=3D?iso-8859-1?B?VGlnIER1cHLp?=3D on tue 11 jan 11
Mel's story of teaching an art class to teachers reminds me of Harry Chapin=
=3D
's song=3D2C "Flowers are Red." =3D20
The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man
I'm paintin' flowers he said
She said... It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one
And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen
The song goes on to tell how the boy was "programmed" to see things "just a=
=3D
s they are." His imagination was stifled=3D2C hampered=3D2C and stuffed in=
to a=3D
cramped=3D2C "normal" box so he would be just like all the others. Such a=
s=3D
ad song. And one of the many reasons I never allowed coloring books in my =
=3D
house.
Coloring books stifle the imagination. "Stay in the lines." "Color the dr=
=3D
ess blue=3D2C the jacket red=3D2C the sky blue." All the insipidly happy c=
arto=3D
on characters=3D2C drawn exactly the same=3D2C colored exactly the same. H=
orse=3D
apples!
I gave my kids butcher paper rolls and a bucket of crayons=3D2C charcoal=3D=
2C a=3D
nd chalk. Lay them out on an old shower curtain. Make a mess! Tell a sto=
=3D
ry! Let's see what they can do. All children want to express how they fee=
=3D
l about the world around them. Widen their wonderful minds and LET THEM SE=
=3D
E! All too soon they'll be in gray flannel=3D2C button-down=3D2C rep tie=
=3D2C cl=3D
ose-cropped haircut mode=3D2C trying to meet the demands of corporate produ=
ct=3D
ivity. Being young should be fun.
Don Reitz told a story at a workshop about how he was eternally grateful to=
=3D
children for releasing his inhibitions in his work. He said he wanted to =
=3D
pick up his five-year old and ask him=3D2C "What's the secret?" The true s=
ec=3D
ret is to smash out the restrictions imposed on us by a lock-step society. =
=3D
Color outside the lines. Make the grass blue. Add lines of sweeping text=
=3D
ure. Mottle the surface with unexpected colors. BE DIFFERENT! Be technic=
=3D
ally good=3D2C but be different.
Anyone who has seen Paul Soldner=3D2C or Pete Voulkos at work knows what I'=
m =3D
talking about. =3D20
As for talking to customers=3D2C I take the position that they are there to=
s=3D
ee and to buy. Invest in an artist in some fashion=3D2C buying a mug or a =
sc=3D
ulpture=3D2C maybe a commission a complete table setting for 12 places. No=
m=3D
atter. They want to know the person who made it. When I worked a winter c=
=3D
raft show in Virginia=3D2C I overheard a vendor griping about how slow thin=
gs=3D
were and how cheap the customers were. He sat in the back of his booth=3D=
2C=3D
working Sudoku puzzles and never said a word to the passers-by. He didn't=
=3D
sell much. =3D20
I had a smaller booth=3D2C lots of lights shining on the pots=3D2C music in=
the=3D
background=3D2C small pots up front for inspection=3D2C larger ones in the=
bac=3D
k. Had a sign=3D2C "Pot Fondling is Encouraged." I sold nearly everything=
I=3D
had brought=3D2C even gave a mug to a little boy whose parents told him=3D=
2C "=3D
Don't touch! You'll break it!" That kid clutched the mug like it was the =
=3D
Crown Jewels of England. I hope he still has it.
Just as with any other type of performer--musician=3D2C actor--people WANT =
yo=3D
u to succeed because then they are entertained and feel a part of the proce=
=3D
ss. If you don't put the effort into what you're doing=3D2C they feel chea=
te=3D
d=3D2C and rightly so.
Just my thoughts=3D2C
Tig Dupre=3D20
in Port Orchard=3D2C WA
=3D
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