Art-Mess...
“Clean- up- your -room!” – I can no longer keep track the number of times I’ve heard this line from my parents. “Filthy”, “messy”, “chaotic”, would be the best words to describe my room when I am making art a.k.a. mess. The photos I took is just a preview of how I make clutter, especially when I have a new “thingamajink” art masterpiece brewing up. I have been messing up our house for the past 25 years now. Despite the constant complain I get from my parents about my chaotic art projects. I know that they are proud of whatever piece of art I end up creating out of my mountainous clutter.
Creativity starts at home…
My passion for the arts was evident at an early age…The moment I managed to hold a pencil, I would draw non-stop. One of my funniest early memories playing with art was that one time I drove my mom so furious. We ran out of paper at home and I ended up drawing on our walls. The next day my dad bought plenty of Manila papers, which he posted on our walls just so I could keep doing art the way I wanted to (on walls). I can still recall the best masterpiece I made at age 3. My medium was: A Black sign pen and my dad’s feet. Yes…you've read it right… I drew on my dad’s feet. My parents did not box me from the traditional way of making art. They allowed me to explore art free from rules, no restrictions.
My dad is an artist. I grew up admiring his artworks displayed in my grandparent’s home in the province. He always encouraged me to draw, to paint, to create beautiful things, to play with color, and to use my imagination. My dad is probably the biggest influence in my life when it comes to my love for art. At night time before we go to bed, we turn on our flash lights in the dark and we create different shadow shapes until we fall asleep. Every morning we wake up extra early to make colorful plaster pins which I proudly wear to school. Growing up despite his complains about my messy room whenever I make art, he continued to feed my passion for the arts by supporting me any way that he can.He provided me a home where creativity is allowed and nurtured. I am lucky because I have a dad who appreciates art. He sent me to different art schools just so I could hone my artistic skills.
Art is never ugly…
This photo is my rendition of a swimming pool when I was 3 years old. My mom and dad kept it and even framed it. Looking at it now I don’t think it resembles a swimming pool, or anything at all for that matter. But I never heard anything bad about it from my parents. All they said to me was, “it’s beautiful!”.
Art, Dance. Theater, Music…You name it I’ve done it!
My mom doesn't draw or paint like my dad. But she loved the literary side of the arts. It was something that she encouraged me and my younger sister to dabble into. There was never a summer that I wasn't enrolled in a ballet school (which I dreaded, but tried), a drama class, voice lessons, piano lessons (I hated it) and all possible literary arts that one could think of. I ended up loving acting, singing and playing the drums out of all the literary arts I was exposed to. My mom did not limit me to just one literary art form; she introduced me to a lot, and allowed me to fall in love with any of it on my own. I can still vividly recall the time when she enrolled me in a piano class, and I dreaded it. A few days into it, I told her that I didn’t enjoy it and she looked at me and said that it was okay. I was never forced to do something I didn’t enjoy. More than anything my mom wanted me to love what I do. I ended up loving the drums more than piano. I also enjoyed singing and joining plays. My mom’s dream of having a pianist for a daughter still came true though, because my younger sister who is the musically inclined one in our family.
Math vs Art...
My mom is a mathematician while my dad is an artist… I am an artist and a very mathematically challeged one…I consider math my waterloo. I can easily get 100 in my art plates in school, but I always get low grades in mathematics. I never joined any of our school quiz-bees, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I’ve bested in most if not all of our literary musical and art contests in school. I never saw my weakness in math as an issue growing up. I was raised in a household where my creativity and artistic talents is recognized to have equal bearing as if I excelled in math. I was then enrolled at a very traditional school, where art and music was considered to be minor subjects. My good grades in the arts did not do me justice, as I continue to struggle in some of my ‘major’ subjects such as math and science.
According to Ken Robinson’s article The Arts & Education, one of the biggest challenges to creativity is striking a balance on how people view the arts and the other academic subjects (math, science, English). Our traditional educational system, give more importance to academic subjects more than the arts. If only the arts were given as much value as other subjects in schools, I might've graduated with honors. I believe in Robinson's issue raised on how bias in terms of the hierarchy of subjects in most of the schools is evident. There is an assumption that “math, languages, and science are more important for national economic development, than the arts” (Robinson).
To support the point of Robinson, I rummaged through my old stuff and found my National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) result back in 2001. NSAT is a national exam that the government’s department of education conducts every other year to measure the quality of education of thr secondary level of education in the country. If you will notice, the test only constitutes 5 subject areas Math, English, Science, Filipino and History. There was no room for the Arts in the said National achievement test. Notice my extreme test results. It clearly showed my poor mathematical skills. If one will use these subjects as a gauge of 'greatness', then with my 76 score in math I would not make the cut. But as Robinson discussed, it is not fair to discount the arts. My creativity has to count for something right? Despite my struggle in mathematics, my self-esteem did not falter, because of my supportive parents. They never made me feel inferior just because I couldn’t balance formulas, or solve mathematical equations like other kids. They encouraged me, and instilled in me that my artistic talents are things that I can proud of.
I Play at Work...
I am a very visual person…there are things that are hard for me to say or write, but I can express through visuals. I was lucky enough to have found a job which allowed me to use my visual skills more than my mathematical skills. For me there is no better job for creative souls like myself, than TV work. After graduation I knew right away that I didn't want a 9-5 job, or be subjected to a routine like work. It has been a very liberating experience for me to work in media...to be in a place where everyone understood the power of visuals, where weird ideas are considered genius, and where diversity is embraced. At work, no day is ever the same! It was at work where I learned that the key to producing creative and compelling stories is to ‘hit the heart first, before hitting the mind’. If only I had the opportunity to have this kind of learning as early as I learned the quadratic equation, I would have honed my creativity more. But the marginalization of the arts as Ken Robinson discussed, is evident in most of our educational system in the country. A reason for this is perhaps the schools desire to produce people who can be doctors, scientists, lawyers, engineers. Such careers that the traditional society associate with economic growth. I agree with Robinson that we must not forget that the creative people can also contribute to economic development of our society. We need Writers, Producers, Actors, Artists. They can also contribute to our economic success. I am glad that I found a workplace where creativity is valued and recognized to be an asset. I have found a place where I see how creative people like me can contribute immensely to society with the work that we do.
I do not envision myself finding the cure for AIDS in the near future.
But I know that I can perhaps create a documentary that will educate people about it.
I don’t need to know mathematical solutions, scientific equations achieve success, or to be able to contribute to the world.
I think I have everything that I need in order to be successful... my supportive family, a messy room, and a mind full of creative juices that freely flows, and will hopefully lead me to the next BIG idea that someday will allow me to make a difference.
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