The Zen of Being an Artist

Most of us think of an artist as a person who creates art, often as an occupation, whose creative work shows imagination and sensitivity. An artist has also been defined as a person who is skilled at some activity, such as a dancer, a musician, a singer, a skater, etc. My own definition of being an artist has come out of my personal, lifelong experience of what happens to me when I’m in the process of creating – when the creative “flow” is unleashed. There is a unique phenomenon that occurs for me, and it is that I have the feeling and knowing that the creative force, the creativity itself, and even the skill, is coming down through the top of my head and out my hands. The first time I became consciously aware of this, and could put words to it, was when I was around eleven or twelve years old.

Once, when my stepson was eight, we were driving in the car and a jazz tune was playing that I was very familiar with. I was singing along, improvising with nonsense syllables, creating my own melody along with the music. My stepson, who is now a professional musician, suddenly began singing along with me in perfect harmony, out of the clear blue! I had never heard this child sing before, though he had been taking piano lessons for several years. The spontaneous, excellent demonstration of his creativity and musical ear told me that music was definitely his gift. He was absorbed only in the creating of the sound, without a thought.

I use both myself as a painter and my son as a musician as two examples of children who had been free of the mind, free of all thought and conceptualization, while in the inspired moment of creativity. The ability to create from this space has continued for both of us throughout our lives, which is true for many artists.

When I was teaching fine art to children and adults, it was the students who were listening to their minds who had difficulty being imaginative and who were hard on themselves. Those who allowed themselves to be free, who came to class with an open heart and a calm but playful attitude, enjoyed themselves completely and were able to tap into the creative flow without experiencing any stressful thoughts. The challenge of teaching art was not just about imparting technical knowledge, it was in showing each individual student, of every age, that he or she has access to this creative force simply by allowing oneself to rise above (not listen to) the mind and just let go. Every one of my students was able to do this, once it was pointed out.

It would seem that being able to allow the creative flow is an enlightened state. I was recently reading about Zen, a branch of Buddhism that developed in China during the sixth and seventh centuries. A central element of Zen meditation is to free the mind of all thought and conceptualization. Zen stresses the importance of the enlightenment experience and the futility of rational thought, intellectual study and religious ritual in attaining this.

And Boheme Magazine defines a true artist as “the revolutionary who participates with Divinity in the act of creation and the mechanics of human evolution. It is always an artist of some type - painter, writer, philosopher, teacher, scientist - who advances the enlightenment and progress of humanity.” I believe that every artist has been blessed with the ability to tap into the divine energy that already moves through us. It’s simply a matter of changing one’s perception of what creativity really is. The zen of being an artist is to simply let go of the mind and allow the creative divine light to flow through.

Long-term, Creative Family or School Project

I am happy to share with you the very best creative family, or group, program (click on the banner above or on the link below) that I have seen in a long time - many years, to be exact. It is a long-term project and a way to allow your family members, or classroom, to share what they create online. This is a fabulous website-building program that includes tons of sequential trainings in both text and video format. The system allows you to document all the creations, stories, reports, drawings, paintings, animations, etc., that your children/students create over time. This program will even set you up to eventually monetize your website (how about selling t-shirts and mousepads with your kids' best artwork?) and also includes training on how to get traffic to your site without paying for advertisers.

This would also be a great school project. Each teacher could have a section of the website and add projects weekly that their students have done. What a marvelous way to document the creativity, year by year, of an entire school! I've never recommended something like this before, and am excited to share it with you. I've tried numerous other website programs, but this is truly at the top of the scale. You may wish to watch an introductory video (30 minutes) that will explain in detail what this program is capable of. I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself spending hours a week enjoying the process of building a website using this fabulous tool and its modules. Enjoy!

Free Photos

A wonderful inspiration for creativity is photographs. I have designed rubber stamps, paintings and sculpture from pics put together by cutting and pasting (with scissors and glue, and also using PhotoShop). Pictures are valuable teaching aids and can be used as subjects to draw and paint from as well as for arts & crafts. I want to say how grateful I am to those who willingly share the photographs they have taken, allowing people to use them for artistic purpose. Here are a few links for you...

1. http://www.2yi.net/free-stock-photos.html
   
2. Free Photo Bank
3. FreeFoto
4. Free Digital Photos

I also suggest looking at the public domain sites. I have spent hours at...

1. Environmental Education Station
2. Repository for Public Domain Pictures
3. Public Domain Sherpa
   

Creativity Flow Factors

Professor and psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi proposed that when one is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, with a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity, that this is a mental state of 'flow." This 'flow' concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields, such as music, writing, sports and more. When we are "in the flow," we are having an easy time creating or doing.

When we are "stuck," however, the flow has become impeded, resisted, rejected or simply stopped. To understand what I call the flow factors will help shed light on how to help your child (or yourself) overcome these perceived obstacles to creativity. When I say 'perceived,' I mean that we hold certain perceptions and beliefs - programs, if you will - that can make our vision cloudy. And if we change our perceptions/beliefs/programming, our vision clears up and we become enabled.

In fine art creativity, flow factors are the elements that allow 'flow' to occur. When they are all present, the flow is there. If one is missing, the flow gets jerky. For now I will discuss the following flow factors, although there are others to consider:

1. Knowing what to expect
   
2. Familiarity with mediums
3. Non-competitive environment
4. Willingness to have fun

KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT

Whenever we want to do anything, we need to comprehend what we are about to do, or grasp the idea of it. For example, if you want to drive a semi truck you need to know that you have to learn how to use 18 gears, how to back up and turn the rig and how to use the communication system. Otherwise, you will only be able to apply what you know about driving your own car. You will climb into the cab of the semi with every intention of putting the key in and taking off, because you would have no prior understanding of what you're about to take on. Once you realize that you are in the dark, or on another planet, since you had no idea what to expect, you may very well panic.

Imagine a child or a new art student sitting down at an art lesson for the first time (each time is a "first" time because it is a new moment, a new experience), knowing only that they are going to be asked to create something. If this person knows that it is a painting class, and that they are about to learn how to mix colors and how to use a variety of paint brushes on the first day, this would remove an element of fear of the unknown. There is an understanding of what to expect, what to anticipate. They know the "mystery" is about to be solved.

FAMILIARITY WITH MEDIUMS

Recently I have been developing relationships with some Gujarati families who always feed me the most wonderful food. Everyone brings something to the gatherings and the dishes are exotic and tasty. So I decided to get the internet and search out some Gujarati recipes so as to learn and contribute. As my search unfolded, I realized that there are foods and cooking (kitchen) items required for the recipes that I have never heard of. Since the Gujarati dictionaries I found online are all written in the actual Gujarati language, rather than in Gujarati in our alphabet, guess what? This put a dead stop to my creativity in the kitchen! My flow was impeded.

For people who want to learn how to draw or paint or animate, there is a whole new world of nomenclature (words/language), objects, materials and items that are new and strange. So the very first step is to give your child or student familiarity with everything they will be using. The best way to do this is by demonstrating. As with very young children, to whom we explain what crayons are and show them how to hold them, and how to draw on paper instead of the wall, for new art students I explain each thing they are about to use; "This is a tube of acrylic paint, here is how to get the stuck lid off with pliers, here is how you squeeze and roll the tube, this is how much to put on the pallet, here is the best way to rinse or clean the brush," etc. I don't skip one tiny detail. Once I show how, the students are encouraged to try everything themselves. As they do this, I check their brush cleaning to be sure they're getting the paint out at the bristle base, I show them how to use paper towels to blot the the water out of the brushes, how much water to use when mixing colors, and how to spray water on the pallet to keep the paints from drying out. The more you show your child or students, the more you enable them.

NON-COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

Whenever we compare ourselves with others, we are asking for possible attack upon our self esteem. Humans are very sensitive beings, and when we are learning something new, we are not secure in how to do it. When we create a work of art, there is a piece of us in our creation. If you have several children, or a classroom full of art or animation students, I strongly suggest that you don't do critiques of the works in front of the group. It's best to work with them one-on-one, and praise everything good you can think of that they are doing. If something needs correction, say something like, "Wow I love this. You're doing so well. Would you like me to show you how to make it even better?" Don't point out the mistakes as such, or you are taking the chance of hurting someone's feelings inadvertently. If possible, allow everyone to work on different projects, rather than, "Today we are all going to draw such and such," so they don't compare their horse with everyone else's horse. If you do "group sharing," you can tell the class (or siblings) to point out only the good elements in each movie or artwork.

WILLINGNESS TO HAVE FUN

When you are explaining to your children or students how to use cameras, art supplies, etc., keeping a light attitude will make it easier to teach and easier for them to learn. Have fun with them; laugh, tell jokes and stories as you teach and demonstrate. Explain to them that art is for fun and they should not take it seriously (like doing brain surgery). If you keep it light and playful, they will pick up on that. Show them the how-tos, then let them play. My philosophy is that it's not the final artwork or movie they make that is ultimately important; it's the process itself. Sometimes you will have someone who is very hard on themselves, so these people will need some loving care to get them to lighten up and have fun. Simply show them how. You can demonstrate how to "mess around" with the purpose of getting strong in the materials and how to use them.

Creativity is a learning process; it's the opportunity for people of all ages to discover things about themselves, it's a chance to explore and innovate, and, above all, it should be fun.

Wisdom of Rembrandt for Young Artists

A great first step to involve children in visual arts is to share artists throughout history with children. Together, look at pictures of every variety of art. Seeing a work of art involves the person looking at it, and each one of us looking at it becomes a creator. This is because we each have our own individual experience. For example, when looking at a Picasso or a Rembrandt painting, our reaction to colors is personal, we each have our own unique idea of what the story behind the picture is, we like or do not, etc. We each see it in our private way, and every interpretation and exerience is unique.

A second step is to provide materials with which to create - drawing, painting, mashing clay or dough around. This should be creative play, not "make a pretty (polished) picture." There should never be any attachment to the outcome, or the final product. By allowing children the experience of self-expression, with no expectations, self-esteem blossoms. When students are told to "finish your picture," this is a judgment by the instructor that the picture should look a certain way.

One of the worst experiences for art students is when the teacher critiques each student's piece in front of the whole class. This is justified as a learning experience, but can be totally devastating for some people. In my experience, one-on-one is special, always benefits every student, and people are not forced to compare what they are doing with the artwork of fellow students. The individual artist learns something from every project, even if it is never completed.

Nigel Konstam, founder of The Verrocchio Art Centre, Tuscany, Italy, in an interview by Clive O'Mahoney, says this about Rembrandt: "He was a very, very prolific artist. One fo the things that is interesting from an artist's pont of view is that he didn't exercise a great amount of self-criticism; he allowed himself this huge variety of quality. He went through life starting many new things and leaving them when he himself was satisfied. He said "the work was finished when the artist had realised his intention" - that's a very sensible dictum. The standard Dutch artist would polish every nook and cranny of his painting; it was full of very rich detail. Rembrandt was saying the oposite, that it is the artist's intention that is interesting and the finish polish of the whole thing is of very minor interest - a completely different attitude to a work of art."

I would like to recommend this book for parents of younger kids. It's a great example of how to integrate art into your child's personal growth activities via fine art.

Bonkers for Kids Doing Visual Arts

Educators are aware that children's experiences with the arts affect their emotional and intellectual development, as well as cultivating their creativity. The visual arts can be easily offered to children at home and in the classroom. In our busy world, however, we seem to have to delegate a great deal of our time to the musts... for techers there is the weight of getting test scores up and keeping up with all of the paperwork required by the powers that be (in order to keep the funding coming in), and for parents it's a matter of juggling kids and jobs, and this often by single parents.

If we take a moment to examine what is of primary importance for our children's development, there is no possible way to overlook the arts.

The benefits of engaging our children in the arts, be it visual arts, theatre arts, music or dance, are well known. Art activities help kids develop their own self esteem, self reliance. And when children are discovering the world through art, they also enjoy self discovery. It's universally true that everyone is different. When I was teaching the visual arts of drawing, painting, and animating, I saw children and adults develop faith in themselves, through self expression, because each one was seeing himself or herself as unique.

When children are given the opportunity for creative, open-ended play, the imagination is stimulated and they learn to think in new ways. New ideas form because in creative play they are free to see things in different ways. They begin to rearrange things and think outside of the box they normally live in. They fantacize and dream about things, and do whatever feels fun or interesting. They exercise their curiosity as well as their visual muscles. I could go on and on, and for these reasons, I am absolutely bonkers for giving children the gift of participating in visual arts.

Arts in Education in Northeast Ohio

Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio (YANEO) is an arts program enriching the lives of children and promoting creative learning by uniting arts and education.