Behind the scenes of a masterpiece in the making

There are moments when you are working with children that just make your heart melt and turn your insides to mush.

Something they say,

or do,

or create

gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling that not even the latest Youtube kitten video on steroids can compete against.

Although I rarely show children's work in progress, I just cannot stop myself.  There have been so many melt your heart mushy moments over the past three days that I can't help but share a few with you.

Otherwise tomorrow night's post of the game complete would rival War and Peace I would have so much to share!!

If the work wasn't cute enough, there are moments the artist literally claps her hands together and gasp as she completes something because she is so pleased and excited with the work.  Oh be still my heart, there could be no greater reward for me than to see this reaction from the artist.

All this makes for unforgettable moments in the studio while creating what is sure to be a priceless work of art to the artist and her family for many years to come.

9 year old- "mice" pawns

The "teams" are white vs. orange.  

The theme, cats.  

White because the king happens to be her one year old cat, Violet, who is predominately white and orange for her mother's cat, Henrietta, that she had while growing up.  

Did you feel your heart melt a little?

9 year old- King and Queen awaiting paint

So I was thinking the queen would wear a robe similar to Violet, the king, but the artist decided a puffy skirt and sleeves were required along with a tiara. 

9 year old- "gold fish bowl" rooks in progress

Kim, the blogger of MimiCharmante fame, happens to be a friend of mine and decided to purge some of her hoard.  I happened to be the lucky recipient of some antique eye glass which came in handy for placing on top of the gold fish bowl to give the  look of water.  Inside the glass you see a bird's eye view of the goldfish swimming created in Fimo clay.

9 year old- finished Queen and King

The orange King and Queen set is finished and varnished.  I used a glaze varnish which gives them a great china look even though I do not own a kiln.  This was a great lesson in how to use tints and shades when working in one color.

9 year old, finished work

Above is the "bird" knight and the "scratching post" bishop.  The yarn ball on the scratching post is on a piece of copper wire so it actually bounces when you move it.

How cute is that?!

9 year old, finished "mice" pawns

9 year old, finished "Scratching post" bishops

Don't you love the scratch marks the artist put on the "bishop" piece?  I can't tell you how cute it is when the yarn ball bounces when the piece is moved on the board.

So tomorrow the artist needs to complete the other set of King and Queen and the four "goldfish" rooks.  Then while the varnish glaze is drying on those, she will work on painting the chess board. I will put a matte varnish on it so that it is long wearing also.  While we wait for the board to dry, I thought it would be fun to do a real life drawing of a couple of the game pieces, but we might just eat popcorn to celebrate the hard work completed during the week.

Then the Chess game will go home for her to challenge her dad to a game on the cutest board ever created.  She is so excited and I could not be more thrilled with her success.