I have a bit of a thing for wooden toys, and always choose them over plastic. So I love when the kids choose them as their favourites too. Unlike their plastic cousins, wooden toys just grow more beautiful with play. I even have a little dream of having a collection of well worn wooden toys on top of my studio shelves when the kids outgrow them. They would inspire me any day of the week. They are a dream to draw.
Kirby loves the stacking rings right now, but I’m not pushing him to do them in the right order yet. Most of the time, they are just as likely to be used as sandwich filling, steering wheels (complete with “vroom vroom” noises), and paper weights when he’s drawing anyway.
Aoife has pretty much grown out of the wooden toy stage, but often steps in “to show him how it’s done”. If he’s lucky, he gets it back.
Wooden toys are so much nicer… Reggio Emilia is a method of education that advocates only using natural materials because they are so beautifully tactile and it is a fab theory… Phantom was obsessed with a well work set of wooden blocks and she used them for many many years… they were a constant source of imaginative play and would be wonderful to draw… will have to hunt them out… your tonal drawing is just lovely… so beautifully rendered…xx
Thanks Tracey! It means a lot getting praise from you. I still feel so rusty when it comes to drawing. And so glad that I may have inspired a future painting of yours! xx
Love the idea of a toy inspiration shelf! Yes, I agree, the wooden toys do look so beautiful with age – and your drawing is just beautiful – the shading is gorgeous!
AND I would guess that those are your favorite colors – we totally have our palettes in common! xoxo
Thanks Kristin! And yes, we sure do! xoxo
Lovely blog Carin. I enjoy the quality and simplicity of wooden toys as well. I am a new visitor and really appreciate your ABOUT page explanation of blogging about the beautiful things you see…as a form of gratitude for them. Amen to that from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Thank you Carol! So glad you like my about page explanation. xo
That is such a nice sketch. I love the wooden Melissa and Doug puzzles… Dillon got some for his first birthday and they’ve been passed down to his siblings. But the stacking train? I don’t love that one so much. Too many pieces and parts. 🙂
Ha! Yeah…it has to be contained! I just passed on another toy that was on offer because I had nightmares about having to pick up every single piece 27 times a day, or scream out loud every time I accidentally stepped on one!
Wooden toys are much nicer and seem to last a lot longer, too. Your sketch of the stacking rings is lovely! It has such a soft, nostalgic look to it. Beautiful!!
Thank you so much Janet! I have a thing about making soft drawings. No matter how much I try to harden things up, they always end up soft!
wooden toys are the best — I still love going through my old toys when we visit my parents. they are timeless and the quality is beautiful. i love your drawing.
Thank you Aimee! x
YAY! So happy that you’ll be playing along with the SOC – it will be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with 😉 xoxo
JamesOctober 2, 2012 Hi Peter thanks for your ressnope. Yes you can place in play bets over the phone in Australia (it’s crazy over here you can place bets over the internet on horse racing but not sports betting!!) One day they may change the rules we can only hope!The problem with betting over the phone is the time difference: most games in the EPL are from midnight onwards and I value my beauty sleep too much!!RegardsJames