This week, for the very first time, Artful Adventures has its first guest post.  I thought it would be a special way of officially ‘launching’ the new site, so Rachel from ‘Really Rachel’ has contributed this post which really does show that you’re never too young to become an artist!

I didn’t plan to do it.

FP and I started painting while her little sister was having a nap.  We often do that: save the messy, delicate and potentially hazardous activities for when EP is asleep.  She’s almost one.  She can almost walk.  She likes nothing better than to have a marble in her mouth whilst teetering dangerously from one sharp corner to the next.  As far as art is concerned, it’s for eating.  Paper is for scrunching, crayons are for chewing.  And can’t understand why she’s not allowed to have scissors.  It’s so unfair…

Anyway, FP (who is almost three) was aproned-up and giving instructions about how the painting should be done:

“Get LOADS of paint on the brush – you get green mummy – LOADS of paint and just sort of spread it about, like this…”

Then EP woke up.

What to do?  I could either relegate her to the play-pen or…  It occurred to me that I could let her join in.

I must have been feeling extra chilled-out or extra stupid (probably both) but I suddenly found myself dressing little EP in a far-too-big apron and providing her with paper and paint.  I put her in her high-chair so that she could sit securely and handed her a paint brush.  I helped her to put paint on the brush and daub it onto the paper.  Then she took control.

She tried the brush both ways up.  She used her hands.  She felt the paint between her fingers and, it has to be said, across her face and in her hair.  She made splodges, smudges and hand prints.  She concentrated deeply, smiled broadly and giggled with delight.  Then, she tossed the paper casually onto the floor, which is as good a way as any to announce that you have finished.

I hadn’t planned to give EP paint.  I thought that she would eat it (she did) and make a mess (she did) and not know what to do with it (she didn’t).  I thought that 11 months old was too soon to be introducing EP to a paint brush but, actually, I was wrong.  Of course I had to do a lot of cleaning up.  I had to wrestle EP under the tap to wash her hands.  I ended up taking my baby to the shops with purple hair… But it was worth it.  Just look at that smile.

Really Rachel – http://rachelpattisson.blogspot.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/RachelPattisson