Children make the best art. My four girls created this piece for Ben as a birthday gift and we call it “In the Garden.” I shared a bit over here while they were making it and you see it again when they give it to Ben here. Clearly, this was inspired by our garden, and one of our favorite things to do together is to garden together. There’s always a project in the works in either our front or backyard garden, so we spend a lot of time there, though not nearly enough because there’s much to be done. I had an idea of what I wanted them to create, but when I was trying to guide them or tell them what to do, it just wasn’t working and wasn’t coming out like I had thought. It’s when I just let go and told them to go ahead that the whole thing came together. It’s so amazing when you just let kids create; the results are far better than whatever I could come up with.

I did start by having them all draw their heads and body-ish (I drew on my own head). Then, I gave them all different greens and they started bringing the garden to life. They each had different shade of green and worked together to create this. I’d have them interchange colors and brushes here and there, and I’d occasionally help point out spots that were missing something, and they continued to layer and paint. We also brought in some leaves from our garden, so they could recreate some of those shapes in the painting. The pictures here don’t even capture how vibrant this painting really is. They’re so proud of what they created and Ben and I are in complete awe of it too.

Ben loves his gift so much that he keeps bringing it around the house, so he can see it wherever he is. We finally had to give it a home though, so it is currently on display in our entryway. I love seeing it reflected in the mirror; it’s exactly what this spot needed.

It makes us smile to see our walls decorated with art made by our girls. We still have this and this up. I’m going to commission these girls to make another (much larger) painting, or maybe this time a drawing, because we have another plain wall that definitely needs something big. These girls are my favorite artists, and while I’m a tosser and don’t keep all the things they make, this painting is definitely a keeper.