Misty windows

Misty morning art

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny September morning, but having been a cold night with no heating on yet, Olivia's bedroom window was half misted up. With the enthusiasm of a 3 year old, she "drawded" on the windows (my mother was always telling me off for this): an aeroplane, a couple of jellyfish, and a "tyngle" (triangle). They were obviously what she said they were and it demonstrated the importance of spontaneity and going with the moment and also confirms my strong belief that children need to draw BIG. 

My pet peeve at her otherwise excellent Montessori nursery is that they produce these tiny (less than A5) pictures with crayons. There's probably some weird Montessori reasoning behind this about working within bounds and fine control, but although that has a place, most of the time it isn't appropriate. At her age she needs to transfer her ideas using her whole body and large muscles and sometimes using her fingers and hands. The pleasure and satisfaction of her achievements this morning confirmed that to me.

Interestingly this is my own working preference when painting. I stand when I can and even when using watercolours I prefer to use long handled brushes which I hold nearer the back. That way, it is more like my body and my arm painting and not my fingers. It also encourages me to stand back and take in the whole - rather than get too involved in detail. Also, I prefer to use the largest brushes I can get away with for the size of paper or canvas/board - until the end.

*UPDATE* My latest painting was finished from a sitting position due to the size of the canvas and the detail and fine control I needed!