My First Calder

I wasn't planning on starting the "25 Summer Crafts..." list so soon, but a chance meeting with some marked down sticky-back foam at the craft store helped me decide which project would be first: The Foam Mobile from the book Kid Made Modern by Todd Oldham.

It was a ton of fun to make with my little assistant. I pre-cut the shapes and had them ready to go. My kiddo (nearly 4) had fun picking out which colors would go where, peeling the paper off the sticky-backed foam, and sticking the pieces together. We bent the wires together, and she decided the order in which to arrange the pieces. For the center string she picked a pink piece of yarn (of course) and I did the tying. It took a little while to get the balance correct, but once I bent the pieces a bit more here and there it worked out great. We've all been enjoying watching it spin around in our dining room, and the shadows it creates on the walls are lovely. Most importantly, she is super proud of this piece of art we made together.

The whole thing got me thinking about meeting my first Calder, nearly 20 years ago at The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. The mobile felt so colossal hanging over me. After this photo was snapped, I looked up. I remember thinking I could touch this, if I just reach a little higher. I stretched a bit more and touched it with my finger. I expected alarms to go off, but it just gently nodded at me - as if to say "Hello".

I was smitten.