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I was reading a thread in the Tool and Product forum, and gingerd had a link in her comment to the I Like Markers blog (Marianne Walker). I clicked through and snooped around a bit (like ya do...) and found this wonderful post: Thoughts From My Hotel Room. Great reminder...
I have a recently-turned 14yo who LOVES to draw and paint. Everytime I see what she makes I am blown away at her freedom in trying. I am also amazed at the patience and peseverance she exhibits when she spends hour upon hour at her desk practicing. Reading the blog post you linked to made me think of my daughter.
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.
Training the next generation to love crafts. I took my Elegant Writer pens and a few stamps and some watercolor paper on my vacation and while the dads watched sports one night my niece and I colored and played around. She was fearless and quite good at it. She even drew a really pretty free hand leaf picture. I didn't catch the art bug until I started homeschooling my kids and started drawing things and investigating more crafts for our school activities. I think the biggest difference between kids and adults is that lack of fear in attempting things. When I was a demo and had teens or young girls at a party they almost NEVER put the card together the way I'd designed it whereas the adult ladies were paranoid about matching every angle, etc.
__________________ Gail
Last edited by mamaxsix; 10-19-2016 at 04:48 AM..
Reason: added more thoughts
I think the biggest difference between kids and adults is that lack of fear in attempting things. When I was a demo and had teens or young girls at a party they almost NEVER put the card together the way I'd designed it whereas the adult ladies were paranoid about matching every angle, etc.
Why is that, do you think? The lack of fear, I mean? I mean, we were all kids at one point so we must have been like that, too. Does it have something to do with how a child's brain is wired to learn at that stage of life? Is it that they are so into their own world at that age that it doesn't occur to them to try to make something that pleases others at the expense of pleasing themselves? My 11yo made a card for fun a few months ago and I had it displayed. Well, my monthly stamp group met and they spotted her card and LOVED it! And the only reason she'd made it was for fun, so the entire card was done purely based on what she liked.
I've had an interest in creative things since I could hold a crayon in my hand. I remember trying all the latest/popular craft ideas all throughout elementary school. Due to life circumstances though, my desire to create things took a nosedive in middle school and the desire to create didn't come back in full force until I was a young adult. I was always fearless when it came to trying new creative things and I'm still pretty fearless creatively speaking. But gosh, I've created some really ugly artwork because of that fearlessness ;)!
My younger daughter is now 24 but she too has been fascinated with color since she was a toddler. She's on the autism spectrum and while she'll never be a Monet or Van Gogh, she LOVES to paint and has an absolutely spectacular eye for color. She's even sold a couple of her paintings (to extended family members, but still...).
I think most of us would really surprise ourselves if we really just took the plunge and did something "daring" on a creative level and threw our fears to the wind.
__________________ Shellie G
Aspire to be a better person than you were yesterday
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.
Why is that, do you think? The lack of fear, I mean? I mean, we were all kids at one point so we must have been like that, too. Does it have something to do with how a child's brain is wired to learn at that stage of life? Is it that they are so into their own world at that age that it doesn't occur to them to try to make something that pleases others at the expense of pleasing themselves? My 11yo made a card for fun a few months ago and I had it displayed. Well, my monthly stamp group met and they spotted her card and LOVED it! And the only reason she'd made it was for fun, so the entire card was done purely based on what she liked.
And then you hit the teenage years and it's ALL about peer pressure and fitting in and the poor kids get neurotic. I dont think people ever get over that fully...or at least till they are around 60 and then say tough noogies.
Except the art nerds. On the fringe. I wish there was more support for them, but as we all know, art has fallen by the wayside in most public schools. :( It would be good if art/craft clubs could be started.
great read, thank you Sue. I became involved in stamping when I was invited to a "party" by my friend Pat. The SU demo was a friend and co worker of hers, we made an explosion box and we were hooked! We met monthly and learned different techniques and developed and became better, but Pat quit after a year, because she was a perfectionist, she couldn't get past her "mistakes", she made beautiful cards and this post makes me wish she had continued to try, not be perfect and enjoy her art in the process. At 13 I loved to colour and at 63 still do, thank heavens stamping and adult colouring books came into my universe (not so much pocketbook,lol)
Who were you at 13 years old?
