When I think of children expressing their Art abilities, I cannot think of better words than Einstein’s. “Imagination is more important that knowledge”.
Interesting enough, since I was in Kindergarten 35 years ago, our public system has been focusing on lineal education and knowledge or better said; in testing our knowledge instead of focusing in our very wondrous, unique, creative minds.
Recently I heard Sir. Ken Robins talk about schools killing creativity and then I read a quote by Maya Angelou that said, “You cannot use up creativity, the more you use it; the more you have. I must say that for Giancarlo and many kids both things have applied.
The few months of GC in public Kindergarten were slowly killing Giancarlo’s innate creativity. I remember one particular project he was given at his classroom. The teacher gave all the students the same color of background paper, with the same color of a tree cut and exact instructions in how to glue the tree. When Giancarlo finished his project, he looked around and saw everybody having the same tree so he decided to ad some “details”. When I picked him up from school that day, I could not helped but noticed all the trees that seemed to have been made by the same student. “Is odd” I thought to myself.
At that moment I recalled a story told by a writer and educator, Leo Buscaglia about how a teacher asked the students to draw a tree when in reality she wanted them to draw the tree that she believed was a tree and nothing else.
Giancarlo came out of the classroom and said to me that he had spent some time on the “thinking chair”. Wow, the thinking chair? I though naively, it must be a space dedicated for imagination, creativity and ideas. Well, not exactly. The thinking chair was the place GC was send for adding details to his project and for using his creativity and imagination, for not wanting to create the same boring tree.
When Giancarlo was younger and started to grab crayons to color or draw, I remember how happy and confident he was at coloring. I try to not interfere with his project by saying “stay within the lines or that is not the way we color”. I noticed that if I did, that discouraged him from coloring and that was the last thing I wanted.
When GC was 2 years old and started to use real paint and easel, I caught myself trying to find a shape that talked to me about what he was painting. I remember him using purple paint and me thinking I knew what was he painting. Trying to encourage him with my “ cheering mom voice, I told him that his painting was a “grape”.
Giancarlo looking at me ensured me seriously that it was not a grape, he told me in a very confident, joyful voice “it is purple don’t you see”. I laughed, but I knew that he was right.
Why did it have to be what I could see? When for him it was a color. I realized then what I have known before. Art; does not come from the Artist imagination in a specific, common shape or idea. It comes more like in a very unique, inspiring fashion way. It comes as a form of expression of feelings, emotions and never will be communicated in the same way by different artists.
As Giancarlo grew older, we never stopped doing Art or appreciating Art.
He has participated at libraries and Museums art events; we have studied at home from Cave paintings to Matisse, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso, Frida Kahlo, etc. During 1stgrade GC took a semester of Home school Art class.
For the longest time, GC used to tell me that he was going to be an Artist and was always interested in participating in all writing, drawing, painting contests.
Interesting enough, while in his Kindergarten class, all of his security and interest starting fading away. He second gussed himself, he wanted to be perfect, he got easily frustrated and started having these attitudes that never had before school.
At home, he is always doodling, or thinking of an idea. He has created his own booklets, story lines. When was about music he made his own arrangements to songs, when was about spelling he will spell-sing the words, when has been about math or science always the creative mind will come up with ideas. When we were exploring Egypt and the pyramids, the Ziggurats and every history period or religion we have use imagination and creativity to complete our projects. For his writing journals, always you will see a unique symbol or detail created by GC.
As a mom educator, I always encourage his creativity no matter what. It took time for GC to gain his confidence again but till this days GC creativity and imagination has been expanding.
He goes from painting to drawing to sketching, to video making, to narrating to creating beautiful origami piece.
As someone said “The Artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of Artist."
©KarlaGMundo2018
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