[musings on creativity]

In a weblink post from good friend PE, the Reggio Emilio philosophy of preschool education talks all about instilling and nurturing creativity into preschool children. As I embark on my own search and journey for a good way of educating children in an art course designed for preschoolers, i marvel at the way the little ones look at the world. Like what the philosophy teaches, i truly believe that young children (and even adults) will thrive better creatively in an aesthetically pleasing environment. The way that childcare centres and kindergartens are put together here, they are usually converted houses and parts of commercial buildings. Often converted on a very low budget, these places are as far from the aesthetically pleasing environment that is ideal. Perhaps this is why there is an inherent design sensibility in some nationalities and an almost blase non-existent indifference in others. The crux of creativity stems from a need to make something original, something that is not a copy or an acquisition. In putting together our art program, we try to impart to the preschoolers the delight in creation, by teaching them techniques and methods, so that they can use the acquired knowledge to create something totally unique and personal.
As the girls grow up, we too try to impart them with as much knowledge of crafting, of making things and to expose them them as much as possible to beautiful spaces.
Little pieces of an installation work done by G, sitting next to me while i'm typing up this blog post. :) I love how the opportunity of the coins structure formed the basis of this work, how it provoked different emotions to the maker (G) and viewer (me). It made me look at the coins in a different light, and i think all successful art pieces should do that... :)