This week would have been my Aunt Kay’s birthday, and it felt a little bittersweet because she passed away last year. She lived with us while I was growing up and was like a second mother to me. Aunt Kay was full of life and color — she loved to paint and draw, and it was even her college minor. To honor her, I decided to spend an afternoon doing watercolor painting with Clara.
I know every parent says it, but my child really is an artist — somebody get this girl a beret.
The watercolor set was an impulse buy from Target — I couldn’t resist the bright, happy colors. I made a few simple, boxy paintings while watching Clara create her masterpieces.
My favorite of Clara’s pieces is full of gorgeous, vibrant colors. I’m definitely her biggest fan.
She also painted a smaller piece on some extra watercolor paper. She worked sideways at first, but when we turned it upright it looked like a pink sunset reflecting on water. Don’t you see it?
This little painting made me smile because a tiny red dot looked like a heart. Maybe it was just a happy accident, but I like to imagine that she was feeling the love while we painted and I told her stories about her Great Aunt Kay.
Here’s a close-up of the boxy painting I made, inspired by a shirt I saw on Instagram. I painted a handful of messy colored boxes that appealed to me and cropped the piece like this.
I thought two matching prints might look nice hung together, so I painted a second one to pair with it.
I’m undecided whether I prefer them hung horizontally or vertically — I’ll see how they feel on the walls when I finally get around to hanging them.
My last piece is similar in spirit to Clara’s first painting, though she definitely stole the show. Headline: Three-year-old wins the paint-off; mom couldn’t be happier.
I’ve made the paintings available as 8 x 10 printable downloads. Click any image to open a larger version that you can save to your computer by right-clicking or dragging it to your desktop. They brought a little brightness to a tough week, so I wanted to share them. To keep Aunt Kay’s memory alive, I’d also like to begin an annual tradition of donating to the MS Society, so I’ll be making a contribution in her honor.