Kind.

B3: How do Sylvia Kind’s ideas about children’s art relate to those you have held? How can they guide you as you approach practice?

‘Creating art is an engaging, embodied, sensory, sensual, tactile, kinesthetic, communication, critically, reflective, culturally, negotiated, private and social endeavor’ – Sylvia Kind.

I couldn’t have said it better myself… Which is probably why I didn’t say it… But this is basically why I think art education can be such a well rounded subject. A child gets to learn, think, and play via all the aspects listed by Sylvia Kind. I think if I were to base at least one assignment or project based on each word or descriptions she mentions I would have a well composed curriculum for my students, that would benefit them.

While reading this chapter, a lot of it rang true for the way I have observed my seven year old brothers art work.; and it also help me recognize and compare my own childhood artwork to Ethan’s. Ethan likes to replicate images the same as I used to as a child. Mainly for practice or how to draw certain figures. While he practices drawing Super Mario characters, I used to draw Looney Toons. Kind mentions this type of art under Aesthetic and Action modes;

‘Action pictures or ‘action representations’ are descriptive, embodied, and enacted depictions using a combination of drawn marks, speech acts, and movements.’

‘…an aesthetic orientation attends to the surface qualities, and physical properties, and/or the visual elements of an emerging artwork. What the art image or object looks like may be the most important factor to some children…’

The last part of that statement rings very true to both Ethan and I, still to this day. And for me I have known that they way something that I have created looks is one of the most, if not the most, important part of the entire project. Even in areas other than art. If I were to do a science project, the layout and appearance would have to be as close to perfect as I could get it. If I were writing math notes, my writing would have to be really neat, and if not then I would actually take the time to re-write them. As I’ve grown older and perhaps a little more apathetic towards things like that I’ve learned to embrace my artistic mistakes and messy handwriting.