Both my wife and I are artists, and I'm guessing it's highly likely that our daughter Chelsea, will show some interest in the arts as well. Whatever her path in life, I am excited to see where her passions take her.
Last week she brought home this painting that she did in Kindergarten. She is learning about the primary colors and was really proud of this painting. She went into detail about how she made this painting, how she started with the black lines and then filled in the spaces with all the primary colors making sure not to mix them. I just loved this painting and was telling her that it was one of her best. She looked at me and said "Dad! Your holding it upside down. See the heart in the corner? It's upside down!"
I immediately apologized, rotated the painting and continued with my praise, saying that I loved it even more right side up. It was such a "dad" moment!
A few days passed and I kept coming back to this painting. It was special to me and I really wanted to do something special with it. I thought about framing it (which I still might do), but as much as I loved the painting, what I loved more was the enthusiasm and pride Chelsea expressed when talking about her painting. Then it hit me, I need to take a portrait of her holding it while she talked to me about it.
I always struggle with what to do with my child's artwork. I love art because it's a raw form of expression. It's something tangible that shows what she is thinking, what she is learning about, and how she sees the world. I end up throwing a lot of Chelseas drawings and paintings away... which kills me! Sometimes I upload her art to an online service called Archive, but that is not the same as holding it.
This photo is going to be the first in a series of portraits where I document the life of Chelsea's art. I hope to use it as a way to not only remember the art she is creating, but also to have her talk about what it's about, and why she created it. I'm excited about this project because it will blend together my passion for photography with Chelsea's passion for the arts, nomater if it's painting, drawing, dance, music, photography... whatever form it takes I want to document it and make art with her art.