Project Description

The dragon kids are another year older for my annual Mother’s Day card for my wife. Over the last few years I’ve been forced to start thinking about what I’m going to do for these as the kids get even older (how dare they) and eventually “leave the nest”. So far, I’ve tried to make the theme for each card a reference either to a specific thing we did as a family (a place we went, an adventure we went on) or a general reference to activites we do (or used to do, like skiing) or some life milestones. We didn’t go on any notable adventures all together last year (that’s becoming increasingly difficult), but there is a major milestone coming up about a month after Mother’s Day this year: our youngest kid is graduating high school. I know it’s coming, I have for a while, obviously, but I still can’t fathom it. I don’t feel old enough to be at this stage of life. While I’m excited for the potential each of our kids has for their futures (which is mixed with huge amounts of anxiety for and about them), and I’m excited for my potential extra time to really focus on pursuing this dream of making art, I don’t know what’s coming next. Even though each year brought mini milestones and changes, they were always variations of the same thing. Soon, they will all be adults and school will be over. Family gatherings and adventures will be different. Dynamics will change. The “material” I use as inspirations for these cards will be very different, if it can exist at all. I’ve definitely been spending a lot of time thinking and reminiscing over the last few years, thinking about how many moments are left ahead of me versus are behind me.