Life At The River Ranch: Brooke's Art Show

We have a budding artist on our hands, and her name is Brooke. So when I saw that St. Peter's Preschool was having a week-long art camp, I knew it would be perfect for Brooke. Now all I had to do was convince her of that! Not an easy task.. Our girl has a "worst-case-scenario" type of personality. She can forecast all the bad things that could happen and fails to see all the good that could happen. So I worked on her for weeks, telling her how much fun it would be and how many cool projects she'd get to work on. But she was very reluctant, and often obstinate. After discussing it with Steve, I decided to bribe her! I know that's probably a big no-no, but I knew if I could just get her in the door, the "good" of art camp would outweigh the "bad" of mommy's bribery! Well, it worked and she agreed to go in exchange for an underwater Webkinz if she made it through the week. And just like I expected, I got her in the door on day one and then she never wanted to leave. She had an amazing time with a great teacher. She got to work with clay, beads, mosaics, jewelry, and more! The week flew by and she loved every minute of it.

Once I knew she was going to make it through the week, I had the idea of throwing an art show for her at the end of the week, so she could show off all her masterpieces. I thought it would be a good way to encourage her artistic abilities, build up her confidence, and reward her for stepping outside her comfort zone. So we invited all of our family to come by Saturday night for a one-night only art show!

We set all of her art work out on a table and she made little name cards for each piece. Once all of our guests arrived she used Steve's portable PA system to describe each project.
She was timid at first, but once everyone started asking questions, and giving her all the positive feedback, she got more comfortable and really enjoyed it. Some of her artwork was for sale and she explained to everyone that if they wanted to make a donation, we were collecting money for our church's backpack drive for homeless children. Everyone got to take home a piece and Brooke raised $34! Here are some of her creations..