Once a month, from my art room in France, I log into Teams and find myself face-to-face with a group of children and young people in Samburu County, Kenya. We wave. We smile. Sometimes the connection freezes. But still, we connect and we make art!
These are kids navigating some serious life challenges. But in our time together, we focus on colour, imagination, and trying something new. Art is our shared space for curiosity, calm, and sometimes chaos (the fun kind).
With me in Divonne, I had Lina and my friend Kate in the art room and online a group of over 20 eager young faces, Brenda, Elijah, Sammy, Joan, Tonamo, Annkaren to name just a few. By the end of the session, my laptop was speckled with paint, Kate lost track of time and had to dash out the door, and we were all somewhere in that delicious state where clocks stop ticking and worries quietly pack up and leave. That’s what art does: it brings you into flow.
Our project? Portraits. Inspired by Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo, we ditched the brushes and used our fingers. I guided the kids through face proportions: eyes halfway down the head, nose halfway to the chin, mouth just under that. Structure first. Then—freedom.
The result? Glorious. Messy. Confident. Their portraits had personality and punch. Expressive, joyful, imaginative, intriguing. Some looked suspiciously like the artists themselves.
There was laughing, and there was so much paint. And yes, there was that magical moment when kids forget everything else and become completely absorbed in creating.
As I watched their hands dabbing and swirling, I thought, “This is light. This is the kind of moment that brightens a room, a home, a whole week.”
We don’t always know where our light will land. Sometimes we hold it up like a painting to a closed window. But these children? They open the window wide. They let it in.
Finger painting might not solve the world’s problems. But for one bright, joy-filled morning, it reminded me why I keep showing up.
Hands full of paint. Hearts full of surprise. We played loud music and at the end we all danced together. And all our faces lit up!
You don’t need expensive paintbrushes. You have them in your hands. Art is anything and everything. Use what’s around you. Express what’s inside you. That’s where creativity lives—and where joy begins.