One of the things that I do with myself when I seem to be unable to work on my own artwork is volunteer in various places in order to bring art experiences to kids that other wise wouldn't have the opportunity to exercise their creativity. The pair of earrings in the picture I posted were made by one of my mom's fifth grade students from last year. They begged me all year long to do Shrinky Dinks, and finally in the last week of school I was able to gather the materials for them to make shrinkable art to their hearts' content. They were so excited when I also brought jewery findings so that they could actually make something usefull out of them. At the end of the day my little toaster oven was about to give out from all of the shrinking going on! One girl came up to me and handed me the pair of earrings she made and told me that she wanted me to have them as a thank you for coming and spending time with them and doing art projects with them. She told me that she didn't think any grown-ups cared about her until I sat down and taught her about drawing. I found the earrings today after they had been burried in a drawer of craft supplies and they were an amazing reminder of what my life is all about. I may paint, sing, write, ect., for the rest of my life and those things may always be doomed to obscurity, but I am reaching people, even if it is one fifth grader who feels less alone at a time
No comments:
Post a Comment