All Children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.
— Picasso
“Mommy, mommy, look what I did!”
She was so excited, wasn’t she? Waving the finger painting she created in school.
“Oh my,” you exclaimed, “it’s just beautiful!” And you put it right up on the refrigerator along with all the other treasured family mementos.
Did it remind you of when you were a kid? When you did the same thing with your mom? I’ll bet she was just as excited for you as you were for your daughter.
Right then and there, you knew, when you “grew up” you were going to be an artist.
What happened to that dream?
Sir Kenneth Robinson in a Ted Talk about creativity said this.
So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school when you were a kid, things you liked, on the grounds that you would never get a job doing that. Is that right? Don’t do music, you’re not going to be a musician; don’t do art, you won’t be an artist. Benign advice — now, profoundly mistaken.
How many parents unintentionally crush the dreams of their children with the excuse, “you can’t get a job doing that?”
I have a friend who is a jazz musician. I’ve never seen anyone enjoy his “work” as much as Stef when he’s on stage. He knew from an early age he was going to be a musician and pursued that passion with all his heart. Today he is a successful artist with many popular albums on iTunes. It wasn’t always easy for him. But his passion for music fanned the fire of his desire, kept it alive and let it blossom.
Bill always talked about “creative power”. I know of no artist living or dead who believed as much in his students and viewers as Bill. Even if you never plan to pick up a paint brush, you can learn from Bill. He can inspire you to follow your dream. It’s up to you to make it happen.
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