7/31 Art

Hannah detested coloring/writing/scribbling until she was 5 years old and no longer had an OT telling her what to do.    She avoided scissors like the plague.

Then one day she discovered crayons and coloring books.  And my life was easier.   Any time we had to wait at a doctor's office, or a restaurant, she was thrilled to fill her time with coloring.  Long car trips?  She could color for hours.  A new coloring book was a favorite gift.  A pair of scissors and some construction paper kept her occupied for quite a while. (And even longer when she had to clean up the mess!).   Throw in a hole punch and she'd be set for an afternoon.

As the years went by, she discovered that she liked to draw as well.  At her peak, she probably did some kind of coloring, drawing or painting for 2 hours a day.  She started taking art classes a couple years ago.  Her creations in class are quite different from the ones she does at home.   She doesn't have much carry-over.   That carefully executed self-portrait made in class is the only one that has any sort of real proportion.   That's okay.  We enjoy all that she creates.   I really wasn't expecting a child of mine to be artistic.   I am lucky if I can draw a stick. (No, not a stick person, just a stick.)    My idea of painting is using a roller on a wall.   James can draw.  He will sit and draw or color with Nan.  Me?  I'd rather bake muffins.

Hannah's moved past her "tape" phase of 6 months ago.  (Sorry to disappoint you Chrystal!)
In the spring she took a pottery class. She doesn't yet have the finely graded muscle control to use the wheel, but she has made some nice handwork pieces.

(that's a yellow turtle in the front)

This vase was my Mother's Day gift.

When she's motivated, she'll get out her paints.  We have a variety of paints, but usually she just goes with the Crayola washable poster paints.  She really that Little Tykes would make a tall version of their easel.  All the "adult" sized easels I see are not sturdy enough for her.  So she uses a tabletop easel left over from Occupation therapy.   

 
This one surprised me.  I don't know where she picked up the idea of a fruit bowl still life, but she created it from somewhere in her memory.

And this is one of my favorites. Again, from her memory.  She hasn't read Morris in a long time.

It's Morris the Moose (a very funny beginning level set of stories).  I like it because I think it shows that she tool some thought to figure out where to leave paint out.  She planned to leave the teeth white.  The visual processing is amazing to me.

 

If you haven't read Morris stories, I recommend them.  I prefer Morris over Amelia Bedelia.   The books are simpler than Amelia Bedelia, so the humor is more obvious. (And let me tell you, a concrete learner does not understand Amelia Bedelia.  She IS Amelia Bedelia.)

Having an artist in the house was the last thing I would have expected when Hannah was a preschooler.  Some things are best left alone to be figured out on their own time line.  I'm glad we dropped OT.  It gave her the freedom to explore on her own terms.