Recently, I heard about an opportunity in our homeschooling group for the kids to have their artwork displayed at a local downtown store during our town’s Gallery Walk, which occurs the first Saturday of every month.
My girls love to paint, so I jumped at the chance for them to participate. I told the girls about it and bought them some special canvases on which to create their pieces. Neither of them really understood what the heck I was talking about when I said their art would be on display in a store downtown. They didn’t really care about anything other than having the chance to paint. And paint they did.
They each did a painting for the Gallery Walk and then did several more.
Miss did paintings of her sisters and then created this Self Portrait.
I thought about taking Miss’s self portrait for the Gallery Walk, but she didn’t want me to take that or the painting she did of her sisters anywhere.
So we sent these:
The one on the left is Lass’s, Miss’s on the right.
I didn’t ask either of them what they had painted or to give a name for their paintings. Both of them did so on their own though. In case you can’t see the cards on them, Lass’s is “Rapunzel’s Magical Hair” and Miss’s is “Picture of Wisconsin.”
Tonight was the Gallery Walk. I told the girls we were all going on a date to have dinner and ice cream and go see their paintings on display. I didn’t think they would really get the concept of having their artwork displayed for others to see unless we actually went and saw it and saw others seeing it. So we did.
We started out with dinner at a small cafe downtown.
I realized recently that we don’t take the girls out for dinner enough (um, ever). When we visited my parents we took them out to a local buffet and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. Neither of them had done that before. When it occurred to me that they don’t ever get to do that, I decided to remedy the situation and begin taking them out to eat more often.
So tonight we had a girl’s night out “date night” (Daddy wasn’t home). They had mac and cheese for dinner and chocolate ice cream for dessert.
After dinner we went over the the store where their art was displayed. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was really fun to see them see their art and accept compliments on it. There were several other homeschooling families there and they were very kind in their comments to my girls about their paintings.
It was also a great experience for them to see the artwork done by the other kids in the group. There were really great pieces, including photography, fused glass, paintings, textural drawings, cut paper art, colored pencil drawings, and even a castle sculpture made from marshmallows and toothpicks. The girls really got into looking at the different types of art.
When I first signed them up to participate in this I wondered if I was being kind of dumb since they are so young. I thought maybe I would seem silly since they aren’t technically of “homeschooling age.” I thought they might not even understand the idea of being in an “art show.”
They probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t taken them to see it. And Lass probably still didn’t really quite get it.
But I don’t feel silly about having them participate in the experience anymore. They had fun. They got to paint, which they always love. They got to have a special night out with Mom. They got to see their artwork on display with other pieces by older kids. They got to explore and enjoy the other art and receive compliments on theirs. They thanked the mother who organized the show.
And now we have our next craft project already planned out. I happen to have mini marshmallows and toothpicks in my cupboards. Sculptural art lesson, here we come!
