2013: In Collaboration

The year has begun in full and as we both race and tread tenderly Into The Dark buoyed with the incoming contributions from the most INCREDIBLE collection of kids and artists, we are excited.
And as ever, still learning!

We are also working on our second MAN Festival and have an awesome line up including the gorgeous new Mother Load project, and a VERY new mother artist. If you would like to be considered for an upcoming festival send us an email with MAN in the title to info@bigkidsmagazine.com

To kick off 2013 we will spend this week in Sydney for days of on-the-floor pagination and BIG dreaming with our two not-so-baby girls in tow. We have a BIG meeting at the Opera House (grin!) and trips planned to various galleries and of course, the beach. My boys have been promised the next trip but this time it will be a girlie escape :)

Even though we are so used to the long distance magazine-making and have certainly developed unspoken telepathic creative processes to enable side by side looking from afar, it is always so wonderful to be hands on in the same room, actually curating, writing, drawing, painting, dreaming and watching the work come to life.

As we head into the making of our FOURTH and FIFTH issue this year, we are joined by a quietly expanding team, namely my mum who is helping us to make very slow motion sense of gst and other such number feats and Lilly's brother who, via the US, supports us in our business renderings.  We tackle every day the demands of a small business and this help is invaluable. BIG is a full time as yet unpaid arts project that does not just publish existing content -  the curation and creating of content means that we are in constant collaboration with each other, with our designers, with international projects and organisations, and with the artists and kids who we invite to participate. The making of this BIG artwork is a side by side project of mammoth proportions! It is incredible to watch it growing so fast from the inside and we are both looking forward to another BIG year :)

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Light bodies and grass houses under falling earth. Side by Side collaboration by Lilly Blue and Twyla, age 4

True Treasure by Elenor Stephenson, age 11

True Treasure 

Treasure seeker by Lilly Blue

Azure seas stretch out before me,

Forested hills rise and fall,

Wild winds howl in a ghostly rhythm

I feel the call.

The spirit of greed sings, “Come,”

The lure of treasure beckons,

I will search forever,

For all my living seconds.

I journey endlessly,

Not learning,

Never thinking,

Just yearning,

For something non-existent,

For something that’s not there.

Riches. The rest?

I do not care.

The seas?

They are of people.

The hills?

They are no more.

The wind is just the sounds of cars.

The ‘call’ had a flaw.

I see now.

Treasure. Nature. Find it.

by Elenor Stephenson, age, 11

I am eleven years old and will go to high school next year. I have three siblings: Anna, Ingrid and Gabriel. I am very interested in volcanoes, the environment and socialism. I like school and my favourite subject is Human Society and Its Environment and Science, because learning about your surroundings helps you to make the world a better place. My favourite colour is blue like the sea after a storm or green like the leaves of a snow gum. My favourite place on earth is Mt Ngauruhoe in New Zealand which is a volcano I visited when I was ten.

BRAVERY is facing your fears and standing up for what you know is right even if it is hard, 

never being discouraged just because you do not feel like you fit in.

IMAGINATION is the essence of creativity and the fuel of wonder. It is being able to create pictures and stories in your mind and to make other feel them too.

GENEROSITY is giving things up, even when it is a big sacrifice, or when no one is there to see.

Side by Side at Sydney HQ

'Side by Side' is the philosophy of BIG Kids Magazine to feature the work of kids and artists on the same page, disrupting hierarchies and provoking new ways of seeing.

Twyla and I often work side by side collaborating seriously on images, or singing and making playful marks on a shared page. We don't usually decide what we are going to draw although very often we create some kind of figures or characters that can inhabit the stories we make up. Often the beautiful traces of our paintings end up being lost underneath the sudden fall of night and a whole page covered in black paint, or someone's hair grown so long that it covers up everything that has come before. Other times I whisk the work away while the characters are still visible and we begin a second and third piece continuing a meandering story line or dipping in to make believe tales of long lost brothers and ogre's from bad dreams. 

If you would like to try collaborating with your child you could try the following to get you started:

• Draw a circle for a head and invite your child to draw the face. Talk about ears and eye brows and hair, hats and bow ties, wrinkles and ear rings and rosy cheeks. 

• Draw the body slowly so your child has time to jump in and add arms or legs. 

• Concentrate on details like patterns on shoes or clothing that your child might like to extend or design in their own way. 

I love finding ways to say 'yes' to all the marks that Twyla makes on our shared page rather than trying to direct or curb her impulses. We have been collaborating on work since she first held a paintbrush and have a shared vocabulary now that has accumulated between us.  

Hopscotch Character in response to Game On!
By Lilly Blue and Twyla, age 3

Mother and Child
By Lilly Blue and Twyla, age 3

Dub Leffler shares a secret story in the making!

We think Dub Leffler is one of Australia's most inspired writer/illustrator/artists. A BIG claim indeed! When the wonderful team at Magabala books (the oldest independent Indigenous publishing house in Australia and most remote in the world!) sent us the early release of his book Once There Was a Boy, it was love at first sight. Tha Thump. When senior editor Luca (now age 9!) took it into his class the next day it received rave reviews with his teacher saying it was the best book she had read 'forever'. When Lilly read it to Twyla (age 3) after meeting Dub at the launch in Sydney, her response was  'Hey mum they have different colours on them and they love each other".  It is a book of great beauty and sensitivity and an unforgettable story of love so much needed in the world. Dub was one of thirteen children and is descended from the Bigambul and Mandandanji people of south-west Queensland. After receiving accolades from near and far including the Bologna book fair Dub is busy working on a new book and most wonderfully he contributed an original and responsive version of his secret work in process for the Treasure pages. Shhhhh....

The Magician and the Magical Fish 

The only Photograph of Hans Fanta in existence! by Dub Leffler   

Once, while floating,

Looking down into the sea …

I saw,

Sitting on the sea bed,

A Magical man with a strange hat on his head …

Smiling up at me …

He held in his hands a gold, sparkling fish …

And painted on its scales …

A Treasure Map …

OH! Then SWISHHH!!

Went the fish and shed all its scales,

And the Magical man let go of its tail!

Darting away, did the fish followed by that

Mystical enchanter …

His name,

The Magician,

Hans …

Hans Fanta.

Side by Side: Mother and Daughter map the Fairy Park and the journey of the lost umbrella

Map of The Fairy Park, Alexandra, age 5, Perth

The Journey of the Lost Umbrella, Rachel, Perth

Rachel and Alexandra created their maps side by side. Both loved the BIG task and got lost in the process to find their own directions. Rachel enrolled in art classes the day after.

Side by Side: Lucy Engelman and Tejjas

Lucy Engelman, http:///www.lucyengelman.com.

Tejjas, age 5, India 

We are so excited by all of our treasured contributors to this next issue of BIG Kids Magazine, Tejjas, age 5, flies his work from India and Lucy Engelman is a 22 yr old  artist from Illinois. Lucy has created a sister city to the bulls above that will feature in the BIG pages with a response from our BIG Kids editorial team member Pippa as part of the Child artist Response Project. And we can hint that you might see more of Tejjas as well! 


Tomorrow is the final day to submit your maps and treasure. 

Side by SIDE: Treasure Mapped Portraits

Emma by Isabella, age 10, Texas 

The artist tells us this is Emma, and in the sharing of her name, the paint is readable in so many ways. Layers of attention and a memory meeting the world head on. Beautiful. 

Greenlands by Alexandra Harrison, Melbourne

She said it looks a bit like your sister, or your mother, and I think of the lines in both of those faces, unmet and leaning in worlds away from each other. I think of intersections between edges undoing and careering around headless cross to smallwood. Greenlands. A folk song, a road trip, a way out of there. 

Meeting and Magazine Making

First night landing at the Sydney Festival

The BIG begin

Twyla heads off with the pirates while we work

Treasure seeking

A few pages in..

Late night renderings and the pressure is on. 48hours.

SIDE by SIDE: Sweet Art and Treat Maps

After seeing the house that daddy built we sent the lovely Jen from The Brothers Trimm an invitation for her boys to respond to the sweet art mastery of their dad with a map of their own treat-art! We love the resulting collaboration and the honest way in which the work was undertaken!  Thanks Jen and boys!

"So.... I tell you, it was quite a challenge getting these guys to entertain the thought of drawing their own lolly map, even with the lure of sweets! 3 and 4 year olds are very impatient these days!! So what we ended up doing to avoid hissy fits and major colour dilemmas was to start them off with a chocolate river and then everyone go for it with any textures they wanted. So out came the glitter glue, markers and crayons and off we went". (Jen).

"The result is our combined effort, our eldest chose to outline the river with glue - 'its the icing', and his brother helped out with the blue corners" (Jen). 

The original river of sweet treats in the making!

Eat your art!

Why don't you try your own sweet art map today and stop the hissy's in their tracks ;) I think we will make a map of blueberries  - trick will be to build the map faster than the two year old can eat it! What would be your treats of choice?

The Obliteration Room: BIG on Location at GOMA

"Can I really stick these anywhere mama, really?!"
Twyla, age 3

 Most people who are blogging about Yoyoi Kusama's Obliteration Room at GOMA in Brisbane say something about kids being given 1000's of stickers, but we were there, and we KNOW that it was kids AND grown ups going wild with colour and sharing the experience side by side. It was wonderful to be in a space where people were interacting with each other and their kids so openly, without distraction. Strangers were talking to each other and most devices were in pockets or handbags as everyone was so busy with the work of obliteration.

"I never thought there could be a whole table covered in spots!"
Twyla, age 3

"I wonder why everyone left the duck so lonely"
Twyla, age 3

Yoyoi Kusama's Look Now, See Forever is on at GOMA in Brisbane until march 11. There is also a wonderful page of Games for Kids where you can participate in a virtual reenactment of The Obliteration Room and lots of other very cool interactive play.

Side by Side: The Lost Kingdom of Birds and The Most Guarded Treasure

The Lost Kingdom of Birds
Monika Jayamaha, Western Australia

The Most Guarded Treasure, mixed media, Abi, age 9, Qld

The most guarded treasure

 A treasure was hidden in the highest tower - Guarded by the most fearsome dragon and the cutest alien with a bazooka.

A headless man was walking on the entrance pebbles.  
An imposter missing a hand was trying to reach the treasure from a gnarled tree.
 Everything is green and blue - Green for slime and blue for cold fearful people. 
 Everything is still life. Not a speck of movement from the west or the east.  
The only thing moving was the cold wind or maybe a swoop from a vulture.

By Abi Grzegrzolka, age 9

Topanga children create a village of Grumpi ladies

We were so excited to receive such beautifully responsive work from far across the oceans. Sandy Savas runs art classes out of her home in a small town called Topanga in the mountains of California, a stones throw from the sea. 

Hallelujah, age 7

'My home is my studio.  I teach out of my back yard, living room, kitchen and dining room.  I keep my classes small - no more then 8 students and they are with me for 3 hours in the day.  Everyday, they go home with an incredible art project.  We do all types of arts and crafts.  I like to say "everything from feathers to cement".   We paint a lot.  So when I found your web-site and saw Grumpi, I knew they had to do her.  She is beautiful.' Sandy

Lilly Blue, age 41

'Grumpilotta gives up the sorrows from her skirts for
the stars to burn as fuel to flame
the sky' Jo Pollitt, age 38

Grumpilotta is a grumpy girl who is really kind. She tells stories to small children and tells them it's ok to be grumpy sometimes, that doesn't mean that you are a mean person. The children have fun listening to Grumpilotta's stories and always look forward to more. Kylie, age 7

I call her Grumpolina.  Her real name is Grumpilotta. I was in my art class with five other girls and my teacher Sandy.  We sat down and she told us a story about Grumpilotta. Grumpillotta is a grumpy lady who is actually very nice.  She tells children wonderful stories.  If I met Grumpilotta she would say, “Hello little one.  Would you like me to tell you a story? I would curtsy and say, “Yes, please.  Thank you for asking.”She might look down at me and say “Are you always so kind?” “Well, I try.” She would smile at me and say, “Trying is good enough.”  SummerAnne, age 8                                                                      

Gaelyn, age 4

Mackenzie, age 4

My Grumpilotta is grumpy because a bird is sitting on her heard.  It won't get off even when she says "shoo!"  It's ok to be grumpy with a bird on your head. Zara, age 4

News of the BIG MAN and setting up shop in Sydney and Perth

Lilly and I have braved the frontline. We have experienced the BIG ship on the ground, set up fete tables both in Sydney and Perth, and enjoyed being among the families who took to the BIG ship with surprise, interest and enthusiastic boat building. We loved watching the creative process of each child as they re-imagined the cover-ship and revelled in sharing the story of our collaboration to the intrigued passers by.  Thanks so much to St Brigid's College of Lesmurdie in Perth and Lady Game Community Kindergarten in Sydney for such warm welcoming.

Meanwhile in the BIG offices, we have some very exciting news to share: our brand new MAN - The Mother Artist Network will be launched on Friday by the brilliant Rachel Power, author of The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood (Hooray!) A shared lounge for creative mothers everywhere, the MAN is a creative and conversational space that shares stories, invites contributions and tells it like it is.  It is for you. Please join us.

We cannot wait now to formally open the door to the next edition - Treasure Maps and very soon will reveal our incredible cover artists. If you haven't subscribed yet you can do it here. (And we will even include a Christmas note if it is for a gift - just write your message in the special notes when you pay)

SYDNEY: Twyla ready for action

PERTH: The BIG boys prepare for the action with toffee and cash tin close by.

PERTH: End of the day and the boys set up a breakaway stall - seems the senior ed and his sidekick have it under control!

PERTH: Ships of all ages

PERTH: "Can I draw the sea and my fish under the rock, actually it is a shark"

PERTH: Side by side

PERTH: kids in process

SYDNEY: "Can I draw this boat for free?"

SYDNEY: Side by Side

SYDNEY: The girl with the lady beetle tattoo came back three times!