Lisa Call

 
The last post on the design principles from my kids’ Expeditionary Learning school and how they relate to being an artist. You can view all of the design principles posts here.

Design Principle #10: Service and Compassion

We are crew, not passengers, and are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others. One of a school’s primary functions is to prepare its students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service to others.

My kids don’t have classes. They have crews and are crew members and have crew leaders instead of teachers. Using that wording really puts them in the mindset that they are participating and are a vital part of their education and not just there for the ride. The kids truly are responsible for their own learning and are expected to be an active part of the educational experience.

In addition to being a valuable contributing member of the school, the kids are required to do 30-50 hours of community service each year, depending on their grade level. I love that they are being taught that helping others is an integral part of being a member of society, not just something we might want to do once we retire.

Personal Responsibility

I love the line "we are crew, not passengers"and think it speaks to the difference between success and wondering why things never quite work out. Our lives are what we make of them. If we just sit back and think we are owed a great art career (or wonderful family or whatever it is we want) and then do nothing to take responsibility for making that happen, I think it’s pretty rare for things to just magically turn out okay.

When we realize that we have the power to create our own dreams by taking action, then I think we get what we desire.

Taking personal responsibility for all of our life, both the successes and the failures, is a huge step forward in building the life we want. Realizing that if we put off making art every day and at the end of the week we come up with nothing, we only have ourselves to blame for it. We decided that surfing the internet was more important, noone made us read that one last blog post and then, oops, time to cook dinner. Oh well, I’ll make art tomorrow.

We pick our priorities, we chose our actions, we chose out thoughts. Best to pick actions and thoughts that support our dreams, and prioritize our lives to fit our goals. It certainly is more likely to bring what we want than blaming our failures on someone else. (says the person who did a lot of goofing off today, which was really really nice, but I’m not seeing any new art on the walls in the studio - oops!) Tomorrow…

The House

Above is a photo of the back side of the house I will purchase on wednesday. I don’t have any good pictures of the front because there was a big heating repair van in the driveway today while I was taking pictures, so that will have to wait. The house was build in 1955. It’s only 900 sq ft with no basement. Three bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room, kitchen and 1 car garage. Very simple, plain and very functional. I’m really excited.

I’m leaving behind 4000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a study, a studio, kitchen, family room, living room, dining room, huge entry way, laundry room, and large unfinished basement. Oh yes and a 3 car garage.

I’ve done some serious decluttering to get my life to fit into less than 1/4th of the space I’m in now and it feels great. It all sounds rather noble I suppose, and people think I’m crazy but the plan is to put an addition on the back of the house and build my dream studio and dream kitchen. So the work I did fixing up my current house will go to good use as I work with contractors to turn this cute little house into a home I plan on staying in for a long long time.

The only condition is the tree out back has to stay so it’s going to be interesting.

The tree is a crabapple tree. I joked with my real estate agent that she had to find me a big pink tree at my new house, as the neighborhood where I am buying is filled with huge gorgeous crabapple trees and it’s just stunning in the spring. She exceeded expectations and the house has 2, this one in back that spans the entire width of the 50 foot lot (I’ll have to cut a few of the lower branches) and a huge one in front also.

I can’t wait to see it next spring.

Back to packing!

Structures #18    ©2003    8" x 9"

 
More thoughts on the design principles from my kids’ Expeditionary Learning school and how they relate to being an artist.

Design Principle #2: The Having of Wonderful Ideas

Teach so as to build on children’s curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide matter to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed. Foster a community where students’ and adults’ ideas are respected.

Who doesn’t want to have wonderful ideas? And even better having those ideas respected. Did I mention I love my kids’ school? The kids are treated with respect and the teachers listen to their ideas. What an excellent way to build self-esteem.

Wonderful Ideas and Art

That design principle touches on a lot of points that I think are vital to making art.

1. Matter to Think About: ie Ideas. Art is all about ideas. Without an idea I don’t think an artist can start making a piece of art. Artists need a stockpile of ideas to inspire their work. They need to constantly feed their imagination and keep inspired. I find that the more I create the more ideas I generate.
2. Time to Experiment: Not every idea is fully developed and ready to turn into a masterpiece. I find that I need some time playing around and trying out different variations to flesh out some of my ideas. Playing around with materials with no set purpose in mind is another way to generate great ideas.
3. Time to Make Sense of what is Observed: After creating artwork I spend a fairly good chunk of time sitting back and looking at it. Thinking about what works, what doesn’t, where I want to go next, what I can improve upon, what I can do more of, what I can do less of, etc. I take notes in my sketchbook to keep track of these ideas.
4. A Community where Ideas are Respected: Putting ones artwork out into the world can be a scary thing. It’s hard not to take it personally when our art, which is a reflection of our ideas, is not accepted. Having a safe community that an artist can share their work is powerful. I’ve been a member of artist communities, both in real life and online, for dozens of years. The support and friendship are invaluable to building ones confidence in ones art (and ideas).

Design Principle #3: The Responsibility for Learning

Learning is both a personal, individually specific process of discovery and a social activity. Each of us learns within and for ourselves and as a part of a group. Every aspect of a school must encourage children, young people, and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.

As artists there are many things we need to learn. From mastering our craft to marketing our art. There are uncountable sources for learning anything we want to learn. Taking responsibility for that learning is instrumental to our success. If I want to sell my art I have to learn to market my art. No one owes it to me to teach me these things or do these things for me. I need to go out there and learn how to do it. I spent years perfecting my craftsmanship and my art is impeccably made and I’m proud of it. It’s now time to take responsibility for my art business education also.

Structures #18 - Moving Sale

Structures #18 is one of the first pieces in the Structures series with thin lines. It’s also available as part of my moving sale. Originally priced at $150, it is $90 until June 15.

If you are interested in purchasing Structures #18, or any of my available artwork please email me.

Detail of Structures #18: