How Paintings became our Dreams A myth by 10 year old Mason

My son created this story for a class assignment on myths.  He is 10 years old and I just love it.  He got the idea a couple of weeks ago and after many revisions and hand cramping this story emerged.n (this is exacty how he typed it up himself)

A myth by Mason Saulsbury



Long, long, long ago……… Where the forest ends and a small beach begins, there is a village.
And in that small village there was a family. Not a big one, but you couldn’t say it was a small one, either. A boy, a mom, a dad, and a wool dog made up the family. One day, Little Tracker, the boy, set out to get some firewood, but noticed that all the wood was gone. They had used it all last night. So he kissed his mom goodbye, and set out to get some fire wood with his dog.
Little Tracker aimed towards the heart of the forest, as there were oaks that were strong, fine, and tall, but not to big. As he walked, he noticed that the forest was full of life, with birds chirping and tree’s rustling and waving in the dancing wind. His dog seemed to like it until
he stopped suddenly, then started barking at a patch of ferns. Curious, Little Tracker looked behind the rustling fern.
Bragh! a thief popped out from behind the fern! Little Tracker, frightened, ran. He ran, and ran, and ran, as the thief chased after him. His dog barking, a thief on his
heals, and just the path ahead of him, he got a boost of strength. He stopped suddenly, and
The thief was so surprised, that he tripped and was sent flying into a pile of bushes
Little Tracker had now realized how far he had ran, and did not recognize this part of the woods. He looked up at the sky and realized how late it was, and how his mother might be scared to death. He decided not to wait for help but to walk around and hope to find an exit.  He walked with his dog for what seemed like forever, until he saw a golden light emitting from a small path. His dog started barking, and he looked around the corner. There was a man in a golden robe with a mustache that drooped and a small crown atop his head. And he was painting a beautiful picture, but the picture had no color. He and his dog slowly crept towards the man.


Then the man turned his head and said “ Hello little boy. Are you lost?” Little Tracker nodded then said yes. Then the man painted a door and let Little Tracker and his dog through. And then


POOF! He was home again!
The next morning he asked his mom to make him some paint. It took some work,
But she made some paint for him. Then, he set out into the woods and followed the path he had taken the night before, and before he knew it, he had found
The painter! Then he gave him the paint and he smiled and said “Thank you.
As a thank you, I will let you see my paintings every night when you are asleep.”
And every night Little Tracker went to sleep and saw the man’s beautiful paintings.
And soon it spread, and spread, and spread until everybody in the world saw his paintings
At night when they went to sleep, so that is why we have dreams.


THE END

My boys and I created this video using stop animation. It was our first attempt at it and we had a blast. Mason created the whole background and Cody (his little brother) did all the scenery. It was so hard not to change things around but I truly wanted it to be there own creations and they had so much fun. We spent a couple of hours creating it and only ended up with 30 seconds of video. They are already thinking of different things to do next.

My Boys are on a Website

I was so excited when I found out my boys were pictured on a website and it wasn't my own. I entered some pictures for a "Cute Kid Contest" and my son Cody was picked. So his picture was in 10,000 publications of this booklet. Then the owner of the company called me and said she had put the picture of my two boys standing together on the website. How cool is that? My oldest Mason was on a poster for "Walk to School" campaign. I feel like a got a couple of little models on my hand. Then my son paints a picture around his belly button and says "look mom, it can talk" Then reality hits and I just smile. Life is wonderful and my boys are precious.
Here is the site if you want to check it out http://www.hooknowswhatcom.com/

I recently was in the mood to paint and I really wanted something that would make me smile. I took the big plunge and painted straight on canvas (which I never do). The picture took a life of its own and ended up so much better then what I had in my head. It is inpired by a painting my son did with crayola watercolors and a black pen so he was giving me instructions on his technique (you got to love directions for a 6 year old) and this is what happened. My picture is the one on the right and his is the one on the top. My orignal picture has much brighter and bolder colors then this scanned version. I just love it when something turns out well.

My Son Inspires Me

My son Mason draws wonderful pictures and he also paints wonderful pictures. We came up with the idea to put his "crab" on a t-shirt and I tried screen printing for the first time. It was a lot of fun and a huge mess. So, we made them for our boys, and their uncles and their friends. They became a really big hit so I made more and listed them for sale on Etsy. We have sold a few and now I have found this site http://www.cafepress.com/masonscreations to make them.
It has worked out really well because they do the printing themselves and keep the inventory. I just had to come up with the pictures and set them up on the t-shirts. We have ordered a baseball shirt and a baseball cap so far and we really like the quality and the print.