The Artist

I read with my Little One every day.  We read a lot.  She is four and loves picture books, so we look at a lot of illustrations.  She is four, so she asks a lot of questions.  Questions like, "Why is she wearing a blue shirt?"  or "Why is there a bird in that tree?" or "Why does the house have an orange door?" or "Why does he have curly hair?"  or "Why is she taller than her friend?"

After many, many, many, many of these type of questions, and many, many, many well thought out and detailed answers, there are times when a mom just needs the book to be completed.  :)

At times like this, when endless questions about illustrations abound, I have found myself eventually answering, "I guess it's because that's the way the artist drew it."

Evidently this answer makes a lot of sense to the concrete mind of a four year old. Once I use this answer, she seems to simply accept that this makes perfect sense, and she never questions WHY the artist chose to draw it like that.

So earlier today, out of the blue, she wonders into the kitchen and says, "Mommy, can I ask you a question?" Which may or may not mean she has an actual question.  She might simply state that her name is now officially Panda Bear and then scamper back off to her toys.  She's four, you never know.

But this time she had a question.

"Mommy, if the artist makes us, who makes the artist?"

I love these little windows into the mind of a child.  I love seeing how she's working to piece her world together.  Seeing how she's learning to incorporate into her conversations all of the various words she hears.  Seeing her question and explore the world around her.

I am fascinated with how she uses language to express her thoughts and how it can reveal her level of understanding.

This is what I gleaned from her question.  Evidently, since "the artist" creates all of the illustrations, "the artist" is the creator. People and things in the books are created by "the artist," so all things must be created by "the artist."  Which means we are created by "the artist." And if there is an "artist" doing all of this creating, from whence did this "artist" come?

"If the artist makes us, who makes the artist?"

I'm not about to pretend like I can even begin to answer that question.  My answer to her was simply, "That's a wonderful question!"  And because she is four, that was all the answer she needed.

I love my Little One.  I love my life.

Life is continually being illustrated around me and, in my humble opinion, "the artist" is doing a stunning job!