What Does The Science Say About Art?

There's nothing that surprises me about these scientific findings concluding that art makes for better thinkers and nicer people. I think artists understand this intrinsically, especially those who work with youth.

To artists it's much more than a hunch, but more of a fact understood, that students exposed to art, learn about culture in a way that fosters intellectual and emotional intelligence in a holistic way. It's not news or rocket science, that scientific studies indicate that students gain a " greater tolerance, historical empathy, as well as better educational memory and critical thinking skills" when they are exposed to art education. Unfortunately it seems scientific study is listened to more so, as opposed to art educators and what they know about creativity.

It's a sad commentary really on society, and on a educational system that depends on science to prove what art educators have long known, that art and creativity should be considered one of the very basics, and creativity should be at the very foundation of the educational system, and reflected in the curriculum.

What's Up With Adult Colouring Books?

                                                 Why Are Adults Buying Colouring Books?


 As a kid I don't ever recall seeing a colouring book in our house. I may have been introduced to them in school perhaps. Or maybe I don't remember, because I was never impressed by them.  They actually really made me feel very uncomfortable even then. I was encouraged to create from my own imagination, and I am very grateful for that.

Colouring books only produced anxiety within me, because I felt restricted, having to colour within the lines. I deeply sensed whatever I did, wasn't going to measure up to this already determined, stereotypical, image. The underlying unspoken message I received from these colouring books was, whatever I drew or coloured from my own imagination, wasn't good enough, and never would be.

Lately adult colouring books are being talked about in the media. I could attribute my extreme annoyance around this fact to my high blood pressure, but it's not. I find it to be an insult to creative intelligence, a real undermining and an undervaluing of creativity and imagination.

 As an young artist studying art education in University, at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, I learned first thing, about Viktor Lowenfeld, often referred to, as the 'father of art education.' The required reading was Lowenfeld's book, Creative and Mental Growth.

The research of Viktor Lowenfeld, indicates that coloring books decrease creativity from 50-60% of
children. The other 40% may be effected as well. If children continually use pre-made images, they may never be satisfied with anything they draw, because their drawings look childish, and not at all like the drawings in coloring books.

 One of Viktor Lowenfeld's  known activities, that reflected his disdain toward colouring books for children, was to pull them from store shelves, and promptly throw them on the floor, and then left the store premises. It apparently infuriated him, seeing colouring books. I empathize with his reaction and response. I haven't taken to this kind of protest...yet.

And now we have colouring books for adults. Oh ya, brilliant.
I've read a few articles about this recent phenomenon. Mostly are positive commentaries regarding the so called wonderfully therapeutic benefits of adult colouring books.

The most recent article I read from the New Yorker is the only editorial piece I have seen that clarifies the other side of the argument very succinctly, with relevant points made by Harvard Psychologist Susan Linn, and Susan Jacoby, author of "The Age of American Unreason."

Colouring books for adults are simply a money making grab by certain parties and individuals, that has become a "new mass industry", under the guise of therapy that purports to provide the benevolent service of "inspiration and artistic fulfillment". Wow! Really? In my opinion this is simply a very ill informed, distorted, and perverse view of creativity.

This is a regressive development, and only constitutes and contributes to less creative thought, and does nothing to enable, foster or nurture imagination, and certainly is not my idea of therapy, inspiration or artistic fulfillment!

 Psychologist Susan Linn states this is a "cultural shift", a reflection of a society that is "not wanting to do things that require effort".

 Susan Jacoby states we are "experiencing psychological retreat instead of developing as mature adults."

Easter Bonnets-Bunnies-Colouring Books

Well it's comin' on Easter and I suppose I could be thinkin' about Easter bonnets and chocolate bunnies and candy coloured Easter eggs. But I figure I'll have none of these, but I do have a bug-a boo. Yes, I suppose you could even you could call it my Easter bug-a-boo, about colouring books. It's not the first time I have posted on this topic.

I expect there is a whole slew of children feverishly colouring with crayons inside the lines of their pre-drawn pictures of Easter eggs and bunnies with baskets full of eggs, to take home to be proudly mounted with fridge magnets on to their kitchen fridges. Isn't that great? No! Looking at colouring book pictures, makes me cringe and believe me I avoid it at all costs.

This particular bug-a-boo has been with me for more years than I care to count, but it really started in earnest when I began my formal art education in the 70s at NSCAD. I was taking a Bachelor of Fine Art and Art Education degree and in our introduction to art education, a required reading was Creative and Mental Growth by Viktor Lowenfeld and W. Lambert Brittain. It was like the art educator's bible really.

I feel compelled to post about this topic again, because lately I have been seeing online articles about artists making colouring for adults. Frankly, I was not only shocked to hear this, but baffled. It is completely beyond my comprehension why an artist would ever entertain doing this, let alone think that this is a 'creative' endeavour to foster and encourage creative expression.

Making colouring books for adults is plain ridiculous, and creatively counter intuitive, but for children it is detrimental to creativity. I have to say this kind of predigested activity is worse than no art at all, as it inhibits creative expression, and the natural imagination of a child. I may sound like a purist to some, which I am not, but when it comes to nurturing the creativity of imagination, well then yes, I am, I make no apologies for that.


Here's what Viktor Lowenfeld said about colouring books.

" There is general agreement that colouring books are detrimental to children's creative expression. These books usually have an outline of some form or other, such as a cow, or a dog, or a complete landscape. The youngster is supposed to colour within the lines and some youngsters seem to enjoy this activity. This enjoyment may be because these youngsters do not have to think for themselves. The dependency upon  someone else's outline of an object makes the child much less confident in his own means of expression. He  obviously cannot draw a cow as well as the one in the colouring book. Parents, however, are becoming much more aware of these problems, and often blank pages can be purchased in book form for youngsters to use. The lines that a child makes himself are more meaningful, and children who mark all over a colouring book do not do the same type of marking over their own drawings.

We can decry the use of colouring books for children, but some of the same objections can be raised to the paint-by-the-number kits that adults use. Just as a poem can be copied without understanding the message, the rhythm, or the metaphor, painting a picture  with a paint-by-the-number kit is an automatic procedure that merely reinforces one's own inabilities.

It may come as somewhat of a surprise to find that workbooks used  in arithmetic often greatly resemble colouring books. One arithmetic book has a child draw seventy-six repetitions of a stereotyped rabbit, eighty-eight repetitions of a bird, sixty-two of a kite, eighty of a balloon and so forth. Such repetition is meaningless. A study by Heilman (1954) indicated how dependent some children can become upon these workbooks, for the data revealed that the general growth pattern through creative work was seriously influenced by these workbooks."

This book was first published in 1947, and there have been several later editions. It is reading still very relevant in 2015.

So, give me the Easter bonnet, the bunny, chocolate bunnies, and coloured Easter eggs, but for God's sake throw the colouring books in the recycle bin!

Happy Easter everyone. Now go draw your own Easter pictures!

My Brain On Art

According to a research study that indicates artist's brains are structured differently is interesting for further investigation. The study suggests that the artist is born with innate talent. However it is still very unclear what part of nature or nurture is responsible for the making of the artist brain.

I was about ten when I realized I had a great desire to draw. My parents were creative, and always encouraged me. Fortunately, I also had two art teachers in elementary school, which made a great deal of difference in fostering my creativity.

 As an art educator of children in the past, I have learned that children are born creative. They naturally are inclined to mark making and drawing. Sir Ken Robinson explains this much more succinctly and eloquently than I.

" Every child is born an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. "
                                                                                              -  Pablo Picasso

 Unfortunately adults and our education system seem to find ways and means to pound creativity out of us by the time we leave school, and we have been educated generally in a stream lined fashion, reducing every one down to the lowest common denominator. It has been often referred as "dumbing down ".
Generally speaking, schools and in many Universities, having an education  means that it revolves around becoming employable, and perpetuating a consumer oriented  society, instead of enabling students to have a creative passion, a thirst  for knowledge and learning in creative ways, and taught by creative teachers.

Victor Lowenfeld, considered the father of Art Education states in his book, Creative and Mental Growth.

"  The values that are meaningful in an art program are those which may be basic to the development of a new image, a new philosophy, even a totally new structure to our educational system. More and more people are recognizing that the ability to learn differs from age to age and from individual to individual, and that this ability to learn involves not only intellectual capacity, but also social, emotional, perceptual, physical, and psychological factors. Altogether learning is very complex. Therefore, there may be no single best teaching method. Our tendency to develop the capacity to regurgitate bits of information may be putting undue emphasis on but one factor in human development, that which is now measured by the intelligence tests. Intelligence as we now know it does not encompass the wide range of thinking abilities that are necessary to the survival of man-kind. The ability to question, to seek answers, to find form and order, to rethink and restructure and find new relationships, are qualities that are generally not taught; and in fact these seem to be frowned upon in our present educational system. "

We don't all develop into artists regardless of our innate capabilities, or how we have been exposed to art and creativity. It is however crucial I believe that our educational system need a major overhaul, and a paradigm shift in how our children are encouraged to think creatively and to reflect values that can develop fully developed human beings, in all aspects of their personalities whether or not they have been born with an artist brain.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Pablo Picasso

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pablo_picasso.html#QrpMjThEFH2MqSGT.99

" I Just Chased An Artist Out of the House! " Sylvia Ashton Warner

Oh this Good Friday, I thought, perhaps I should be thinking some " deep thoughts " about spiritual matters. However I found  myself, for some reason, typing in a search for a women I first learned about, during the early days of my art education, at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. I am grateful my Intro Art Education Professor had the insight and forethought to introduce the work of educator/artist/pianist,/writer and philosopher Sylvia Ashton Warner. I never forgot her, and she has stayed with me throughout the years, in my consciousness, and perhaps even my sub-consciousness. I had read a required reading by her in the early 70s called Teacher.

Today upon further investigation, and reacquainting myself with her profound influence on education, I am now fully aware of the reasons she left me with such an impression. I can clearly see the great affect her book had on my philosophical perspective towards the education of children, and their creative development.

 At the time I hadn't completely perceived how great an influence she would continue to have on me, how she would deepen my own values and convictions as an artist, and as a Youth Care Worker.

Comparing her to other early influential educators and artists, that have written exceptionally important books, I put her knowledge and insight in amongst like minded people such as, Victor Lowenfeld, who was considered the father of art education, and who wrote Creative and Mental Growth. Herbert Read's Education Through Art, John Dewey's, Art As Experience and Neil Postman's and Charles Weingartner's, Teaching Is A Subversive Activity; all these books and educators were essential to my understanding of art and education.

However none of these books, with the exception of Creative and Mental Growth, and Teacher stayed with me throughout my life quite like the book Teacher, that got in under my skin organically I think, without me really being completely aware. But I knew on a intuitive level, she had touched me deeply, though it had been so long ago that I had read her book. She was not only a remarkable woman, I consider her to be a great mentor, and ahead of her time, but I believe she had profound wisdom, and insight, that she still offers contemporary women artist's. She is very much as relevant in the art world today, if not more so now, than ever.

 Sylvia Ashton Warner was an educational pioneer in so many ways. I am so happy I followed my gut and found out more about her today, and look forward to re-reading Teacher, along with her other books in the days ahead.

It is indeed a very blessed and Good Friday, and I have had some deep thoughts after all, in finding out more about Sylvia Ashton Warner, and for that I am grateful.

Why Art Competitions?

Today I found an interesting article from  the Agora Art  blog about why entering an art competition can help your career.
I believe some art competitions can be seen, as being counter-intuitive and counter-productive to creativity.

 As a person who has been involved in the art education of children and adults, I have been of the same opinion as, Viktor Lowenfeld, the father of art education. He purports is his book, Creative and Mental Growth that forced art competitions, based on outside standards as opposed to natural competitions, do little to encourage or foster the nurturing of creativity in children particularly. The reason relates to an externally imposed standard which exists and arises from those who are judging the art and not based on the individual's standard and achievement.

Having said this, as adults we are in control of what we decide to expose ourselves to within the already highly competitive art world. A balanced and tempered approach to art competition can have positive affects on reputation,  on one's artistic career, and may give artists cause to evaluate their own work and goals. I think most artists eventually learn to do this regardless, especially if they have been immersed in an art education and academic environment, such as Fine Art program within a university.
Competition can be positive in the right context, and we all have to decide for ourselves precisely what is relevant to and for us, within whatever context we choose. 

A Family's Creativity

Being born into a creative family is very affirming, and I suppose can be a little crazy making. Often along with the creativity comes with it, a kind of hypersensitive personality, which can be troublesome in one way or another. By this I mean, as creatives we are perhaps perceived as being easily hurt, thin skinned, even spleeny .  I now consider being sensitive as being a positive characteristic, not a liability, weakness, or character defect, but it wasn't always the way I felt. I'm grateful I no longer feel like I have to apologize or feel less than, because of my creative soul.

Growing up I knew many of my family members on my mother's side had  great music abilities, and were very skilled working with their hands.
I knew little about my father's family's talents, as my dad was estranged with his own family and left our family, when I was thirteen. I did hear a few things about an aunt who painted and my grandmother, who I was named after was very skilled in doing very fine needle work. My father was a creative spirit in many ways. He built absolutely beautiful scrolled shelves with a jig saw. I remember this magnificent, intricate double bird cage he made, when I was a kid. It looked liked a Chinese pagoda. I still have some of his shelves, that I dearly treasure.

As a Youth Care Worker for many years, working with trouble kids and having been one myself , imagination becomes a solace and escape. It always amazed me how powerful creativity and art is as a tool for positive change with great therapeutic qualities, to heal the broken spirit and heart.
Art is all to often underestimated in our society and it's ability to enable real change and individual empowerment. Once we begin to grow in what I think is a self-actualization that happens when we claim our own creative power, imagination and capacities, we can become a force like no other that can change the world for good.

Later on in life after twenty six years of separation, I reunited with my father and we were able to heal our broken relationships. I began to discover more about my  my father's family and was so happy to learn how much creativity was very much part of my identity. Our family is full of painters, actors, movie makers, singers, musicians, woodworkers, and animators. What a great discovery!

Another discovery I found was learning about my young cousin,  Jesse Hefling  I have posted here the link to his site. He is a very talented animator and is studying animation in New Brunswick. It's wonderful to see how he is improving his skills and he has a wonderful imagination and creative talent, as so many youth do. We are never to young or too old to make wonderful use of our imaginations and creativity. We are all artists in one way or another. Who cares if you can't draw a straight line? That's not what creativity is about any way! I prefer squiggly lines and colouring outside the lines!

Just a suggestion, and yes even a word of advice. Stay away from colouring books if you really care about creativity. The father of art education Viktor Lowenfeld will haunt you! Creative and Mental Growth has long been my creative art education bible! Read it and you'll see why!