3-Year Old Art

We are planning to make our own wall art: abstract paintings and completed puzzles we purchased from Savers for $1 are in the plan.  So far, nothing "artful" is mounted on our walls, but this will change next week.  My 3-year old daughter's art will be the first work to hang in our abode.  :)

While I was painting our living room floor cloth, I gave my daughter an opportunity to paint a throw away piece of subfloor that we removed from the living room floor and had to replace with new plywood.  While I painted, she naturally wanted to paint too, right beside me, and so she did.  After I completed the floor cloth, she would join me upstairs on the weekends and add layers of color to her painting.

It wasn't a coincidence that the colors went well together, although it wasn't part of a plan I had either.  I simply gave my daughter a connected set of craft paint pots in cool colors.  I didn't expect her to fill the subfloor piece with color, nor did I expect to want to keep the piece of subfloor I removed.  But, I love the artwork she made and I'm planning to give it a home on our hallway wall.

Toddlers are abstract art naturals!

Last weekend, my daughter was eager to continue painting, but all of the cool colored paints in the craft paint kit had been exhausted.  Since the subfloor piece was still there, I simply flipped it over and gave her the second set of craft paint pot colors in warm tones to use.  I figured that if she started a painting on the back, it could remain hidden when I mounted her cool colored art on the wall anyway.  Then, after just 30 minutes of painting, she had completed this:

Another piece of toddler abstract art.  Such a pleasant surprise, again!

While my daughter painted, I was painting the untouched window trim in our kitchen.  The grubby trim could be observed from my kitchen track light installation, although I am pleased to say, the grubbiness is no more and the trim is now awash in fresh white paint.  At the end of her painting, my daughter called my attention.  I was feathering off the last few strokes of paint on the trim, so I told my daughter I would help her in just a few seconds.

To keep her occupied, we sang the waiting song from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood that says, "When you wait, you can play, sing, or imagine anything!"  I sang this to her three times, to which I heard her dancing and singing along.  I finished my feathering off and turned around to address what she needed help with.

Then, I saw this:

My daughter was dancing, all right.  She was dancing on her painting with her sandals, and dancing her painted sandals all around the kitchen flooring.

The pattern on her soles can be faintly seen in her painting, as pictured here:

It took just a few seconds for my facial expression to change. One look at my face and my daughter ran away further into the apartment, laying more orange footprints with her. After seeking her out to remove her shoes and prevent further damage, I laughed to myself at the humor of the event.  Of course, through my toddler, God gave me an opportunity to see the humor in a quiet afternoon with a 3 year old, even in scrubbing orange paint footprints off of our floor.

Now my only predicament is:  What side should I display?  I wish I had given her another piece of wood so I could mount both!  Any ideas for how I could make this reversible?

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