Post #6: Art and Sef Expression for Children with Special Needs

This article talks about how art is very important in the expression of all people. I believe that both music and art have this impact on a lot of people I see around me in different ways. For instance, in an earlier blog I mention Ethan, a boy I worked with over the summer. Ethan has autism and he enjoys music every much. Music is what sparks his creativity and what he used to express his feelings. You can tell what kind of mood Ethan is in by the song that he decided to listen to.

But on the other hand Joseph, Ethan’s twin brother, expresses himself in extraordinary ways through art. Joseph had cerebral palsy and does not use speach as a means of communication. He is a little bit more difficult to please than Ethan but when he laughs it is that much more worth it. Joseph LOVES it when people color for him but definitely has a huge say in how he wants things done. He asks you to draw parts of animals bodies, such as an animal in one of Eric Carle's books, but has a say in what color he wants you to use and what textures he wants it to be, such as dashes, dot or swirls. The end product of what he has people draw for him is sometimes more enhanced and more beautiful than the original. We try to get Joseph to draw and color his own pictures but because his hands do not do exactly what his mind wants, he usually gets frustrated and asks people to draw for him (usually his mom). The first line in this article reminded me of Joseph because his mom really wants to draw pictures with Joseph and get his creativity going but she is a mother of three children, two of which have special needs, and one that is three years old. She has to cook and do a lot of things at once and coloring with Joseph sometimes gets pushed back in the lists of priorities. Either way Joseph continues to love drawing wether or not he gets to do it often. I believe that one day Joseph will be a great artist and well be able to sell his drawings that he will be able to draw himself!

Post # 5 Style Sells

This article has made me “re-realize” how much art and aesthetic appeal plays a role in my day to day lives. Everything that we buy, as a society, deals with aesthetics. The article talked about the 1950s, when television sets first came out, and how televisions “served their purpose” but weren’t really nice to look at. They were “ out- of- place objects located within the same space as attractive living room furniture”. Today this is not the case with television or any other form of technology. Everything is the “cutting edge”. With the rise of flat screen televisions and colorful IPODs, now we can customize our lives to make them what we can think of as beautiful. Why get a blue IPOD when greens your favorite color? This article really opens up my eyes to how much art and aesthetic beauty play a role in everything and how much science must go into making a product.
An example of this in my own life is as follows:
I was walking around in the Carousel Mall when I decided to check out the Apple store. Low and behold there it was. The most beautiful, cute Nano IPOD that just reminded myself of me so much! I wanted it so badly but I already had an IPOD. I can see other parts of the article in my past experience now how aesthetics fits into components of design through need. I didn’t need a new IPOD but I really wanted this one. Design makes people want to upgrade even though their “old” software is still good and running. I believe this is how the fashion industry works as well. I never drew a correlation with fashion marketing and art before let alone technology and art. It is truly fascinating how this article has changed my perspective on art and life.

Post # 4: Literacy and Art

I like the ideas of the article about literacy and art very much. It opened up my eyes to people’s different ways of thinking and understanding. Just because people can’t write a paper or write down their thoughts doesn’t mean that they are bad students. Many people who are visual learners have a hard time doing just this, the designated way that school systems today expect everyone to do. If you think in pictures and in art how difficult would it be to write a paper in 25 minutes as your exam? I have no idea but I expect that it would not be easy. I think that schools should encourage students to explore different ways of learning and find out which method works best for them.
Although I do not necessarily think I’m at my best as a visual learner there are many things in my life that I can and want to express visually. Lately I have been keeping a journal and doing random art projects and it is surprising how much these two hobbies coincide! I love being able to express myself both visually and with words. This article has also helped me realize how much art really does play a part in my life. Whenever I listen to music, I never realized this before, but I draw a picture in my head or a scene of how the song is making me feel. After reading this article I want to connect art and writing more into my life and I have set a goal that I want to try to actually draw out a picture of a song and see how it comes out. I definitely believe that this article has and will expand my creative side to make my art and my writing something that comes from the soul.