On Friday, I wheeled a black tote decorated with painted swirls and dots over the wood floor of the Ferman’s house, outside to a giant spool dad Ferman had made into a table sitting in the partial sun under a tree … “that has more shade when it has leaves in the summer,” said 8 year Lisbeth.
The tote was filled with the enticement of art supplies, illustrated kid books, my trusty computer, and the aura of mischievous possibility which is available at the-ability-to-pretend near you.
And thus began Home School Art Lesson Number one, which I call: “Um.. How About THIS?”
I’m new to teaching Home School Art, it’s the first time I’ve embarked upon a new avenue of work for ten years, instigated because I’ve feel passionate that KMCC tools could positively influence teaching … and because I miss working with kids – they know things I want to know.
I have a masters degree in Curriculum Design so I was confident that the curriculum I designed for the first class will be in line with ...
pffffffffffft, who am I kidding? The only thing I was confident in was an 89% chance that intuition, common sense, and the ability to fly by the seat of my pants would serve me here since they were responsible for successes I enjoy. (It’s always good to have 11% anxiety; anxiety fuels creative ideas; complacency is boring if not flaccid).
Me having an advanced degrees counts very little, as far as I’m concerned – especially since a masters degree for Curriculum Design earned back in 1985 is now obsolete. My belief is that what I need in order to create something wonderful and enriching is character, experience, intuition-charged-common-sense, and the bold belief that I can create something wonderful: in whatever realm calls to me- work, relationships, quinoa salad, writing, homeschool art. Perhaps exceptions would include brain surgery, rocket science, and anything dangerous including teaching homeschool math.
I have no experience teaching art in home school but I like the challenge of figuring it out.
The mix of courage and intuition results in the ability to 1) think on your feet, 2) siphon ideas out of the creative potential that comes with being human, 3) be resourceful, and 4) be dedicated. And if you cannot do any of those things -- you can pretend you can -- it’s a lot like the genuine deal.
Add a little intuitive-driven-common sense and imagination and you’ll soar. Highly sensitive creative people experience inconvenient feelings at times but it’s worth it because with sensitivity comes intuition. My Midwestern roots gifted me with common sense plus I taught art to kids as an Occupational Therapist so I’m not completely green (except once when I ate sushi on a sailboat).
Ready-Fire-Aim! The Art Lesson began with eight-year-old Lisbeth and her Mom, and soon included her sister, five-year-old Sarah. It also began with the question: What are you passionate about in art?
A creative passion is something we love to do either because we seem to have a knack for it or because it excites us in a way that feels so good that we are compelled to pursue it. And asking a question does a lot more than giving an answer with creative people who don’t like to be told what to do.
Lisabeth’s passion is painting and she likes to paint people, “but the heads are too big for the body.”
That was my first cue to say something like "There are many 'rights' in art. You can draw the head the right size if you like but if you have a passion or aptitude to draw big headed people, that’s right too, because it’s art. We have the freedom to invent styles. Artists actually get known for departing from the expected. I happened to like people with big heads. (Plus, full disclosure: I have a big head)."
This went over well, but I know there will be more opportunities to emphasize process-orientation versus product-orientation because our society stubbornly emphasizes finished products even if the process is pressure-filled and unkind.
Synchronicity shows up in moments parlayed by creative callings such as these so it’s no surprise that the artist who would inspire the first drawing assignment, Henri Rousseau, was a lesson in being true to one’s own path. Without any formal education, dismissed by many for a long time as "primitive" or "unformed,” Rousseau ‘s work became distinctive, loved, and a harbinger of things to come. You’ve seen the countless imitations of animals and exotic flowers in lush jungles as well as his ever-present originals. I pictured him as an artist with a pith helmet painting on a chair amidst swinging monkeys and spiraling vines since most of his paintings are in jungles. Imagination, my dears, is the passport to so many destinations. Henri Rousseau never visited a jungle.
“Though no contemporary artist was doing anything even remotely like his work, and critics were unkind (as critics so often are), Henri Rousseau remained supremely confident in his talent.” Shelley Esaak wrote that, she’s an art historian.
Art can start out being dismissed and later be immortalized. Confidence, dedication, and practice goes a long way.
- Art and anything creative can emerge as much and often more from passion than formal education.
- If you’re passionate about something and you’re not doing it, start with just five minutes with lowered expectations -- small steps and less pressure can trick the resistance.
- We need to feel we deserve to follow-through on our passion or we will sabotage it, avoid it, spend time with distractions -- hollow rewards of instant gratification. You can find out more about what to do about that with KMCC coaching.
And making it fun doesn't hurt.
