Artwork

David is not an artist. Not in the sense that he can't do it, but in the sense that it doesn't really interest him. Art projects at our table last maximum 5 minutes. When I give him a pallet of paints, the first thing he does is mix all the colors together. And really, how fun is painting with brown? Put him on the piano, he'll entertain and be entertained for 30-45 minutes. But art? It's just not a place he focuses his energy.

Last week he was a little too rambunctious in nursery at church. He got riled up, and it was hard for the teacher to settle him down (and keep him from riling up everyone else). So this week he baked cookies and made his teacher a card to take to her in apology. I was stunned when he actually drew the card for her. And he included a self portrait--with very clear eyes, mouth, head, arms, legs. He of course wrote the letters of his name in various directions, and once even properly clustered together. But mostly I was thrilled to see him create a piece of art, not just letters.

When I dropped him off, he had to take his cookies and card up to the door by himself while I waited for him. On our drive over, we reviewed again why he was making the visit and what he wanted to tell the teacher when she came to the door. He was a little sullen and unsure getting out of the car, but then he took off running across their lawn, clutching the cookies and card. The dear teacher came to the door to wait for him, when David realized he was missing the point by running across the lawn. So he ran back to the curb, and jumped on all of the red stepping stones leading to her sidewalk. He and his green rubber boots didn't miss a single one. The cookies nearly dumped, and the card almost blew away while the little boy holding them focused on zig-zagging back and forth through rows of stepping stones. Meanwhile, the teacher waited. I waited. Her family came to the door and waited. And we were all having the time of our lives watching. He was so cheerful by the time he reached the door, he couldn't really remember why he was there, other than to deliver good cheer with his plate of cookies.

Maybe David's artistic perspective is in showing the rest of us the fun details of our world. It's not about creating something from nothing--it's about creating fun and carefree with what we've already got.

And if you ask me, that's a lot more fun than a plate full of brown paint.