Today I want to talk about my children and share a little of their artistry.
My daughter Kaiy has inherited my artistic nature. She’s been drawing since she was tiny — I still remember the beach scene she sketched at age two or three. There were pebbles, rippling waves, and sand so vivid I could almost feel it between my toes. It looked like the beach we had walked on that very morning. She uses several mediums, pencils, paints, pastils, you name it she will produce beautiful images.
Kaiy draws daily and journals too — not in a plain, boring notebook, oh no! Her journal is a kaleidoscope of doodles, reflections, and bursts of imagination. It’s part sketchbook, part storybook, and entirely her own.
Watching her grow as an artist has been one of my quiet joys. She shares her creations with me often, and each one feels like a little window into her world — sometimes whimsical, sometimes profound, always uniquely Kaiy.
And next, my boy Joe. I don’t get many photo updates from Joe—he lives here in New Zealand, just up the road and around a couple of corners. Like his brother, he works hard to support his family. They spend a lot of time at the beach or by the rivers close to home, collecting driftwood for their fire and occasionally uncovering other curious treasures. One day, Joe came across a fallen tree. He returned with a friend to collect it, and something about it sparked inspiration. That Christmas, he gifted me a bench—crafted with his own hands from a piece of that very tree.