Creativity and your Princess

A bright, needlepoint of Degas's dancers lived with my grandma. She stitched it. I wish I knew when. There has to be over a hundred colors in the needlepoint. From ten feet away, it looks like a painting. Wherever grandma lived, the farmhouse, a few apartments, her cottage, the needlepoint followed. And whenever I visited, the needlepoint  mesmerized me. The threads and the colors mixed and created warmth and home.

The needlepoint lives here now that grandma passed away. It's my treasure that sometimes makes me cry, the thing I wanted most from her home. Upon its reveal,  my daughter, who doesn't remember the trip four years ago to grandma's home inhaled audibly, "Mom, it looks like a Degas." 

A few weeks later, passing a mural on the side of restroom in the picturesque town of Saugatuck, Michigan, I pointed and asked if the girls knew whose work the mural was imitating. Both girls, with only a pause to try and get the pronunciation correct, said, "George Seurat. You can tell by all the dots." My oldest, again pausing for pronunciation added that he died young of diphtheria. (Mrs. Price, their art teacher would be so proud).

And so I've been thinking. About art. Famous artists. Famous-to-me artists. And creativity in general. How do we nurture this in our kids and why is it so important to me? 

The creativity of the world overwhelms me. It is so clear that God is an artist and that part of how we are made in his image is this desire to create.  The ways we create are varied and almost uncategorizable. Bug's dear mentor can create and recreate most any project she wants from reupholstering to paintings. My husband can fix, with common objects, most anything in our house (finding time is another issue). I create with words. My grandma created original and reproductions with thread and yarn (and food in the kitchen). My mother designed buildings

So I introduce you to a four part series on creativity and ways and whys to nurture the creativity in your princesses. Here is some of what you can expect: 

• Why I Nurture an Appreciation for Creativity
• 6 Ways to Nurture Creativity
•  Celebrating the work they create (without cluttering your house)

I hope you will share your thoughts too. I love your ideas and feedback. Don't miss a post. If you haven't already, sign up to get new posts by email, or follow me on Facebook or with an RSS Feed.

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