Come on over to my NEW website . . .

Here's my new home . . . somewhere for me to show my drawings and  paintings as well as a place for me to talk about the things I'm interested in. Please come and visit and say hello!

https://robyn-adams.squarespace.com

Thinking of moving on . . .

I'm about to begin a new chapter. More paintings and drawings. A new website and blog. Please check back soon and take a look and see how things evolve . . .

Blue house

Imaginary friends are a common part of childhood. When I used to teach I had an amazing child in my reception class who had an extensive knowledge of birds. He had an imaginary friend that was a Heron, called Whisper. Whisper was part of our class for the whole year. He was called each morning at register time, he lined up for assembly and he came with us for p.e. lessons. He was also responsible for a few naughty incidents. When that child (Seyin) finished in my class he gave me a bird watching book. He knew every bird in the book. He wrote in the front of the book for me. I still have the book and it is a treasured posession.

My own children have been imaginary friend free. Recently my twins have been having  in depth conversations about the fact that they both have their own homes. One is painted pink, the other is blue. They discuss the things that are in their houses and the things that they do there. They invite each other over to play. Whilst my little girl knows this is just a game, my little boy has become convinced that his blue house is very much real. He has been asking me to take him there over the last few days and has been truly upset when I've said I can't. He says "I want to go home now, Mummy." He is furious when it is suggested that the blue house isn't real, and only in his imagination. The sad thig is that at his house it is Christmas. He has decorated it and there are presents under the tree and he needs to get back home to open them. Suggestions of building the house in lego are drawing it have been taken with great offense. 

I have drawn the house for him though. I doodled whilst chatting about it. When they were asleep I traced it with black pen, scanned it in and then did a bit to it on photoshop. I'm gradually getting my head around it - I filled shapes and selected different brushes and colours. The next day they helped me - T was very quiet and thoughtful about it - they chose colours and clicked into the shapes. 

Nowhere near to taking the pain away but it made him smile.

Happy Valentines day!

I think Valentines day is an opportunity to be unashamedly pink and fluffy! This is part of an illustrated alphabet I made before my twins were born. As part of retraining my poor baby brain I have printed out my original drawing, worked on top of it with pen and ink, scanned it back in again and worked on it a little bit in photoshop. 

Hope you like it, and hope you have a lovely valentines day with whoever (or whatever) you love . . . 

Happiness

I came across Gretchen Rubin's blog a while ago called "The happiness project." It's a bit of a treasure trove of quotes. Gretchen has done loads of research into factors that influence happiness, and I think there are some gems to be found. I downloaded the book onto my Kindle and I'm reading it at the moment. It's about a year spent on her own personal happiness project. I'd recommend having a look - at least at the blog. Its good for getting you thinking about your life and how to value what you have. It is easy to be swept up in day to day things and how busy/stressed/tired I am. Since reading this I've been really aware about the things in my life that are truly happy - there are lots. 

I love this quote. I think it's so true. I've definitely been guilty of bringing rain to my picnic a few times. I was testing out my new calligraphy pen (something that makes me happy!) and this phrase had been rolling around my head for a few days. It's from a writer called Harlan Coban that Gretchen Rubin had interviewed. Have a look. See what you think. And please bring sunshine to your picnic!