Living the Creative Life

Creating with Canvas Art Camp

I recently had a small art camp here at the house and even though there were only 3 children (including Girly), we all had a blast! We mostly worked on canvas but the girls were having so much fun and were finishing their projects so quickly that I was able to add some extra projects into the class. 

One of the girls asked if we could do splatter painting and I thought, why not? I gave each of the kids a big cut of multi-purpose cloth (it feels like canvas) and set them up in the front yard.

We watered down a rainbow of acrylic paints and used all sorts of brush sizes and then the splattering began. It was so fun to watch them come up with crazy splatter patterns, add more colors, decide which color they needed next. 

The girls even painted the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet to add a bit more of themselves to the canvases. 

They washed off at the spicket on the back of the house and then we came inside to add "extras" to their canvases - ribbons, fibers, painted bottle caps, fabric shapes and letters and then we added ribbons at the top so they could be hung up at home. 

 

I love how different they all turned out to be. One canvas was hung while it was drying so that the paint could drip down (on the left). The girls were so proud of their creations!

Here's a video that I shot while the girls were splattering:

My kids' priceless artwork

My kids are now almost 11 and 12 years old, but the canvases I have hanging over my desk in my studio are so precious to me, even though they were done years ago. Their artwork is timeless to me. No matter how their artistic capabilities have grown over the years, there's a magic in these canvases that always captures my heart. 

The decor on my the shelf above my desk may change, but those canvases are there to stay. If I had my way (and I hope that I do), I'd love to have that whole wall in my studio covered with canvases that my children create. A timeline of their artistic phrases throughout the years.

As I look back at how protective I was of my canvases and paints, I'm actually embarrassed with myself. I love my art supplies and I tend to be overprotective of them. As the years have gone by and my kids have wanted to express themselves artistically, I've had to let go of some of that. It's just paint. They're just canvases. It's not like there won't ever be more of them at the craft store. Sure, there are still things in my studio that the kids can't use because it would cost too much to replace them and I'm waiting for them to be a little more responsible and mature before they use those particular things, but when it comes to basics, I let them have (almost) free reign. 

How can I not let my kids at the canvases and paints when they come up with things like this? FIREFLIES! Complete with an aura of light around them!

Or sky scrapers with purple tinted windows, a dinosaur and lightning booming around it all! Can you imagine how much I would be missing if I'd held on too close to those paints and canvases?

I think my wall is aching for some new art to be added to the existing art. Looks like we'll need to take a trip to the craft store to pick up some new canvases for the holiday school vacation.