Thursday, August 13, 2009

"I AM AN ARTIST"

 
leslie avon miller (@ TEXTURES SHAPES AND COLOR in my sidebar) a blogger who inspires me, posted a wonderful piece this morning, which prompts me to respond to the 'call', to pull out a little book i bought about 10 years ago at the getty that i used in my classroom with 7 year old children. a starting point for some. for me i see my whole life. it has amazing illustrations, which i wish i could print too, by Robin Brickman to support the text by Pat Lowery Collins and it's called I AM AN ARTIST. so notice what you notice in your life.

"i am an artist when i follow a line where it leads me.
i am an artist when i find a face in a cloud or watch the light change the shape of a hill.
i am an artist when i discover shadows made by the moon, or trace patterns in the sand, or whin i name the colors inside a shell.
i am an artist when i look through a sun shower for a rainbow. i am an artist when i find one.
i am an artist when i notice that the sea is a mirror for the sky and when i make something from the things that i collect.
i am an artist when i shoot water loops in the air with the hose or discover pictures in drops of rain.
i am an artist when i cut an apple to see the star inside or when i watch sunlight turn dust to glitter.
i am an artist when i crunch through crusted snow and stop to gather winter's hush around me.
i am an artist when i look at a bird until i feel feathery too and an orange until i know what it is to be perfectly round.
i am an artist when i run my fingers over a shiny pod or across the rough bark of a tree or when i blow on a full-blown milkweed and it splinters into tiny white puffs or when i pick up a maple-tree seed and send it spinning back to earth by its twin propellers.
i am an artist when i see that the sun comes up in a soft haze and goes down in a fiery blaze.
i am an artist when i wait for a star to streak through the night sky or when i sit very still in the woods and listen.
i am an artist whenever i look closely at the world around me.

and whenever YOU listen and see,
you are an artist too."
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13 comments:

  1. Ciao Nancy, very interesting Blog. I will read today slowly (My English is not good) and I will follow your future posts with pleasure. CIao, Italo.

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  2. Nancy this list brings tears to my eyes...my Mom was the first artist I knew. She saw all of this and taught me...

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  3. Love this!! It makes me more inclined to say I am an artist, rather than just "artsy"- because I do everything listed there, and then some.................

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  4. Just true!!!
    Like Joseph Beuys said: "Everyone is an artist!"

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  5. I am visiting from ooglebloops (pat's) blog

    Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful and freeing writing....I am...I am...an artist :)

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  6. Practicing artists, all.

    Thanks sweetie pie!

    Let the teaching and encouraging others to learn by your learning continue.

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  7. Excellent posting! Just what we all need to hear and read again. :)Bea

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  8. ya'all must SEE the book, buy it for kids/grandkids/you.....and thanks. so happy i typed it up, and then finally proofread it..oops

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  9. Thought provoking. I am new to your blog - came via Caterina's blog, La Dolce Vita. I hope you don't mind - I am going to write a little snippet about your post, with a link.

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  10. I, too, love the getty, cool books, seven year olds and this post :)

    p.s. thank you for your encouraging words on my blog :)

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  11. nancy this book speaks to me in a deep way....thank you for sharing the text, your retreat area looks amazing as well...

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  12. Beautiful words and oh so true! and worth remembering!

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