Paint Like a Preschooler

For the past few years I have been doing a decent side business making communal and collaborative pieces of art with large groups.  Every group makes something totally unique and the end result is a mash up of what they create and what we talk about as a group, combined into a mixed media mural.  It is a totally collaborative process.  I have only worked a few times with preschoolers, because it completely turns my process on its head, and I've generally believed that the deep thinking and conversation that older participants engage in is necessary to make a meaningful final piece.
However, when I recently did a project with a local preschool I was reminded that preschoolers really do make the best artists.

It was Picasso who said:
"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child".

And wow, is that true. Preschoolers are not worried about making "good" art.  They are too busy actually making art.  And, frankly, they were pretty good at the conversation and deep thinking part as well.  I didn't have to work very hard at all to complete fun and whimsical final pieces out of their work.

For our project we talked about what we might want to put into a Peace Garden (talking about what peace looks like, feels like, tastes like and smells like), and then the kiddies drew and painted one thing they would like to add to our garden. They wanted to add lots of things including: butterflies, dragon flies, ice cream (lots of ice cream!), pizza, a harp, musical notes, mountains, oceans, ladybugs, birds, bees, flowers, trees, balloons, a kite, boats, rainbows, some bugs, a bat, a horse, a dog, and a lion.

 I made one final collage/painting per class, by combining their work and their ideas.  I added outlines and sometimes clarified shapes, and I used their scribblier work to add detail to the sky, the grass, the water, flowers, trees, etc.

Take a look at the final pieces. I think I should work with preschoolers more often---they can make anything look good!