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.
