Wee Gallery was conceived by my wife, Surya, a graphic designer, and me, a teacher.
When our son was born we read everything. We read about how to interpret babies' cries and change their diapers. We discovered that babies develop in so many ways during the first 5 years that it dwarfs everything they learn over the entire rest of their lives. That seemed pretty incredible considering how much we learned as parents during his first six weeks of life. We learned that newborns can only see 12 to 15 inches away and they are most taken with their parent's faces and black and white geometric figures. Experimenting with the latter idea, Wee Gallery was born.
So why couldn't we just get away with drawing black lines with a marker on a piece of paper? Well, as Siddu got older the lines became very boring. The animals, on the other hand, continued to entertain. As his motor-skills developed he would grab the cards and look at them. When we told him stories for each animal he would listen and look, turn the card and turn it again. As he approached one he would carry them around and give them to us, asking for a story. He could even point out each animal as we named them.
Siddu is now 8 and he has a sister, Anya, who is 5. Wee Gallery is a decidedly family affair. We work together to figure out new sets of art cards, choosing animals and their design. Surya and Siddu paint lots of versions and we all choose the best ones. When it's time for a trade show we often go together.
Wee Gallery has been great for our family and we hope it enriches your family's life too.
-Dave Pinto