By pure chance I came across an article from the RSA last weekend which addressed the seemingly irreconcilable gulf between an academic and a creative education. Read it here. It's interesting and you'll find my response in comments at the end where you'll hopefully understand my point of view.
I'd been asked to address a forum at the Fabriano Aquarello (Watercolour) symposium a few days before. It was here, as you will have read, I clashed with the supposition that the vast importance of play and creativity in childrens' education could be sacrificed on the altar of academic rigour.
Now, in my many years of working with adults; my many years of hearing the expression 'I'm not creative'; these have been a battle cry for me to exorcise this false notion from the minds of folks. A task which is both emotional and enlightening in its execution.
I could write about many examples of this phenomenon, but here's a classic one.......
Just a few years back, I held a creative photography workshop in a UK City, where one of the participants just happened to be the President of a certain National Photographic Society (gulp!)
But did it bother me?..... Yes! Smugly sitting there with the state of the art Camera on his lap attached to the biggest telephoto lens I ever want to see.
Anyway the lunchtime project for the participlants was to go out and look for things which were asking to be photographed.. BUT without taking a camera along.
When I got back to the studio he was waiting for me at the top of the stairs with that look. You know the one which says 'Die!'
So I jumped in first 'Can I ask you a question?'
He mumbled a yes,
'How old were you when you were told to grow up, to stop playing childish games and to shape up and do your studies?'
Were you seven years old?'
He tightened for the attack but all of a sudden his face melted and he dissolved into tears and deep sobbing.
I of course hugged him and to cut a long story short, he jumped into all my (even dafter ) weekend games and we have since become good friends, and his photography is now about the joys of life and happiness.
Similar stories are endless.
Thinking of Cities and crying (at their beauty in this case), you might like to know that my next phtography workshop is in Venice, February 1st to 5th; Imbolc, the Celtic festival of the return of the light ...Click here for details
And you can call me if you want to chat about it +39 3283535358 (whatsapp)
Lovely post!
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