The Hidden Artist
So, you think you can’t draw?...
The amount of times I’ve heard "I wish I could draw like you’" is mind blowing, and disheartening.
In this blog I want to open your minds to the realisation that being able to draw is a matter of opinion. That it only exists in the mind of those who are not fully aware that they have their own artistic potential bursting to get out!
I learned a powerful lesson whilst at school- that educational art was about results in set guidelines. To cut the education system some slack, it may have been difficult to not work within that framework, but even at that age I knew there was something intrinsically wrong with the basis of these qualifications.
I would carry on working on something else, out of the box, through my school lunch break, (which is how I pulled in my more experimental projects )
On one occasion I sat with a teacher whilst she marked a lower years work. She held up a painting of a Yukka plant, (which I still remember so many years later), and marvelled at its colour and life. I agreed, then she nonchalantly said, "it's a shame I’ll have to fail it"
When I obviously questioned her with a shocked "why?" she said simply, "because it’s not standard, the students wouldn't know why it’s been given a high mark, it will confuse the class".
That person might never have painted again, in the belief that he wasn’t just not good enough at art, but actually really bad. Doesn’t a ‘fail’ say that?...
(Personally, I don’t believe in artistic failure, but that another story)
At that point I decided I was never going to be an art teacher, and, true to my word, I was the only student on my fine art degree course who did not return to do a years teacher training.
I just wouldn’t have been able to follow protocol, stick within who’s ever guidelines it was to judge what was good art and bad art, and I knew it.
I wanted to be a practising artist, in the free'ist sense.
From that day, I often bought my shopping, said hello to a postie, or sat waiting at a bank, wondering if any of the people sat behind the desks had this beautiful gift of creativity inside them, bashed down and made to feel insignificant by the confines of an academic education.
How many poets, painters, or musicians are sat there, going through the motions of their working day, without any knowledge that they have a talent to connect to people with their own artistic form of communication?...
At one point in our history, education was very different. A child who’d show a talent for art would have studied under a master, the same for any other specific leaning, this is how genius is often encouraged.
Now, we are told that if we are good at art, then we must spend our time concentrating on our math class, or any other 'more important subjects' which questions it's worth, essentially leaving untold potential unrealised and disregarded.
From school, we are carried along with the tide into jobs through necessity, and convenience. And this, rather than our intrinsic gifts in most cases, is what will go on to often shape our life path.
How many people have taken up art as a hobby in retirement, because it’s the only time they’ve had space for their development?
How many bands have been formed, only to fail because they can’t play that important date due to work constraints?
How many times has the boundaries of our society deprived us of the insights or uplift of experiencing the creative fruits of our true passion?
Being truly creative, and living life as an artist is not about whether you can draw a house with perspective, or make that portrait look like the person. There are talented, amazing artists who have these technical abilities, but that doesn’t mean that their form of expression is more valid than anyone else’s, it depends what connects with the person who is looking at the painting or artwork.
I have great admiration for old masters, but would I have one in my wall? Do they speak to me?
Not exactly.
I have a student who has only just now started painting. He’s been in a desk job for years, and only started on his artistic journey because he said that he found watching Bob Ross videos relaxing, so I immediately jumped on board with, ‘how about having a go yourself?’
I can honestly say there’s a few of his paintings that I’d be very happy to have on my walls.
Here are some examples of his work...
Everyone can draw, or create, in their own way, and the value of that expression comes from the viewer, and from within the artist themselves, not in the amount of people that might say it’s a valid piece of art or accomplished enough.
Art lessons might be broader minded and come on a fair bit since I’ve been at school, but there will always be a difficulty with grading or judging a piece of work without the rigid specifications, realistically. The whole system of art education and examining boards are certainly in need of being re-thought out from the ground up.
It’s only recently, with the accessibility of online platforms, that I have found a new passion for teaching, knowing I can work to my own guidelines, or lack of, in this case.
My school is built around finding personal, valuable and unique expression, of which makes us creatives glow!
So, throw off those shackles!
If you FEEL an urge to create, then go for it!
Who knows where it may lead?...
About the author
Cherianne Dawn is a psychic artist and symbolist, and aims to use her gifts to teach and inspire.
Life Path Alignment & Symbolic Support with Cherianne
'An insight into your present to empower your future.'
She has an online intuitive school 'Catching Visions'
guiding conscious beings to expand their spirituality
and nuture their creative flow.