[Adventure] In Being Wrong

 [Adventure 125]

As a child I was told I did art wrong because I didn't follow the art teacher's directions exactly, creating what I saw as beautiful, not what she said was correct. I didn't use the same colors or I used different shapes for the flower petals or I preferred mine smaller and daintier or larger and bolder. 

I was told I wasn't good at art because I had different thoughts and opinions as to what my art should look like. I carried this with me for decades. 

And then I met a woman who told me I was good at art without actually seeing anything I had created because I hadn't created art in years. She told me I was good at art because I encouraged children to make art and saw the beauty in the chaos of colors on their papers or shapes in clay. She asked me to do creative things - to make signs and hats and costumes and props and puppets and she always told me things she appreciated about what I made. 

Gradually I began thinking that maybe I wasn't bad at art, that maybe my art wasn't wrong - that perhaps, instead, the art teachers weren't good at seeing and appreciating art that didn't follow their rules or wasn't an exact replica of their art. 

A couple years ago I started leading paint nights at my church that have changed over time to become art gatherings. I teach people to paint a certain project, but encourage them to do it in their own way, with their own colors, or do their own artwork altogether. I remind them that there is no wrong way to do their art. Over and over again, I invite people only to be told that they're "not good" at art. I tell them that I'm not either - I'm just there to facilitate having fun and creating something that sparks joy to the artist. 

We're all artists. We all see art from our own experiences and perspectives. We all create art from our own experiences and perspectives. The only one who is wrong about art is the person who tells you you're doing it wrong.