The incredible art of children defines us all

The incredible art of children defines us all

Recently I’ve picked up an artist’s paint brush, again. I say “again” because in my early professional career I worked as a graphic designer and art director where I did what was once quaintly called “commercial art”.

At some point in the late 1980s, about the time visual graphics began to be generated more commonly with computers, I gravitated towards the strategic side of communications and the paint tubes and drawing inks were cast aside.

Curiously, I always knew my best talent was visual art but, from an early age, I had hankerings to be an accomplished musician or sportsman. Unfortunately, these aspirations never passed the talent test, but it did rather distract me from acknowledging a talent I did possess – visual art.

So, after being prodded for years to “just do it”, I finally did.

The motivation came as grandchildren started to appear in the family and I decided to paint a large picture of each one, from when they were about 3 years old. By that stage, each was asserting a personality that would give me a story to illustrate.

Anyway, it has served to explain Marc Chagall’s famous quote: “Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing.”

I have completed two paintings, with the third in production, which means I’m now catching up as baby number six is due this month.

The other inspiration, less expected but of even weightier effect, was the unbridled creative expression of the children themselves. The oldest, Freddy, 5, obsessed himself with yellow diggers, fire engines, dinosaurs and, most recently, the catastrophe of the Titanic sinking. All of this has generated an avalanche of Freddy-produced paintings, storybooks and 3D models.

Similarly, Olive, 4, is enraptured with ballet, costumes, ribbons, hats and shoes, which inevitably find a way into all manner of creations.

To look at the art of children is to see a window into their world. Are they happy or sad? How do they see the world and what pricks their curiosity?

But for me, and this is a recent revelation, it also holds a mirror to oneself.

Young children express themselves with an honesty and passion that’s uplifting, and often missing in our adult lives. Kids instinctively want to investigate what’s around them, but they also wantonly explore their inner selves and assert it onto their surroundings – isn’t that what art is?

Often, over time, kids lose something of that expression and spontaneity, perhaps as they learn the limits of other people’s acceptance and tolerance. While the 4-year-old is encouraged to dance and sing a silly song, the 14-year-old is more likely to be told to be quiet and conform.

Art, as a life-enhancing expression of ourselves, can be cast aside in favour of more everyday things.

Pablo Picasso, perhaps the greatest fine artist of the 20th century put it this way: “Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.”