Design

Abstract Toddler Art

July 10, 2012

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Greta and I have been “working” closely since the studio was completed.  She absolutely loves watching me paint away and often times is happy to sit on the floor and hand me brushes that she thinks I should use.  Inspired by this mother who let her daughter play with her paints and brushes, I thought it was about time I let Greta get down and dirty with mine.
 
I even captured the whole painting process in a time-lapse video for you.
 
 
The whole painting took her about 10 minutes (which I sped up to just over 2 minutes), which is 5 minutes longer than I thought she would last.  An important note is although I wanted Greta to have absolute freedom with her brushes and brushstrokes, I still chose the colors–which is really important if you want to frame and hang your toddler’s art on the walls.  Don’t give them all the colors at once or you will end up with a big brown mess.  Let them have fun with all the blues and then all the purples and after those dry a bit, hand over the yellows and pinks.  It’s still their masterpiece.
 
Since I really wanted some Greta art for the gallery shelves in the stairway we’re working on (that will be blacks, whites and grays), I gave her two pots of water-downed mistints I picked up at the hardware store–a dark charcoal and a warmer, lighter, blueish gray.
 

As her mother, I am 100% unapologetically biased, but she hit it out of the park.  I especially loved when she was running back and forth getting more brushes.  All the different brushes must be her favorite part.

I gave Greta an extra large canvas on purpose so that she could go crazy and create lots of interesting brushstrokes without worrying about running out of room.  After she was done, and the paint was dry, I framed two smaller sections of the large painting that will be displayed on our picture ledges.

 
Not too bad, huh!?
 

I have been waiting 2 years to frame some of her artwork and I can’t wait to fill our walls with more.  Do you have your children’s artwork on display?  Any other cool art ideas you to share?  Also…I am turning into one of those moms that’s beaming with pride. :)

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What do you think?

  1. domain says:

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  2. Victoria Bradley-Morris says:

    I’ll take it!

  3. Yadira Batres says:

    That’s is so cute she’s a natural like the mom hah!

    they looked just like any professional paint out there.

    weallneedalilcreation.blogspot.com

  4. This was the best thing I have seen in so long, I was blown away and was smiling ear to ear through the whole video, down to her wearing that pink oversized shirt! AND THEN to see how you matted parts out, its executed so well, I”m sharing this video on my Facebook!

  5. meaganbriggs3 says:

    adooooooore this.

    Such a great idea! We have some of Brinley’s pieces of artwork around the house, but after collecting almost every Nursery coloring page she did since she was 18 months….it was getting a bit out of hand!!! LOL so I’ve decided to be more selective. She loves to paint and color and that makes me SO happy! Some kids don’t like it. And some PARENTS won’t let them, due to the mess it can create. I don’t care about the mess, as long as she is displaying some creativity, and she enjoys it, how on earth can you say no to that?!??

  6. You are just the cutest mom there ever was. She’s a natural! They’re gorgeous!

  7. Hey, if it’s something she turns out to love, she could soon have a nice little allowance via Etsy :)

  8. Oh, Rebekah. I love your train of thought!

  9. I hadn’t gotten to see the video before I posted, but I was really impressed that she doesn’t seem to favor one hand over the other :)

  10. Cute! I wondered where she kept going, lol. Brush! Now I get it. I love her paintings – very graphic.

  11. Heather G. says:

    That is so great and she is just adorable!

  12. Jessie McKinley says:

    Such a cute video!! She is adorable and it turned out so well! Love it.

  13. Janecmetcalf says:

    i love this. the final framed art looks so great. but what a memorable making of art that you let her experience. it’s wonderful.

  14. Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says:

    Greta is a great little artist! How pretty! I had my boys paint on small canvases for Father’s Day gifts: http://ourhumbleabowedblog.com/2011/06/13/early-fathers-day/ My boys also love painting on paper, but sometimes those aren’t as easy to display, so I cut it into pieces and made a herringbone design to frame: http://ourhumbleabowedblog.com/2012/02/29/one-percent-pinspiration-the-artful-after/ They loved it, too. It’s so much fun when you get cute kid artwork to hang up.

  15. Aly says:

    Oh I love it!

  16. Sam says:

    Wow that looks so legitimate! I really think you could pass both of those frames off as modern art and get people to see all kinds of reason and feelings in them. I’ll have to do this, just need to borrow a child from somewhere first!

  17. Erin says:

    So adorable! No doubt every parent loves their child’s artwork, but I imagine it may be even more special for you as a bonifide arteest yourself. Also, I learned that lesson about all the colors turning into a mass of brown the hard way. Some Christmas gifts had to be scrapped and rethought.

  18. Love it and this whole concept! Such a great idea! :)

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