This picture, You’re Standing In My eye, is about four feet tall has cloth chicken feet and a toy encrusted house shape surrounding a crayola crayon face. This portrait is a little different  as it shows the inside of a face. We are looking out though open eyes, mouth and nose holes. Sometimes we see little of the world if we’re stuck in our heads.  nancymauerman.com

You’re Standing In My Eye – Framed

A writer once told me, “Don’t tell me he was greedy, show me his actions and consequences of them. In this painting we see only two birds, inside the frame but five bird shadows. Also pink trees and their shadows make up the landscape. I’ve never cared for plastic birds as lawn decorations so I picked up a few to see if I could learn to like them. Did you ever notice when your friends and neighbors are especially negatively affected by something that particular thing is just what they need to deal with.  nancymauerman.com

Bird Shadows – Framed

The shapes of earth and sky, and root like forms of water are the themes for this painting so everything else is gone. I’ve spent much of my life looking at the ground for rocks but things changed when I decided to paint landscapes. This is a very strange cloud formations I’ve noticed since I’ve woken up to a bigger world.  nancymauerman.com

Temple In The Hills – Framed

Someone once said, “Educate a man and you’ve educated a generation; educate a woman and you’ve educated four generations.” Studies have been done to find the secret behind many of the worlds greatest and best people.  There was only one thing they had in common; these people spent a great deal of time with their mothers.

The mother below is stretching children’s imaginations by celebrating Rock Day. This is an illustration from my book Dragon’s Tale, and shows a family, plus the boy next door, eating rock butter and jelly sandwiches (chunky peanut butter) on slabs of flat rocks they use as plates. Perhaps the next year they’ll rock hound, visit a giant erratic rock, adopt a pet one, look at tiny ones in a microscope, buy one on a chain at a rock store, visit gems in a jewelry store or outer space stones in a museum.

Mothering comes in many forms: aunts, grandmas, godparents, teachers, scout leaders, neighbors and friends. Grab a kid and celebrate rocks.  nancymauerman.com

From the children’s book Dragon’s Tale image dragon up a tree

People are great! I have an elderly friend who lives alone and whose mail carrier stops and chats a moment, even when there is no mail for my friend. When the mail carrier isn’t working the substitute also checks on her.

My Mom lived abroad for several years and kept in contact with the friends she made there. When the foreign government fell local people risked there lives to sneak Americans out of the country. World history will be modified one of these years; along side of political stories and wars tales related, will be the deeds of heroes who serve for the sake of goodness. One of my heroes is my daughter whose picture, as a child, is below drawn in crayola crayon. The light of goodness sparkles from within her inspite of being knocked around.  nancymauerman.com

Anna And Mixing Bowls

Great parenting skills can be passed on. One I picked up is mentioned in my book Dragon’s Tale; Family Night. We each took turns planning; a song to sing, a short lesson to teach, a game to play, and a snack. The first time my six year old directed family night he became a man. The book tells the story, with his new found power he made reservations and took us all out to dinner… to ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’.

Planning taught organizational skills and benevolent power. Teaching helped us to realize and confirm which ideas are important to us; honesty, work, books, family, cats, pocket knives. Playing a game every week bound us together and gave us the opportunity to put ideas of honesty, good manners, etc into action. My favorite was singing, I don’t do it well so when my children heard me they knew it’s a gift and for eons people have known coral reading, chanting, or singing binds people together very strongly.

Taking turns teaching and listening, sing about it, act it out in a game, all in less than an hour, and top it off with ice cream. Your children will know they have a place in this big world and they are valued and they loved. It seems to me many people search desperately for just one of these three things their entire lives, you and yours can have them now and always. nancymauerman.com

From the children’s book Dragon’s Tale