All about Art!

I’ve been waiting for over a year for Charlotte to turn four so that she could attend a local art camp in our area.  It’s held by a local artist whose work I LOVE and I have only heard fantastic things about it.  So I was quick to call and sign her up the day that the summer camp spots opened up back in April and she was almost as excited as I was when the first day of camp came!

And then, like I should have known would happen, she cried and didn’t want to go in by herself.  This was the point last year when a different program was inflexible and told me that if she didn’t stop crying and calm down we would need to leave and that I couldn’t stay with her (we left and didn’t go back).  But this year, Mrs. Ginna told us that it was no big deal and welcomed me into the class along with Charlotte.  She spent the first day in my lamp watching me follow instructions and about halfway through the class she started painting herself.  She left with a proud smile on her face and this beautiful octopus!

As I’ve learned from other classes, by the second day, she knew exactly what to expect and walked in with nary a tear or a concern!  By the end of the week she wasn’t even letting me walk her to the door because she could go by herself.  I’m not sure if it was Mrs. Ginna’s kindness, the fact that she was one of the youngest in the class of about 12, or that she just got comfortable but she soon was telling stories about Mrs. Ginna’s at home and coming home with stunning artwork.  (I’m guessing there was lots of “helper” help, but still, they’re very good!)

In anticipation of how much she would love art camp, I went ahead and signed her up for the July session as well as the session in June.  The June painting thing was “All Things Summer” and the theme for July was “Holiday’s” so we were both excited to see what she came home with after this week!  By the time she went back she was totally comfortable at Mrs. Ginna’s and the helpers told me that she talked….a LOT!  Mrs. Ginna even told me that one day she and Charlotte spent the class talking Alabama football.  If there’s anything to bond someone with my girl, you know it’s Alabama football!  We weren’t disappointed with her pieces from the second week either, they’re stunning!

Charlotte’s since decided to take art this fall with Mrs. Ginna instead of gymnastics and she can’t wait to get to go every week!  She wanted to hang all of her paintings in her room and has decided that we’ll just add the paintings that she does during the year to her wall as she makes them.  I love seeing her art gracing her wall and, even better, she loves it too and is so proud of them!  I can’t wait to see what she makes during the year!