12.15.2005

Ava Thursday: Ava at Work/The Rose on the Table

And now for something completely different! In an attempt to prove to you all that I do not ghost-draw for my 5 1/2 year-old daughter, Ava, I was able to capture her in the act of drawing her next masterpiece. Here's a series of shots of Ava at work, deep in thought, and drawing like a fiend. If you ever get the glorious opportunity to watch Ava draw, it's quite a sight. But of course, I'm her father, so I'm supposed to say that. Seriously, it is fascinating to watch her create something out of nothing, right before your very eyes. I'm not really sure if she has something in mind before she draws it, but I'm assuming that she does, because sometimes she draws pretty quick. No questions asked.


Ava contemplating her next move.


A bird's eye view of my girl at work.


Ava's POV. Feel the creativity! Feel the genius flowing through you!


She's now moved onto the character to the right.


Almost done. Now she'll fill in the color where needed.

And thus...



Here it is! All done for everyone to enjoy. Funny little story here. Ava tells me that this is some girl who is surprised by how the rose on the table has suddenly grown so tall, like a sunflower. She says that the girl didn't know that roses could grow like that!

The rose has grown so fast that it knocked down a drawing and some crayons to the floor. That's a rug underneath the table. On the right of the rose on the table is a cup of hot coffee (Ava's grandmother, Meemaw, drinks coffee).

I like how the girl is so surprised that her glasses have fallen off.

There ya go. Thought that you all might enjoy seeing the girl in action. As I was taking these shots, Ava pretty much remained quiet the whole time -- just sat there and did her thang. No questions, no problems. Focused and with her patented "quiet determination." I try my best not to get too up in her grill when it comes to stuff like this, but sometimes a parent can't help it -- sorry, but we have to. Yes, sometimes it's overwhelming for us to do that to our kids, but I can't help but think that moments like this will be fleeting and I'll never have that moment again.

So it's cameras in the faces of our kids all the way, baby.

As always, you can click on the images to see their Flickr page, and then click on "All sizes" to view larger.

11 comments:

  1. Wow! This is a great documentation of Ava's creative process, preserved now for posterity. I always love the stories behind her drawings too. She may well be a children's book author/illustrator one day.

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  2. I know that you put a lot of careful thought and planning into each one of your posts, so I can only imagine how much extra time and care went into this one... it's a fantastic post! Love the chance to be able to see Ava do her thing. If all Ava Thursday posts documented her creative process, I wouldn't be disappointed one bit :D

    I really love the glasses flying off the girl face. The backstory for the illustration is solid gold. Do you and Andrea record the stories that go along with Ava's work?

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  3. i love this and i love that she always has a story to go with. what a vivid imagination.

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  4. so sweet! it must be amazing to see in person! i rreally like this drawing! all the action going on - the eye glasses...the mouth wide open - crayons falling! great post!

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  5. Thanks for the comments! I'm glad that everyone is digging this post. I was hoping that you all would be interested in seeing how Ava worked.

    And mom, I owe it to both you and dad. Thank you.

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  6. That is unbeatable. Amazing little imagination your girl has, and my favorite part is the flying glasses!

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  7. An amazing girl from a beautiful family! I can't believe she's only 5! ♥

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  8. I remember back in Mrs. Wade's 7th
    grade math class that my friend and
    I would come in early to snatch some free chalk from the blackboard tray (blackboards were actually black back then, not green) in order to entertain ourselves in the back of the class by drawing an inter-galactic version of Star Wars, the comedy, on the floor, adding to it each time the cute Mrs. Wade turned her eyes away from the class. We thought that we were very clever to not get caught passing our space adventure back and forth on conspicuous blue-line. I don't think that Mrs. Wade ever caught on, but I wonder what the janitors thought when they came in to mop the floors at night. I have a vision of Ava sometime in the future dual tasking in the same matter during one of her classes

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  9. very nice flavor here at ward-o-matic....i shall make it a frequent stop

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