This week, I focused on hearts. I could’ve just drawn hearts and painted those, but I thought it would be cute and fun to add in our goose, Gerty, and a chicken.
I loved using anthropomorphism- making the little animals come to life with human characteristics. It was fun to draw the chicken in a childish way with its one leg up. It adds a little charm and makes the chicken seem more playful.
As I went into this week of hearts, I thought about what I would paint, looked for inspiration, and then asked God, “Is there anything you want me to share this week with these paintings?” Sometimes it’s deep; sometimes I don’t hear anything specific; sometimes He gives me a memory; and other times He reminds me of a lesson or something I’m learning. This week, he gave me a memory.
In 4th grade, I had my all-time favorite teacher. She taught me a love of history, especially the Oregon Trail. We did such an in-depth study of the Oregon Trail that at the end of our unit, we built shoebox-covered wagons, dressed up as pioneers, and went out on “the trail,” where we walked around the school pulling our mobile shoebox-covered wagons. Mrs. Ashley made our adventure on “the trail” one we wouldn’t forget, incorporating events, sickness, and broken-down wagons as part of the experience.
This wasn’t the only thing we did regarding the early pioneers. We were taught about the Native Americans, and we had to all build a version of housing that the Native Americans would’ve had. I built a teepee. I had a whole fire pit and fish drying station. Being that my dad loves to fish, we hung real dried fish on the mini drying rack. I had finished my project, and I put it in my parents’ bedroom so it wouldn’t get ruined. When I went in there the next day, I noticed that something was missing. The fish was gone! Our cat had found it and had itself a little snack. We ended up putting a light pink strip of plastic bag in place of the real fish.
There were so many other fun, creative things we did regarding Oregon history, and I have so many memories from that time.
This week, when I asked God if there was anything He wanted me to share, He brought to mind a memory from 4th grade, when we were all working on our Valentine’s Day desk envelopes to receive Valentine’s Day cards. Mrs. Ashley was giving us instructions and ideas as to what our large envelopes could look like. But one thing stuck out to me that I have never forgotten. She said,
“Your hearts don’t have to be drawn perfectly. They can look like this (drawing on the blackboard a long skinny heart, like this (drawing a lopsided heart), or like this (drawing a fat heart).”
There are so many people in this world who have quit drawing, painting, and doodling because they were told it had to look a certain way. She gave us creative license that day to create a Valentine’s Day envelope without perfect hearts. She still had guidelines, but she didn’t want us to feel pressured to have our art look exactly the same. She wanted it to represent our individual personality.
Later, when I was in college taking classes for my art major, one of my professors said that in school, kids are taught that a house is a perfect structure that looks like this, a bird that looks like this, and a tree that looks like this. (Picture below of what she drew) The point she was making was that when teachers don’t let kids draw what they see or how they see it, it takes away their creativity and puts it in a box of right and wrong. But art doesn’t have right and wrong. There are guidelines, sure, but there are also so many artists who have pushed those guidelines and have extended those boundaries, all while working within the foundation they learned.
Fourth grade was my favorite year in school, and Mrs. Ashley was the reason. Throughout this journey and life, it’s so easy to compare my art to someone else’s or my life to someone else’s. But when we compare, we live in a false identity. We live in an identity that God did not give us. As I continue on this watercolor painting journey, I have found that each week, I know “oh, that’s it. That’s what I like to paint.” I’m still learning the fundamentals of watercolor and the guidelines set by other artists. But as I continue to paint, I will develop my own way of painting, my own guidelines, based on that foundation. Through that, I’m strengthening my skills, and I’m also strengthening the heart/mind connection to my true identity so that I can continue to grow into that true identity, one step at a time.
