Dipping into Art…Again

 The other girls found Jolena doing something very strange. "What are you doing, Jolena?" Mandy asked.

"I’m finger painting."
"That isn’t what finger painting is, Jolena," Veronika said. "I’ll teach you how to finger paint. Come to the kitchen."

When they reached the kitchen, Veronika got out a bowl and a spoon, a little bottle of food coloring, some flour, water, two cloth napkins and some plastic sandwich bags. She also had two doll-size pieces of paper to paint on.
"Now, when we do this kind of thing we always need to have grown-up nearby who knows what we're doing," Veronika explained. "That grown-up person is taking our pictures right now," she went on, "so we have that covered."
Veronika gave Jolena a napkin to use for an apron and tied the other napkin around her own waist to protect her clothes.  She suggested that Jolena should tie her hair back, too. "We will be using color, and we have to be very careful with it," she explained.

"First we need to make the finger paint," Veronika explained. She mixed some flour and water together and stirred it with a spoon. "There are other ways to make finger paint, but this one is the easiest."

Veronika picked up the plastic sandwich bags and put one on her hand. "Children can put their fingers right down in the paint, because they can wash their hands, and they can even grow new skin, but we are made of vinyl. Our skin and hair can stain," she explained. "It might be very hard to get out, and we can't grow new skin. We should wear some plastic bags on our hands," she said, putting a plastic bag on her hand. Jolena picked up the other plastic bags.

"Children still need to be careful with food coloring, because it can get on their clothes, even if their skin doesn't stain easily," Veronika pointed out.

They helped each other with the plastic bags, because it's easier to get the bag onto your hand if you help each other.

Then Veronika mixed some black food coloring with the flour and water. "Too bad we only have one color, but it will still be fun," she said.

Next she taped two pieces of paper to the work surface and put a little finger paint onto each piece of paper.

"Now you play with it until you like what you have," Veronika explained.

Each doll worked on her painting until she was satisfied.

"Why do children finger paint?" Jolena asked while the two dolls were working on their paintings.

"It’s art," Mandy replied.

"And what’s art?" Jolena asked, full of questions, as usual.

"Art gives us a way to show what’s in our minds and hearts," Mandy said. "We can draw or paint our dreams, our feelings and our ideas. If we are angry or sad it can help us feel better. If we are happy and grateful, it can help us enjoy those feelings more. Sometimes when we make something pretty other people are happy to see it, but it's always fun to do."

When they were done, the dolls cleaned up. Then they stood and looked at their finished finger paintings.

"My painting is about how beautiful the tree outside is," Jolena said, "and about how lucky I am to be here."

"I painted about how much I love you and how glad I am that you came to live with us," Veronika said. 

"While our paintings are drying, let me show you some other art," Veronika suggested. They climbed down from the sink and went into the dining room. "Here's an oil painting," Veronika said. "It was made with a special kind of paint that has oil in it. Usually the artist uses a brush. It takes a long time to dry, and sometimes the artist has to plan each part ahead of time, then wait for that part to dry before painting the next part."

Then they went into the bathroom and climbed up on the back of the toilet. "This is a cross-stitch sampler. It's made up of tiny threads," Vronika explained. "The artist used a needle to make the pretty design with the threads."

Then the girls jumped over to the sink, where Vronika grabbed the towel ring.

"This picture is made of paper," she said. "The artist folded the paper in half, and drew on it. Then she cut it out carefully and glued it to another piece of paper."

From there they went into the bedroom and climbed up on the bed. Vronika pointed to a framed picture on the wall. "This is really the work of two artists," she said. "The person who wrote the words was a writer who lived a long time ago. (Words can be art, too.) Then the person who painted the words onto a piece of paper was also an artist. That person made all the letters beautiful."

"How can someone be so good at drawing, cutting, painting and writing?" Jolena wanted to know. "I'm not that good at anything, except maybe skiing, and I still have a lot to learn about that."

"You have to study and practice, and then practice some more," Veronika said.

Jolena thought a moment. Then she said, "That sounds like a lot of work."

"It is a lot of work," Veronika agreed, "but when you enjoy what you're doing, that work is fun."

Then Vronika stood up on the bed and suggested they climb down. "I want to show you the best work of art of all, ever," she said. 

She took Jolena to the back deck, where they climbed up and sat carefully on the rail.

"This is my favorite work of art," she told Jolena. "God made this for us to live in."

"Art we can live in!" Jolena sighed. "God must have studied and practiced a long time to make this!"

"Yes, art we can live in. A lot of art is useful," Veronika agreed. "Mandy knits. Knitting is a skill. It's also a kind of art; it's art you can wear."

"Is there a kind of art you like best, Veronika?" Jolena asked.

"I like to make quilts," Veronika replied.

"Quilts can be on the wall to look at or on the bed to keep you warm at night," she explained. "They are beautiful and useful."

Veronika asked Jolena to help her drag the kitchen ladder into another room. "Look at this," she said.

"It's beautiful," Jolena exclaimed. "Did you make it?"

"No," Veronika replied. "I'm not this good yet. I know I can learn to be this good, though. I just need to study and practice. A lot. But I enjoy learning and practicing, so it's fun."

The girls started down the stairs. Jolena had to get ready for her ballet lesson, and Charlotte had to go to her violin lesson. They were going to ride together. As they went down the stairs, Veronika and Jolena kept talking. (It's slow going down the stairs if you're very small.)

"Wow!" cried Jolena. "Art can be so many different things!"

"Yes," Veronika agreed. "Houses and furniture are art. Books and statues are art. Cooking is art. Pictures taken with a camera are art." 

As they reached the sewing room, where Mandy and Charlotte were waiting, Veronika was saying, "Dance is art. Music is art."

"Dance is art!" Jolena exclaimed. "Jolena takes dance lessons to help her with her tricks on skis."

"Music is art?" asked Charlotte.

"Music and dance are forms of art," Mandy said. "People watch and listen. The dancers and musicians show what they feel and what they've practiced, and people can see and hear that."

"Will we ever be good enough at our arts?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," Mandy replied, "but we all have to study and practice, and practice some more. It will be hard work, but it will be fun."

Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni

Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2018, 2023 by Peggy Stuart

The Interview—In Print

When Emil came home from school, he had the latest edition of the school paper, the one with Mariah's latest interview in it. He had read it on the way home.

Mariah and Pippa had been expecting Emil, so they met him at the front door. Emil handed the school paper to Mariah. He knew she was excited to read her article.

Pippa and Mariah sat down on the bottom step of the stairs and began to read the article.

It was fun to see what she had written in print.

I've always wanted to interview a real human person, Mariah told them, as the dolls finished reading the article.

"What made you think to interview The Writer?" Emil asked.

"Well, for one thing," Mariah replied, "it was convenient, since The Writer lives here with us, but also, I really wanted to ask her how she learned to do all the things she needs to know to write the stories."

"It says," Emil read, "that she wanted to be an artist when she was a child, but that the only thing she was good at doing was knowing what didn’t look real, which was most of what she drew, so she was discouraged.”

"Yes," Mariah agreed. "Then when she was in seventh grade, she decided she wanted to write stories."

"So that was when she started to write stories! That was a long time ago!" Pippa exclaimed.

"It’s said in the article, though" Emil said, "that she couldn't think of anything to write."

"Oh, that's right," Pippa remembered. "In the article, it says that even when she was in high school she couldn’t think of what to write, so she gave up writing, except when she had an assignment. It was easy to write when someone else gave her a topic."

"She did like to read, though," Mariah explained, "and I’ve always thought that if you want to learn how to write, you need to do a lot of reading."

"She said she was always interested in learning new things," Emil said. "That may have something to do with why she liked reading. She liked science and math and music and dance." Pippa opened the paper back up to find where it said that.

"Foreign languages, too," Mariah pointed out. "She told me that learning another language is a little like going to live in another country. It isn’t just about the words and how they’re put together; you get to learn about what life is like in the country where that language is spoken."

"You also get to read their stories," she added.

"But this is where it gets interesting," Mariah pointed out. "After she got married and had a family, they moved around a lot because of her husband’s work."

"Each time they moved to a new place," she explained, "no one was hiring for the job she had in the last place, so she had to do something new."

"I see she taught school for a while," Pippa said, opening the paper up again, so she could show them where it said that. 

"I think the most interesting job she had," Emil suggested, "was when she became a journalist. She says the magazine gave her something to investigate and then write about. Writing became easy, because she didn’t have to think up the subject. Maybe," he continued, "that’s why writing is so much easier for me when I’m answering a question on a test or the teacher asks us to pick a planet and write about it."

"But see?" Pippa said, as she brought his attention back to the article. "She said when she worked for the magazine, she had to work closely with the art person."

"The art director (dih-REK-ter)," she corrected herself. "She learned how to select artwork and photos, and how to do something called..." she found the place in the article, "a layout, whatever that is."

Mariah knew what a layout was from working on the school paper. "That’s how you put the text…the writing…on the page with the photos or drawings." She took the paper from Pippa and showed the other dolls the front page. "You arrange everything so it looks good and makes someone want to read it."

"They use a computer program," Mariah explained, "they to put all the parts together. She had to use the computer to edit the words if they didn't fit the layout."

"All that explains how The Writer can write, select the photos for the stories and do the layouts for the books," Pippa said, "but how did she start writing about us?"

"That’s the best part!" Mariah told her. "You see, The Writer's grandchildren needed clothes for their dolls, but they lived a long way away, so she bought the same kind of dolls her grandchildren were getting. That way, she would have a doll she could use as a model, so the clothes would fit. Later she bought Veronika from someone who needed to find her a new home."

"She was very surprised," Mariah explained, "to find out that she could hear Veronika talk to her. She was very surprised to see Veronika move around the house and do things."

"Also," she said, "and Billy could tell you more about this, about that time, The Writer got a phone with a really good camera. That meant that she didn’t have to run and get her camera when she saw Veronika at the sewing machine. She just took out her phone and got pretty good photos."

"She took a lot of photos," Mariah explained, "and now she didn’t have to pay for film and developing, so it didn’t matter if she took 50 shots to pick from. She could take lots of photos and pick the ones that looked right."

"Maybe that," Emil observed, "goes back to when she was a little girl, I think, when she looked at her drawings and realized they didn’t look real."

Mariah and Pippa thought about that and decided there could be a connection.

"So then," Emil told them, "Veronika realized The Writer could hear her talk and see when she did things, so she asked her to get her a friend who was like her, like the friends she had lived with in her first home. Mandy came to live with them. The Writer learned that Mandy was good at science."

"I saw the photos Billy took for the paper," Emil said, "but where did the one of the little girl come from?"

Mariah knew which photo Emil meant. "That’s The Writer," she said. "It’s her photo from kindergarten."

"It looks very old," Emil said, as the dolls opened up the paper again and looked at the photo.

"She looks a little like Veronika," Pippa said.

The other dolls thought it did, sort of.

"Will Veronika look the way The Writer looks now when she gets old?" Pippa asked.

Mariah laughed. "No," she said. "Dolls don’t change in that way. We can get damaged, but we don’t grow up and grow old the way real human people do. Veronika will always look like Veronika.”

“And Pippa will always look like Pippa,” Emil added.

Pippa decided that wasn’t a bad thing.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Photo of child drawing by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash (cropped)

Photo of person writing by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash (cropped)

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2023, 2024 by Peggy Stuart