I would wither away and die if I didn’t have access to creativity. You could say that’s just me. But I know for a fact that expressing yourself through creative activities can be soul-nourishing and that’s why I encourage my kids to allow their creative juices to flow any way they feel. Art workshops are a brilliant way to do that and last week the boys were lucky enough to try one out at ElenART Studio in Nicosia.
The boys’ outdoor art class was scheduled early on a Monday morning, to avoid the midday heat. I woke up tired from a sleepless night with the two little ones. Clutching a strong coffee in one hand, I tossed them in the car one by one. Despite desperately wanting to stay in bed, I was looking forward to this morning because it was probably the single most creative thing my kids would be doing since the beginning of summer. More so now than ever before, inevitably, screens are taking up a major part of our lives and like most parents, I don’t like it. Schools and afternoon activities cannot start soon enough!
One of the first things I noted about Elena and the way she works is how she encourages kids to use various materials we would otherwise probably toss in the bin. When Georgie sat down to listen to Elena’s ideas about creating a robot, he came face to face with boxes of recycled materials such as toilet paper rolls, old CDs, bottle lids, pieces of string and cardboard and even used espresso capsules. He was given freedom to create a battery-operated robot of his dreams.
The two little ones’ faces lit up when they noticed what Elena had prepared for them. A cardboard box, which was later given to the boys, contained cardboard fish cutouts with magnets attached to the side. Two fishing rods make from sticks found at a local playground and a string also had magnets glued to the ends. James, 4 and Danny, 2 spent a good hour painting and gluing various materials to their fish, creating beautiful art work I am framing once they get bored of fishing them out of the cardboard box.
For the past nine years, Elena has been working mainly with children aged 4-12, teaching them about the history of art, renowned artists and ways to feel inspired by them. She loves working on 3D projects, with paper mâché and clay. She teaches kids the art of engraving, printing various methods on paper, she shows them how to make toys, jewellery and even how to weave. 
She has created the cutest little area for her classes with no more than four children in attendance, not just due to Covid restrictions but because she likes to dedicate time to each child individually. After over an hour of creating, decorating and building, the boys were ready to leave, only to immediately start questioning me about the next time we would be going to one of Ms Elena’s art classes.
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Contact Elena to book a class on Facebook or Instagram. Call on 99942272 or email elenartstudio11@gmail.com
This post was sponsored by ElenART Studio, a small mum-run business I fully support.
