Home safe and sound. Hoping all of you are well and enjoying the beautiful weather.
It may not really be art, but it sure is fun! The boys and I did all sorts of projects when they were growing up — from building clubhouses, to fishing, to painting, to doing crafts, to more and more interesting ways to learn knew things!
When I became a grandma to Gracie, it was natural for us to do projects. I still have some of our paintings and crafts.
Then when Addie Sue was added to the family, we continued doing projects. This last visit we worked on an autumn tree. First we painted our background a tealish blue. Addie watched me as I brushed the acrylic paint on the canvas, and then took over with lots of energy making sure all the white spots were covered.
After the sky dried, she and I worked to cover her little hand with brown paint. “It tickles, Nonnie!” she giggled.
I told her how we were going to press her hand on the canvas three times to make the branches of our tree. It was hard for her not to squish her hand around in the paint as she touched the canvas — and it would have been fun — but we were working on more of a handprint.
After the brown paint dried, I told her, “We are going to do something kind of crazy, Addie Sue, but I think it will work.”
“What?” she asked with a big smile.
“We’re going to paint with broccoli!”
So after talking about what colors tree leaves turned in the fall, we put generous amounts of red, yellow, orange and some gold on our painting plate. Next, I showed her how we could dip the small broccoli floret in the paint, press off a little of the extra paint on our cover paper that protected the table, and then, “voila!” I showed her how to press the broccoli on her tree branches she had made from where she pressed her fingers on the canvas.
Delighted, she pressed “leaves” all over. I asked her where leaves were on trees and tried to curb her enthusiasm so she would cover her “tree” with leaves. As I did so, I remembered being a first-grader, eager to do right, engaging in one of our first art activities.
I was given a big blank sheet of off-white paper and crayons. “Draw a flower,” Mrs. Pickle, my teacher, said.
In the top lefthand corner, I drew my best curly flower that had been practiced drawing on bulletins during church.
Surprised, she was not happy! “Flowers don’t fly in the air, Connie. Flowers grow on the ground. Redo your drawing.”
I was crushed. So, when Addie started pouncing her broccoli with a new color on it under her tree, I smiled.
When she dipped her broccoli in two colors and proceeded to put a few leaves over her tree, I smiled.
She saw the leaves falling from her tree and painted what she saw. Maybe it was a windy day, and she saw the beautiful, bright leaves swirl above her little tree.
No wonder Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 NIV
