| Brian Hawkeswood Art Teacher. |
| Links |
| Everyone’s an Artist. To many people art is a mysterious thing, a thing that seems only to manifest itself in those “creative” people. They believe these are the people who are born with a particular set of artistic skills and abilities. The remainder of the population are not “creative” and therefore are perceived to be incapable of expressing themselves in any of the many art forms. This fallacy has been perpetuated throughout generations and is evident in the comments given by adults when asked about their own art. The common response is,”Oh, I can’t draw; I was never any good at art at school”. This attitude is not confined to any age group but seems to extend from when children are expected to leave their symbolic way of drawing to the elderly. This negative attitude exists because parents and teachers “failed” at school and they pass such views and attitudes onto children in their care. Alternatively those “creative“parents and teachers who have learnt and accepted the secret of being an artist encourage their children to be creative and artistic. The “I cannot draw” attitude leads people to believe that art is unattainable and therefore not valuable. This inability to understand art and artists are taken by people into administrative, state and national governmental levels. Current political thinking says that art adds little to economic growth and therefore is given low priority in our schools. This hypothesis is inaccurate as our culture places much on visual material and many professions rely to some degree on visual perception, measurement, observation etc.It is the design of a building that is first conceived before the mathematical calculations are made to construct it. Further it is important to mention the personal gain of using our perceptions and those faculties not tapped by mainstream behaviour and thinking. Art is important both in terms of our economy and personal fulfilment. If you are able to hold a pencil, brush or even a stick and make a mark on a surface then you can be an artist. The notion that only those people born” creative” can do art can be easily questioned. The most rewarding aspect of being an art educator is seeing young people suddenly realising that they can draw, paint and manipulate clay into many interesting forms when previous knowledge had them believe they could not. They suddenly themselves become artists. Magical! As in many things, we are a product of our conditioning, conditioning that determines what we do and think. We must at times sit back and consider if our behaviour and thinking can be changed for other behaviours and thoughts that might make our lives more interesting and rewarding. Maybe we should, for this is the essence of the creative person, someone who is prepared to challenge norms and say there are better ways to see the world. If you think you can be creative then it is very possible you can. Art can be taught and learnt like any other field of knowledge or skill. We are all capable of being artists. In many indigenous societies anyone could practice art. We are all capable of gaining access to the deep enjoyment and satisfaction from manifesting artistic ideas on canvas or in clay or in stone. Those of us who do only know the pleasure. I have been blessed in finding a profession where one day has never been like any other and where the creative talents of people are brought out in unique and expressive ways to be manifested in wonderful and amazing art works. To witness this is my greatest reward. The works reproduced here on my web site are only a fraction of what my students and myself have produced in twenty years. Included are also many documents and newspaper clippings that is evidence of the high standard I set for myself in my profession. Please take some time to enjoy my web site. Brian Hawkeswood. Teacher and Artist. |
Welcome to my web
site.
site.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |