In my house we love art. Not just the realistic kind that most people aspire to… but the whimsical. The abstract. The personal. I mean, there might be a thing as too realistic. When you can’t tell the difference in a photograph and a piece of art, why not use a camera? That’s what I do… I’m a photographer artist.
Or you could make art with a piano… or pots, pans, and knives in the kitchen. Art is whatever you create – even if that beautiful thing is a bowl of mushroom and barley soup, or a neatly lined vegetable garden, or a DIY project that makes your home more fantastic. Art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination”…
Doing what you love and admire is ART. Life itself is art – as designed by our Creator, Painter of Sunsets, Grand Architect of the Cosmos.
I want my children to create – in His image. I want them to be happy with what they make… to be confident of their talents so they will use them in life. And so, to create my own Picassos in His Image, I start young. Those first scribbles they begin to unfurl on the backs of envelopes while I pay bills are inspected as if they hung on a museum wall. We ask the little ones what they are drawing (never suggesting, because 99.999% of the time we are wrong), and we describe (usually verbatim) at the top of the “work of art” what they tell us. A storm trooper. A pickle guy. A house with a leaky faucet. Whatever it is, we describe it to show how interested we are, and we write down the Artist’s name, age, and grade; all this starting from when they are drawing nondescript scribbles on a page.
There’s nothing like framing a work of art to inspire a child to create more. Giving them your expensive camera to take pictures is another confidence-creator. My kids love it when I take photos of their artwork and share it with family and friends or online. Creating art for other people, like grandparents, as gifts is another inspiring activity.
With my youngest set (5 and 3), in our homeschool, we make time for art study. During our “Circle” Time in the morning, we look through art textbooks and study different techniques and artists. We use art books that teach techniques. We craft. We admire other people’s art. I let the big kids teach the little ones or paint with them when they have time. We include art in our field trip line-up for the year. We make note of nature and images hanging on walls wherever we go. Taking joy in the beauty around you is bound to develop in you an artist’s eye!
This piece of art above is a real Picasso. It is called “Owl on a chair and sea urchins“. I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and fell in love. I would hang it in my house if I could. I would re-create it myself – I just might. It reminds me that:
Art does not require perfection.
What you find beautiful is good enough. Your talent and style does not need to be compared to someone else’s. Modern art styles gave art to the common man and woman; just like translation of the Bible into common language gave us a personal faith.
And so my fifteen-year-old daughter’s “little hoot”, my Kindergarten and Preschooler’s handprint art, and Picasso are all perfect just the way they are. All are worthy of a frame and a title – worthy of a spot on the wall – for all to behold.
Teach your child that they are just as important as Picasso, and they will keep creating art!