The Next Great Artist
By Matthew Williams

The next great American artist has arrived. I know this for certain after viewing the green crayon masterpiece my son created on our dining room wall. The lines are bold and powerful. The scribbles tease the imagination, evoking thoughts of, well, scribbles.

I'm excited by Sam's obvious artistic talent, but I have to admit I was a little miffed at his choice of canvas. I mean, why did he pick the only freshly painted wall in our entire house?

For three days prior to Sam's bold strokes I had roused myself at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. to repaint our dining room. I figured this was the only time to complete the project without having Sam run through the paint tray and track tiny cream-colored footprints across the carpet. This plan worked great other than the fact I was ready to hit the sack each day at about 3 p.m. -- the time Sam is normally getting his second wind.

My indignation with Sam for drawing on the wall was short-lived. I believe his actions were not that of a misbehaving 15-month-old child, but rather a sign of superior intellect. You see, after painting the walls I had experimented in one location by adding a dark green accent coat of paint. This mockup (which led my spouse to ask "Why did you spill green paint on the wall?") was at Sam's eye level. <continued below>

No doubt the little whippersnapper viewed this as a license to put green marks elsewhere. As proof of his advanced intelligence, please note that he chose the green crayon when several other colors were available. And I'm sure his choice had nothing to do with the fact that he's eaten the ends off all the other-colored crayons.

This leads me to wonder, why on earth does he eat crayons? I can understand the first bite. With color names like Ravishing Raspberry and Luscious Lemon (translated into red and yellow) who wouldn't want a taste. Also, Sam is still at the stage where everything goes into the mouth -- like the bubble liquid he drank this week. (Try as we might, we could not help laughing as he spit the stuff out and translucent bubbles were flying everywhere.)

However, why persist after the first chomp? These crayons taste horrid. I know. I got suckered in by the flavorful marketing scheme too. I suspect his desire to eat the crayons (and also sidewalk chalk) is directly related to our telling him not to eat these items. This is the way he proves his independence.

Considering all this, some parents may think 15 months is too young to be turned loose with crayons. But allowing Sam to draw not only lets him express some artistic thought, it helps develop his fine motor skills. There are also a few artists or artistically inclined folks in our family. Even though such traits skipped my generation, maybe Sam landed a creative gene or two.

Besides, since my wife Suzanne (and I'm placing the blame squarely on her) turned Sam loose with crayons several months ago, he insists on drawing most days. Typically this happens when he's playing quietly with a toy and I sit down to read the newspaper. As soon as I'm settled I hear Sam's "Ooh, ooh." I look to see him pointing to where the crayons are kept. I try to distract him with books or other toys until the ooh-oohing gets frantic, then I give in and get the crayons out.

We try to restrict Sam's drawing to paper, but he is not to be stifled by such linear thinking. Within moments, usually after I've picked up the newspaper again, he's strayed beyond the boundaries of his 2-square-feet paper pad to the carpet, walls and elsewhere.

This is why if you visit our house and sit on the white couch you may notice smears of Succulent Citrus and Munchable Mocha. But don't worry, the crayon wax is ground permanently into the upholstery so you won't get it on your clothes.