A bit of history

I was off work today but under clear instructions not to pick up Dan and Abi too early as it's half-term and they wanted a lie-in. This, it has to be said, is a matter of principle with Abi but Dan will actually happily stay in bed at least until half-past ten. Thus I had a little time in the morning to spend with the Minx.

Today she was running one of her Kids' Art Rooms sessions, which she holds above Ebb & Flo's bookshop in Chorley. The format of these is that she will choose an artist or a style of painting, and then she'll talk about that to a group of around 10 children before helping them to do paintings of their own. Sometimes the results are amazing but it's always clear her little charges have had some fun.

To be honest, I wish that was what Art had been like for us at school. The teacher, Bert Seaborn, was something of a legend at school, particularly amongst the older boys, but when I first met him I found him quite terrifying. But that was about me, not him. Well, mostly. But what I think is poor is that he never taught us anything about art and, unless you had some talent already, he was apparently uninterested in cultivating any interest or ability.

Anyway, I attempted to assist the Minx this morning without getting in the way too much, so I moved the tables and chairs around as instructed and put out these table cloths. I love the fact they're all creased up and covered in paint; it makes them so much more interesting, full of inaccessible artistic adventures. 

And a bit of a metaphor for the pleasures to found in getting older :-)