Abigail's Art Lesson

Abigail and I went to the Mardis Gras Art Show today. It is a fundraiser to raise money for the Heart of Texas Autism Network to use for art programs to give the kids an outlet and sometimes even a voice through art. Abigail finger and sponge painted on a small canvas to donate to the cause. When painting she picks a poster paint color and I put a glob of it on a sponge and have her grab it and plop it down on canvas or paper. Then I either help her hold a paint sponge steadily while she swooshes it or she just uses her fingers to start raking the paint around. When her activity with one color lessens I will show her a few other colors to choose among and we begin again or she looks away and shows no interest in it, so we set it aside for a while. I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I think her work is really good. It isn't landscapes, or fruit in a bowl, or chubby cherubs playing with puppies, but it's her own style and I think it deserves rave reviews.


By the time we made it to the event many of the pieces had already been sold. Just when I thought hers must have been purchased I saw it hanging almost all alone on its peg board stand. Seriously? No one saw the pure artistic genius in that 5x7 work of wonder? Could the whole town of Waco be that fatuous as to not see the talent in those swirls and swooshes and the beauty of the colors? Maybe I was having a bit of an overreaction, but all you grandmas, aunts and especially moms know you would have felt the exact same way. So, I decided right then that I would buy it. I was pointed in the direction of the lady in charge of the art sales and told her I wanted to buy back my daughter's piece. So she explained what I needed to do and by the time I turned back to remove it from the peg board it was gone because they were already packing up all the art that hadn't sold. So the kind lady helped Abigail and me track it down. She asked me what it looked like and when I explained it to her, she and two other ladies who had joined us to help made gasps and said, "She made that? She's only ten?" As much as I hate to confess it, my first thought was that they didn't understand which one I was talking about. After all the feelings of indignation of no one picking my child's work, I was guilty of thinking, "Oh no. This is going to be embarrassing when they bring back the wrong piece and I have to explain that I'm looking for the one with just finger swirls and sponge splotches on it."

But they brought back Abigail's and with a tone of uncertainty asked if they had found the right one. When I confirmed it was hers they made another collective exclamation of appreciation. Then the lady in charge asked me if I was sure I wanted to buy it because she really wanted to keep it to show others exactly what she was talking about when she discussed the need for art programs for special needs children and the unexpected artistic talent they so many times have. Of course I let her keep it.

She then knelt down to Abigail to tell her thank you and to ask her to show how she had made it. Most of the time with strangers Abigail will look at them for a few seconds and then look away and not respond to them. But when she saw the canvas in the lady's hand Abigail made one of her undeniable nods of agreement and then began moving her fingers across the canvas. I thought I was going to have to explain that Abigail was non-verbal and those motions were showing how she had made it, but the lady understood exactly what Abigail was showing her and gave her lots of words of praise and admiration. Abigail was full of excitement and began jumping as high as her seat belt would allow. I stood watching her and realized that in a span of a few minutes I went from feeling that everyone was absurd for not appreciating Abigail's effort, to feeling that based on their awed expressions surely they were mistaken about which piece was Abigail's, to feeling convicted for not truly appreciating my own daughter's ability to have others recognize her potential, to being close to tears in the pride I felt in Abigail and the gratefulness that was welling up within me to strangers who had seen her amazing abilities when I had been temporarily numb to them. I see Abigail's potential and ability everyday, but I had worrying doubts as to whether others were looking hard enough to see them. Her small work of art taught me the lesson that others, even strangers, find it just as easy as I to behold the capabilities and potential that make up the joyous wonder of Abigail. It was just a 5x7 canvas, but it gave to me a cherished illustration on how Abigail shines in her own swirl of beauty that others can also treasure.