“Untitled” by Ailinn Camacho (acrylic paint on canvas).
This painting was created by Ailinn, Lili’s 11-year-old sister. Ailinn is awesome! Even with all the abuse she is suffering, she is already trying to speak up for herself and protect her boundaries. (See this post and this post to learn about the abuse Lili’s sisters are going through. UPDATE: After a lengthy CPS case we are now guardians for the children, and they live safely with us.) Ailinn always tries her best, and cares for her sisters and us.
Ailinn also made the “paleolithic tool” seen in the Cosplay Gas Mask post. One weekend when their mother was gone we took the girls out near a dry creek bed, where we all smashed rocks together until an appropriately long, sharp fragment chipped off. (This is a basic technique of ancient tool-making.) Ailinn found a stick under a nearby fallen tree, to which she lashed the stone shard to form an actual semi-functional tool. I hope Ailinn is proud of her work. We certainly are!