Chapter 8: The Prehistory of Written Language: "There's also a story about Picasso in which someone asked him why he didn't draw representational images. Picasso asked the man for an example of what he meant, so the questioner produced a photograph of his wife. Picasso then asked the man if his wife was really 5 centimeters tall, two dimensional, was nothing but a head, and had skin tones that were shades of gray (Picasso also famously said that when he was a child he had drawn like Raphael, but it had taken the rest of his life in order to learn to draw like a child)."

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Defining moments...


Lecture No. 3

My life in art began in a lecture center at Illinois State Normal University sometime in the fall of 1960 I had just enrolled after two years at a local junior college. My art knowledge was limited to what a small southern Illinois community could provide. There was a fine museum in St. Louis, but travel and economics made the trip problematic. The lecture topic that day was "abstract expressionism." What a remarkable day! Jackson Pollack, De Kooning, Hoffmann! My eyes were were glazed over with powerful and unique visions. I attended the Action/abstraction exhibit at the St. Louis Museum recently and that moment was rekindled and the experience was truly inspiring.

That day in the lecture center was a defining moment. A moment when my eyes were opened and my mind was engaged. All students need an defining moment. I like to call it a "jolt to the cerebellum". These moments can not be planned or anticipated. However, as teachers and parents we can provide an environment that will foster moments of insight.


Jean-Paul Bunny
Copyright 2009 © Ronald D. Isom, Sr

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