Mother breaks out of artist's block with the help of her two-year-old's doodles
Artist Ruth Oosterman had her worst artist's block while she was pregnant with her daughter Eve.
She told Buzzfeed it was when Eve was born that she suddenly was able to create art again, because Eve became her muse.
“I would paint with her strapped onto my chest and when she was old enough to use a crayon, we began sketching together,” Ms Oosterman said.
The artist, who lives in Toronto, said that one day, one of her two-year-old daughter's doodles caught her attention, and she envisioned a piece she could create out of it.
“I thought I could see the forms of two people standing by the shore and then the idea for the collaboration hit me,”she said.
“I have always dreamed of collaborating with her but assumed it was still a few years away before she would be old enough. I realised that we were already collaborating and didn’t even know it.
Ms Oosterman tried to look at the doodles from her daughter's point of view and used watercolours to create the final look.
That's how their first painting, The Red Boat, came to life.
Not just Ms Oosterman, but Eve would have a blast doodling and chatting with he mother about what she's drawing.
“I will either use these conversations as inspiration for the paintings or, if she is silent, I will use something she did or said that day to find a direction,” she said.
She updates her blog and her YouTube channel with all of their new material and even sells their artwork on Etsy.
The money she makes from that is put in a fund that will pay for Eve's education.
It's more than just using her daughter as inspiration, Ms Oosterman realises that her daughter makes her imagine art in a way she never did before, by making her think outside of the box and thinking more freely and creatively.
She said, “She is giving me the gift of letting me see through a child’s eyes.”
Photos: Ruth Oosterman/YouTube
“A favourite quote of mine is from Picasso, when he said it can take ‘but a lifetime to paint like a child," Ms Oosterman said.
Sources: Buzzfeed, A Plus, The Mischievous Mummy, YouTube
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