Kids, hands project

Kids and hands are fascinating subjects - the lines and contrasts, speculating on what is being said or thought. Here are some of the pieces of art I have painted about kids and hands.

I was sitting in church and while I was mostly paying attention to the speaker, I was observing some of the children. What began the muse was that one mother picked up her two month old baby, who had unusually long, curly hair with a little pink ribbon around her head. The baby's dress had a netting over-skirt that was pulled up out of place. As the mother put her on her shoulder, the netting bunched up giving it the look of an angel wing, the pink circle, a halo. It was so startling to see a thoroughly angelic look like she had just come from Heavenly Father's presence. Then I looked around at a dozen different settings of little kids, mostly oblivious to what the parents are there for, going about their little antics. Funny little pony tails askew, wide-eyed expressions, disheveled Sunday clothes, shoes off, eating snacks, playing with the usual assortment of toys and books. It was a fun look at humanity, the future of the church in its carefree innocence, before they have to get serious about repentance and paying tithing. It was a lovely experience, a treasure to stop, smell the roses and observe the punkinheads.

"When Angels Sleep in Church" ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^
What are they thinking? Cradled in her mother’s arms, the 2 month old sleeps in sweet billows of her Sunday dress that resemble angel wings and other ethereal surroundings. The abundance of her wispy curls gives her be-ribboned head the additional haloed look. The array of blanket, netting and soft fabric also make her little head look like the middle of a flower, amidst the decorative foliage and greenery in God’s garden of living beings.
Her physical mortal body rests often during her day, during this precious time of her young life, giving her mother some precious time to catch up. Depending on what beliefs surround the before verbal communication of this stage of infancy, there are ideas that can be surmised or imagined. There are many theories about an infant’s physical and mental state. Researchers who have documented in depth the movements of infants have recorded brain waves and minute reactions to stimuli. Regardless of the research no one knows what goes on in the minds of babies from birth to language capable. Even after a toddler learns to express language in multiple words, we can be puzzled by what they do and say. For the 2 month old whose movements are still a little awkward and stilted, we might say that the full sized spirit that inhabits the small body is confined, in an unable form, but learning to manipulate muscle, skin, nerves, burping mechanisms, arms, neck, eyes, learning to function with the involuntary systems, the digestive processes, the sleeping/breathing actions, being subject to discomforts of life, the inherent pains of growth, the collateral pains coming from what parents are slow to learn about babies.
As she sleeps within mother’s cradling, her spirit is not asleep; the Spirit is engaged in thoughts that linger from divine realms for quite a length of time that as adults, we have long forgotten. Even children in their third and fourth years have made comments about their pre-birth lives.
Baby monologues are sure to vary with thoughts of: "Oh, Mom feels so soft and safe. – the blanket is too warm – the zipper in my sleeper is scratchy – mmmm, the milk feels wonderful in my tummy – ouch, the bubble in my tummy is unbearable – Oooh, I don’t know what that is, but I like it!"
Her spirit thinks about her origins, her leaving from her Heavenly Father’s presence. She relishes the memory of being cuddled in the arms of loved ones beyond the veil, cuddled in the arms of her Savior as he sent her on her way to her earthly parents. Her spirit is continually functioning within her to learn the workings of her mortal body. There is a constant exercise of body parts when she is awake to develop and work the muscles, to see how her movements involve sensations of nerve and tendon, a constant and productive process in the body, while the mind and the Spirit learn from day to day experiences and struggles, the fun times and the lessons of mortal life.

Equipped with binoculars, water bottle, brimmed hat, her cool, breezy dress and a bright pink umbrella, the 10 year old sets out on the paths of the Rainbow Forest. Her mother has given her some insight into what she can expect to see and how warm it will be on this bright, August desert afternoon. She stops to touch the first huge piece of log, part of a once tall and monumental tree. It is a paradox that the word forest is used but now it is a horizontal and piecemeal forest. There are logs that reside in very long but broken remains of a primitive time. With her equipment in place, Umbrella Girl goes out to make the trek around this area of "forest" picturing in her mind what it might have been like a very long time ago. She looks for the signs of life that made the forest what it was at a time we have a hard time imagining. Maybe Umbrella Girl’s colorful imagination makes up for what has been missing for eons and what the trees were in their youth. Umbrella Girl is filling her youth with images to which she will refer in areas of her life into her adulthood, from a memorable trek under a pink umbrella.

The brothers carry the umbrella out on a day when there is a sparse sprinkle and still the presence of sunshine. Although it has been proven that little boys don't care if they get wet, it is still occasion enough to use the coveted item. It is fun to imagine what is being said beneath the wrinkly, skewumpas-ness of the rain shield. "It's my turn to hold the umbrella. Mom said for you to give me a turn!" "You can hold it when we get to that next rock." "You said that before the last rock."

Have we all been there, done that?

The cowgirl has a pleased look on her face. Someone has placed the large sized hat on her baby sized head, so she is enjoying the pleasure of a new experience. Her first response is to put her fingers in her mouth, part of the sensation of feel and touch. Her thoughts could be couched in terms of being the focus of attention, but they are more likely to be thoughts of how this hat feels, what it looks like as her view of her spotted outfit has been framed differently, also a change in her view of the floor and the light coming into her vistas of the world. She could be saying "Yippee ti-yi-yea!" but she hasn’t heard that song before. She could be saying "Oh, what fun, but what does this thing look like from the other side of it?" It has a hard, scratchy feel on my head. Where did all of the people in the room disappear to? Where did I put my cracker? I wonder where my kitty is tonight - Tula would like the hat. Tula plays with everything I like to play with." The cowgirl is 6 months old, so her verbal skills are still forming in her mind and on her tongue, but her Spirit is mature, working inside her little body, learning the ways of mortal beings as they grow and develop. The Spirit still has bright memories of Heaven’s light and love and companions. Her Spirit relishes new experiences and sensations that help her learn of earth’s light and love and companions; her parents, the cat, her same sized cousins, her grandparents. Adults who don’t have babies in their lives anymore are drawn to the inherent spiritual light of infants and toddlers for the wisps of ethereal essence that stay with small children for varying lengths of time. The hat is her soon-forgotten diversion in this brief moment of her day. Many more diversions and experiences await her curiosity as her Spirit grows in strength and control. She is the epitome of light and love as she makes her way through the companions of life.Everyone wants to hold the baby. Three week old Turner gets passed around among the relatives, while he sleeps through the imposition. Something about the energy of such a fresh little person makes us want to have contact with their small forms. We feel their innate charm; they give us feelings of joy and serenity. They have vibrations of energy from which we can draw and feel re-vitalized. It’s one of the gifts from Heavenly Father that compensates for later times, a buffer to prepare us to love the little sweeties even when they are giving us grief!