it was the perfect gift.  I found the tree fabric when I was home this summer and used old sheets (that had been cut up for another project somewhere along the way) for the sleeves.  Jonah's is from some dino pillow fabric and the sleeves are sheets again.  Jo chose the dino fabric from my stash and loves it, and even though it wasn't my favorite fabric to work with, he is thrilled and, I suppose, that is what matters.  I used the pattern from the Little Things to Sew from Oliver + S, which is such a fun book (you'll be seeing more from it in the future).  I did omit the pockets, because I know my two year old and pockets when he is holding brushes full of paint really aren't a great idea!

Both sets of grandparents sent Rowan wonderful art supplies for his birthday, which we are so excited about!  And this week, in the midst of potty training and with no Daddy around (he's at a conference), it was the perfect time to try out the stockmar wet-on-wet watercolors.  We've only ever used pallet watercolors, so this was a wonderful discovery!  Even Jonah, who isn't typically overly excited about art projects was begging to make picture after picture (note to self: must wishlist lots of watercolor paper!).  Wet-on-wet painting is a true exploration of color and even mama had to make one, because it looked so fun!

Yes, he is using both hands at once, Jonah still hasn't declared handedness and writes and draws equally well with both hands... go figure.  I'm pretty sure Rowan is a lefty as he switches to his left a lot, but we'll have to wait and see. 

"Its like being up high in the sky or down on the ground and looking down or looking up" (at autumn leaves) - Jonah

"A Mangrove Swamp" by Jonah - I was just going to introduce two colors today and make autumn colors (thinking maybe we'll cut leaves and pumpkins from their paintings), but after his first painting Jonah really wanted to use blue to make water.