Paste: GET SCHOOLED. Remember how we started this series talking about seeing the world? I want to build on that concept this week. I know that sometimes we don’t know where to start when creating, or helping our children create. Our minds are blank, and we have zero ideas. I’ve been there, and something that really helps is studying the art of others. Visit a museum or check out a book from the library on art or history. Find something that fits your child’s interests. Heck, just google Michelangelo and see your kids’ reactions when you tell them that he was paid to paint on the walls and ceiling. Exposing yourself and your children to lasting art will simply add more knowledge and richness to your own art. You might discuss the short, broken line quality of Van Gogh, or Monet's interest in the changing light, or the surrealism of Magritte. Your child might love the minimal colorblocking of Mondrian, and you might be totally moved, as I am, by the rich layering of Rothko’s color fields, through which he expressed fundamental human emotions. You might come home and let your research give direction to your next project. Note, too, that anything can inform an art project, and that historical references can be especially inspiring. If your child is fascinated by knights and castles, look at ornate tapestries, coats of arms, and medieval clothing. A really great way to start a project is by having a reference in subject, technique, materials, or format; for example, my girls were enamored with a beautiful gilded egg we found at a yard sale. So we looked at pictures of Faberge’s famous jeweled eggs and decided to make our own.