Little Artists

Art has always been something I loved. One of my earliest memories is of me sitting on our front porch with one of my Child Craft books drawing the illustration to "Rock-A-Bye Baby." I vividly remember looking at the picture of the baby bassinet swinging from a tree and thinking, "I know I can draw that." In college, I had to take many art electives in the interior design curriculum. (I was only three credits away from having a minor in art.) I hoped my children would love to draw or paint like I did. I have enjoyed watching them experiment with painting. I've never pushed them to do it, I want them to want to do it. They see me painting so much that they naturally want to paint as well.

I usually paint while Jack is napping, but the other day I had so much to do, I painted while he was awake. He asked if he could paint a picture. Luckily I had an extra 8"x10" canvas I let him have. He showed me the colors he wanted and I would squirt some on the canvas. He would paint, and then show me another color. I thought he did a wonderful job with his color selection. He was drawn to the primary colors. This was his first time to paint, and his painting matches his bedroom. I am going to paint his name and the date on it and hang it in his bedroom.

Georgie likes to paint, but I think she prefers drawing. She drew this picture for me the other day. She said it was me, her and Daniel. I asked her why she didn't draw Daddy and Jack, and she quickly replied, "Jack is asleep and Daddy is at work." The cross collage is one she made at church a few weeks ago, and the wooden car she painted for Jack. She saw a box of unfinished cars in Wal-Mart and asked if she could get one to paint for Jack. She worked very hard on it while he was napping one day, and gave it to him when he woke up. It fits perfectly on his Thomas the Train tracks and he loves to play with it.

My birthday was last week, and my sweet Daddy painted this painting for me. I'd like to think I might have gotten a tenth of his talent. Michael had taken a picture of the tower at the radio station one morning at sunrise. Daddy took the picture and painted it for me. It was such a nice surprise, and it is by far my favorite he has done thus far.