When Boris got home last
night and saw Ben’s painting, he remarked on how good it was and joked about
taking it to work to hang in his office.
As a side note, Boris is a very talented painter. I, on the other hand, am still drawing stick
people at a kindergarten level. After
Ben went to bed, I asked Boris if he was serious about hanging the painting in
his office. Because let’s be honest,
sometimes we say things to our children that we don’t really mean. Not to be cruel or dishonest but to make them
feel good about their accomplishments. I
have to admit, I liked Ben’s painting too, even though my original plan was for
him to add many layers. As it sat in the
kitchen afterward to dry, I felt a little sad that it would morph into something
else, that some of the little details I liked would disappear under different
colors of paint. I love the little black
dots he added with his finger in the lower left hand corner and the glob of
paint left behind when he realized I was filming him.
This morning we talked about
keeping his painting as is and he thought it was a good idea. We also talked about how an artist usually
names their painting. I suggested “Long
River” and he agreed. If you listen
carefully to his words in the video, he says, “Look at this long river.” We will resume our layered painting project
for Ben’s bedroom as soon as I go out and buy a new canvas.