Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Childhood Reminders, More Art Attack (I'm so ashamed) and the REAL fine art in our home...

From the time I was 3 years old until I was 6, we lived in Japan. My dad was in the Air Force and that's where we were stationed at that time. I don't remember much really, except the earthquakes, my first boyfriend (slobber faced Mark, whom I loved with all my kindergartner's heart) and my dad making me ride my bike without my trusty training wheels (really think he could have been a little more sympathetic to my fear on this subject and a little less snarky). I wish I had retained more of the memories from our time overseas. Even some of the things I think I remember, I'm not sure are accurate. Frustrating. But anyway, last Friday Randey and I went "antiquing". That's what we call it when we go junk shopping. lol We were at a place in Ft. Worth and had just about finished walking through there when Randey spotted this: A Pachinko machine! Talk about sweet childhood memories! We played one of these all the time - my parents even brought one home from Japan when we moved stateside (sure wish I knew what had happened to that one!). I had seen one in another antique place in Benbrook, Texas a couple of months ago and showed it to Randey. But that one was $100, had pieces missing and was no where near in working order. This one, however, was marked $40 and seems to be missing just the "leg" braces and the actual Pachinko steel balls, which you can order on e-bay. I was so excited! We snapped it up, of course. Well, "snap" might not be the perfect word to describe what we did with it because the darn thing weighs a ton! Randey hefted it up and lugged it to the front desk. There. That's more accurate. This machine even came with original paperwork that shows it to be "reconditioned from Pachinko parlor use to home use". The date says it was reconditioned in 1973 and states that the machine was no more than 2 years old at the time of reconditioning. I have no idea what on earth I'm going to do with this beast or where I'm going to put it, but I do know that seeing it has allowed me to recapture a small and fun part of my childhood memories. (*big smile*)

Oh and one other thing we found is this (spotting that Pachinko machine must have brought us good luck!):

Another piece of "art". LOL This one is tiny - probably only about 5 x 7 inches, although the frame, of course, gives it a little more bulk. Kat says I'm not supposed to say how much I pay for art, so I won't tell you what it cost. Well, except to say Randey thinks it was the best $5 he's ever spent on a painting. HA! (Sorry, Kat I couldn't help myself. Buying cheap is just such a thrill for me. lol) So I guess we're still suffering from our art attacks after all. And while we have a lot of fun finding these landscape paintings together, our real art collection comes from our children. Let me show you what I mean...


See this? Jake did this one in 2nd grade and won first place in the Okaloosa County Elementary School Art Competition. I adore this masterpiece.
Jake also writes poetry and won a contest with this poem (you can click on it to enlarge it enough to read what it says). This poem was written when Jake was 13 and was published in a book of poems.
Kaleb's done a little artwork himself. Now I'm not normally a fan of Picasso and his ilk, but I like this one. Kaleb did it I think it 5th or 6th grade. Very cool. Kaleb also did this picture - I believe when he was in 9th grade. I love the intense colors.
Des did this metal rendition of a butterfly in one of her school classes years ago. Des was never one for enjoying crafting or anything so this object is particularly special. It's probably just about the only thing of its kind that she's ever done.
Now we come to Nick's artwork. You have to understand that Nick is my oldest (he's almost 7 years older than Desiree', my second child). When Nick was very young, we moved a lot. It was just him and me and we didn't really have any roots anywhere. Seeing as how we moved so often, I (sadly) don't have a lot of his "art projects" from school. In fact, the only reason I have this piece of art is because my Aunt Ginger saved it (she adored Nick - spoiled him rotten every chance she got and treasured everything about this kid). I'm so grateful that she saved this, Nick's "turkey hands".
Nick, however, is not so grateful. He says it makes him look like he's a tad bit goofy. Here Kaleb and Jacob have their Van Goghs and Picassos and even Des has a metal work that has a certain complexity to it and then there's Nick, with his turkey hands. Listening to him gripe about how I put all their work up together and his ends up looking somewhat "lacking" is actually half the fun, to tell you the truth. Naturally, I think his turkey hands are beautiful! And so will his children some day, when they see his artwork. I display our finest art on this wall, mainly:
My children...artists, every one. That landscape picture fetish Randey and I have is just for funnies. We know the value of real art. How could we not, with examples like this in our home?


23 comments:

  1. It is wonderful that you make room in the "art gallery" for the masterpieces from the kids (turkey hands and all, LOL)!

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  2. Nice art. hugs and blessings

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  3. YOU LUCKY YOU!!!
    All artists around you!
    hugs!
    ;-)

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  4. Kid art is priceless, for sure. I have one of those amazing kid reproductions of Starry Night in my house too (I noticed Kaleb's and he did a great job!). My youngest is the artist and her masterpieces are all over the house - I cherish them all. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  5. I'm not supposed to encourage you anymore, but dang, this was funny and I got such a kick out of the pachinko purchase because it gave me a GREAT idea for my photoStory friday (sorry Sandi, I know you told me not to encourage Kari's art addiction). LOVE the kid art wall. To make a reeeally long comment, I actually had a dream I walked into my living room and it was covered with pictures. I was wondering when I did that (note to self: don't read Kari before bed) :-)

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  6. Awwww--I love the wall of your kids art!!! Priceless!!!

    My kids did some dinosaurs in a class one summer--I put them away when we moved from our "larger" home. Now I may have to get them out!!

    I think your "cheap" art escapades are just great!!! How fun to find the bargains!!! Keep it up!!!

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  7. Hey Kari,

    First off I don't about about pachinko but it looks like fun and I love kid art, it is the most special kind of art. I was by here last nite and blogger was again giving me trouble when I tried to write a comment so I am glad I can comment tonight. Hey I love your landscape art. I need to get me some art. I am more of a photo fanatic and have photos of everyone all over the place. Hope you are doing well.

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  8. Kari,

    I love the treasures you find when you are antiquing. I especially love the art of your children and I think the turkey hands are wonderful. Such precious memories. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  9. Okay now I love the "children's wall of art"...it's priceless. I love the little landscape too and it should be in a giveaway, and I should win it. Okay? I remember when your car caught on fire, too...in fact it was the main topic of conversation for a while, because Michael was asleep and we had a heck of a time dragging him out, too...Sissy and Michael, so much alike, lol!
    love ya
    Aunt Sandi

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  10. Ah, I love this wall of priceless masterpieces!

    Check out my giveaway,
    Hugs, DebraK

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  11. I'm an art lover and I think I love children's art the best of all. They put their hearts and souls in their work.

    Y'all would get along great with my husband, he's the "antiquer" in our family. The barns full of the finds that won't fit in the house. :-)

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  12. Our children (and grandchildrens) art...priceless! I love how you've created a gallery of their art.

    Hugs!
    Kat

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  13. Kari, I just love your blog so I nominated you for a blog award. You can check it out here:
    bookfan-mary.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-award-nomination.html

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  14. I love your children's art gallery! I have a whole stack of my own kiddo's artwork that I want to get framed. You've just inspired me to get busy working on them.

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  15. The very best art is the art of your children. It's absolutely priceless!!

    Pat

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  16. I'm here via DebraK... I love the Pachinko Machine. Very good find. I'm also having fun perusing other posts.

    You mentioned bias in the news coverage... We only have one candidate for President, don't we? Obama? He's on the other side of the world acting like President and he doesn't even have the Democratic nomination yet. Yikes.

    I'm teasing about one candidate,but—like you—I'm really tired of being manipulated. I just want the facts.

    Oh happy day,
    KJ

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  17. Kari that is one of the best things I've ever seen.

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  18. Okay, Kari, enlighted this California girl... What is Rotel?

    KJ

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  19. Kari...
    Those drawings are masterpiece's created by non other than God's masterpieces...your children...I have some of my kiddos art that I have been saving for far too long that I have intended to frame...in my new home...giving the fact that hopefully I will have a place to display more art...I'm going to take a cue from you...and put up a gallery! I have handprints of both my children...plus the handprint turkeys...one year...I managed to copy those little handprints onto pillows...then I stiched around the handprints...and made little turkeys out of them...I was going to make pillows out of them...and put them out during Thanksgiving and fall months...guess what...they are still in my stiching basket...waiting to be made into pillows....I'm such a looser! I need to get busy on things like that...they truly are some of the things that give me the most pleasure...Thanks for reminding us...what true art really is!

    Blessings...
    Teresa

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  20. Amen, the most valuable of all hangin' right there on your wall!! Wonderful!!!!

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  21. I love your wall of art, always have. I can't wait to have one of those in my house. I still have to post on Maddy's art work, hopefully tomorrow. Hope you have a good day. The monkey sends a big, wet, slobbery kiss! Love ya!

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  22. I love that you've framed your kid's art. Those are always my favorite things when my kids bring them home.

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  23. I love the way you use your walls to display your heart!!

    Be blessed.

    Jen

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