I’ve had a frame above the cooker in the kitchen with a cliche oil painting on canvas of a vase on a window ledge for years, you know the ones you always see on holiday at stalls in the street, and they roll them up with an elastic band so that you can put them in your suitcase for the journey home? Well I got bored of my vase picture and decided to entertain the children with a spot of lighthearted art to busy an afternoon during the holidays and this is what we made!
Our Homemade Amusing Artwork
First I removed the canvas painting from the frame to reveal the brown backing board behind, and the children and I began brainstormed some ideas as to what would suit a kitchen. We decided that the picture should contain colourful food as it’s for the kitchen, so what better than a mountain of rainbow coloured vegetables. For a comedic twist I asked the children to pose for a photo with cutlery, cups, saucers or whatever props that they fancied.
Millie who’s six, chose to hold a knife and fork as she wanted to pretend that she was excited about eating all of her vegetables. I’m a self-confessed worry pot and always remind her when she’s eating her dinner to finish all of her greens “because they’ll make you grow big and strong” and she rolls her eyes at me and says “yes Mummy, I do know!” She’s actually a really good eater bless her, if not a little on the slow side, but I can’t say that she’s ever had a plate of raw vegetables for tea before.
As Gabriele is two, it wasn’t very likely that he would ever take directions and pose like Millie. So my tactic was to place a bowl of grapes down in front of him and snap him stuffing his face, chewing and smiling away to himself. I got the most adorable shot of him munching on a big plump grape, with his chubby little cheeks bulging and him looking at me as if to say “Mummy, why are you still taking pictures?” and it works so well with the mound of vegetables in front of him as he looks most unimpressed with the health conscious menu.
I then printed and cut out the two shots of the children and stuck them to the picture board, along with multiple images of vegetables which I layered on top. I replaced the frame and hung it back on the wall, and voila! Our kitchen has never been so quirky. The children loved cutting out the pictures, thinking up fun ideas and helping to piece it all together, and it was a lovely family task that we created off the cuff and will always cherish. It’s super easy to do and adds such a unique twist to a room, I’m thinking we may have to make a few more now for the rest of the house!
