Today the girls and I spent some time experimenting with a painting technique that uses tape. Earlier in the week I had been linked to this amazing documentary about young, contemporary artists in Brazil. The girls were fascinated by some of the things these artists did, "How is this art, Dad?" and it allowed us to have some very good discussions about self expression, the use of various media, and also the use of tape. A number of the artists used tape to create geometric shapes, which they then filed with paint. The aha! moment of seeing them peel the tape away, and leaving a crisp line of colour was simply too much for the girls, "Dad, let's go paint." We quickly found some paper large enough for their ideas, and luckily we had enough painter's tape to get us through this artistic explosion. I helped them start, and showed them how to keep a straight line on the page, how to judge where they should start and stop, in order to have triangles match, etc. I also helped them get a number of shades of blue, "He used all different blues, so we should try that too."
The result was very good, and not least because it opened their minds to the possibility of augmenting their own skills with simple tools, and repurposing the everyday for the artistic. I don't think one can expect more from a Saturday.
NOTE to other parents: there are some sections in the documentary that I had to skip past, because they are not necessarily appropriate for young children. On the whole, it is good.