Spending time creating art with adult son is a perfect Chrismas gift

This past weekend I celebrated Christmas with my son, Russell. It didn’t matter that it was mid-February, for us it was a holiday. Let me explain.

My family gathered at the farm at the beginning of January for our annual Christmas celebration. A crazy grab-bag of gifts was exchanged.

Russell wanted to give me something different. He signed us both up for an art class at the Trout Museum in Appleton. I love experiencing new forms of art. The best part, Russell would be doing this class with me.

Russ drove here the afternoon before our class. I was happy we could spend this extra time together. I also had a list of chores for him to do.

To start with, there was a 50-pound bag of birdseed in the back of my car that needed to be brought inside. If no strong person visited, I would have emptied the large bag of seed into buckets and hauled it in 15 pounds at a time. There was a time when I tossed bales of hay like they were nothing, not anymore.

I also had a lightbulb that needed changing. I could have done this chore myself would have needed a ladder to exchange bulbs. I’m glad I waited for his help. The darn glass bulb broke from its base. Russ needed a pair of pliers to pry it free. It took him a bit of finagling, but eventually, there was a working light again ‒ two chores completed.

My time with Russ also included time in the kitchen. Russ had brought a jar of sourdough starter for me. He and his wife, Cynthia, had taken a class making sourdough bread and this day he was going to teach me.

I had tried to work with a sourdough starter before, but that project didn’t last long. I killed it. This time Russ explained how I was to keep this starter alive and well.

Eventually, the time arrived to go to our art class. I had joined my daughters in classes before but never with my sons. They were up for other things, like fishing.

Our class at the Trout Museum was called Suminagashi. I had never heard of this before but soon learned that Suminagashi is a Japanese paper marbling technique.

Jessica Lomena demonstrated how we would create our pieces of art.

Tap water was placed in a plastic basin that would fit a sheet of printer paper. Two jars were at each station. One held water with a small amount of Dawn dish soap. The other jar had India ink. Our tools consisted of two artist paint brushes, one for soapy water and the other for the ink.

The technique was easy. In my left hand, I held the brush with the water. My right hand held the inked brush. First, I touched the tip of the water brush to the water in the pan, and then I touched the tip of the inked brush—only the tip.

Back and forth the brushes touched the clear water, floating circles of ink. I started with concentric circles but soon started to experiment with the placement of the ink. Russell was engrossed in his own creations.

When ready, a white piece of printer paper was set on the floating ink. Immediately it was removed, and the marbling could be seen.

No two pieces of marbled paper were alike. I walked around the room to see what other students were creating. I found out that if I blew on my floating ink, I would get jagged edges.

It was a fun experience for all the students involved. I especially liked spending time with Russ. The class was perfect for him, no drawing was involved.

Spending time with any of my children is always a blessing. I can’t wait for next weekend when a couple might stop by to play Dominoes. If we don’t get together in person, there’s always our Sunday evening Zoom gathering where we talk, laugh and play Yahtzee.

BTW: I recommend this art project for all skill levels.

Susan Manzke, Sunnybook Farm, N8646 Miller Rd, Seymour, WI 54165; sunnybook@aol.com; susanmanzke@gmail.com; www.susanmanzke.net/blog.