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Budding Artist
What To Do?
We have a budding artist in the family. And we're not quite sure what to do about it.
My youngest son George is different from his siblings. Both his older siblings are very active, Elly with ballet and Ken with soccer (scored a hat trick in his first start as a forward). George on the other hand is not very athletic, although he is a good swimmer - it helps that from age 1 he grew up 10 minute walk from the beach.
The big difference with George, though, is he is a voracious reader. We check out 10 books or so from the Library every 2 weeks. At first, I didn't think he was really reading them, so I quizzed him on a couple and he could answer what the books were about. So I have to assume he is reading as opposed to skimming. This appetite for reading turned into an interest in writing. He has started writing a novel. I am not supposed to know about it so I pretend not to know and haven't read it. Elly has read it and says its really good.
I am not overwhelmingly suprised though since he does so much reading. But over the summer, what did suprise me was his "clay" artwork. You can see some of his summer artwork here.
George has been identified as a "Gifted Student" by the Mayfield City Schools. Which did surprise me since his grades never really struck me as perfect. Then again wasn't Einstein bad at school? Not that George is an Einstein. Anyway, we got a form last week from the person in charge of the Gifted Student Academic Program asking for any information on George's development over the summer that we thought the school should know. Since neither my wife or I are really sure how to proceed with fostering this new interest/ability, I took full advantage of that request. Below is the letter I sent back.
My name is Rob Hawkins and I am the father of George Hawkins. I am emailing my response for the Parent Contribution Sheet.
George has always been a voracious reader. At times, due to the fact he reads the books so fast, I am unsure of whether he actually reads them rather than skim them. The several times I have quizzed him on it, he clearly seems to have understood the book. And can quote from several of his favorites. We borrow 10 books every two weeks from the Library. Right now, we are pretty much leaving up to him what to read, but perhaps there should be some guidance. However, we are not exactly clear as what guidance to provide and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get some advice and/or help.
I think that guidance is particularly important at this point because this summer his appetite for reading translated into an interest in writing. It is supposed to be a secret from me, and we have so far let him continue to think he I don't know about it. I think he is embarrassed and afraid I'll push him harder to write it, so I am letting him do his own thing with it. According to his older sister (10th grader at MHS), who has read it, says it is really good. Of course, I have no way to judge since I haven't actually read it.
Clearly, I would like to see this new interest pursued somehow. For what it is worth, I think he is interested in creative writing, and I believe his book is either science fiction or fantasy. My daughter says it's a mix. But I don't personally know.
The other thing that happened this summer is a clear interest and perhaps talent with art. My personal favorite is to the right. I have also added one of his drawings. I have created a photo gallery of some of the art work.
George's Artwork: http://tinyurl.com/26cyoy
In particular, the "clay" he worked with is not really clay. Its a material of his own making. Apparently, he saved all the eraser savings from his pencil, mixed it with the wax that comes wrapped around cheese. You know that red wax?
Needless to say, that as a parent I was pleased with the artwork. However, I was really struck with the fact that he made his own material with which to work. It was that creativeness that impressed me. Largely because I don't have a artistic bone in my body.
I should note, though, that this artistic ability/interest does not come as an overwhelming suprise. His great-grandfather (Hakutei Ishii) on his mother's side was the first Japanese French Impressionists with painting in the Royal Academy of Art(??) in London, amongst others. Hakutei's brother was a very famous wood print block artist in Japan as well. Two of my wife's aunts are artists themselves, and George's grandfather is an architect. So the artistic blood runs thick, I think.
As I said, I personally don't have an artistic bone in my body, so I cannot really judge. Nor am I or my wife really sure about how to further this interest ability. He has had no formal training other than the normal art classes in Elementary school. He has made it clear that if the is an "art club" he would like to join it. Perhaps that is sufficient, but we definitely thought you should be aware of this, since his interest in it really spiked this summer.
Anyway, if anybody has any ideas on how to foster his writing and art interest/abilities, I'd be interested in hearing them.
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- George
Budding Artist Update
I mentioned in a previous post that our youngest is a budding artist. Recently he participated in the Village of Mayfield's rec center halloween art contest. The contest is for 6th thru 8th graders in the area, and each potential contestant creates their proposed painting by drawing it on a regular piece of paper(George's draft is on the right). Finalists are chosen for all submitted. George was selected as a finalist.
The finalists then paint the design on the windows of local businesses. George got Deacons Chrysler's window to paint. See George painting it on the right. The design was of a witch flying on a broom in a lighting storm. And here it is:
In the original design, there were some fairly large rain drops in the painting. Looking closely at what George painted on the window, there were no rain drops. There were, however, some places where the paint dripped down. George did this by design apparently, liking the dripping paint as rain drops.
The results? George got an Honorable Mention. I think, however, that all the participants got an "Honorable Mention". Nevertheless, we were pleased with the results and thought the whole opportunity was great for George since he has made it clear he's interested in art. And the $25 gift certificate to Pizzaz Pizza didn't hurt either. ;-)
Re:Budding Artist Update
Awesome work!
Re:Budding Artist Update
Thank you for saying that it is good. I'm going to join next year because i can get prizes. the award says that i got honorable mention. The reason i picked this picture is because it is simple but is a good picture. Next year i think i will paint a picture of a haunted house or maybe a graveyard with ghosts.
Re:Budding Artist Update
Chris,
Thanks for the comment!
Rob
P.S. My wife is waiting for me to read the book you signed for George.
Moved George's Artwork
The Artist in the Family
As I mentioned in this news item, I have begun moving the photo galleries to picasa. Today, I moved George's artwork to picasa and added two more pieces that I scanned today.
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| From George's Art ... | From George's Art ... |
I have a bunch more drawings to scan and upload. George is on a kick of sketching in pencil drawings he sees in a Dungeons and Dragons book we have. Pretty damn good if you ask me.
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Security Now
What a talented kid! I looked at the slide show and the sculpture of the hands holding a (ball, globe,orb?) was my favorite as well.
How old is this boy?
P.S. Thank you for welcoming me to Cleveland and adding me to the NEO feed. I really appreciate it.
George is 12. The surprising thing was that this came out of nowhere. He's always been a reader, but art.....
And it was certainly my pleasure adding you to Planet NEO.