If you look at it from my sons' point of view, the man built a huge boat without the help of a laser level, a compound mitre saw or even a cordless drill.
The guy was one of the very first DIY'ers. He did it without any staff, (except the one that he used to walk).
Well, okay....he did have one amazing sponsor. The story of Noah's ark was one of our favorites when my sons were young.
We'd talk about the story but then, inevitably, as often happens with 4 and 5 year old boys, the conversation would turn to the more logistical issues as seen through their eyes.
For example: Just exactly how large was Noah's driveway and/or yard that he would have so much room to build an ark. Where did he buy his wood? How did he cut it?
And let's not forget about the neighbors. Did Noah's neighbors wonder what he was doing? Did they help him? Did they use a ladder?
And when the animals started showing up, did Noah have a fence around his yard? How did he keep the birds from flying away? Did all of the animals get along?
Sometimes, it was challenging to even remember how the conversation started before it digressed to questions like: "Mom, do you think that Noah built forts? How about go karts? Did Noah's build go karts?"
There were lots of questions and, even though they weren't really about the story, it meant that I had their attention, an opportunity to teach. So, often, we just "went with it", making our way back to the story...eventually.
Yep, Noah must have built a pretty big boat. It must have been awesome.
And you know what? It's a good thing that he listened. Because if he hadn't, listened and built that boat, he would have been in trouble.
BIG trouble. See?! I told you we usually got back to the story.
Not a perfect interpretation of the story, but one that they remember to this day.
I hope that Gavin, the darling little boy, born earlier this summer, (the son of my friend Angie) has as much fun learning the story as my sons did and as much fun as I had painting these canvases for his nursery.
Yep, according to my sons, Noah was a pretty cool guy.
But, really, so was the alligator.
I mean, let's face it, the alligator was a ROCK STAR!
All of the images that I used as the inspiration for these paintings came from clip art that I found on the Internet. I purchased the canvases (11x17) at Michael's. A package of seven canvases was under $20 with my 40% off coupon.
I sketched the letters and the images in pencil, outlined them in Sharpie Marker, and then painted the images using acrylic craft paint. When I was finished, I sealed them with clear spray paint so that they could be wiped clean if they got dusty.
xo,
