Art

I'm not artistic. Not at all. My parents brought a picture I drew of a cabin and a tree and it looked great for a 4-year-old. I happened to be 11 when I drew it. Really, this isn't one of those topics where I'm looking for a "oh, I'm sure you do fine" response. Really, I'm awful. It's not my thing. Give me a script that someone else has written and I will get up on stage and perform it for you. Give me a song and I will sing it for you. Those are my "creativity". Not art.

My children happen to love art. My husband is a great artist. He can draw, he can paint, he can do it all. Luckily for the kids, they do stand a chance in the artistic world.

I was convinced awhile back that children need to be exposed to "real" art supplies. Not just Crayola and Roseart (I'm always suckered in with the sales and always regret the quality later), but real stuff. I was so convinced that I took myself to a craft store (scary place for a lady who doesn't "do" art) and purchased some high quality colored pencils, pastels, and water colors. I'm ashamed to say that they have sat in our "craft" box for almost a full year, plastic still on, seals untouched.

Today I decided enough is enough and I brought up all of the good quality stuff and let the kids at them. I showed them, in my limited way, how to use the materials and set them free. I had printed off some Valentine's color pages and also supplied blank white paper.

For 2 1/2 hours the kids sat at our table and created. Sometimes just coloring/painting in the lines, sometimes free-handing a picture, adding glitter where they saw fit, etc. They had a great time and I'm now left wondering what in the world took me so long to let them dive in.