Welcome, Young Artist

This was a very special day for me.

Very special.

There are times, as a parent, when you are extraordinarly privilaged, to see the world open in the eyes of your child. Today was one of those days.

For the very first time, my oldest two men visited an art museum. The Blanton Museum of Art, to be exact.

We were so immersed and involved in creating yesterday, and then this morning I was informed that their schoolroom, turned “Discovery Room” has now been deemed their “studio.” They were crafting away in there, asking if they could hold an opening, and did I think that they could sell their work.

The time was ripe for a trip downtown.

It was so fun to see how differently they approached the pieces.

Luke, my oldest, my detail oriented child, was very taken with the more classical works. He lingered over Italian and French paintings, intricate and ornate, with their religious themes.

He scribbled down name after name of works and artists that particularly struck his fancy. I don’t know why he made those lists, and I did not ask. I thought it was important for me to stand back and just let him experience it all without too much narration.

James was bored to tears with those paintings, but was positively GLOWING over the more contemporary installations. He really appreciated the gobs of paint, interesting media (MAMA! Feathers!) He ran from piece to piece, inhaling them. He didn’t ponder them or soak them in the way his brother did, he jetted back and forth, no rhyme nor reason, just giddy to be in their presence.

His favorites were the enormous baloon sculptures which hung from the ceiling,

and the outdoor piece by Jesus Raphael Soto.

Both of my men liked to be nose to nose with the art.

Close, and then closer.

They did not want to leave.

All the way home they talked, at light speed, about all they had seen, what surprised them, what they loved. They sketched in their books and made plans for new artistic endeavors.

Life. Is. So. Good.