Eleven years later, Monique and I still make purple men and, yes, our ginger bread village sports aliens, rubber lizards, miniature princess Barbies, a butler and zebras in one of the houses. And, no adults are invited to join us.
Fast forward to another Christmas and a visit to another friend’s house where the children are intently focused on their craft project. The room is spotless.
"I had such high hopes. In my mind these were perfect.” She spoke these words apologetically, with a hint of embarrassment as we watched her four-year-old daughter paint Christmas ornaments. She was making a pink snow man (her favorite color) as her mother winced and fought the urge to hand her a paintbrush dipped in white.
This is how it begins.
I have no intention of vilifying anyone, least of all parents. I will grant you, I don’t have kids myself and maybe I just don’t understand the stress of having little creativity machines running around all day. The fact is, our creative wounds can come from anywhere and those who deliver them would likely be mortified if they really understood what they were doing.
So, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you can make a living as an artist!
The result of these early creative wounds is not only that we miss the opportunity to discover we are the next Rembrandt or Andy Warhol or Carly Simon. The damage is much more insidious if in adulthood we lose our ability to play.
This point was brought home to me quite by accident. I am blessed to be married to a man who was creatively encouraged as a child. After spending fifteen years in his presence, one might say my own creative wounds have been healed and I have become somewhat uninhibited as a result. Over time our home, a wonderland of paint effects in a stunning array of colors, had accumulated an impressive array of remnant paints. Desperate to reclaim storage space, I set out to use up as much paint as possible in our laundry room.
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
You had me at "I have to go downstairs to get the aliens." Enjoyable article.
2 - SHARK
"Flowers are red and green grass is green.
There is no need to see flowers any other way
than the way they always have been seen."
Never thought there would be any similarities between Chapin and this guy:
"Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized." -- Adolph Hilter
This world is just full of surprises!
3 - duane
I couldn't agree with you more, Laura. I have a less artistic lifestyle than you and yours (although I make and play music) and my son is not especially interested in painting or drawing, but I have incorporated the gist of your thesis into my interactions with him as regards his attempts to understand the natural world. The approach involves nothing more than allowing him to speculate as to the hows and whys of things without giving him the correct answer (unless he really, really presses me for it) and encouraging such speculation.
Kids should be allowed to invent their own explanations of why, for example, the sky is blue, or what causes the phases of the Moon. They pick up new facts in school or in their reading, and become curious about new phenomena as they gain experience. In this way, their "cosmology" is allowed to grow stepwise as it is nudged year by year to the modern, scientific version. They will wedge newfound knowledge into their model of the universe, and adapt to it, all the while maintaining their own synthesis of percieved "facts" and phenomena that preserves their inherent curiosity.
Contrast this with:
"Daddy, why is the sky blue?"
"Oh, it has to do with the inverse wavelength dependence of Rayleigh scattering of the Sun's 5700 degree quasi-Planckian spectrum of atmospheric molecules, convolved with the response function of the human eye. You wouldn't understand. Wait a few years and I'll explain it to you."
"Oh."
Very unappealing to the kid. It's stifling to think that there are answers to everything so that there's no point to thinking and imagining. Because, in fact, there aren't answers to everything. Einstein was asked to what does he attribute his success. He said (paraphrasing), "I have had the luxury of being allowed to think like a child."
4 - SHARK
Duane, on that note:
'It took me four years to paint like Raphael,
but a lifetime to paint like a child.' -- Picasso
=========
Personal Rambling Anecdote Warning:
I've had the luck and pleasure to spend the first 6 years of my grandson's life with him almost daily. We read lots, draw, paint, listen to and play music, do science experiments, observe nature -- from a magnifying glass to a pair of binoculars, and more importantyly -- INVENT THINGS.
From an early age, I didn't hold anything back as being too "advanced" -- and I especially let him observe how I approached questions/problems, how I "think" things through, and how -- when confronting a problem, I would construct a solution, be it physical or conceptual.
What's interesting: He's at the point now where he thinks he can DO ANYTHING given the right approach, but he really likes to focus on DESIGNING and BUILDING. The other day, he got interested in marionettes, so not only did he have to draw, design, and build the puppets, but once that was done, he had to build a "stage".
And that led to "writing" a script.
And that led to rehearsals.
And that led to...
Anyway, ya get my point.
Man, what fun.
And I"m certain that I've learned a lot more than he has.
5 - duane
Thanks for the Picasso quote, Shark, and the description of your interactions with your grandson. The integration of several aspects of a project shows a real sophistication. Sounds like the kid is going places.
6 - Howard Dratch
Where do we sign up for the gingerbread aliens? Any color will do. Sprinkles are nice, too.
In 2d grade a lovely teacher chastised me for not coloring inside the lines. It was sad. I felt betrayed.
Every piece of the day should have some fun, some colors both right and "wrong". A flower in the salad, a watercolor on the wall, a collage made together, a wall of pictures...
"Art is the proper task of life."
Friedrich Nietzsche who was usually pretty down but if you fill even your gingerbread village with creativity, what heights will you hit when you let yourself go?
7 - Laura Young
Great commentary from everyone. Hitler and Harry Chapin...now that's a link you don't see everyday! Shark, I am totally digging the story on your grandson. Reminds me of when I started gardening, which led to growing herbs from seeds, to making vinegars and canning, to making my own labels. All this in a tiny rented condo. Happily I have a patient and tolerant husband.