BI - When I was a little bit younger

The strain I was under could make me cry
Now I’m a little bit older,
A little bit bolder
Never so shy...
Sweet Darlin' - She and Him

Oh Zooey Deschanel. I'm not sure why that song popped up into my head. I just thought of that phrase and I just knew there was a song to go along with it. I also found it appropriate for this entry.

Discuss your best art experience in school. What made it so memorable? What made it such a good experience? Discuss your worst experience of art in school? What made it so memorable? What made it such a poor experience?

To be honest, I am having a hard time thinking of complete art experiences that I had when I was younger -- may they be positive OR negative. I remember more of whether or not the experiences led to what I felt were artistically positive outcomes (aka something I was proud of). I remember quite a few projects from when I was younger, I remember teachers or friends being either impressed or indifferent. At such a young age, I did look up to them and feel a little bit prouder if they said 'Oh you're so talented!' However, I'd like to believe that I was proud about things nonetheless at the time. I know when I look back at things I've made I'm a little more critical at times. Nonetheless, I don't remember the process of making anything.

Reflecting back though, remembering what people encouraged me to do as an artist is what I find the positive or negative aspect of Art Education. As a child, it was inevitable for me to explore my creativity and push myself to try new things with all the materials I was allowed. Though technically I was limited to whatever I had, most of the limitations would be implemented by the adults. I'm not saying you should give a kid a paint tube and let them run free, however telling them a long list of things they can't do doesn't make sense to me either.

When I was young I was quite determined to either draw perfectly like Dr. Dressup (which I have learned actually traced - bah!) or be entirely original. So for my most negative experience that I can remember was when I was told that my ideas weren't good, original (or that I stole whatever idea I had -- which I hadn't), or simply that I did it wrong.

I was seven-year-old told to paint/fill in four hearts with things I liked, patterns, or colors. We would be marked on creativity. I was interested in water at the time and had purchased a book about water from the bookfair and everything so I treated the hearts as little containers in which colored water was poured into. I played with where the water was being poured into the hearts, where it would bounce off the walls of the hearts, and how color would transition through the water. Of course that's not how I saw it at the time, I probably thought of it just pretty water. But I remember getting it back and getting a mark which told me that I wasn't creative enough. I'm sorry what? I was SEVEN! I was taking the initiative to look into the nature of something I hadn't learned about, yet somehow that translated into a comment on my mark sheet that said 'next time be more creative.' L. A. M. E.

So it only makes sense that my most positive experience in my childhood art was a time where someone encouraged me to push myself. It's not a specific event, but my mother was always something I feel that was important to anything related to art in my life. She encouraged me to critique myself and the world around me to understand how I could get what I see into a drawing. Though she supported me to think of my technical abilities, she always supported my creativity as well. We'd have time to just doodle together, avoiding anything representative on purpose. She also asked me why I felt that I had to do it any specific way and to try looking or doing things differently.

Both experiences, I believe, shape who I am as an artist. My experiences as a child lead me to feel that children shouldn't be told what creativity is -- especially since some adults seem to be out of touch of our childhood imagination. Limiting their understanding of what is creative or art could just confuse them, frustrate them, and lead them to thinking art isn't their thing. Though there are children that are gifted, I feel like all children are capable of art. The encouragement, or lack thereof, could make or break a child's' want to continue to explore which would be sad. Well I think I'd be sad.

Children are exploratory, perceptive and try to interpret what they see. Thus encouraging them to look at things in multiple ways, children will look at things with their young creativity as well as a manner in which adults could be seeing things. The extreme pressure which a child would have to be 'right' in the eyes of their parents is a burden! So letting them continue seeing the way they do while adding another level leads me back to my music lyrics. I'm older now, and a bit bolder. And my bold statement is that children shouldn't be taught to how most adults see things rather than how they themselves see things -- they should be taught to see both (or multiple) ways to see everything.