How Does Your Garden.... Grow?

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to

remain an artist once we grow up.”

- Picasso

Every kid can climb to the clouds, fly with fish, 

rule the world and tame dragons.

So when does that invincibility cape wear off? 

 

I think it turns tail somewhere between 

"pay the bills"and "eat your dinner," 

"thinner thighs" and that persistent inner critic that yelps 

to rise above the roost. 

 How can we return to that brave, boundless sky of imagination? 

It helps to give reality a shush 

from time to time, 

and let the muse sing. 

How do you dream when life is crowded with reality?

Over here, we play.

Not much weeding in our summer "garden." 
Just some good old crayon dirt.
Grass paint.

Water.

Sky. 

A big black thing.

Sugar Snack had so much fun he painted holes through his paper.

We talked about painting what we see with our eyes  -
shapes, colors, lines -
and then painting what we feel...
  
"Boingy"

"Happy"

 "Flying"

To draw you must close your eyes and sing 

- Pablo Picasso 

 
Our "garden" is inspired by this clever find:

The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larson,
illustrated by Irene Luxbacher.



More Expressive Picture Books We Love:

Happy - Mies Van Hoot
Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail - Laurence Anholt
My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss, ill. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Paris in the Spring with Picasso - Joan Yolleck, ill. by Marjorie Priceman
 

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,

what is essential is invisible to the eye. 

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery