‘Art is the daughter of freedom’ – Friedrich Schiller
Freedom from judgment, from insecurity, from fear, from non-love, from non-thought, is what art explores. It is neither limited, nor defined by aesthetics; it is a connection with the God within. Beyond the perspective of aesthetics, much beyond, art helps in Developing motor skills Building confidence Practicing clarity of thought Achieving emotional and psychological stability Exercising our mental faculties Exploring one’s creativity and imagination Expressing oneself Enabling Independent thinking Becoming peaceful Enhancing our observational skills Reducing fear of making mistakes, encourages learning from mistakes.
The art workshops started with many children expressing their hesitation, as well as boredom when it came to participation. “Ma’am, I don’t like art ” ; “ I can’t draw ” ; “ I don’t know what to draw ” ; “Ma’am, what color should I paint? ” ; “ My work is horrible ” ; “Ma’am, art is boring ”. There were a few students who were comfortable with putting paint to paper, some struggled . Many children had a lot of internal noise – a fear of the unknown, of failing, of being mocked; insecurity; low confidence; of not knowing themselves, what they wanted/liked – A 9 year old child broke down because he could not draw his ‘prefect tree’, 12 year olds were angry, and sad because nobody would tell them what to draw. All this, coupled with the unspoken pressure of their paintings needing to be aesthetically pleasing and perfect, created very high mental blocks , barriers which limit our capacity to try, our capacity to be joyful and compassionate. But slowly, these walls have started to weaken and break down; joy, playfulness and creativity have flowed in, and how! A lion with a tennis racquet on his tail, a rainbow tree, a colorful shark are some of the few examples of what has been created, and quite a few images are being transferred from hearts and minds onto paper. A lot of famous artists have spent a lifetime trying to unlearn and then learn, so that they can draw like a child. It is crucial that a child learns how to retain his skills, while gradually maturing into an adult. As Pablo Picasso famously said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” The main intention of the painting classes at SIS is to reinforce a Truth – Art , any form of art , is not beyond anyone’s reach. It is inside each and everyone of us. It exists in the way we live this gift of life, the way we move through the various views it offers us , in the way we smile or hold someone along the way; it is in every breath of our living. It needs wandering inwards to discover this muse of life and extending one’s existence beyond survival – towards a joyful, compassionate, ever-expanding experience. “
“You didn’t need faith to fly, you need to understand flying.” – Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull’’