I started my art career as an Art Director at an international ad agency and said goodbye to it forever while pregnant with my first child. I had three children in a four year period and so you can imagine life was busy just keeping up with them. So any art was whatever I did with them in our day to day life.
We left Vancouver, moved to a suburb of Seattle called Woodinville and the kids began school. As much as I was looking forward to a little "me time" while the kids were in school, I suddenly found myself bored with nothing to do.
That's when I found myself volunteering for the PTA and getting involved in the Art Docent program at school. A program I quickly began to chair with a woman who would become a lifelong friend over the next ten years. During the 11 years I spent at the school, I also founded the Artist in Residence program and the Afterschool Arts Program and found my true passion, sharing art with children.
Although I 'gave away' my skills, I gained so much more and without those years of working in the PTA at Hollywood Hill Elementary school, I would not be able to pursue my dream and passion of owning my own studio for children's classes nor working within my community instructing art classes today.
I also met some of my very best friends who are still constant sources of inspiration, including one of my son's best childhood school friends, a child who was born with a very rare muscle condition that left him wheelchair bound. A condition his mother was told he would never survive infancy and is now 21 years old, going to University and writing a sports blog.
Watching my friend make sure her son enjoyed a normal childhood by advocating and caring for him truly changed my life perspective. To say he was a sports fanatic was an understatement and he participated in sports until high school graduation- managing the high school basketball team and football team. Along with our own children, we cheered for him as he ran on the elementary school track team.
He couldn't sleep over at our home because of the stairs, but many a night my son spent the night at his house. Playing video games and horsing around as children do, never paying attention to the hospital bed he slept in nightly, the respirator needed, or any of the rest of the medical equipment that was part of his normal life. Although my son's friend needed extra help in life, my son and the rest of the children at school accepted their friends unique circumstances no differently than their own unique qualities and challenges that made them, well, them.
As his mother told me when I asked if it was OK to write about them in this post, her son's biggest gift to this world is that he paves the way for kids with disabilities that don't have his outgoing personality. Without doubt, he did just that to the hundreds of children who call him friend from childhood (and their parents) and the many more who meet him as a young adult.
He and his mother are also the reason I contacted Canuck Place when looking for an organization to give back to the community the only way I knew how, by teaching art. As I read about Canuck Place, I felt a personal connection thanks to the lifelong friendship I have with this mother and son.
I was thrilled when Canuck Place asked if I would come out this past Friday evening to the camp they were running out in Squamish for the kids and their siblings. The theme for the day (and evening) was Disney's "Big Hero 6".
Working with a liaison at Canuck Place, we decided to have the kids create their own robots in acrylic paint. There were a wide range of ages and challenges, but how exciting to see how each person interpreted the project in their own unique way.
The time went by in a whirlwind of fun and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, them or me.
As we started the lesson, I spent a moment showing them one of Georgia O'Keeffe's large flowers. I suggested focusing in on just a part of their imaginary robot instead of trying to show the entire thing to create interest.
Then I asked them to think of the geometric shapes that made up the parts of their robot and draw them on the paper. Once they had completed this, using just the three primary colors, I asked them to paint in their backgrounds mixing the colors directly on the paper.
When finished with the background, the kids got to work painting their robots. I showed them how to add black to one side of the shape and white to the other and then bring the two colors together by blending. This instantly creates a bit of dimension to the shapes.
Once they had painted their shapes, I asked them to pick up their graphite pencils again and draw in the parts to connect the robot shapes. From there I showed them how to use white to create a highlight and then asked them to use the colors again to add details like control buttons and faces.
But most importantly what I stressed was my directions were strictly suggestions and as artist it was up to them to decide what to implement and what to ignore. And based on the amazing variety of results, I could not be happier they took to heart this steadfast philosophy in my instruction.
I had brought a picture of Baymax with me, since he was the inspiration for the project, but I'm not one to ask the kids to copy another artist creation. However the little boy above was so excited to paint Baymax, I couldn't deny him the pleasure and gave him the picture to use as reference. He was so proud of his artwork in the end, it did my heart good to see him proudly show me his finished work.
The three little boys below jumped right into the project with complete abandonment. They were uninterested in waiting for the next instructions in their exuberance to paint and create.
The above work started off with one small robot coming in on the right side. I suggested maybe adding some friends and this is what he created.
The energy emitting from these two boys really comes through in the art and I'm not going to lie, there was a moment where I wasn't sure how to offer direction in the below painting as he enjoyed just mixing colors on the paper. In the end, I knew I could spark his interest by asking him to use his paintbrush in the most unexpected way, backwards. He loved the idea of drawing into the thick paint he had put on the paper with the paintbrush tip.
And I enjoyed walking by this artist work periodically to see what changes she would make to the work. I think her robot came out quite adorable in the end.
And this artist came at the project in the most unexpected way, I asked if she wanted to put a face into the work and she quite firmly told me no. Her art reminded me a lot of some of Paul Klee's pieces and I wrote his name down for her in hopes she might take a look at some of it later.
I met some amazing adults that night, who like my friend whose son I mentioned earlier, left me amazed and inspired. And like all the children I work with, I met a large group of children who took a little bit of my heart with them at the end too.
Thank you Canuck Place for letting me be apart of your successful camp.
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