Art opens up a world of unlimited possibilities for children they colour a rabbit purple, or paint trees blue with pink spots.It’s only as they grow that art suddenly has to make sense or fit into a neat box.With that comes a series of ‘I can’ts’ ‘I can’t draw that animal’; ‘I can’t trace that landscape portrait’.Robyn DeSilva believes art is a crucial skill that allows young people to explore their creative sides while having fun.For just over a year she’s been aiding The Masterworks Foundation in its mission of “enriching the community through art education”.She teaches a weekly class for moms and toddlers at the museum’s facility in Botanical Gardens in Paget. On a typical morning she also runs classes for preschool-aged children between two and five; in the afternoons she teaches children from six to ten.The younger children are taught about the elements of art, such as different shapes, forms, textures and colours. “It just the basics and fun crafts,” said Miss DeSilva.The older children are shown more advanced forms of art and take inspiration from pieces on display in the Masterworks Museum, including works from Georgia O’Keefe and Edwina Sandys.“The tots programmes is more to introduce them to the arts and getting the parents in the museum and used to the area and comfortable with the space,” she said.“I read [recently] that 56 percent of your intelligence is gained before five years old and we want children to have that appreciation for arts while they are still receptive to it.”“They say everyone starts out artistic but how do we keep them as artists? They start the classes and everyone wants to paint and create and have fun with art, and then they grow up and learn the word ‘can’t’ ‘I can’t do this painting or I can’t do that drawing’.“I think it’s important for them to learn the creativity and problem-solving and the fun aspects of it as well.”Ms DeSilva said her favourite part of working with young people is seeing their ideas blossom.“I like seeing that idea from a fresh perspective that hasn’t been tainted by all these things we are inhibited by as adults.“At that age they see it’s OK for their cat to be pink.”The challenging part, however, is sometimes dealing with the rules enforced by the parents.Sometimes parents come to the class and feel compelled to stop their toddlers from messing up their hands or clothes with paints and colouring utensils.Miss DeSilva said it would be great if more adults could let their children enjoy themselves and explore their imaginations.The 25-year-old said she has been painting since she was five. “My dad used to bring home the reels [of paper] from The Royal Gazette and I would have the tempera cakes and just paint whatever I wanted to.“We went through huge reels like that so often and I took art classes all through high school.”She said she hasn’t had specialised training in art outside of taking art classes in Scotland and locally at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation nonetheless it has become an outlet to discover different sides of her personality and emotions.Miss DeSilva wants the young people who take courses at Masterworks to also have a lifelong relationship with art.“I hope the young people believe they are creative, believe it in the deepest part of them and they know it and use their creativity.“From our mission point of view I want them to understand more about Bermuda’s culture and history and take that with them throughout the rest of their lives.”She describes her post with Masterworks as “the best job” for her, particularly in light of the wonderful team spirit that exists.“We work together for each other and the mission of the museum. Working for and with a good team makes the job so much easier.“We all come in knowing what we have to do and excited about the projects we are doing because we have all put a lot of ourselves into the work and feel more connected to it.”Masterworks offers classes for people of all ages, including teenagers and adults. They also operate programmes in such schools as St George’s Preparatory, East End Primary and St David’s Primary.