Vincent Claire Gogh

I am fully aware of the fact that no one on this planet thinks my kids are more special than their daddy and I do. I know that I am biased and that I think the every-day things they do are wonderful. And while I rave about my kids, most people are probably rolling their eyes and snickering at my excess.

To that end, I'm just going to brag a bit about my girl, and you can do all the eye-rolling and snickering you want, and I'll never know! Such is the beauty of the Internet.

So, here it is. The plain, unvarnished, unbiased truth is that my girl is an arteest! That's right, a bon-ee-fyde artist extraordinaire. :-)

Her school sponsored an art program this year, and the culmination of the program was an art contest. Students could enter pieces from any medium they desired: photography, writing, sculpture, painting, drawing, etc. Claire decided that she wanted to enter a painting piece but debated right up until the deadline on what exactly she would paint.

I suggested that she paint a copy of one of Vincent Van Gogh's works simply because this was the very first artist in whom I ever heard her express an interest. She loves his "Starry Night" picture, so she decided to do that one.

We worked together. I painted a copy while she sat next to me and worked on her own version.

The top picture is Van Gogh's original, and the bottom is Claire's copy of it.

Van Gogh, she is not, but we thought she did a great job.

The night of the art show, the students gathered to hear the final results of the contest winners.

And my girl walked away with the First Place prize for first grade in the painting category.

We are super proud of her.

I tend to stress academics with my kids, as that's the area in which I have more experience and feel most comfortable, but I've always been envious of people with artistic talent. My dad and his father and grandfather are all gifted artists of a variety of mediums, and I wish that I had more of that ability.

I am overjoyed to think that my girl has maybe inherited an artistic inclination from her Papa.

Claire's friend and classmate, Emma, also entered the contest and won Best in Show for her self-portrait!

Probably the highlight of the whole experience for Claire was that the artwork of the students was then displayed in a local art gallery.

Right alongside real works from local artists hung the works of the students.

I'd like to believe that it won't be the only time she sees her paintings hanging on the art gallery's wall.