Local artists who sell original works online at ARTshop Central Coast (see: artshopcc.com) have made a special section for original art for kids.
“Our children live in a world of branding and merchandising. There is nothing wrong with Disney, but the story has already been told,” said Robin Smith, painter and director of ARTshop Central Coast. “When looking at original artwork, a child is free to develop a unique story. Original artwork stimulates creative and critical thinking. It encourages art interpretation and appreciation.
“There is so much to admire in an original painting including paint strokes, ephemera and other dimensional elements visible in its creation.”
Los Osos artist, Margaret Bertrand, said art allows children to use their own imagination. “Trees aren’t always green. Supermarkets don’t look realistic. Figures in a garden are multi-colored that way they can be any race, any age, from any country.”
Bertrand often works in the encaustic style using hot wax, and is the co-president of The Painting Group of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. “I create many space worlds — fantasies that boys and girls both like — where they are not sure what is happening. It allows a conversation to happen about what is going on. I have a lot of dragonflies in my paintings and kids like bugs!”
The paintings are designed for young children, tweens and teens.
“My paintings are for kids who like art that tells a story,” Smith said. Her paintings feature fish greeting each other and friendly cats on a background of sheet music.
Other artists create originals that are more sophisticated. Lauren Russell, a Grover Beach painter, creates small, abstract oil paintings with thick texture. “It’s a gift that grows with you,” Russell said. “As they get older, children can appreciate artwork in different, more complex ways. A teen can take a small painting off to college, then hang it in her first apartment.”
Bertrand added, “I think we build the people of the future by what we expose them to today. If we don’t show kids original art and take them to art museums who will go to art museums and support art in the future? This is part of developing a peaceful world. It is part of exposing kids to different tastes and different cultures.”
If you are looking for a different kind of gift for a child this holiday season, check out ARTshop Central Coast, an online website featuring artists from Lompoc to San Miguel. “Art for Kids” original artworks can be found at: artshopcc.com.
