...Me? Help Design a Children's Space Exhibit?

I Might Could Do That?

Hey y’all!

As you know, my We Are Jellyfish book is going pretty slowly. But I’m not disappointed or anxious about it, because this is Summer and that’s what I expected! I set the intention this summer to prioritize time with Butterbean, family, friends, and other community-oriented things this summer, and let Work happen when it could.

And what do ya know… when I left some unscheduled room in my days, some pretty cool creative opportunities popped up! So today I thought I’d share one of those creative projects with you, partly because I think it’s interesting, and partly as evidence of why my book is ticking along so slowly! But that’s why I chose to go the indie book route in this season of my life. It allows for more time with Butterbean, more flexibility in my days, and the space to explore new projects I might never have if I was working on someone else’s timelines and deadlines! (Trust me, I learned some tough lessons when Butterbean was a baby.)

Anyways, speaking of space… the project I’m sharing today is how I helped design and build a space exhibit at our local children’s museum, The Children’s Playhouse! First, Kathy, the museum director, and the contractor we worked with, designed and built the wooden structure (above) to be like a walk-in space shuttle. My job was to design and paint the outside of that structure!

So first I put that photo into Procreate on my iPad and started ideating and drawing things that looked space-y and shuttle-y. I also created a color palette, and placed the NASA logo on there because I wanted to make a Boone (the city we live) version, and the Children’s Playhouse logo to make a space-version of that as well.

Here are those two space-version logos above! After my awesome collaborators primed and painted the white and silver (which I was very thankful for!), I drew out the design in pencil on the wooden walls. Then I used Posca pens (see my class on using Posca pens here!) to draw/paint the design.

The hardest part was drawing the logos and I saved that for last (because I was scared of them). When it came time to do it, especially the Boone/NASA logo, I was quite nervous! I procrastinated and waffled and thought: maybe I should print out the initial design full-size, buy carbon copy paper and just trace it on the wood. But NO! I know that things are better when I draw them, not trace them. And I also knew I had to try. I thought to myself: I might could do that! So I just jumped in and went for it, and…

…they turned out great! The space logos are easily my favorite part of the whole thing. And I’m all the more proud of them because I drew them from scratch on there myself!

Here are the final sides all painted (though the painter’s tape is still on one of them)!

And here are some pictures of Butterbean in the finished space exhibit with all the pieces made by the team of collaborators! Each person did such an awesome job and the exhibit turned out so well! Butterbean and the other kids seemed to love it too. :)

So that’s one of the things I've been working on this summer! Hope you enjoyed seeing the process and a little break from essays and book-making process! It’s nice to stretch ourselves and do something different every now and then, don’t you think? Big thanks to Kathy for trusting me and asking me to be part of this process. <3

If you happen to be in Boone, North Carolina sometime, come check out The Children’s Playhouse—it’s a pretty amazing place! I also help design the Enchanted Cottage there earlier this year. But that will have to wait for another post. :)

Thanks for reading!

<3,
Christine

P.S. Besides becoming a paid subscriber, you can support my work by buying my brand new book, Sketchbook to Style, or forwarding this post to a friend! Already got a copy? I would super-appreciate a review!