The Paint Escape Exhibit

Dates and Times for this Past Event

• Sunday, Jul 17, 2022  
• Saturday, Jul 16, 2022  
• Friday, Jul 15, 2022  
• Thursday, Jul 14, 2022  
• Wednesday, Jul 13, 2022  
• Tuesday, Jul 12, 2022  

Location

Event Category

Family Friendly

Details

The Paint Escape
July 12 - July 17
Reception on Saturday July 16th

The Paint Escape is a place where children can explore paint, color, composition, and movement in an open structure. The work you see on display here was created by young humans between the ages of fifteen months and five years over the past few months.
The studio offering is heavily inspired by a community service action I was part of while I living abroad in Switzerland, titled “Die Mal Oase” (the Paint Oasis). The concept is simple: bring your little ones to paint freely while you (the adult) relax with books, conversation, or simple observation. The facilitators provide dedicated space which consists of walls, a paint-cup-carriage, large paper, brushes, and paint shirts.

As an artist/teacher and mother of young children particularly interested in painting and movement, I was instantly struck by the beauty and magic of the whole operation. Each piece of the process matters. The use of the walls allows for the participants to stand, rather than sit, thus making the experience more physical. Large sheets of paper allow for a fuller range of motion. The paint carriage design allows for colors to be easily shared and for the choosing of a color or a brush to be a separate action from the mark making. There is very little if any, actual “instruction” given for the activity. Movement is truly a language of its own, and to be able to observe the evidence of an individual exploration of this language in its earliest form is quite fascinating. When it comes to painting as an art form, I find that adults too often get caught up in the technical skill of rendering objects realistically, and lose sight of concepts such as composition, which I personally would argue accounts more for a works’ “success”.

When children of this age explore how to fill a space, they are actively and intuitively creating balance without the obstacle of overthinking the “why”.
I am personally moved by the freedom of the movement in these paintings, and have gone on to produce collaborative movement performances inspired by the drawings and paintings of my own small children. This work has also allowed me an opportunity to reflect on the act of painting and the purpose it can serve to record moments in time.

 

I hope to offer more of these sessions to the community so if you are interested, please join the mailing list or follow us on Instagram and Facebook for the latest developments.

The Paint Escape is a registered name created and operated by Rachel Obranovich
If you would like to dialogue or have more questions, please reach out via email or messaging.
Rachelmichele616@gmail.com

The_paint_escape on Instagram
The Paint Escape on Facebook

Artist Websites:
Disclosure08.blogspot.com
Rachelrecording.blogspot.com