I'm an artist (when I'm working).
Creativity comes from craft, not the other way around. One of my best pieces (that was actually for work) was made in a period when I made over 70 full-page illustrations per day for a week. Creativity there came mainly from caffine.
Anyway, visual cognition doesn't really even slow up developing until you're in your 20s, at least if you keep pushing it to develop. I can very clearly remember real leaps in being able to see until I was about 26ish, and though I'm not THAT much past 26 (ok, I'm 30 even ;)), I'm still learning a huge amount all the time despite loosing that expanding capacity thing.
Upshot: It don't matter how gifted an artist she is, she's got a looooooooonnnnnnnngggg way to go, and it's a tough field to work in. If it were me, and I though there could just be a Kahlo on my hands, I'd throw her in the deep end medium-wise. Make encaustics out of crayons, do fancy sculptural cakes, make fairies out of genuine found materials (go on a one-hour walk, and use only what you can find free), maybe even spend the money on a good art class and/or the materials for acrylic painting. Make stuff that won't last, it's freeing, when you're in a rut.
Find ways to extend the fun, not the learning -- if she's really talented, she'll be teaching you anyway
-Mich
