Kids are the greatest and they do some of the best art. It’s wild and colorful, messy, and unapologetic. They are spontaneous and I absolutely love it. Taking this childlike painting approach has been a major goal of mine in my own art and I have access to the greatest teacher, my daughter.

Over the weekend I took old canvases outside and decided to do a collaboration painting with the creative genius. I usually let her paint with me, even on my work, but we had never done a painting on canvas together.

After gessoing them up, we went to town spray painting, throwing paint, flicking paint, and painting with brushes.

Oddly enough, she lost interest pretty quickly and decided to dance instead.

I watched her dance.

We spent the day outside.

…and these are a few of her favorite things on 20 x 20 x 3/4″ canvas.

I finished up the painting in the house under her guidance and we ended up with a beautiful piece of art for her room that we love!

I am creating a series on the other recycled canvases…to be continued.

This is, in essence, how I work with the kids around. It’s often unorganized and chaotic, especially within the confines of the house, but I have learned to adapt. I have become super at multi-tasking and prioritizing in order to continue doing what I love to do, mainly by including them in the process and having fun. I take advantage of every free minute I have to create art, but the kids always come first. With my teen getting more and more involved in the arts I am experiencing how rewarding art can be at all age levels.

Both of them have taught me a few things about art, and life, heart, and unconditional love. I try to instill in them that you have to sacrifice a little for the health and happiness of your loved ones, that life is full of possibilities, but you have to work hard to achieve your goals. I am a proponent of an educated step out of the box, {meaning you need your education above all} and hope like every other parent, that they make solid choices that they themselves, can live with, and with the least amount of struggle possible.

Life IS like a big canvas, but if you throw too many colors onto it at once, you’re going to end up with a big huge mess. We clean it up, paint over it, and move on. They will make mistakes, and sometimes, over and over again. We make mistakes. We all do and it is how we learn and grow, and it is what flourishes out of those mistakes sometimes that are so worth the wait.

Peace, love, and oodles of patience and perseverance on your journey!