I have been furnishing art supplies to my kids.
I cut a bunch of the linen textured paper I love so much, brought in real graphite pencils and blending stumps, and have furnished fine point gel pens, too.
Oh, and a whole big book of tangle patterns.
They deserve good art supplies.
None of that crap... "You can have good supplies when you become an artist."
Hell no.
I had a teacher tell me when I was about eight years old that I was a REALLY GOOD SINGER and a REALLY GOOD READER. What prompted that? She saw a picture I was trying to draw. Evidently my singing and ability to decipher the written word was a lot better than my innate artistic ability and she felt a need to tell me so. I don't know if I was any good at art, but after that, I was embarrassed to try. I *knew* no one would be interested in my art.
It was 45 years before I tried drawing again.
I skipped taking art classes in school because I already knew I wasn't good at it. I never tried to paint or draw. I did paint little ceramic things, and worked for a time as a design painter in a small ceramic company. They gave us greenware to paint with glazes. There was no creative expression, it was just filling in the spaces with the proper colors.
Are they doing it 'right'? Are my kids artists?
Yes. Because art is supposed to bring happiness to the person creating it. I have been taking pictures, but left the camera at work. I've been really careful not to get any kids in this batch of photos because I do want to show you their work. They're being encouraged to draw. My feedback is of the, "I love what you did with this spot, I know your mom will love this, wow, you really have done a great job here!" variety.
I will never tell a child he or she isn't good at art. I won't try to steer them away from creative pursuits, either. It is bringing them joy.
But they're hell on blending stumps and graphite pencils. I'll be stopping at Craft Warehouse or Michael's tomorrow afternoon on my way back to work to grab some more supplies. They aren't expensive, and the investment in the kids is priceless.
They're using the good stuff.
And they're getting results to prove it.
I love my job. :)
you are awesome ! So many "teachers" in years past have dashed dreams, and for what?
ReplyDeleteI think that sometimes people who work with kids don't really understand how important what they say to them really is. We forget how we felt as children when we become adults. To me, their little disagreements and thoughts about things are momentary. A blip in the day. To *them*, it is their entire life. They haven't been around all that long. And everything is important. I try so hard to remember that.
DeleteEncouraging and boosting confidence is paramount! Having hopes dashed, especially at a young age, is dreadful!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that teacher even meant to be mean. I think in her mind she was encouraging me to do things I was good at because when you're good at something and people notice, it builds you up. I *did* have a good voice at a very young age. I was always the soloist in whatever stuff the music teacher cooked up. I think she just thought she was encouraging my talents, not that she was discouraging my efforts. If that makes sense.
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