Painting

Arts and Crafts

Regarding arts and crafts, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote,

"The only gift is a portion of thyself. ...Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing."

From oil painting to wood carving, art projects provide a

creative outlet that releases stress and provides a sense of accomplishment for all family members. This site gives step instructions for numerous arts and crafts projects. For oil paintings, we suggest projects which can involve a number of family members creating simple complementary images. More difficult paintings can be investigated or explored using a number

of the books in our bookstore or the many articles on our site.

Another craft is woodcarving. From wooden shoes like those on the right to high relief carvings for furniture, woodcarving is an exciting hobby that can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Photographic collages such as the one below are created through

the use of sophisticated photo-editing programs for your personal computer. We discuss a number of these programs and provide you with tips and techniques for creating collages such

as the one on the left. Photographic editing is one of the crafts we explore in a number of our special projects. For those who want to learn more extensively about photographic editing, we provide a list of quality books in our bookstore.

Gifts of art provide a way for us to express our creativity and give of ourselves. Develop your family's artistic talents and encourage them to explore our many projects designed to increase creativity and give opportunities for them to give the gift of art for holidays and special occasions.