> So many of my students come to me with a poor attitude about
> art, "I am not good in art" --I know you folks hear it, too. I tell them I
> am not all that "good at art either" if they mean "gifted" or "talented"
at
> creating art.
Many did not think Van Gogh very good either. His own mother having thrown
away crate loads of his art works. In fact, Van Gogh himself suffered bouts
of doubt as concerned his own works, and toward the end of his life while in
Arles....he had his brother Theo send him a good number of prints of other
artists because being restricted to being indoors he needed something to
paint. He copied and interpreted Millet's work, Rembrandt's...and others,
all religious themes. Little known works of his..such as the "Rising of
Lazereth", the "Pieta", etc;
He wrote to Theo how much consolation they brought him to think about death,
theology, and that he found great contentment "learning" from the masters.
He realized there was much to learn. We speak of Van Gogh in our classes,
yet he sold only one painting out of 900 in his lifetime.
One thing I stress in my classes is work ethic. I assure students it is
possible to not be "good" at making art, but "be good" at self-management
and use of class time. Focus. Intent. I reward such and give a high
percent of my grade toward work ethic. I follow up explaining my belief
"as" an artist and art teacher that development is accumulative and
progressive and requires the making of the attempt. Good art comes from
making bad art, and lots of bad art; then weeding the bad out along the way.
I tell them, for example...that it requires 120 paintings to learn something
of painting, so now...its sorta a running joke among students when one
struggles with a work (of any media) to say to that student..."well..you've
got one out of the way and 119 to go!"
Edgar Degas said, "Painting is very easy when you don't know how, but very
difficult when you do!" I have this quote up on my classroom wall. It can
be used several ways. For one to point out that there is much to learn.
Secondly, that a realization of the difficulty means that in fact taken from
Degas's statement, they are learning to "know how." The degree of
difficulty and assessment of lacking talent cannot be raised without
learning arguably something about art.
I will defend that we need not make art easier, and define talent/skills as
something to be disdained. Nor re-define philosophically the definition of
"good." What we need to do is give the students a sense of giving
themselves permission to grow. I tell them it has taken every bit of 30
years of making art to do what I am doing today as an artist. When a person
smugly asks me how long an expensive painting took to paint, I tell them,
"My whole life! What would you charge?" For...every work of art teaches
the artist something of the medium, something of the subject, and much about
him/herself. I could not have done the work I did this last Friday a year
ago. It took the 100 paintings I did this past year, to enable and empower
me to do the one I did Friday.
This is not just a public school pre-teen/teen issue. I exist and mentor on
arts communities, and deal with hundreds of adults of all ages whom
constantly badger themselves and question their right to be considering at
all the making of art based upon their comparing their works to others. We
can either redefine art to eradicate ourselves of that burden of "good" , or
seek to- encourage others that dues are necessary to be paid; that all
artists walk this path; that development is progressive; or (and this is
most important) that the MAKING OF ART HAS GREATER BENEFITS THAN THAT OF A
SINGLE PRODUCT! We need to get this into our heads. Here is our purpose.
We focus so much attention on what we produce, and so little on the "act" of
making.
It is not having to make so much bad art before we become good that should
be tolerated to burden us and press us down. It is that we can enjoy the
"goodness" that comes of art making. Life can be a celebration. Art is a
form of communication...an interaction with the world at large, an
internalizing of aesthetic feelings about the world, and an attempt to find
one's voice and expression. An infact child learns the alphabet and the
forming of phonetic sounds for the purpose of communicating, but this
guarantees no promise the child will become a novelist. In fact, the
novelist uses the same alphabet. The difference is that the novelist has
had a birthing of joy and passion for the alphabet, and a self-respect for
themselves having something to say.
It is a reconditioning amongst ourselves, and our students. It is a stance
of insistence. I halt all activity in the classroom when self-defeat arises
and the assessment of anyone's time as "useless" rears its ugly face. I am
prepared to become the orator, and express the values of art making. I
share my own experiences of being renewed and rejuvenated standing before
Creation painting from life, seeking elements of beauty. Or writing songs
with anger and frustration seeking to understand mankind, and having a
glimpse of it...put it to words and melody. The release. The great freedom
and joy such brings.
I also let the students know that having art in the public school is NOT
about cranking out artists. Our purpose is not to make "good" artists.
Such abilities come with time, and individual commitment and passion. Part
of our job description is "Art Appreciation"... and I let the kids know I do
not have a problem with them struggling with medium or unacquired skills. I
tell them I want them to learn at the very least "enough" so that should
they one day stand before a great work of art, they can "identify" with it
and let something in the work "wring" or touch them. They should be able to
turn and tell someone..."wow...this piece is awesome! I tried painting
once...and it was not easy, but I learned enough to know that this artist is
very VERY good!" (or substitute painting with sculpture, ceramics, etc;).
When you confess such things to the kids...you manage to keep the measuring
bar high without sacrificing concepts of excellence...yet, you effectively
remove the PRESSURE of HAVING to perform that puts all self-esteem and
emphasis on one work. Help them instead to give themselves permission to
expect growth from themselves. To understand excellence requires time. Do
so by rewarding grade-wise the output of "effort" from the students, good
classroom management, use of time. Do be prepared to exhort much praise for
the slightest hint of growth having happened. Remind the student of their
prior abilities with what has happened in "the now", though it should even
be the slightest measure. Reinforce that growth is happening. Again...if
nothing more than to make students vessels that can appreciate the talents
of others. THAT is art appreciation.
Don't do any fine artists any favors by wiping out their lifelong
commitments and sacrifices to developing skills and understanding for
themselves by castigating them all to having the good fortune of being born
set apart for talent, just to eleviate the frustration of those students
that think they aren't good enough. Michael Jordan was cut his sophomore
year in high school basketball for not being good enough to make the team!
He made a commitment to work very hard from that day on. Instead....help
them see the effort is worthwhile. Help them understand life is more than
hustle, punching a time clock, driving here to get there...and that art is
about transforming and freeing a soul from a lifeless spirit. From lifelong
drudgery. Artists refuse to be ordinary. With "ordinary" comes this sense
of simply existing to exist. Artists rebel against such notions and live to
squeeze every drop of life out of everything. I live each day as though it
may be my last...and drive down each forested road looking for a beauty that
may be my last glimpse of it. Teach them to live. Art is our vehicle to
keep ourselves rooted in the possibility of living, and then celebrate each
time we discover that.
Sorry for preaching to the choir, but...this issue brings the fire out in
me. Our work is a crusade...it is not a job. IT is a privilege....and
young people in this broken time, broken homes, broken hearts and lives need
the benefits of this crusade like never before!
