Adult Drawers learn the importance of developing creativity through drawing and painting.

Why should you pursue learning to draw and paint?

Learning to draw and paint teaches us:

• The importance of teaching creativity through art develops the aptitude for and to develop a certain level of skills that you will carry through your lifetime.
• The importance of developing creativity teaches us to stay in tune with our purpose.
• The importance about self-discovery of your passion and a sense of acknowledging your true self.
• It is finding what your aptitude is and finding out what makes you smart and putting it to your best use.
• The importance on being an active participant in the journey of learning to see.

After teaching adults and children to draw and paint for the past 20 years I can inequitably say that has been enjoyable because it is my passion. If you have had art as a child it will have a presence and impact in your adulthood and beyond. During critical developmental years children lose their sense of profound creativity. As we grow, we tend to become self-conscious and critical and many times, people, parents or other authority figures tend to discourage creativity and aspirations of being an artist. This results in a loss of confidence and affects other learning potentials.  The middle school years are the most important time to catch kids to nurture and encourage further creative growth. Criticism at this time may stop them all together and they may never pick up art again.

In the U.S, there is little support for the arts and especially with austerity measures applied to elementary school students they will now receive little, if any, painting and drawing techniques.  Only on rare occasions will fine art classes by taught and nearly all classrooms have crafts 30 minutes a week instead.  What happens when this student becomes an adult and decides to take drawing in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s or 70’s is that they have the skills of middle schoolers—If they had art up to that grade level. Many adults who are accomplished in their careers are still stuck with a 6^th grade drawing and painting skills. We are not taught how to value individual creativity in ourselves, others and in our children. At times even expressing what you’re passionate about can find one oppressed. (see Careers in Art)

Why should adults learn to draw and paint?

Adults should be interested in life-long learning to develop their capacity and to value their creativity within them. Adults may have many constraints on themselves and limit their ability of finding the artist within. It is our life’s mission and it is key to finding our passion, thus finding the true self. Finding passion is about finding the thing that you love to do. I believe that most people have the ability to connect with their true self.  Your true self is connected to your creativity when your creativity is connected to your passion. You may have an aptitude for or what your naturally good at, however, that may not be enough. One can be good at something but not necessarily passionate about it.

There is a way to finding your passion and learning to be creative, it is recognized as being in “the zone,” when your center of focus, is when your sense of time changes, when you’re doing something and you lose track of time, you are completely in the moment, the here and now, totally present—this is when you’re in the zone. This is magical elixir of life. The zone is when your heart and soul are one and time shifts and you are completely centered. It is a similar state of consciousness that can be attained with Transcendental Meditation or prayer.

How do we define creativity?

Defining creativity is civilization’s race to educate to our capacity—our maximum productivity, educate to our capability—our natural range of ability, educate to our continuity—our consistent whole, one that is achieved with our minds, body and spirit that opens us up to the sense of possibility. It reconnects to our true self and gives opportunity to come upon something.

Whatever that something should be for someone.

Herein lies the complexity of education, which is to see and understand the continuity between responsibility, adaptability and creativity for underlying all of human history, is the history of ideas and ultimately creativity.

Sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you’ve been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you want to be. The person you are

— HG Wells

It is that very sense of possibility that reconnects us to our true self. We all have talents and abilities that if tapped into, would allow us to do more than we thought possible. We all have things that seem to be conspiring against us, but upon closer examination you may just find that conspirator is, yourself as well.

We put limitations upon ourselves because we truly do not understand our possibilities. We are born with extraordinary powers in imagination, intelligence, feelings, intuition, spirituality and physical and sensory awareness. We, humans have a tremendous capacity of growth and change. While there are hurdles to overcome in some cases, whether they are missed opportunity, or you feel too old, or too young, or you do not enough money. There are ways to develop our unique power but it means looking at things differently. It is finding what your aptitude is and finding out what makes you smart and putting it to your best use.

An aptitude is a component of a competency/skill to do a certain kind of work/labor at a certain level.

I believe it is by promoting this type of education that it gives people the sense of possibility and inspires them to act responsible and adapt through their creative thinking. I believe it is about teaching, children and adults, how to value art education through promoting individual creativity—to promote their gifts on “how they are smart,” and valuing the creativity and intelligence that everyone has.

Opportunity is all around us!

My purpose is to inspire those who are interested to see the world around them and be an active participant in the journey of learning to see. 

Come and develop your capacity to learn artistic skills that you will carry through your lifetime.