Cultivating Artistic and Poetic Vision

Artistic and poetic vision is the root of art, so I want to share a letter I wrote this past March to my grandchildren – the objective is to cultivate this kind of sensitivity. If it resonates with you, please feel free to pass it (or parts of it) on to the children in your life:

Dear Children,

I know you like art, so I wrote a poem especially for you. Thinking about the questions in this poem may help make you better artists:

See yon tree –

How looks it to thee?

Yet how must it seem to a bird?

Or a squirrel?

Or a deer?

Or a worm?

Or a bug?

And how to the wind and the rain?

The idea is the tree you see may look very different, depending on how you look at it … So in thinking about how a bird or a squirrel may see the tree, you start to see it differently yourself – and then you can draw or paint it differently. The more you think in this way – say by imagining how wind or rain might see a tree – the more you will begin to sense things that others haven’t thought about, and as your artistic imagination grows, you will be more and more able to show some of your new ways of seeing to others, through your art.

Stephen Rowe with grandson
underneath the Chicago Art Institute's
traditional Christmas-wreathed lion

Once you understand this method, you can practice it on other subjects: for instance, how might different people see your dog? Some may see a fun pet, but others may be scared of its teeth or its bark – and these different people will actually see your dog differently from each other. Especially if they should later dream about your dog – imagine drawing or painting how your dog may look in different peoples’ dreams or nightmares! That might inspire some very creative art.

Love,

Granddaddy

 

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com