The Real Jane Austen

I am currently enjoying a series of videos on YouTube called The Real Jane Austen. This television documentary originally aired in 2002.This show reminds me of some dramatizations that I have watched about Shakespeare.

What author documentaries have you enjoyed?

Peter Watts Won!!

Peter Watts one of my all time favorite writers just won the Hugo! Yay!

The Creative Family by Amanda Soule

One of my all-time favorite activities is creating with my niece and nephew. The miraculous color combinations they come up with, squeals of laughter, and the innovative ways they use supplies makes the process a joy.

While hunting for more activities, I discovered Amanda Soule's wildly popular blog about her adventures as a DIY homeschooling mother of four. Her book The Creative Family is more than just a craft book it is a philosophy. When I first read it I immediately started thinking about all of the people for whom I wanted to buy this book. Reading The Creative Family gives me a very deep warm, happy feeling inside. An emphasis is put on quality time and reusing art materials. Amanda advocates for families to set aside time each evening to draw as a family. The Creative Family is a great resource for anyone wanting to foster creativity in their own life and the lives of their children.

All of the projects are designed to foster a connection among the children, between the mother and children, and with the family as a whole, but no importance is given to being creative with one's partner exclusively. When I was in art therapy this connection was neglected, as well. Lowenfeld did posit a stage theory of children's drawing development, but how a person develops artistically in adulthood was likewise ignored. There is a branch of art therapy interested in family therapy, but again in all of the research I looked at none of it focused specifically on the romantic couple. There seems to be a paucity of research and interest in this area.

Is being creative with your partner important to you? Why or why not?