Cave art... not at Lascaux though |
The Lascaux caves are home to a dramatic series of paleolithic paintings, considered to be some of the best preserved upper paleolithic paintings in the world.
Among many things they show horses, cattle, bison and people as well
as geometric and abstract images. The paintings are estimated to be
over 17000 years old.
There is speculation over the purpose of the images, maybe they were star charts, maybe they were religious in nature. Maybe they were for story telling or even just for fun. Whatever they were for, it's amazing that the marks made by previous generations so long ago are still there for us to see.
There is speculation over the purpose of the images, maybe they were star charts, maybe they were religious in nature. Maybe they were for story telling or even just for fun. Whatever they were for, it's amazing that the marks made by previous generations so long ago are still there for us to see.
"What we love about the pictures isn't their quality, although that's improving, but it's the process and expression behind it"
Not so far removed from
cave painting are the drawings and paintings my kids make. In the
last couple of weeks our three year old son has developed a passion
for colouring-in, not something he'd been all that bothered about to
this point. The walls of our house are strewn with our kids' artwork,
although not the kitchen as we've learnt it's far too tempting there
for our Guide Dog puppy Viking!
Our kids' artwork on our walls |
We want to give our
kids as much space as possible to express themselves in all kinds of
different ways. To practice the process in all kinds or areas.
Something we're very conscious of is praising the process - so rather
than saying 'you're a great artist', which can actually put pressure
on them and can stifle creativity in the long run, we say things like
'look what you did when you worked hard' or something along those
lines.
Ironically when I was at primary school I remember our art
teacher telling the class off for not working hard enough, then picking me out as a good example of someone who tried hard -
although I remember feeling sad about this because the gist of what
she'd said was that I wasn't very good but tried hard anyway! I gave
up art at school a few years later.
The question that
occurred to me on this topic is: what's worse than doing a bad
painting - making bad art? And the answer is making no art at all.
And when I use the word art here I don't just mean cave paintings, or
felt tip or crayon, but whatever is in your heart to express.
Whatever you've been created to create.
"The thing that makes you different may turn out to be the thing that gives you life."
The worst thing is not to
express it, for whatever reason - rejection by others, comparison
with other people's gifts and skills, modesty or fear. We're all a
unique blend of our experiences, environments and talents and we all
have something to contribute to those around us.
The fable of the tortoise and the ducks |
I won't duplicate it here, but the essence is that the tortoise spends most of the story comparing itself to other animals and focusing on what it doesn't have, when in the end the thing that makes it different, it's shell, turns out to be a lifesaver.
The moral at the end of the story is this: "Never disregard that which may prove to be the most valuable". The thing that makes you different may turn out to be the thing that gives you life.
Although I don't need to do it so
often these days, my signature is a meaningful mark. At work, when I
put my signature to a report or a letter I am taking ownership and
responsibility for the quality and content of that document. It's ok
for draft documents to go out unsigned, but for the real thing I need
to take responsibility and leave my mark. For a work of art, the
absence of a great master's signature can be the difference between
pricelessness and obscurity.
"When do we begin to take ourselves so seriously that our creative well seems to dry up?"
What we often choose to
forget when we're comparing our cave or crayon creations with the
works of great masters is that even they had to refine and refine
their process. My kids' artwork is playful and inquisitive, and
long may that continue. When do we begin to take ourselves so
seriously that our creative well seems to dry up?
In my book Life
Space I talk about the Japanese artist Hokusai, a master of the
woodblock technique, although commentators consider his best work to
have been done in his 80s. Picasso spent years painting in a
realistic manner before experimenting with different forms of
artistic expression such as cubism. So often we compare all our
practice with other people's highlights.
"Whether you feel your offering is stone age cave art or cubism, be confident to leave your mark"
John Henry Newman,
writing in 1848 expressed our unique design this way:
"I am created to do
something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have
a place in God’s counsels, in God’s world, which no one else has;
whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me
and calls me by my name.
God has created me to
do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which
He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know
it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am
necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel
in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make
the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work;
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has
not created me for naught."
Maybe you're hesitant
to leave your mark. Maybe you're facing a blank canvas and don't know
where to start. Wherever you are, whether you feel your offering is stone age
cave art or cubism, be confident to leave your mark. Like the
tortoise, you have something unique about you, and that's worth
sharing - even if it might not be appreciated for over 17000 years like the Lascaux cave paintings!
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Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts on leaving our mark! If you've enjoyed it why not share it with your friends on social media? Why not subscribe to The Potting Shed Podcast on iTunes for the audio version and much more (direct RSS feed is here).
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