la Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico
March 17, 2010
Many of our friends and family have been following Bryce and Austin’s progress in the realm of writing through the Capaz Chronicle. This life style has actually opened up the freedom to expand their horizons in other creative areas. The areas in question might just surprise you.
Bryce has always loved to draw. Writing and drawing comics for the newspaper seems like a natural step for him, but what he really loves is to create new animals for a mythical planet that his friend Niall started populating before we arrived in Mexico. Most of the creatures are sea animals so far, but a new notebook of graph paper at Christmas really got the creative juices flowing for Bryce. He has transferred all of his previous drawings to his notebook and added some text about their habits and habitat, as well as adding new creatures to the ever growing menagerie. The notebook and “pink box” (which is kept as full as possible of colored pencils) often come ashore or out to dinner with us, so that when he gets “bored” with adult chatter, he can pull out his book and work on the next creation. This sounds like anti-social behavior, but actually all the kids will participate and they chat as they draw giving each other additional ideas for the newest animal at the table. Bryce is very proud of his work and really wanted some of it posted here on the website, so he came up with a plan of posting the four most popular pages. He has been surveying our cruising friends over the last few weeks and we got the top five animals scanned for your viewing pleasure.
Green Tip Sailfin Tuna
Forest Drakemen
Patricia’s Clownfish
Austin, on the other hand, has been sewing. He must take after me . . . . . and his dad, too (Brad was a sailmaker for 12 years so he knows what a sewing machine is and isn’t afraid to use it). At first, Austin tried his hand at embroidering his name. We really didn’t have the right supplies and the end product was not exactly what he wanted. Things changed when I decided to pursue a quilt on which I have dreamed of working during our crossing for almost as long as I have dreamed of going cruising. I brought most of what I would need, but for the first 6 months of our cruise didn’t even give it a second thought. Between reading a book about a crazy knitter and realizing how incredibly inexpensive fabric and notions are here in Mexico,I got the bug and started prepping the quilt project for our crossing. Austin may also have been influenced by Brad taking a couple of days to help another boat with some sail repair when we were in Tenacatita. Whatever the reason, Austin has been making forms out of pipe cleaners and then when he covers the forms with fleece and stuffs them, they magically transform into the cutest little stuffed animals. So far, he has created a rabbit, a golden eagle and a snake. The golden eagle was sent back to the states for his almost four year old twin friends, Duncan and Cedrick to share (it should be interesting to see how that scenario plays out, but there just wasn’t enough time to make two creatures!). There is a fish that is en process and on our last trip into the city, we stocked up so that there is a distinct possibility that we may have a small zoo of his animals in the aft cabin by the time we reach the Marquesas. At least I don’t have to worry about provisioning for them!
The Artiste
Bunny Rabbit
Golden Eagle
Snake
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3 comments:
What a fantastic job by both Bryce and Austin! They are doing so well with their creative talents! You are such fantastic parents to help their talents grow that way.
We will look forward to seeing what the future brings forth from them :)
Bravo Bryce & Austin!! Muy creador y que objetos magnificos del arte!
Keep up this wonderful endeavor.
Those drawings are great. I love the overall design, too, incorporating the detail sketches into the picture plane, as they would say in art school. My favorite is the tuna, I think. Great line, great color ... just great. I like the stitched guys, too, especially the one with the yellow feet!
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