They were waking up earlier than usual and were coming into our room so we could finish waking up and would watch PBS. The show that happened to be in the first PBS station was so obnoxious that I would change the channel to the other PBS station, where Bob Ross would be on, painting his happy trees. Amos really liked watching him paint, so we would watch until the very end. One morning, he said, "Mommy, I want to be a painter!" I was so happy to support him in this, as painting and the visual arts are one of my favorite art forms.
I was surprised to see Amos actually painting, too. We've done art projects here and there, but generally, I've never known Amos to willingly sit down and color. He has rarely colored in a coloring book but it seems like lately, he's learned how to be creative with markers and paints and is figuring out how to put it on paper.
So all week, he's painted. And of course, not to be left behind, so has little Flannery.
At first, it was a challenge to help Amos paint because she also wanted to paint. But then he would be finished so I would give her a turn. Of course, Flannery always made a bigger mess, but I loved seeing her paint and engage it so much that I didn't care. (It also reminded me of my days doing art with infants, toddler and two year olds at Bright Horizons. At least now I don't have to clean up ten toddlers covered in paint!).
By the end of the week, I was able to get them both set up on the easel and taught Amos how to have a pallet using a paper plate. Of course, as soon as he set it down, Flannery would stumble over with her paint brush, get paint from his pallet and then stumble back to her picture, leaving a trail of paint in her wake. She absolutely wants to be like big brother, it seems!
So we've had constant art going on around here. Amos has painted almost everyday last week and I've tried to let him do it every time he's asked. His pictures are so good too. I love seeing him be creative and love encouraging his art. Too, with using a pallet, I was able to teach him about the color wheel, giving him only red, yellow and blue paints and then mixing the others to create the secondary colors.
These days it doesn't take much to inspire Amos, which is another reason why I am okay with him watching PBS and Pixar movies. They are inspiring his imagination and it seems like more and more he is reenacting a movie scene, developing a new story line or wanting to make something he saw on 'Curious George.' I don't think it's necessary for him to watch tv to be creative; it's just neat to see him being inspired from other art, as we all do.
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