This afternoon Lils set herself up side by side with Mike, our wall texture/drywall hanger guy. He’s been working on his masterpiece on the ceiling and walls of our theatre for a few days now, and today she decided to join him. He is an extremely gentle and patient man. He’s pretty good with mud on walls too. 🙂
She grabbed scrapers and trowels, similar to what he was using, and she asked him to get her a bit of her own mud. He did.
I watched, camera in hand.
She observed his movements and technique intently. She asked him a few questions, and within a few moments she took mud to wall. She mimicked his movements, copied his design, and maintained a respectful distance, as to not disturb his work and keep him out of hers. Then, she decided to go her own path and create her own design.
When he was ready to incorporate Lily’s contribution, she realized he had to somewhat change her work. She was disappointed. I hate situations like these… I recognize their worth on some altruistic level maybe, but Lily is a way from that sort of thought process; she is still rather concrete most of the time. We have seen an explosion of development in the empathy department, and some associated abstract thought along that line, but where something concerns her contributions personally, she doesn’t see the majority of the bigger pictures yet. I’m thankful for this – it preserves her innocence. However, it also means heartache. Bitter with the sweet, I suppose.
When it was time for her work to be integrated, instead of it simply disappearing, we redirected. I took two manageable pieces of sheetrock and set her up with them and some more mud. She went to town. It was only a moment before she discarded the tools in favor of her hands and feet.
She may add some paint tomorrow.
She learned form, texture, and dimension in this context, and we have two new pieces of art to hang. 🙂