Living With An Artist...

Living with an artist is a mess; a beautiful mess!

Just now Caden drew a lovely picture of one of our neighbors walking her dogs and wanted to deliver it to her.  I sent him over by himself (a very difficult task for a shy little guy).  A few minutes later he came home just sobbing with his picture still in his hand.  He would not tell me what happened.  I finally deduced that someone else had answered the neighbor's door and Caden didn't say a word just ran away.  So I grabbed the picture and headed back over, Caden came with me to the driveway and then ran away again.  Come to find out, our sweet neighbor had just had surgery, so her daughter had answered the door.  I explained that Caden was a little shy, but he wanted our neighbor to have his picture.  She loved it.  When I told Caden after that his little picture had helped cheer her up after her sugery he was thrilled.  He told me he must have listened to the Holy Ghost to know that she really needed that picture to cheer her up when she really needed it.

I would love to be able to see just a glimpse into Caden's beautiful mind.

I fondly call him my absent minded professor because he has such a quick, sharp mind and a memory that remembers EVERYTHING...but he can't be bothered with the small details in life, like wearing underwear, putting shoes on the right feet, or wearing his pants the right direction.

His art is constant, and it's the biggest mess in the world.  As many times as I've tried to organize him little "art studios" the art just can't be contained.  There is a constant parade of cut up paper scraps, crayons, and markers scattered all through the house at all times.

Sometimes his need to create art feels almost manic, he can't stop...he continues his masterpieces on his way to the bathroom, under the kitchen table, in Quinn's crib, all over the house!  When it's time to get in the car to go somewhere there's always just a last minute addition to whatever project he is working on, he just can't stop!  Part of me loves the constant creations that he tapes to every wall with Scotch tape, right now there are race cars all over the house, even found one taped to the shower this morning.  The other part of me has to really work on letting the mess go, not worrying about my oddly decorated house where every wall has a lot of Scotch tape, and reminding myself that the messes will get cleaned up at some point.

The Heart Family is the newest art installation at the Johnson home.

But every once in awhile (like this week after scrubbing the banister with a Magic Eraser for 20 minutes to remove the new Sharpie decorations) I had to ground him from his markers.  It's been torture!  I bet Picasso's mom would have never taken away Pablo's favorite medium.

Clark made his day this week by taking time one night to color Caden a picture and left if for him to find the next morning.

Oh Caden, my artist, you are a beautiful little mess!