Flowers, by Emerging Artist Jasmine, who turned 7 years old in March this year

You have to love this picture – all the movement.  And tell me truly, if you didn’t know she was an emerging artist, isn’t this something you might expect to see in some of the more avant guarde galleries?

For instance, it has the same energy and bright color (if not theme) of Matt Sesow’s wall  at ArtOMatic (here on right).

A short browse through the rest of Jasmine’s pictures will tell you that she is a textile artist as well:  she knits, stamps on cloth (which I couldn’t reproduce – you’ll have to take my word for it), and puts different pieces of cloth together to form her art.  If she does all this now, I can’t wait to see what she does when she gets older!

Here is Jasmine’s interview:

What is your favorite thing to make a picture of?

People, Dr. Who and flowers.  I draw pictures of made up stories from my dreams.  I like all colours.

How often do you make art and what do you use?  Crayons?  Watercolours?  Paints?

I draw all night before bed and I use crayons and watercolours, pencils and my mum’s gel pens.  I can make art with bits of my Mum’s fabric and she is teaching me how to knit.  [Ed Note: As always with our emerging artists, Mom’s and Dad’s support and guidance are crucial to introducing all the ways we can make art in our lives]

How do you learn to make new pictures?

I watch TV and I teach myself as I think of what I want to draw.  My Daddy helps me sometimes and I used to go to an art class at school.

Do you have any suggestions you’d like to make to other children who want to make pictures like you?

I help other children when they need help when they are drawing, and I tell them to keep practicing.

Do you have anything you’d like to tell people who are reading about your work?

I hope you enjoy my art because I enjoy drawing.  I would like to say "hello" to all the people in the world.

Here are some more pictures of Jasmine’s work, Sponge Painting [how much do I LOVE this?!] and Dancing Reindeer:

I also want to share with you ArtOMatic artist Shanthi Chandra-Sekar’s work, Unity in Diversity.  It’s bold colors and totem-like structure caught my eye immediately.  I love the concept of totems and thes together create a forest of color I can walk through in my mind’s eye. You’ll have to click on the picture to enlarge it so that you can see the texture.  Shanthi also has a wall of different Kolams, which, according to her posted explanation, are designs drawn on the ground outside one’s front door (can you imagine?  the original "happening" art – here today, gone tomorrow, obliterated by footprints and wind).  Wikipedia says that a Kolam is a sort of painted prayer – which is a lovely idea.  Unfortunately I only have one of them, and it is a bit blurred, but you can get the idea.  These works have the same lovely flowing lines as henna painting. See Shanthi’s gallery of Kolams here.

Shanthi’s ArtOMatic page notes: "Shanthi Chandra-Sekar is a self-taught artist who has been drawing and painting since early childhood.  In recent years she has also added sculpting and Tanjore apinting to her repertoire of skills.  While many of her works are influenced by her Indian heritage, her true inspiration comes from the mystery and majesty of the world around her; her muse lives where the scientific overlaps with the spiritual."  She says of Unity in Diversity: "I did not so much create these works as witness their nativity.  One at a time, they carved themselves from the blocks of wood in which they had been encased for so long.  Each a distinctive personality with its own set of qualities and quirks, yet happy for the companionship of others, no matter the differences.  At once, proud of that which distinguishes them, grateful for that which unites them."

thought for the day:  Every law that you have on your books today, whether it’s a religious or a secular law, has come about because you’re trying to get somebody else to do something that will make you feel better.  Abraham-Hicks daily quote 4/18/07