Pine-cone games

Fancy toys don´t teach you to play,
playful parents might.

Play

A few weeks ago I talked with a mum who complained to me that her children had lots of toys but did not want to play with any of them. They were bored even, she said.
Play and creativity comes natural to children I thought. When we were boys, we used to play with sticks and rocks and pine-cones when out of the house. One time, our dad came up with a funny game with the pine-cones we found on the forest-paths. Many of the times afterwards when we were in the forest, we would run around and look for pine-cones, regardless of the season. Play and creativity is also learned from parents, siblings and friends. When a child only has a computer or smart-phone to play with, it´s less likely to develop it´s own creativity and empathy.

Thanks mum and dad for playing with us, and having fun with us.
And thanks for encouraging us to be creative.

Play-time

I am alone in my office these weeks, and really miss my collegues. My best and most fun ideas have come when I am in a relaxed "play-mode". Trying to stress and produce a good result is often counter-effective and very difficult. I have been switching between "play-mode" and "production-mode" this past week (hear John Cleese talk about the same thing in this video). I have been working on introductory pages for the story of Jonah. I have been trying to figure out a really good way to show that this book is about God´s mercy, for the israelites, and for all the peoples around them.

Her favorite book
 

A real little fan

For a couple of years ago, I illustrated a children´s book, a christmas story. And yesterday I talked with the author of this book. She had heard from a lot of kids that they really liked my drawings. That is always fun to hear.
One mother she had talked with said that her daughter would take her book with her to lots of places, all year round. Even though the little girl knew very well is was a christmas-book, she still wanted to read it out of season. Hearing this is such a precious gift to my heart.

Thanks again pa and ma for encouraging my creativity.

Our house has snowed under pretty good this week

A sneak peek of something I have been working on in the last weeks,
I hope to show you the whole drawing in march.