Artists In The Making

I love Pablo Picasso’s quote “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. How true. I was fortunate that my fumbling artistic beginnings were never admonished or dismissed so I have happily enjoyed my creative journey. Among the many rewarding times in my career has been sharing my journey with young people. Children have wonderful, expansive imaginations and what is art if not totally a figment of one’s imagination? Children enter the artistic journey naturally and playfully. Nothing is right or wrong until someone says it is. Such a dangerous scenario. Having your imagination challenged at such a young age. A careless remark can leave its mark for a life time. My primary medium, hand papermaking, is always met with fun and expectation. Young ones love to get into the vat (sink) full of water and swirl the pulp (usually recycled paper) around and scoop it up on a screen. Their small hands lift the pulp on the screen carefully out of the water and transfer to a board, sponge the formed sheet of paper dry and leave it to become their original artwork. Art has an important role in the education of our children. Our task as parents and institutions is to help children become more of who they are, to kindle a spirit of “what if”. Children have a big advantage when it comes to creativity. They are always questioning, experimenting, making mistakes, and having fun. That creativity is needed to answer the huge eco challenges of today’s world. For me, it was the need to deal with the mounds of paper from my corporate life and our family’s paper discards, that responsibility set in and a new career of repurposing paper took root. What started out as the right thing to do, turned into, the thing to do. I feel fortunate to have entered this broad field of handmade paper that for over 500 years was a closely guarded secret and I welcome the opportunity to inspire the imagination of our youth through the environmentally friendly art of handmade paper. I am reminded of a quote from another great artist, Albert Einstein. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Below are two children who have inspired me on my papermaking journey. Teaching them about papermaking and watching them explore art has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being a paper sculptor.

I captured this adorable artist in the making above at my solo exhibition in the Conch Pearl Gallery at Abaco Bahamas.

This young girl visited the opening of my art exhibition at the Arts Arena in Delray Beach Florida. She returned days later and took home her first custom piece of original art. She also got the chance to make her own hand made paper to take home.