Shaving Cream Painting

I was inspired by a post a I read recently about shaving cream painting on one of my favorite blogs, The Artful Parent. I bought some shaving cream last week at the dollar store (I only had shaving gel and I'm thinking it wouldn't be quite the same). Today, I mixed the watercolors (already part of our well stocked art cabinet), and headed outside with Taylor. Actually, when I told her we were going to do something fun, she immediately said "We're going to do something fun? .... In the backyard?" We do all the really fun (a.k.a. messy) stuff in the backyard.

So, I really didn't know how this would turn out as I've never painted with shaving cream before. And , I still haven't. I usually only watch Taylor in her activities like this because I really want her to develop her own creative style and expression. I don't want my art to influence her too much at an early age. I try not to overthink that but I am aware of it. Also, I tend to lean toward the controlling end of the spectrum in my personality (at least internally, that's a whole other discussion...) and I don't want to restrict her too much in activities like this that are supposed to be "pure fun". I had purposely placed the plastic cups with the watercolors in the low rimmed bowl so she wouldn't spill them. When she kept taking them out to bring them closer to her, I got concerned that she might spill them, and I put them back in the bowl, gently telling her to keep them in the bowl in case they spill. I think I did that twice before I thought to myself, "So what if she spills them? That's why I put down a drop cloth, that's why we're doing this outside, that's why she's wearing her art clothes...because she's supposed to get messy". Creativity is not about control. So, I let that go and then the real fun began...

She stayed busy with this for well over half an hour, I'd say. She was using the brush and her hands, painting on the paper and on the newspaper, and then using the brush and painting on her hand. She had a lot of fun. And even though art at this stage is all about the process, not the product, she created some really cool paintings.