Another few pages for the Sketchbook challenge.
A girl in a box, acrylic on paper.
Not much of a process to show today, since i haven't finished it yet.
I'll have to do something about those curly pages before i send it off.
By the way, i loved reading your comments yesterday about when or how you all became artists.
It's funny how one thing leads us to another in life, isn't it?
Neither of my parents were artists - my father was a carpenter & my mother a caregiver (this doesn't mean they weren't creative!) - but I remember always having crayons & paper in the house. I also remember my mother saving the egg cartons, which usually turned into colourful little bells, or flowers. Or dad bringing home scrap pieces of wood for me to draw on or carve. When i was 12 or 13, we had a snow sculpture contest at school and my friend and i won first place for our snow sculpture of Snoopy the dog - the Charles Schultz creation - not Snoop Dog :-). All of these little things lead me to continue being creative, one way or another.
In high school, (in Alberta), I was fortunate enough to have a great art teacher who encouraged me to push myself (thanks, Mr. Muzzo). He even told me I was a really good artist - that's all it took. At the end of the school year, we were moving back east, 3000 miles away and as a gift, Mr. Muzzo gave me a brand new set of oil pastels to encourage me to keep drawing. Teachers sometimes don't realize how much of an affect they have on kids and how ONE kind gesture can perhaps change the course of a life. I used those pastels till they were nothing but little bits of colour in the box.
It's not really important how or when we became artists. I believe we're all naturally creative beings at birth, but that's another story. :-) It's only important to honour the creativity once we recognize it in ourselves, whether it be with cooking or singing or dancing or drawing.
Otherwise, we're not whole, or true to ourselves, are we?
:-)
I love your story! How wonderful that teacher was to you! It is so true, a little kindness goes so far:)
ReplyDeletePS I love your girl in the box!
It is the little gestures that make such a big impact and your girl in a box is a great concept.
ReplyDeletexx
I love the stories of how people found their creativity and did quite a bit of research into it when I was doing my masters in art ed... such an interesting topic, and there are always commonalities, and so often it is one person encouraging that tips people over to the creative side... xx
ReplyDeleteOh...you've reminded me a teacher I had in high school. I once, while taking a written test, wrote a poem in the margin of the exam. The test was 5 mostly multiple choice and fill in the blank. I wrote separate lines of the poem in the margin of each page. He graded my poem as extra credit and encouraged me to continue to write. Maybe that's why I love words so much.
ReplyDeleteCute girl in the box as part of your sketchbook.
Also, I love the feedback and comments that you and others leave on my blog - it reminds me of the little things that people did for me in the past. Paying it forward feels good and has given me a very supportive group of artists/friends online.
Its funny...I was about to throw out an old egg carton today but thought to myself...hmm Max could make a cool skateboard jump out of this. I was wondering if people still used them for art projects. So important to teach kids to think creatively ...from art to play to how they live their everyday life.
ReplyDeleteIs your girl in the box for the sketchbook project 2011?
Julie
Oh my... you have such a lovely blog, glad I dropped in for a visit! :]
ReplyDeleteLove your artwork, great stuff here.
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving such a wonderful comment. *hugs*
Come and visit "anytime".
Take care.
I love her hair!!! Super cute! Lovely story too, my creativity comes from all the women in my family - I can stretch it back as far as living memory will allow and always been creative myself but will no 'proper' outlet being found until a couple of years ago. I found myself hiding that side of me away, thinking I wasn't good enough at anything to do it until I realised creativity, like everything else, is a learning process. Thanks for sharing Pauline :) xxxx
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!! Supportive teachers and family members are such gifts. They truly have no idea how much they mean to us.
ReplyDeleteI've been incredibly lucky to have many such people in my life. Though neither of my parents would call themselves creative I had grandparents that were artistically talented so my parents always encouraged and appreciated that side of me. Though it's been stagnant for far too many years I'm once again being supported by amazing loved ones as I restart my creative journey.