Just the Two of Us: art showcase

some of the newest art happenings with Jackson….

Sometimes Jackson says something, or does something, that shocks me out of my mundane rote parenting mode, and makes me literally gasp with amazement and beam with pride at how much he can learn, and how quickly it can manifest seemingly out of nowhere. Especially when it’s a developmental milestone that I studied in my college courses related to child growth and psychology, and I know all the foundational timelines and the theories. But then when I experience it firsthand, and watch this little person develop, and discover his way through life, it still stops me in my tracks and causes me to really conceptualize the amazing journey I am taking along with him, as I watch him grow and learn.

One such situation occurred the other night – we were outside playing in a deliciously just-perfectly-warm late summer evening. Jackson, in his usual mode, was bouncing between activities, never spending more than a few minutes at each point, riding the tricycle, digging in the dirt, pretending to fix things, and drawing with chalk. But when he first sat down with the chalk, he grabbed the white, and instead of some of the usual haphazard scribbles, he distinctly and purposefully drew a large circle, two vertical lines protruding from the bottom, and two smaller circles at the bottom of the lines.

I immediately recognized it as the early version of drawing a person. But without voicing my theory, I asked him “well, this looks interesting – what did you draw here?” He responded, “It’s a person, mommy” … “well who is it?” He answered “Me.”

One day my boy is creating random scribbles seemingly just to mark his artistic territory (when he is even motivated to draw… mostly his artistic preferences consist of cutting and gluing). And the next he’s conceptualizing and drawing a recognizable version of his self. On a random summer evening on our sidewalk.

Jackson’s self portrait, at 3.5 yrs old

And on a less wordy / emotional note… here are some recent school drawings of Jackson’s :) One of the teachers keeps apologizing that they aren’t allowed to do the “cutesy” art anymore, and only freehand / creative art is permitted by the state…. and I don’t ever tell her, but I really cherish these drawings so much more than the adult-led and designed projects. These are my boy’s, and they come from his imagination and creative outlet, and that’s what I want to admire and display. :)