"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."

Yesterday was one of the rare days where me and Opeie didn't need to be anywhere to pick the troops up in the afternoon. Seth was off to his friend Williams for tea and Mrs M had a business meeting so we took full advantage and drove to Wolverhampton. I fancied pottering around some new charity shops and Opeie wanted to go to the art gallery so we wrapped up warm and ventured out.

We mooched through the charity shops when we got there and I found a few books I'm going to use for a craft idea we're going to be starting soon, then we made our way towards the gallery. We went a few months back to see the Ron Mueck exhibition and I was hoping there was something interesting on. Opeie made a bee line for his favourite spot as soon as we got there and sat down ready to create.

Opeie loves the 'build your own magnetic sculpture' and anything that you can look through or listen to. He's very enthusiastic and wants to give everything a try and he loves investigating.

The Ron Mueck exhibition had been replaced by a photography exhibition which wasn't really my thing but it was great seeing all the old fashioned cameras and old photos. Opeie started blowing a raspberry everytime I got the camera out which was funny.

Opeie was soon off and eager to look for some more headphones.

Once he had managed to listen to every hearing device he could find he wanted to dress up. Even though the boys have tried on the clothes many many times they still get as excited (I'd love to be in their shoes for the day)

We had planned to have lunch at the cafe there but the staff in there were so rude that we decided to leave. Sadly when you mention gluton, dairy free in some places they seem to panic. The woman in the cafe offered us a plain potato? And then bluntly said 'we can't help you'. So we headed over to Costa Coffee for a drink, Mrs M had filled my bag up with things for Opeie so he was sorted. We sat upstairs in the coffee shop and had an hour of people watching while we read the books we had bought.

I love just hanging out with Opeie, he is the best company and  really makes me laugh. After a while he started to look tired so we made our way back to the car and set off for home. A lovely few hours spent with one of my three favourite people.

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

A few weeks back on the school playground I had a bit if a disagreement with one of the childs grandparents about (in her words) 'arty farty teachers' and how art in schools is pointless and takes away from the important reading, writing and numeracy etc. I strongly disagree, creativity in all its forms should be taught and embraced as much as all of the other so called 'important subjects'. Not all children are academic and some really struggle especially through their teen years so having something in school that they can vent and put everything they can into is the most important thing to them, otherwise all those years of school are just wasted time. 

Both the boys are very bright and aside from Seth's physical issues they are developing excellently with no signs so far of struggle. As a parent it's exactly the position you want to be in as a family. Both myself and Mrs M do spend a lot of time bringing out the boys creative side though, I believe we're all creative in some way it's just finding the right medium. I think it's also important to expose your children to art and culture it teaches them to ask questions. This week I took the boys to the art gallery in Wolverhampton, we've been there many times but because they change the exhibitions it always has a fresh feel without losing the many familiar things that the boys love. When we first got in to Wolverhampton Seth made me laugh by asking for a photo next to the town clock, when i asked him why he told me because it looks like the clock tower in Back to the future (i was so proud, i think a post about educating your kids on great movies will be soon).

 When we got inside the gallery Seth made a beeline for the Georgian room and did his usual dressing up in fancy clothing from the past. Opeie doesn't like it and just wanted to listen to historians talking on the headphones.

And the boys knew exactly where to go to dress up like Sherlock Holmes. I love that the gallery is child friendly and interactive it means the boys have the freedom to walk about without worrying about breaking anything (because everything is safe). Some of the new editions this time round were a magnetic 'build your own sculpture' out of junk which Opeie loved and a room filled with ceiling to floor glow sticks which both boys couldn't get enough of.

We've seen some really great exhibitions during our visits, until this visit my favourite was the Jann Haworth exhibit that me and Mrs M saw a while back but the Ron Mueck exhibit that is on at the moment is breathtaking. I'd never seen his work before so was shocked when walking into a room to be greeted by a naked bearded giant. 

The boys loved it and when we left the room to go elsewhere Opeie kept saying 'big one' as he wanted another look, a proper little art connoisseur in the making. Seth just stared at the pieces taking it all in.

It was nice to see that Seth wasn't just pointing at the naked pieces laughing like I think many children his age would. I think he's really mature for his age, I did notice the corners of his mouth twitch up though when we entered the pop art room and he noticed this beauty hanging on the wall. Seth said it was a bit rude and I asked him why? He said he wouldn't like his bottom up on a wall for all to see.

In one of the rooms there was a kaleidoscope that we all had a bit of fun with but each time we found something new Seth wanted to go back to the glow stick room and Opeie wanted 'big one'.

Me and the two art historians spent a good two hours walking around taking it all in but inevitably they soon got hungry so we headed back to the car. It was a fun morning and as always it was a joy watching Opeie follow his big brother round and copy everything he does. They are so adorable when they are together, I'm a very proud daddy.