This week I stated a new series of classes teaching art to children. I have taught my art medium to children in the past and thought it would be a great thing to do this summer. About that time one of our friends came over to help my husband work on our old pickup. When I found out he was coming for the afternoon, I asked if he was bringing his oldest daughter who is 10, maybe she would like to play in the art studio with me and take an art class. Anyway we got it all arraigned and I told her dad that we would only be an hour or so. Next thing I knew we had been painting and designing for three hours. She was amazing! Having no previous painting experience she was a natural artist. I helped her pick out her design for her art project and then she insisted that she do everything else. I love to teach art to children because they are so open about their ideas of what it should be. She picked out a picture with 3 birds in trees with some houses in the back. It was pretty involved art project for a 10 year old. Instead of trying to direct her it was more fun to see what she would come up with. One thing that became apparent right away is that she wasn’t afraid of color and when I suggested that she could mix two or three of the watercolor paints together to make more colors she did exactly that and got so excited about her new art discoveries. It became obvious that this was going to be a two or three part lesson so we booked for next week to come back to the studio to finish the initial painting part. Meantime I remembered that her cousin is about the same age and maybe she would like to come for the next painting session so at the moment we are in midst of setting that up too. Our plan is to complete the art quilt from start to finish including sewing it together and then do a little quilting. I have to tell you how much fun it is teaching art to children in this age group. They still have to confidence that they can do just about anything. My husband reminded me of the positive long term effects of teaching children and how we as adults impact not only our own kids but everyone else around them. All of my grandkids from age 18 to 5 have learned to paint on fabric. I have also taught them how to sew on the sewing machine too, just like I taught their parents. In fact last month when we went to the San Francisco area for our oldest grandchilds graduation we spent time with the some of the other grandchildren in the area. When we went to visit where the 6 year old grandkid lives the first thing he said to me is grandma did you bring your sewing machine so we can quilt. Luckily I am going back there in August for about a week to stay at his house so I am already planning my strategy for getting my paint supplies their ahead of time. There is nothing so precious as hearing them say, wow I can do that! Stay tuned for the next segment along the journey of teaching art to children.
