5.15.09
My room suddenly feels like some sort of progressive Koranic school. Two talibe kids are sitting on my floor coloring, Mozart fills the air and I sit in a chair sipping coffee. I just handed them each a ripped out coloring book page and they stared at me like I was stupid. Their looks seemed to say, "This already has a drawing on it!" I said nothing. I watched for several minutes as the gears in their heads began to move. The creative side of their brain doesn't get used much here, so it took a bit to get it kick started. Finally one of them let out an "Ah!" and put the crayon to the paper. The elephant on the page began to turn brown. The other caught on quick, like he just discovered a secret, and began giving the rooster on his page a rainbow colored tail. Now they are really getting into it. The brown elephant just got neon green toe nails. This is my kind of art.
3 comments:
and how is creativity lacking when one does not know how to draw in the lines? Don't these objects to fill in steal our own energy that could be used to create an original image?
enjoyed finding your blog.
hi...just read your post about coloring pages...and your words of how the senegalese don't use the creative side of their brain shocked me! during my time in senegal, i was AMAZED at their creativity....turning old soda cans into miniature bikes, cars, guitars; baskets from grass; jewelry with bottletops; incredible dyes & batiks. i would like to encourage you to notice and appreciate the creativity they already have.
I guess I should have been more specific. I think these kids are extremely creative. I have seen them create things that I am amazed by. Those specific kids don't go to school so I just meant that they aren't usually presented with the opportunity to be creative in this specific way. It took them a bit to realize the potential that colored pencils have on paper. Since this post, these kids have come over to my house every day to color and now my walls are covered in their very creative artwork.
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