March 08, 2005
In my Docent Class tonight we had a fabulous art teacher come in to explain how to teach art to children from ages 5-11. I, however, listened and applied all that she said to how to teach myself.
I learned that children are so completely in the moment with everything they do. They’re not looking a week down the road or twenty years in advance. It’s what in front of them right now that matters the most.
So when they create, they use what’s in their brain at that moment. They don’t have yesterdays garbage or tomorrows idea of perfection. Instead, they dive in and just do art.
Children also have less fear when it comes to art. As adults, we start to build up walls and forget to just “do art” and criticise ourselves before anything gets started. Children deny the mistake, adults try to avoid it.
Children enjoy the process of making art, of writing, of being creative. Gluing, painting, drawing, cutting, being tactile and making smiley faces makes them happy. Adults worry about the end result so much that the process ends up becomming a hassle.
I’ve decided to act like a kid about art, in hopes to get over my fears of it. It’s perfect timing since I’m getting back to enjoying the process and less with worrying about the end result.
So tonight, instead of crining at everything I create, I’m going to just keep going at it. I won’t judge it, determine it’s worth, or give up because I’m doing nothing more than stick men and ink blots.
Instead I’ll keep drawing or painting and let the mistakes come out. I’ll keep practicing, let my mind wander in my imagination and plug away at creativity. Most of all, I’ll enjoy the process and feeling paint on my fingers and a smile on my face.