Moment of Beauty - Toddler Art Edition

Pablo Picasso famously stated, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." A recent Facebook post got me thinking about that statement. Someone took a quiz to see if she could figure out which artworks were done by "famous" abstract artists and which were completed by young children. I'm guessing the goal was to discredit abstract art's worth. But, what if instead, it was to increase the value of children's art production?

I've had the pleasure of hanging up the art work of four young children. A lot of it has lacked in objective aesthetic value, but I value it for what they have done and because hanging it up gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. Every now and then, though, they have created something truly beautiful. Two instances especially come to mind. One was when my oldest son was three. He did a painting that I ultimately used as part of my "Spiritual Woman" logo:

I thought that his brush strokes created a perfect "Holy Spirit." They were alive in a way nothing I could have sat down and created could have been.





A more recent example is this art work created by my nearly three-year-old foster daughter.

I look at this and all I see is energy and beauty. To me, it looks like flowers dancing in the wind.

Children have the same creative power given by God that all of us possess. They may not know the rules of art, but they can sometimes create beautiful pieces.The beauty shouldn't be dismissed simply because the artist is young.