Art for Babies - History

The conception of Art for Babies arose from my children’s reaction to particular paintings. I am an artist and often have my paintings hung in every available space in our home, especially when preparing for an exhibition.

Ten weeks after the birth of my second child, I noticed her appearing to stare at a certain painting. We began to use this painting to settle her. Once in front of it, her eyes would widen and move from one part of the picture to another. We found that the painting fascinated her and held her attention for long enough to create a soothing effect. I was reminded that my son also seemed to engage with a ‘special’ painting at a similar stage. I began researching into early visual/sensory development in order to understand what the babies were seeing with the idea that I would paint a picture for my daughter which was designed for her eyes.

I found the information and research, available from the Visual Development Unit at UCL and Oxford University, amazing as well as useful. I would like to acknowledge the helpful advice given to me by Professor Jan Atkinson on developing the designs for these paintings.

As parents, we all want to give our children the best possible start in life. We introduce our babies to diverse areas such as classical music, massage and swimming in order to bring pleasure and to aid strong sensory development in what is a very sedentary time in their lives. The realms of early visual development are rich, complex and more significant than I had previously supposed.