Art stirs within us something creative and common. Something shared and yet secret.
Experiencing art boosts my happiness. A new song that is finely crafted, a painting that evokes a memory, a dancer as an expression of music--these things just make me happy.
You can imagine my delight that my daughter also loves art--almost any form of it, really. I love that she'll listen to beautiful music on repeat, that she'll study a flower or a beautiful painting intently, that she can watch a dancer move and can imitate the steps without thinking about it--she is naturally graceful and just has an eye and ear for beauty, I think.
We took Flannery, along with my sister, niece, and mother-in-law, to see the Nutcracker recently. (We of course had to bring along our Nutcracker book, and my mother-in-law was kind enough to bring Nutcracker ornaments for the girls, as well.) I loved watching Flannery and my niece take it all in--the lights, the costumes, the dancing. Experiencing art seems to make them happy, too.
Perhaps it runs in the family.
How will you experience art this winter? I'm hoping to take the girls to an art museum if we can find time. Fingers crossed!
By the way, my favorite Nutcracker story book for children is the one by Susan Jeffers. It's got just the right amount of text for a 4 or 5 year old child, and the illustrations are beautiful. The only drawback to the book is that the author changes Clara's name to Marie in the book. (I always try to change it back to Clara as I read it, though, so Flannery knows the real name of the characters.)
