Awhile back, a reader suggested that it might be fun to let other readers ask us questions, and have Myla answer them.   Why haven’t I ever thought of that?  So although you may have been quite familiar with our collaborations, please allow me to introduce you to the most awesomest 7-year old I’ve ever known:  Myla.

Myla not only draws, but is creative in SO many other ways.  She sculpts things for hours with construction paper, tape, and scissors.  She frantically makes the things in her head out of hot glue and broken electronics.

As an only child, she’s got a burning desire to be around other people and make them smile.  She’s never shy.  She’ll do practically anything for a laugh.  She loves insects of all kinds (as apparent in her fierce desire to obtain a hercules beetle grub–how can I make this happen, universe???), and all sorts of animals.

She didn’t ever seem interested in art until she turned three years old, and suddenly that’s ALL she did.  We lived in Alaska at the time, my husband deployed for a year, and we were quite isolated indoors, with winter being 8 cold, dark months of the year.  I tried to do projects with her as a toddler, mostly resulting in absolute messes, which was okay, too.

And then at age three, the art bug hit her, and she’d bury her face in her sketchbook, drawing, drawing, drawing.    I saw so much of myself in her desire to create things.  I understood that urge to get an idea out, no matter the time or place.  When she was age four, I shared the story of how we began drawing together, and we’ve filled our world with doodles and art ever since.

She can turn anything into an art project…from making cookies, to cleaning up.

She loves to talk and never stops asking questions, and I never tire of trying to explain things to her…some questions she asks are so complex, I’m surprised at her ability to understand such deep concepts.  We have pretty cool conversations.

So she jumped at the idea to answer questions from people on the page.  So now I’ll share with you the questions people asked online, and the answers she gave to them….

Myla, do you ever dream the same thing more than once? (Lori)  Just one.  A nightmare that is so gross I don’t want to tell you.  I had it two times.  The Dream Creepers must’ve let it through on accident.

How do you wish school was different if you were in charge? (Sylvia)  Ice cream sundaes on Fridays!  Also, we would do art projects all day, every day–whatever we choose, with no instructions.

Who is your favorite book character and why? (Lauren)  The scarecrow from the audiobook from the Wizard of Oz (read by Anne Hathaway) because he was funny, and the voice she did for him made me laugh.  My favorite character from a kid movie is Zork from Giant King…because he’s weird–he’s a battlebot who wants to be a kindergarten teacher!  And he has a funny voice.

What would you like to be when you grow up? (Lauren)  A zoologist and an animator!  I want to have a petting zoo and a house with all kinds of different animals like bats, sloths, hedgehogs, parrots, and foxes and everything.  And I will live right next to my mom and dad so we can always see each other.

Coffee, Tea, or Juice?  Do you like to drink it while you work, or as a reward? (Ashley)
Actually, I love to drink pink milk (strawberry milk) while I’m working on projects. (Side note from Mom:  when she was a toddler, her favorite drink was raw carrot juice.  She demanded it above all others.  She drank so much carrot juice, she was practically orange!)

What has been your favorite project to date? (Ashley)  Right now, my favorite paper project is an alien goat I made out of paper.

What is your favorite color, and why? (Ashley) Lately, my favorite color is white.  It’s the color of the arctic fox character I created!

My son loves to pretend he is a Royal Rainbow Crystal Protector dragon who takes care of all the other dragons.  What is your favorite kind of dragon?  (Christina)  My favorite dragon is one I made up called a sheep dragon.  It looks like a black dragon but with soft sheep fur.  Also, a rain dragon, which flies in the clouds and rains on everyone.  If it’s a cloudy day, there’s probably a rain dragon nearby.  (Myla and her sheep dragon from Budsies pictured below…)

What is the best and worst thing about working with mum?  What advice would you give to other kids considering a family-based business?  (Joanne)   I LOVE to draw with mom, because in the end it always turns out beautiful.  There’s nothing I’d pick as the worst thing!  We mix our ideas pretty well.  I would say to people that want to draw together to do what you love to do.  Try as best as you can, and never give up.

What would you say to people who love to draw but feel like they’re not good enough? Also, what toppings do you like on your pizza?  (Amanda) I would tell them to be calm and do what fits you.  Trust yourself.  Keep trying and trying and you will get better and better.  And for pizza, I don’t like ANY toppings, not even a lot of cheese–I just love the pizza bread!

If you had to make as many people laugh and be as happy as possible for an entire day, would you rather do so by being a half bear/octopus, or a half parrot/giraffe?  And how would you accomplish your goal? (Alisha)    Oh that would be so fun!  I would choose to be half arctic fox and half squirrel.  I would lick them to make them laugh, and make fart sounds and goofy sounds.

If you owned a magical unicorn that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for? (Alisha) My first wish would be that the unicorn could come back and see me every day.  My second wish would be that my mom and other family could be as happy as they can be.  My third wish would be for my friend Patrick to be able to be in the same class as me in second grade.  Also, I’ll give everyone a pet puppy.

What is your favorite medium to create with?  What is your most favorite piece of art your mom and you have created and why? (Kelly)    My favorite thing to work with of all time is paper!  I love to make projects with paper, tape and scissors.  My favorite thing I created with my mom?  There’s too many to choose!  My favorite, I think?  …is the fox lady that we turned into patches…

In closing, I asked Myla if she had any words to share that might inspire any other artists out there.  She thought about it a minute, chose her words carefully, and said this:

“If you want to be an artist, listen to me:  practice, practice, and practice.  And practice.  And if you want to, you can even do it a better way by doing it with someone else.”

Thank you so much!

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