Helping your Kids Appreciate Art

My 19-year old son just spent his Birthday money on a piece of original art. As an artist and especially as a parent, I was delighted that he appreciated art well enough to spend his own money on it.  Coming from a family of artists, I have always been surrounded by original art so naturally absorbed the value and appreciation of art. It is a legacy that I think all parents should try to instill in their children – to expose them to creativity and a thought process outside of the everyday.

We found that there were a few key things that helped our kids not only appreciate art but enabled them to start to develop their own tastes and their own preferences.

Things to consider when encouraging the love of art for your kids:

Age 3-6 – At this age, all kids enjoy creating art and think of themselves as artists – keep the dream alive! When your child is young, take a piece of art that they are particularly proud of, frame it to give it importance (inexpensive frames from IKEA are perfect) and create a gallery in their room. Encourage them to hang their friend’s art as well to get them used to different styles.

Age 6- 12 – Take your kids to art galleries. When we travel as a family, we "pop" into small, non-intimidating galleries. Don't stay too long. Keep it light and fun. Encourage them to choose posters or framed  postcards of the artists they like. Encourage their thoughts on different pieces. This will give you some insight as to what they are attracted to.

Age 13 - 18. A perfect time to introduce them to art they will keep forever. A few years ago, my husband and I started buying small pieces of art for our kids (aged 16 and 19) every year for their birthday. This way, they have original art for their bedrooms. As they live with the pieces chosen for them, they will start to develop their own tastes. Generally start by choosing art in colours or subject matter your children enjoy. Picking up small pieces at outdoor shows like the Riverdale Art Walk allows you to buy great pieces from local artists at reasonable prices. For the same price of a video games, you can purchase art. Who know, you may be purchasing the next Picasso!

When your kids move into their first home, they will have a nice start to their collection and will hopefully continue the legacy, passing their love to their children.

Choosing a Name…a Rose by any other name…

I recently re-connected with a friend of mine who just had a baby; she was talking about the challenge of naming her child so that the name would reflect her heritage, be unique and also “fit” the wee one. It had been 6 weeks and the pressure was on!

It made me think about the process of naming paintings. As I paint abstract, I have come to realize that most people need a way to ‘navigate” an abstract work so the names are very important. This process of naming can sometimes be a challenge. I almost always have a photo reference to start with (usually something from my garden) but as I am working on the piece, it often takes on a life of its own and sometimes does not look like the original reference. Where the original piece may have been inspired by a photo of a rose, the result may be more reflective of a cool pond, wildflower meadow or something different altogether. Unless it is truly a series, I prefer not to have multiple paintings of the same name (Rose I, Rose II).

Sky Through Oak Trees

To solve this dilemma, I pour myself a nice glass of red wine, hang the painting in all 4 directions, sit and wait to be inspired. In the end, I called this Sky Through Oak Trees.

Link to the painting: http://katetaylorstudio.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=11453&subkeyvalue=898663&page=WorksZoom

Pushing Your Boundries

As an artist, you control much of your time and can plan what your creative goals are for the day. Although this freedom can be great, there is a risk that you are not doing enough to push your boundaries; it can be easy to become complacent. I recently had a few occasions to push myself way beyond my comfort zone; of my own choosing and one not.

In January, I was intrigued by the thought of participating in the Art Battle in Toronto. Conceived by Chris Pemberton and his partner, this is a dynamic reality show…in real life. Think Iron Chef, with art. Art Battle is live competitive painting. This dynamic tournament style event features 16 artists creating the best work they can in 20 minutes. The patrons move around the easels and share in the fun by voting and bidding for their favourite paintings. As a participant, you are walking into the unknown, they provide the canvas and a limited paint palette and you produce a work of art in less than half a hour. The audience is right at your elbow, asking why you specifically put that paint there. Forced to work so quickly opened me up to capturing the essence without getting too caught up in the detail; this has created a looseness that I really like.

I have become a bit of an Art Battle evangelist – encouraging my sister, Helen Utsal as well as member of SolidColour Art Collective to participate. Karen Taylor will be a battlin’ artist this Tuesday, March 27^th at Great Hall.

I am participating in a corporate show coming up in November, 2012. The commitment is for 30 large-scale paintings – a push for me as I found that scale intimidating. In November, we heard that there was a glitch and 4 of us needed to produce 7 large paintings for delivery in about 3 weeks. Again, it pushed me to work thoughtfully…and large. The result is that I am now totally enamoured with larger canvases and am very excited to complete the balance for my show later this year.

So…scary sometimes but I am going to continue to commit to myself that I will intentionally place myself in situations that push be beyond my comfort zone – continuing to refine and grow my work.