Anthony Browne, dubbed ‘Britain’s children’s laureate’ says that drawing circles, squares and triangles is kind of restrictive. He likes the idea of wild imagination. He has something he calls ‘the shape game…one child (person?) draws something…anything! The next person adds to it by turning it into ‘something’…here he is explaining it.
This is kinda lovely…simple, creative, encouraging. This here is a drawing by our three year old.
He tells us that it is a man on a horse. But of course you can see that.
And I am inclined to think, as someone who works with teenagers, that this is relevant for more of us than those under 12 years of age. It touches the creative in us, it invites the spontaneous, it evokes the spirit of adventure. But hang on… is that too much? Well possibly. I do like it though.
Anthony says (Guardian News and Media quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald August 17th 2009):
‘Something happens to our creativity as we go through the education process; most of us lose touch with it.’
Anthony suggests that we stop and look…at pictures…and at the world.
Again as someone who works with young people (teenagers) having a hard time of life, the idea of breaking out, being creative (unafraid?), the idea of being daring…is a most important idea.
Onya Anthony.