Patti Rishforth

After all these years of cutting children’s silhouettes, I think I’ve learned much the same thing about little people. Sometimes the best way to make a child comfortable is not to ask them to be comfortable. Let them look around. Let them wiggle. Let them wonder what I’m doing. I’ll meet them where they are.

Three bears came by to play in our backyard. There’s no better way to solidify a memory than to create something around it. Please see the watercolor process. I always wonder how many critters are watching me to whom I am completely unaware… one is barely shown at the very end and two other bears are literally hiding.

Silhouettes print so well onto things I like experimenting to see not only various subjects but surfaces where they might eventually end up: ornaments, jewelry, note cards, bookmarks, tee shirts, tote bags…