I was reminded during the process of creating this post of Ursula Kolbe’s writing about the creative process - about how wonderful it is to support children to come up with their own solutions to challenges in representation. I have adopted this wholeheartedly in my parenting and my work. Years ago I cried when my oldest daughter instructed her younger sister how to draw fairy’s wings “you do it like this….” After I pulled myself together I defended the younger child’s right to work it out for herself, to find her own solutions to drawing ‘problems’ and discover her own unique expression of winginess.
So why then do I not defend my own right to this process?
Well, I know why - I think I can safely attribute some blame to my high school art teacher. I can also thank her because it somehow seems to have set me on this lifelong path of a desperation to draw. Its also a whole lot more complex than that. Regardless, I frequently tell myself I’ll be able to draw better once I learn how to shade.
So, in navigating shadow and light in this process I worked on quieting the voice of ‘when will you learn how to shade' (yes, she wrote that on one of my drawings) and invited a curious exploration of representing light and shadow - what will my unique resolution to this problem be today? I ignored the desire to already know how and instead I asked myself 'What sense will I make of this orange? ' In the end one thing lead to another and I had fun.
This is why I draw. This is why I parent and work in the way I do. Its about discovery and making sense. Its a navigation - its an active process, not simply a journey.
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