As an art educator for almost two decades now, I have seen many points of view of different families in relation to their kids' artistic expressions. And of course, I have noticed those children that are forced to be artists even though they don’t want to, and also the opposite, when a child cannot create because their outlet of creativity is blocked by the parents.
An artistic child can be noticeable at an early age when there is always something extraordinary about his or her creations but could also be noticed when a child at school needs to have a notebook to scribble ideas, creativity and even images. That notebook used by a child becomes a connection window or outlet with imagination, thoughts and even feelings that are not flowing in other ways.
After working as an art educator for almost two decades I would not advise any parent to cut the creative initiatives on a child. If your child is not paying attention in math because he/she is drawing does not mean that you must take that notebook away.
It is now when I see the positive or negative impact that a mom could have on her own child. Of course, a mother or father would never mean to cause any harm but could eventually hurt their child's self-esteem and freedom of thoughts.
We need to have a balance in life, yes this is a giclee, but it is totally true. We must have a balance between asking our kids to do well in school and letting our kids express feelings through art. To express our problems, thoughts or feelings is not easily done verbally, it is then when any art activity takes place to give us an outlet to express.
For me art is a useful therapy and artistic skills to express could also be trained. My advice is that any age is good to start artistic exercises to learn to express through art. Art expression could be accomplished in many ways, with the use of clay, with a pencil, with paint or even with a dance.
Adults should always give that option of expression to their children, to the new generation and even for themselves. Art expression is free and has no limits. Please let them create !
Thanks for reading. Art is freedom and I strongly support it. If you ever need my advice feel free to reach out to me. I'm living in Miami and we teach art to kids and adults regardless of their ability or disability.
Our website for art classes is www.artclassesmiami.com
The images in this post belong to me. These are art creations from my young students who either come to relax, to express themselves, have fun creative experiences or to learn art techniques.