Is Teaching Art Buddhist?

A lot of the time when I am drawing with kids I feel like I am looking for things that are already there... and offering a way for them to come out and be seen.

This is a very Buddhist notion - the notion that what we need to do is release our essential nature in order to be free.

Art teaching is very two-sided that way - on the one hand, it's often helpful to offer tools and techniques so that students can get control of what they put on the paper. This fosters a sense of confidence, and makes art part of the self-expression toolbox.

On the other side of art teaching, though, is the practice of encouragement and allowing whatever comes out to be valid. This is where I spend a lot of my effort. While I have gotten more directive over time as I've gained experience teaching different age groups, I still err on the side of self-expression over technique. I think that young kids need above all to feel safe expressing themselves, in whatever way they see fit. This helps them keep from developing unhealthy mental blocks later, and offers them a place to put all their angst when they become teenagers. Or college students. Or middle managers. Or archaeologists. Or whatever.

And, I firmly believe that you don't have to be "good" for drawing to be a valuable thing for you to do. We don't tell people that because they are not Mark Twain they are not good enough to express themselves in writing - we view verbal expression as a core part of our being. This is how I look at drawing as well. You don't have to be Picasso to hold a pencil.

The trick is to know when to offer technique and when to let the pens fly. Some of this has to do with the time of day, whether the kids have eaten lately, and whether it's hot or cold outside.

So, when I say "unleash the creative beast," while that's cute with my friend's puppy and all that, I'm actually referring to the Buddhist notion of letting out our nature and embracing it. Pretty deep eh?