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Mom Collaborates with 3-Year-Old Daughter to Turn Doodles into Imaginative Works of Art

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Artistic collaborations can happen in unexpected ways—just ask Ruth Oosterman. She has found a unique, creative partnership with her 3-year-old daughter, Eve. Together, they produce beautiful works of art. Through Eve’s vivid imagination and Oosterman’s talent, the colorful paintings are a mix of unrestrained creativity and small, intricate details. The Toronto-based mom calls the ongoing project Collaborations with my Toddler.

The tag-team style paintings are often started by Eve, as she doodles on paper with a pen or paint. Oosterman then transforms the marks into animals, landscapes, and portraits of people. She’s careful to leave Eve’s original marks alone and instead complements them with her owns additions, refining them into subjects we can recognize. The results reinforce the idea that two heads are better than one.

For Oosterman, the artistic journey is more important than the final product. “Through collaborating with Eve, she is teaching me how to paint all over again,” she writes on her website. “I treasure this bonding experience more than words can express.”

Prints from Collaborations with my Toddler are available to purchase through Oosterman’s Etsy shop.

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Ruth Oosterman: Website | Blog | Etsy
via [Viralnova]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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