We're thrilled to welcome Lynne Dobson as our newest columnist! With over four decades of dedicated experience in education as both an artist and retired art teacher, Lynne brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and passion to our pages. Her unwavering commitment to nurturing young creative minds continues to shine through her current work, from intimate one-on-one art sessions in her home studio to dynamic school art projects and hands-on classroom experiences with primary school children. Lynne's infectious enthusiasm for children's and young people's art makes her the perfect guide to share practical insights, creative techniques, and inspiring strategies that will help parents, teachers, and caregivers unlock the artistic potential in every child. Get ready to discover fresh ways to spark creativity and confidence in the young artists in your life!


As a young child I was surrounded by 'art'. My dad was an amateur watercolour artist therefore encouraged me to draw and paint from an early age. My earliest memory is sitting at the dining room table with him drawing animals and flowers, probably to distract me whilst my brother was being born upstairs. I assumed this wonderful world of painting and drawing happened in every household, but as I grew older realised how lucky I was. Everything was fun and my imagination could run free.

When teaching art I became entangled in tests, targets and other restrictions. Barriers were put up regarding what and what not to teach. It made me decide to speak out for the rights of children to express themselves in art.

Art has been proved time and time again how it is good for the soul and mental health. Of course, I realise some guidelines have to be followed by the national curriculum but there are positive ways of working around these to channel children`s creativity.

I always remember a teaching assistant telling a child their wonderful portrait was wrong and putting a dreaded red cross next to the work. The children had been asked to draw a face showing emotion or how they felt. This child had painted a green face. They may have been ill or sick seeing green as a colour to depict how they felt. However, without questioning the motive it was dismissed and relegated to the bin. Hopefully this is a bygone attitude.

Negativity is a pessimistic attitude which I myself try to avoid. It is difficult when the news is a constant flow of war-torn countries, violence and deceit. This is how an escape into a creative world can save our hearts and souls and give us hope. I know this is all sounding a bit fanciful, but I think we need to focus on our children`s mental health at an early age.

I hope during the recent summer holidays young people have been encouraged to move away from phone and iPad screens and look at the beauty outside. It doesn`t have to be an expensive trip out to the countryside. Beauty can be the patterns in a wall, a tree in the garden, a weed at the edge of the pavement.

Encourage positivity and make art.

Most people have doodled in their life, and these simple sketches whether on the edge of a newspaper or on a piece of paper are a great start to expressing feelings or merely creating satisfying patterns.

Most children have a vivid imagination which unfortunately often becomes stifled my growing up life events etc. My aim is to reinstate their natural instincts and allow them to enjoy the freedom of a paintbrush and paint or whatever medium takes their fancy.

The images in this article are ones where children have used their imagination to create artwork for other people to enjoy as well as the fun they had producing them.
Amanda (16yrs) loved creating this fabulous still life. Yummy! Who doesn`t love cake.

Nusaybah's Collage

Noor's dripping art

Nusaybah (7yrs) loves using different materials. In this collage she used a mix of paint and tissue paper and was happy with the result.
Noor (11yrs) enjoys splashing paint on a canvas, so found this dripping affect her favourite way to have fun whilst adding a pen and ink image of her old school to produce a finished piece of art.

Thomas Digital Art

Rafi's imagery

Thomas (9yrs) is interested in the Japanese manga style of art but this doesn`t restrict his imagination. The fascinating image here is a digital drawing from his vivid imagination.

Rafi (11yrs) is already an accomplished artist and can produce drawn portraits as well as imaginative landscapes as in this image.
Please encourage children to send their artwork including their name and age, to my email for future articles.