DD3 has always been artistic. Started banging on the keyboard with purpose and swaying her body to her music since she was 8 months old. She recently started drawing negative images of flowers- tulips, daisies, roses. She got the idea from working on coloring sheets that my friend gave to her that have wax type stuff where you can't color and that reveal these hidden images. She used that "wax technique and the punch out technique from my school" to make these drawings. She makes up these beautiful songs that fill your heart with joy. It was my SIL's anniversary and as she and her DH were cutting the cake, dd started to sing "pink is the color of love, blue is the color of sky. happy happy anniversary." Or when she saw the rainbow this summer and sang " oh, rainbow, rainbow. Oh, beautiful rainbow. Don't you go away. Let me slide down your back."
How do I nurture this beautiful gift? I have no artistic ability whatsoever and while DH is talented, he is very disciplined in his approach- something that doesn't work well with DD. I take her to once a week music together class which she loves. She spends the hour just running around the room like a maniac. They have a once a week music class at school which she hates and usually cries and sits out- i think because it is structured. no classes for art. DH wants to start her on classical music training and structured art classes. I am vehemently opposed but then again, I am artistically challenged. I could really use some help and ideas from people on this board who are artistically talented or have children who are so. Thank you so much.
I think "Gifted Children: Myths And Realities" (1997) by Ellen Winner is a great book. It discusses both intellectual and artistic giftedness and may give you some ideas, but it not a how-to book.
What a charming girl your DD is!
Art is about inspiration, so I'd be sure to carve out time to explore and discover beauty in an unrestricted, unscheduled way-- nature, theater, music, literature, food, dance, etc. I imagine this comes naturally to her already!
ETA: I'm not a talented artist, just someone who appreciates beauty through the arts!
Thanks, Bostonian. I will check the book out. Even if it not a how to book, just understanding how artistic people think and function would help me provide a more enriching environment to my dd.
Thank you, aquinas. My dd brings a lot of happiness and delight to my life. She notices things that I never would or that i take for granted, like shapes in clouds, the glow of the white snow on a moonlit night, the imagined fear of a poor bird swept up in a tornado. I am a silent observer and like you I appreciate the beauty of arts through her interpretations. Not sure if this back seat approach is all that she needs or if I need to let my DH use his approach. I am afraid she will stop doing it if it becomes a task that needs practice and mastery. Anyway, i am rambling. Thanks again!
if you live near a museum they sometimes have art classes for the pre-K set. Sometimes they have a family fun day or something where you could meet the staff and your DD could see the facilities.
I know a couple of women where I live that conduct art classes in their home studios, everything from very talented kids that need more than school at a younger age, to kids with development issues that need a caring touch. One of the woman takes children that young and she has had a few kids for years, now they are in middle school or high school and help her out as assistants.
Maybe you could check out those ideas in your area.
I think artists need room to explore as do pre-schoolers. Personally I think time, space, supplies and positive feedback support visual arts pretty well. When she needs "how to" support maybe find a video online. I had art classes when I was younger, though well intentioned I didn't learn from them, because I wasn't interested in drawing leaves.
I think vision+voice is ultimately more important to a visual artist than skills. Skills you can learn as needed, but voice and vision can be fragile.
Anyway, i am rambling. Thanks again!
Ramble away! You have a willing audience in me.
And please do keep us posted on your DD's work; they're great stories to hear.
My DD9 is fairly artistic and really enjoys the process of creating. We have an area of the basement set aside for her with all kinds of materials (everything from fabric to dried seeds to colored pencils). She also has a keyboard and staff paper I printed out for her in her bedroom, and gets to use the computer for her stories and poetry. In addition, she's a budding chef and likes to make up her own recipes.
However, she's not a fan of structured art classes. She'll sometimes read or watch short videos for inspiration, but prefers to experiment on her own. It can get rather messy, but it’s been fun watching her explore and develop.
Just some random thoughts about art classes:
I was a precocious artist as a child, almost totally self-taught. I was given this book as a gift when I was maybe 8 and I highly recommend that for an artist of that age who shows talent:
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201One time in maybe second grade we had an art teacher come to our class at school to show us how to draw flowers. Long straight stick for a stem, symmetrical leaves on each side, a U with some points for a tulip blossom. Done! To this day I don't draw flowers any other way, and I think that's the worst sort of way to teach a child to draw. It wasn't until I took a drawing class for my art degree at a university that I was actually taught how to really look at something and translate that to paper when drawing from life.
For a 3-year-old, though, you'll want to let her have fun exploring different types of media. I haven't reviewed all of these sites thoroughly but you may find some of them helpful:
http://www.mrsbrownart.com/index.htmhttp://www.kinderart.com/http://www.lz95.net/mw/talbert/stugal.htmhttp://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/
There are some kid friendly music classes - any Suzuki instrument will be for kids and up. Choose from piano, violin, chello and more.
For art I agree that exploration is key! We have a set art corner with all sorts of materials, play doh, modelling clay, air drying clay, paints (oils, acrylics, water, craft, glass and fabric paints), crayons, colouring pencils and felt tipped pens, all sorts of pens (gel pens in different shades and types, ball pens, fine liners, permanents etc) charcoals, canvases, sketch books, tracing paper, rice paper, hand made papers, coloured board, glue sticks, craft glue, glue gun, pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes, straws, stickers and and and and. I want to get each kid an easel next
they love to potter around there and when in a creative mood both older boys (6 and 4) will spend up to 2 hours there making things. I love watching their discoveries and explorations.
Perhaps later we will do something more formal. For now, we love this. we also visit art shows for local artists where possible and we create our own art for fathers day etc. They each got to choose paintings from a new local artist recently. They chose the same set and she re-created them for us to have identical sets in each room. There are many ways to help with creativity - but the best is to trust them to trust their inner creativity I guess.
You can also play games like Pictionary for use of developing skills.
Buy Don't move the muffin tin from Amazon by Bev Boss. It is more for preschools but there is a TON in there that will help you out.
I think ine of the best things you can do is to be it unstructured until she asks for structure. My daughter is a fine arts major now, and I let her drive the process. I kept a pile of art supplies in our family area, and she kept more in her room which didn't have the potential for ruining carpet, etc. It wasn't until high school that she decided she wanted lessons, and she chose the classes at school. She now works as a graphic artist on campus and still loves to create.
DD7 is very creative. She's amazing at drawing and making up songs. We give her lots of space to explore.
You've gotten lots of good ideas, but I'll just add these two. My daughter loved going to the art museum with her sketchbook and copying paintings and drawing sculptures. I think she started getting into this at about age 4.
Also, one of my favorite mommy blogs is
http://www.artfulparent.com/.
Bzylzy, there is an art institute that we visit on family art days. Last summer, they had 10-week art classes for preschoolers. I enrolled dd even though she was only 2.5 yo then. Every week, for an hour, they would explore a new concept and take a walk around the museum and come back and paint using that theme. DD showed no interest and was always hungry, tired,etc. she never paid much attention in class. A few months later, she started to draw these beautiful landscapes and portraits using the ideas they taught at the art class. I was really surprised that she actually learnt a ton but did not show it. Unfortunately, the institute hasn't offered any other classes for her age group. Thanks.
Thanks, Zen Scanner for validating my thoughts. Our entire house is her canvas and she has plenty of material to explore and a constant admirer/ enthusiast in me. I am hoping that's all she needs.
Sounds like you have a wonderful daughter! My dd also loves to "cook" and comes up with these concoctions she forces her dad to drink. Once she made him drink milk with blue food color, a little salt, a little cinnamon and some other stuff. Yuck!
Thanks for sharing your dd's preference for experimentation rather than structured class. I agree with that approach. Thanks.
W'sMama, lol on the flower drawing. One of your website had a quote from Picasso on how how every child is an artist. It is how to keep that as you grow up. Thanks so much for sharing the links. The mrsbrownart is actually very similar to the art class she attended last summer that I mentioned before. It is so nice to hear from a talented artist on her approach and what worked. I will check out the book. You are amazing!
Thanks for sharing what is working for your sons, Madoosa. While dd can paint anywhere, anything, her main art space is our family room. She has all kinds of medium and the one she loves the most is tempera. She uses the three primary colors, and black,white and brown to create all different colors that she uses in her painting. She has a formula for creating obscure colors like olive green and navy blue using the six colors.
Thanks for the book reco, Sweetie. Will be sure to check it out.
ABQMom, you are exactly the kind of person I wanted to get an opinion from. Thank you so much! I am so glad to hear that you went with the flow and your dd is a happy creative person now who has found a line of work that fulfills her need to create. Wonderful! Thanks again.
Staceychev, isn't it wonderful to have someone in your life filled with creative energy? I like the idea of giving her a portable art stand, a sketchbook and some colors so she can take it with her wherever she goes. The blog is good- love the heart pancakes. Planning to make it for this weekend:)
DDalmost10 is an amazing artist - completely self-taught! We nurtured her artistic tendencies by being sure that there were always supplies around. Sometimes the supplies were empty cardboard boxes and crayons, or pipe cleaners, or one of her favorites when she was 3 - a bucket of water, a paint brush and the driveway (she loved the idea of painting the driveway and watching it dry as the sun peeked around the corner of the car port), playdoh, chalk, you name it we have either had it or still have it.
We then were lucky enough to find an elementary art teacher who saw her ability and allowed her to stay after school for an hour a week to create. She was given choices of magazines to look at to decide what she wanted to do and given the supplies to do the project with. When I changed jobs, and we moved the art teacher at the high school I teach at took her under her wing and allowed her to go to the after school open studio sessions she held (DD was 7 when she started this). Throughout all of this we never got her lessons, or interfered in her work, with the one exception: at the advice and prodding of the art teacher we did buy her real art paper and some better quality supplies. (This art teacher actually things she is a prodigy)
I would strongly suggest just keeping the supplies going, and allowing plenty of opportunity to actually create art. I too have no artistic ability, but I love going on for the ride, that is DD's artistic journey.
Is there a college or high school around that you could approach - maybe someone there could help you out with ideas and act as a mentor to your DD.
Kerry, it is so great that not only do you have an artist prodigy but that you were able to provide her an environment to grow. My dd also loves water art. She uses paper and loves to watch it dry. I actually work at a University but never thought of using the fine arts dept there as a resource. That is a very good suggestion, thank you.