The ordinary can be extraordinary
We don't have to be extraordinary. Ordinary is enough. There is much emphasis on being the best, the biggest, the greatest or the fastest. This drive to excel has seeped into early education. The arts in particular falls victim to this tendency to strive for high achievement or not try at all. If a young person does not excel in art or music, they are immediately discouraged from pursuing it further. Enjoyment or delight seems to have little merit in educational decision-making. All that matters is the judgment by the education system of whether or not you will be great at what you choose to do. Only those with extraordinary proficiency are encouraged to continue. If you don't show obvious promise then the doors to creative pursuits are often closed.
As an arts educator, I have heard from older students that they don't do art in their adult life because someone once said they weren't good at it. Often people don't even want to try an art course in case what they make doesn't turn out great. Why is there such pressure to do things well without even developing the necessary skills to make that possible?
Being ordinary is underrated. Sometimes a drawing or painting by someone who has no experience, but really loves making art, is much better than a person who has been making art for years. The world is made of up of ordinary people who make it a more beautiful place to live. From the person who holds the door open for you, to the shopkeeper who wraps your purchase with special care, or the barista that makes the design in your morning latte.
One of my favourite art people is Maira Kalman because she celebrates the ordinary as a fundamental part of her art practice. Whether she is painting the people in Central Park, or creating an exhibition based on the belongings in her mother's closet (
Sara Berman's Closet), I love that she focuses on ordinary moments and everyday objects. This is the stuff our lives are made of and taking notice makes life richer.
Charles Darwin, who was a very extraordinary person, wrote in a letter to a friend "one lives only to make blunders". And yet we are driven to believe that perfectionism is always the ultimate goal. There are students who throw their work in the garbage as they leave the classroom because it wasn't perfect. I always try to challenge them and say "can't you give it a bit more time?" It is our imperfection that makes us human.
The painting below by Kalman with the text "It was summer and fine" would have most likely been thrown out by these students because it is far from perfect. The perspective and proportion are completely off; figures don't fit on the page; the shadows on the table seem arbitrary and don't make sense. And yet it is a beautiful work because it is alive. Kalman could care less about perfection. Her goal is to create a sense of a lively and joyous family day in the park.
Kalman has published many delightful books including a newly illustrated White and Strunk's
Elements of Style and Michael Pollan's
Food Rules. One of my personal favourites is a book called
Cake that includes images and recipes. Many of the book illustrations can be found on her website:
Maira Kalman.
Kalman has done a few films with her son Alex that relate to books and exhibitions. The short film of the book
Cake is a very amusing tale about inspiration. Kalman became Alice B Toklas for a few days as she walked around New York. Alice considered herself an ordinary person living with an extraordinary person (Gertrude Stein). This six-minute film and book reveal the everyday delights of living an ordinary life:
My Name is Alice B Toklas.
I recommend watching some of Kalman's artist talks on Youtube such as
Portraits in Creativity and then walk around the city imagining it through her eyes. She walks around New York each day with fresh eyes and delighting in the everyday. Kalman has lived in New York since she was four and when asked what she misses most about the "old New York" her reply was "Nothing. The city is about change. I still love everything about the city... the people, the streets, the garbage..."
Many people deprive themselves of the joy of drawing and painting because they fear they won't be good enough. Pre-teens and teenagers are discouraged from art if they don't show innate talent. Art is something that can be learned. You can learn to be good at it. The necessary caveat, however, is that you can learn to be good enough at anything if it is something you love to do. It is the love and enjoyment of creating that will make you good because you will come back to it again and again. You will be as good as the amount of time you are willing to spend on it.
And even if you never get as good as you want, making art is a way to stop and take notice of the beauty in the ordinary. Take a chance and let yourself blunder your way through a drawing and painting course for the sheer pleasure of discovering something new about yourself and the world.
Consider the opportunity to savour the ordinary with one of the the many course opportunities coming up this September.
Wendy Welch
Executive Director
