"Collaborating with a 4-year-Old"
(http://busymockingbird.com/2013/08/27/collaborating-with-a-4-year-old/)
I love unpretentious art. I recently wandered through a local museum and found myself wondering why some art is considered "masterful", while other pieces may be obviously amateurish. I mean, I have done some things in a sketchbook with watercolor that I thought were really interesting to look at. Not refined, certainly, but interesting. Like this:
I actually do think it's pretty childish when I look at it. But what's wrong with childish art? Art is a window into how the artist views the world. And I'm all for anything that promotes and produces empathy.
So, getting back to this blog post I read, I just loved the writer's confession that sharing a sketchpad with a four-year-old was not easy. I feel the same way when my daughter and I are coloring together, and she suddenly wants to color on my page. I have worked so hard to stay in the lines and have even accomplished some nice shading (hard to do with crayons), and here she comes with her wild, scribbling hand. With neon orange, no less.
But the writer of this post was able to move beyond that initial ownership into co-ownership. And the art that came out of the collaboration is really interesting. Some will love it and see it as innovative and insightful, and others will feel uncomfortable looking at it. I think it's really great. I love that an artist was able to redefine what kind of art was "good" enough to make it into her sketchbook and on her blog.
We should all open those areas of our lives where we want to control the finished product...and let the 4-year-old in. The result will most likely be something you never could have thought of, and it will most definitely be something interesting. And that's really more than we usually get.
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