Grandchildren Art

Got to paint with my granddaughter and grandson (separately) in the last couple of weeks. It is clear that Ryan, age 27 months, has a concept when he paints. He makes a shape and tries to color it all in, and if I ask him if he is ready for a new color, he says, "Not yet." He also has definite color preferences and did not like yellow ochre ("I not like"). Here is one of his creations:

Maddie, who will be 5 in late November, paints more like a typical 4-year-old. The following painting shows her in front of her new school. She starts transitional kindergarten at a public school next week, and the dark cloud above her head suggests that she is a little anxious about it.

And here is a charming mixed media piece depicting her family by their house:

Trying Another One

The painting I did called "Dancing in My Red Dress" was published in a magazine and sold almost the day I painted it, so I thought I'd try another one. I used the same pouring technique with similar colors, then brought out the dancer with negative painting. It looked a little dull, and I recalled advice (from Steve Fleming) recently published in The Palette Magazine to "put in something that doesn't belong." To this warm, intense, orange, red, and turquoise painting of a dancer in a swirling dress I put in a cool, pale, violet, opaque high heel. Naturally the painting is called, "Kicking Up Your Heels." There are still some things about it that bother me, so it isn't quite done, but here it is:

And in case you can't remember the earlier one, here it is: