Beeswax is da bomb

So I've been wondering about art lately. P still prefers abstract. I'm still inspired by the theories in "Young at Art" (very unschooly, basically a buzz off approach. Give the kids the media and stand back, waaaaay back, so they can experiment and express without expectations, without copying, without losing their vision for yours.) And then I start wondering. Am I ruining him, will he miss out on the yellow suns, stripes emanating? The turkey plate? We did the recycled tissue flowers, maybe he won't be too scarred...

And then I regroup. Rethink and remember. He's happy. He's creating. He loves it. I really don't want him to draw my trees or my faces. I want to be patient and see what his trees and his faces look like. And then I get the gist of what will be hardest about unschooling. The not "measuring up." To the "norm." To other's expectations. By really giving P the space to take his time, to find his path, he might be surrounded by swirls and swooshes instead of sunsets. But really (here comes the rationalization part for when highfalutin' theories wobble), I have yet to go to a job interview that asked me "when did you begin drawing sunsets accurately? How was your turkey plate?" And I'm really hoping that if P is ever hit with that he'll reply "define accurately....and I'm vegetarian."

Skipping ahead. Long story short. Play doh isn't cutting the mustard for his sculpturing needs anymore. The gloriously soft stuff we mix up is faaaabulous for his tactile needs, but it isn't structurally sound. So we've added beeswax to our workshop. (Pre-beeswax we went the Sculptey route. Much to my dismay. I've worked with the stuff and the nasty residue it leaves. Watching P's precious little hands squish the stuff was neurotically painful for me. Fortunately, after playing with it he hated the feeling and left it behind. Unfortunately, this still left a gap in our art arsenal.)

So, beeswax. Its lovely. It smells divine. It can get practically translucent when warm and thin. And, bless the little man, he made 4 sculptures for me right out of the box :) The slightly waxy residue didn't bother him (or me, though my kitchen knife thought differently:) The next day he decided it was the perfect addition to his kitchen too and we sculpted carrots, eggplant, mushrooms, peas, red peppers etc etc and then he meticulously chopped them up for a "stew." It was, of course, delicious. And veered towards dabbling in realism.... :)