I am speaking with groups of middle school students today about what it is like to be a professional artist. Not a difficult topic for me, obviously, but it is still a challenge. When you speak to youth, you always feel a compulsion to leave some kind of impact and impression upon them.
And that is really kind of silly.
The last thing kids want from you is YOUR wisdom, because, you know, they always know more than you do.
I am not being sarcastic. Kids DO know a lot, and they have a different perspective on things than those of us who reached adulthood long ago.
I respect that. I have found that I am better off if I let THEM leave an impression on me, rather than vice versa.
I expect to learn a lot today.
Teach me guys, and ask me questions. I will try to make it a reciprocal exchange.
I was going to put together a PowerPoint presentation, but I decided against that. Young students are very tech savvy these days, and PowerPoints are boring.
Since my trajectory into making a career out of my art has been built upon using social media, and the school that I am visiting has WiFi, I am instead putting my presentation right here on my blog.
The presentation is all about images. I will post a few here, and see where it leads.
And I hope that some of my readers will give my students some comments to consider as well.
So, what would you like to learn about being a professional artist? And what would you like to learn from my students?
Life is an Adventure!
BZTAT
