Three Minutes to Open a Door

I love these spontaneous little moments when I’m painting on the beach at Mawgan Porth.

And no… it’s definitely not body art, and I definitely don’t do face painting! 😂🎨

Occasionally, when I’m not teaching or in the middle of the flow of a painting, I’ll notice a child watching me, completely fascinated.

That fascination is what catches me.

If I have a few minutes, I love catching that little spark of curiosity and fanning the flame. It isn’t something planned or offered. It is simply recognising a moment when a young mind is asking, How does that work?, and giving them a little bit of knowledge while that door is wide open.

Children are incredible learners

Children are like sponges. It never ceases to amaze me how much they can absorb when we don’t simply tell them what to do, but explain the logic and reasoning behind it.

This little man was completely transfixed.

His hand became an immediate little canvas while I explained direction and flow, how I load the brush, focal points, and even the difference between handwriting and art.

All in about three minutes!

The painting on his hand wasn’t really the point at all. It was simply a way of demonstrating ideas and helping him understand why I was making each mark.

You could almost see the knowledge seeping in behind his eyes.

There was wonder, excitement and that wonderful moment when you realise somebody has started to see possibilities they hadn’t noticed before.

And the smile at the end was an absolute cracker! ❤️

Art is about learning to see

This is at the heart of what I teach through Art At The Beach.

Whether I’m working with a child, an adult who hasn’t picked up a paintbrush for decades, an experienced artist or someone who believes they “can’t draw”, I’m interested in what happens when we replace assumption with observation.

Art isn’t handwriting.

It isn’t about learning a set of marks and repeating them until they resemble somebody else’s painting.

Understanding direction, flow, focal points, light, perspective, colour and the physics and psychology behind what we see gives us choices.

Once we understand why, we can begin making our own decisions.

That is when our own technique and our own artwork can begin to emerge.

Sometimes three minutes is enough

This little encounter on the beach at Mawgan Porth wasn’t an art lesson in the conventional sense.

It was three minutes of curiosity.

Three minutes of information.

Three minutes in which a child’s fascination was met with knowledge rather than being allowed to disappear.

Perhaps he will become an artist. Perhaps he won’t.

That really isn’t the important part.

If those few minutes encourage him to look at the sea, a tree, a shadow or the world around him a little more carefully… to notice its complexity and beauty and wonder why?… then that tiny spark has already done something worthwhile.

Sometimes three minutes is enough to open a door.

And who knows where that door might lead? 🎨❤️

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