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Good stuff, its good we dont all grow up then?

I agree with Daniel below me, as we grow up our mind begins to move away from childhood thoughts, that monday morning meeting at work keeps appearing into our heads. Or maybe it’s because we’re all so focused on speeding life up that we forget about the simpler things life. I have kept a lot artwork from when I was little, I still enjoy looking at it from time to time, it reminds me of simpler times in life, where I didn’t worry about a ‘social life’ assignments/homework and tests weather I was up to date with every else that was happing. We should all take some time ever now and again to appreciate the simpler things in life.

Thank you nat and Rhana for sharing this entry, it made me think, I’m glad I read it: )

Most children are very creative and as we grow our creativity manifests in different ways, not always in the creation of art. Singing…dancing….problem solving. I would think you’d have to be very good at lateral thinking to be a detective. Then there are scientists who hypothesise all manner of things….and town planners who envisage what our cities will look like generations from now.

Most of us ran around a lot as children, but we didn’t all become professional athletes.

Most of us threw dirt at each other and whinged a lot…but we didn’t all become politicians :-))

I feel compelled to make art, but I don’t believe I am any more creative than anyone else striving to achieve anything in any other field of endeavour.

with six brothers and two sisters there was never enough room to store all my creative stuff, so nothing has survived….I think the worst thing to happen to adults is being told there are all these “rules” that govern what makes a good image….

bah humbug

Thank you for your wonderfully encouraging insight into ‘making a good image’ Mel! I love it! There’s hope for me yet :)))

I’m with Mel on this one, To hell with the rules!! As children we didn’t know about rules in creativity. We did what came naturally, we created on instinct.
Let’s try to remember those instincts the next time we get creative…......
who knows what will happen :))

Rools, schmools!!! I’m saving my pennies to buy a scanner (hmmm, before or after I’ve saved my pennies for a DSLR?!). Great idea, Nat – I feel your poetry shows great promise, and, as for Rhana’s ‘precision-clouring’, you’ve gotta know the rules before you break them!

My early stuff got thrown out when Mum & Dad moved. Can’t join the hunt

I am a child I am a child I am a child I am a child I am a child….and don’t you dare say no…

When i was little i absolutely loved colouring in… my earliest memory though is “rice painting” when i was about 3 years old. It was red paint with rice mixed through it and we used it for finger-painting…
As i got older i turned towards more hands-on things such as lino carving (i never got around to printing them on paper), making things out of balsa wood and needle crafts (long stitch & tapestry then i progressed to counted cross stitch).
In high school i really got into poetry and have a diary full of poems- alot were based on my vivid imagination but some were also about the bullying i put up with. Also in my teenage years i loved to paint and sketch/doodle random things.

I might have to try and find some of my early stuff… not sure if any still exists though…

An early collaboration : of course the cat is sharing thoughts about chicken wings…

I was cleaning out files after my father died; he had kept collage cards I don’t even remember doing…he was 89!

it is all about “educreating” oneself. great article well done

I found this the other day when I was going through a few bits and pieces of my mothers , who passed away 20 years ago . She had kept it all those years , well it will be 60 years old now as it must have been done when I was about 6 years old .
My first Christmas card to her . I have enlarged it as it is only 2”x2” , we weren’t allowed to waste paper in those days .

Irene, that is wonderful. At 6 yrs old you were a fantastic artist…I can see why your work is fantastic today. You were born with your artistic abilities for sure. Excellent…thanks for sharing this with us.

Love to contribute but my darling brother burnt all my early stuff, so I shall read and watch with interest.love the chicken piece.

As children, we don’t have voices in our heads telling us that we don’t have time to be creative, that we aren’t creative, that what we make isn’t art. We are also bursting at the seams with boundless energy and fertile imaginations, we have all the time in the world to waste. And, probably, most inportant of all, we have mothers who praise every little thing we do and proudly display it on the ‘fridge for one and all to admire and gush over.

As we grow older, we learn to listen to what others say about what we do and what others do, we learn to be critical and sensitive. And the responsibilites that, even as children, we have begin to take up more and more time.. In order to retain our creativeness, we need an encouraging family situation, a belief that we are creative, and the ability to find a way to express ourselves. If we don’t have the encouraging family, we need a steadfast belief in ourselves which will push us to find a way to express our creative urges.

I wrote peotry from about the age of 8 years. What I didn’t like, I threw out. It was only after my mother re-married (some years after my father’s death) that I discovered she had kept most of what I had thrown out. I was flabbergasted as it was written on scrap paper which would normally have ended up in either the slow-combustion stove or the wood-fired hot water heater. I’ll see if I can find some of them – it was about 8 years ago now that she gave them back to me, they could be anywhere!

Thanks for sharing, it’s so sweet :)
It reminds me of some terrrribly naughty pupils from my class or basic school, who kept them busy with poetry now and then; no adult should really hear their lyrics (at least, no one would probably listen without coming to some consequences for the bums of the respective kids!), but oh – they were really really creative! :)
My early works are far away in my parents house and I’m more than sure that my mom couldn’t use the scanner even if she would have one (and they have no internet at home, she even doesn’t know how to make a computer on… :)) but maybe I will try to make some pictures of my daughter’s current paintings…
Definitely inspiring idea, and I wish you all having a great weekend with it :)

i absolutely ADORE this project!!! It’s good stuff for people to think about…. most of my art is about keeping staying connected to that inner child; the one that is carefree, pure and expressive, and YES the one that does it without our doubtful adult voices that want to edit our creativity flow… the native american indians verb for writing poetry is the same verb that means “to breathe” that is how art should be created ~ it’s pure, and natural, comes without all this contemplation and it’s a life force!

can’t wait to see the posts!!
♥t

aw, this is loads of fun…..
here’s my journal link to some early art and writing :)

What is it that makes being a creative child easier than being a creative adult? Time constraints?That voice in your head that makes you doubt things about half way through a creative project, or the fact that you have a client and a deadline rather than a sunny afternoon and no responsibilities. Most importantly, is it possible to recapture that ease and enjoyment that we experienced when there was no pressure and all the time in the world?

I think it’s the time factor and pressures of life…..it’s hard to make time…when you are also the mother, the cook, the bill payer, the banker, the taxi driver…..as a child you don’t have all these other responsibilties…and the joy and wonder of life is so new ….

It is still possible to reclaim that time and that space to create, and when I do, it feels just the same as when i was a child….lost in a dream….but, there definately is a different sort of feeling when you are under a deadline or pressure to finish a piece on time…etc…and the business side of things can take the sheen and sheer joy out of it also. I think that even when you have deadlines, it’s of great benefit to draw for sheer pleasure in between, as a relief….. or take photos or play/compose music or sculpt….take time to do it…and you’ll feel so much happier, so much better, and so much more able to go about your routine, in my experience anyway :)

Unfortunately most of my stuff was ruined ( long story ). but I have works from my kids and young students 7 to 10 if you wish to see those?
I had an experimental program for children that produced some great work.

good point of adulthood, i am rediscovering my creative side and enjoying.

The chicken wings letter cracks me up!!! That’s fantastic.

I did some digging and didn’t find any early art… but I did find this

By the way… the black cat… black cat… book is my son’s favourite at the moment!! Standing the test of time that one!! :D

I always used to hyper-focus on one subject for my drawings when I was little, so there must be lots of pirates and lots and lots of dragons sitting in boxes at my mom’s house. At one point my father forbade me to draw any more dragons.

And I remember one time I was drawing another dragon, a real mean one, and someone came over and changed it into a friendly dragon! I was beside myself with anger!

I don’t know if that particular drawing survived.. I may have ripped it up right then and there. But I’ll have a look, who knows what else I might find.

There was a book I read in college, Called Drawing on The Right Side of the Brain. It essentially was a book designed to recreate the inate sense of design children possessed but gave up as they passed through the gateway of seven or eight years old, when their modeling could not be mastered.Thank you for the reminder of childhood creativity.

My daughter is 10 years old and an extremely talented artist. She draws, she paints, designs tshirts, she writes children’s stories, she designs toys, (she would like to play with), and drafts a product plan arond her ideas.
Unfortunately being 10 in this day an age she realises her talent and her potential in an artists marketplace.
She sees her Dad on redbubble and wants to get her art seen.
So as parents we look into this and discover there is close to nothing we can do for her. We have even asked the lovely people at redbubble and they came up with the same answer about 3 online galleries of no use really.
So we tell her to keep practising and wait 6 years until she’s old enough to start a business of her own.
Imagine how frustrated she is and how we hope that she can keep up this enthusiasm through those difficult teenage years.
Remember this name, Ava Fernandez and look her up in six years time.

Here you go, crayons age 7:

i love your tractor syd!!

i lost all my belongings twice in life, and yet one day, a box showed up with most of my photo albums and a teddy bear i painted when i was five… i’ll share the teddy bear later, but for now, here’s one i found of mine circa 1978

♥t