Art.
Quick! What came to mind? Chances are there was a variety of responses both positive, negative, and everywhere in between.
Personally, I have thought for a long time about art, what it is, and who it belongs to. Before we try to answer these questions I think it would be helpful to go back to the beginning, the very beginning.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God created. Not only that, but, “God created man in His own image…” Up until this point we only know a few things about God, one of them being that He creates. In addition, we know that He created us in His image. This truth tells us something about our powers to create. Edith Shaeffer in her book Hidden Art of Homemaking says it this way:
And so – So our creativity is not on God’s level at all. His creativity is unlimited and infinite. Nevertheless we have been created in His image, so we can be, and are made to be, creative. Man has a capacity both for responding and producing, for communicating as well as being inspired. It is important to respond to the art of others, as well as to produce art oneself. It is important to inspire others to be creative as well as to communicate by one’s own creative acts.
She then asks, “How is man’s capacity for creativity, for art, to be used?”
I think David Hicks gives us some insight into what could be the beginning of a great answer:
The paideutic man’s attitude toward such activities as painting, drawing, violin playing, dancing, and acting is amateurish, not professional. He knows that one cannot learn the culture defined by these activities passively. Since culture is the unique property of the participant, not of the spectator, the classical academy resists the modern tendency to select only the most talented for participating.
He loves art and culture and plays in one area after another. Each time he encounters another craft his skill grows along with his delight in himself as a creator and in his created works.
So then, “How is man’s capacity for creativity, for art, to be used?” I used to think I knew the answer to this until I married a man who seemed to play with everything artistic that piqued his interest. At first I balked at it, thinking “Seriously?! Stick to one thing.” But then as I watched him over the years and read what David Hicks had to say, it dawned on me that my husband is the paideutic man. He loves art and culture and plays in one area after another. Each time he encounters another craft his skill grows along with his delight in himself as a creator and in his created works.
I had to change my perspective.
If you are interested in hearing more on this subject, along with practical ways you and your family can begin playing with the arts, be sure to visit my blog, Expanding Wisdom, in October, for our “31 Days of Playing with the Arts” series.
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Jennifer- I’m really looking forward to your 31 days series!
You said, “Each time [my husband] encounters another craft his skill grows along with his delight in himself as a creator and in his created works,” and I thought yes! yes! yes! 🙂
I’m looking forward to your 31 Days of Playing Art series too!
Wonderful! I am excited about it too!
Ok, I need a little help with this one. I understand the overall exhortation toward exploring our creativity, but what is a good definition of “paideutic”? Is the paideutic man the teacher, the student, a life-long learner? All of the above?
Regardless, I love the encouragement to just be an amateur and also encourage my children to explore without feeling pressure to corner them into specializing. Part of me always wishes I had really excelled in some specific area in my life. I want to be a master! That’s not my reality, though, and there’s a good chance it won’t be my children’s either (seems to be genetic or something), and that’s ok!
I’m guessing you are a Master Mother.
🙂
I agree with the ‘Master Mother’ statement. 🙂 To answer your question, the paideutic man is “all of the above” He is the man who is moving toward wholeness. paideutic comes from the Greek word Paideia. Paideia is the Greek word for education, but education with the idea that it cultivates the whole person in body, soul, and spirit. So the paideutic man is the man who is being educated in this way. Not perfect, just moving towards it. SO that would mean you and your kiddos and all of us attending to truth, goodness, and beauty.
Ok, that Master Mother comment just hit me over the head like a 2×4. I REALLY needed it. Thank you, Lisa! I am definitely mastering this art of mothering little by little. And I have thought of myself as a mother who is working toward wholeness, so I guess I’m also paideutic :).
What is always interesting to me is how synergistic the arts can be. Sometimes I hesitate to expose my children to some other new option because I feel like they should focus on the hurdle they are trying to get over in another area, but every time I loosen up and expand their horizons, I see them take off in the old areas, too. I think our brains work this way, but sometimes it is hard to trust it…
Brandy, yes! I have never thought about it that way but that is so true. The arts have incredible synthetic powers.
I think art is so much more than we usually acknowledge. Like you said above since we are created in the image of God we are made to be creative. I think that oftentimes there is too much emphasis on the *product* created and not on the *process* which is involved. The process is where the magic happens in my opinion.
Really this is how God works as well, isn’t it? He has created us, but because the world is fallen, He works to bring us back to where we ought to be. Our whole lives are a creative work of God! We are made to be like Him and so He takes us where we are and shapes and molds and transforms us “from glory to glory”.
So I think that when we bring art into our lives, in whatever form, we can maybe breathe a little easier if we don’t have artistic “genius”. We can instead focus on how the *doing* is part of the *becoming* and how the final product is so much more than the sum of its parts. Even when art is done imperfectly (whether visual, musical, performing, literary, and all the other varieties) one can still be bettered simply by participating in the act of creating. Anything that we do in imitation of our Creator is bound to bring us closer to Him.
Lisa! Yes! that is beautiful. Process, not product,
Beautifully put. I am enjoying this discussion very much.
I love dabbling in the various arts but 2 of my children have no interest. They feel they aren’t “good” at art and don’t enjoy it. I’ve tried many different things to get them more involved, without much luck. Any suggestions?
For sure I would say, come and sign up to receive all the 31 days of playing with the Arts posts. There will be some great ideas for doing exactly what you are asking. Here is the link. http://www.expandingwisdom.com/p/join-community.html
One thing we have done in our house is give each child the opportunity to pick the art of their choice. My children were given the following choices (drawing, painting, dance, theater, singing, instrument, cooking, photography, or videography.) The after they choose I have helped them come up with a routine to practice it. The ideas is they are planning on investing in cultivating their art of choice for the long haul, in order to become great at it. I had to release wanting it to look like I wanted. Especially with my son. He likes minecraft and basketball. He is not interested in the same kinds of art I am. In fact I was not sure he would be interested in any art, given the freewill choice. I was wrong I am happy to say. He was very excited about food, photography, and videography.
I have always been a dabbler. I do believe that one of the benefits is that it teaches you how hard it is to be a master. There is new understanding of pitch trying to find a note on a violin compared to a note on a piano. A wind instrument has a different dimension as it goes with your breath. It is similar with the visual arts media. Ballet is different once you know what a ballet teacher notices in your own form. I believe that is one of the biggest problems with active video games – you get the experience of mastery without the actual skill (although usually in sport). You lose the prime benefit of being an amatuer, the knowledge of the difficulty of the art as well as the appeal and a wonder at those who have mastered it!
Wise words. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Yes! What encouragement. It is my temptation to pursue becoming a master, an expert at something, and to desire that for my kids. After pursuing photography fervently for a few years I am having to slow down during our current season. But I just picked up a calligraphy course to work on my handwriting alongside my son’s copy work, hoping to explore Beauty from this angle. I find myself seeing that as inconsistency and a lack of attention and follow-through (shouldn’t I perfect the first art rather than dabble elsewhere?). But I can see that the joy we feel in participating in the creative process is a gift and a reflection of our nature and need not necessarily be tempered. Thank you. I look forward to your series.
Thank you for this kind of presentation.Some thing new from this article.
Thank you for reading!