What I Wish I Had Been Taught About Art

A new series about lessons learned in art and life

Photo by the author of her art space to cultivate her newfound love of creating visual art. There is a vertical canvas in the lower center of the picture surrounded by artsy space posters.

I’m reembracing art in my late twenties. Despite being a writer and into similar “(liberal) arts” areas, actually creating visual art was always a struggle for me.

And like so many others, I was quickly relegated to the “unartistic” group and ushered to subjects that I would be able to perform well enough to eventually get a job in. Because let’s be honest, this can too often be the emphasis of education: keep the kids passing and start them on the path to what you see as their future job as quickly as possible, all other subjects be damned.

I internalized this message, believing that I would just never be able to make a “good enough” visual art piece for others to see. So what was the point in trying?

But here’s the thing, art is a beautiful medium that anyone can (and should) engage in) as long as they approach it from the right mindset.

There is no such thing as perfection. There is no such thing as a right or wrong way to draw x. It doesn’t matter if you are the only one who sees it. And art helps us learn lessons that are crucial to other life skills.

As I continue on my own journey of exploring art and all it has to offer, I will be sharing these tidbits in this series with the hope of helping others like me at whatever stage in life realize the same lessons a little easier.

We’ll be diving into topics such as:

1. How anyone can do art
2. Life skills learned from art
3. Social skills learned from art
4. STEM skills learned from art
5. Art education: what seems to work and what doesn’t, especially for those deemed “unartistic”
6. The benefits of doing art

As we journey together, I welcome conversation including, but not limited to the following.

1. Do these points resonate with you?
2. What other lessons have you learned?
3. What other tips and tricks do you have to share?
4. If you are an artist, art teacher, or art student, what are your thoughts on how art is being taught today?
5. What is your journey with art?

As a side note, I welcome conversation on any of my pieces, not just these. Always feel free to leave a comment. We are learning together on this crazy journey called life and there is so much to learn from each other!

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