Is creativity innate or can we learn creativity? From my experience, children are creative up until about age eight, at which time peer pressure begins to suppress their imagination and willingness to experiment and exercise their own inner truths. About this age, children acquire an understanding of the “real world,” as opposed to the worlds of their imagination. This is when they want to draw “realistic images.” Their skies begin to meet the earth, rather than being a single ribbon of blue across the top of the page. They often attempt textures of clothing and realistic renderings of hair and facial details in their artwork.

This is part of their artistic growth, but not every child grows at the same pace. Because adults often praise these early achievements, those children whose brains haven’t matured often begin to give up on their creative endeavors. We can’t rush brain development. Therefore, we shouldn’t disparage children who don’t progress as quickly. Children all go through predictable stages, but the environment and their innate nature determines how quickly they progress through these levels, or if they quit at some point.

This nature and nurture process is part of what we call “neuroplasticity.” This is a fancy $2 word meaning the brain has the “ability to reorganize pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.” At birth, every neuron in the cerebral cortex has an estimated 2,500 synapses. By the age of three, this number has grown to a whopping 15,000 synapses per neuron! Yet the adult brain has only about half that number of synapses. This is because as we gain new experiences, synaptic pruning strengthens some connections in our brains, while others are eliminated. Those we don’t use, we lose.

This is why as we age, we should learn something new everyday. As Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet said: “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

We are building new brain synapses. Getting out to socialize is also important. While people used to believe the brain became fixed after a certain age, newer research has revealed our brains never stop changing in response to learning. In this sense we are always able to learn, even if we’re a little slower than younger people. As I age, I realize I don’t move as fast, but I’ve never quit waking up and looking forward to the challenge of the day.

The day might come when we have a stroke, or damage to the brain. At that time, a belief in the ability of our brain to rebuild itself will be important, for recovery of speech or the ability to walk or feed ourselves will be our goal. Art class helps us face small challenges in non-consequential situations and prepares us to have courage and confidence to meet with optimism the greater challenges of life. Art, like life, is a growth process. Because art is a creative experience, we always are working with God’s help, and not by our own power:

“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” —1 Corinthians 3:7

SCRIBBLE STAGE

The scribble stage is a critical part of early childhood because it helps children develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. This age is from the child’s ability to hold a crayon to around 4 years old. Characteristics of this initial stage are:

1. Random scribbling
2. Purposeful scribbling
3. Naming scribbles

The best way to encourage these young artists is to ask, “Can you tell me more about this?” This allows children to share all the things they enjoy about their work. Make sure the supplies you use are easy to control, like thick tempera paint, unwrapped crayons, washable markers, and chalk. Children use their imagination, rather than looking at things to copy. Copying is frustrating and confusing for children.

PRE-SCHEMATIC STAGE

This a stage beginning from 3 1/2 years old to 7 years old. Children begin to make patterns in their drawings and label it as a representation of the things they know in their world. They begin to draw human figures by merging the circle with lines. Initially, these figures look like “tadpoles” or “head feet” symbols. Often children’s first figures are unrealistic or lack body parts. Yet this is an important stage in which helps children develop their own sense of identity by allowing them to explore different self-images before they arrive at a satisfactory one. Art plays an important part in defining who we are at this stage. We can encourage our children by asking them to tell us about the stories behind their artworks and not requiring them to match the reality we see.

SCHEMATIC STAGE

Between age 7 to 9, children develop their own symbols for each object they’re trying to create. Their drawings follow a specific pattern: the sky is a strip across the top of the page, just as the ground is a strip across the bottom. Objects no longer float in the middle space, but are attached to the ground. The most important objects are larger than the less important ones. Perspective doesn’t follow any one rule. We can encourage children to look at their environment more closely, but without correcting their artwork. Any corrective actions we make to get our child to progress more quickly than they are capable will just set them back.

PRE-REALISM STAGE

The child’s inner critic awakens between age 8 to 12 years old. They still create images according to their own symbols , but begin to overlap them. They still use flat coloring, but add more details. They begin to care what others think about their work. We can encourage them best by showing them how to do things and not trying to push them into skills beyond their ability.

PSEUDO REALISM STAGE

Between 11 to 14 years old, children begin to add shadows and try realistic perspective in their artwork. They look more intentionally at their environment and at individuals, while they attempt to record these details in their art projects. They’re also more critical of their product. Therefore, they need more positive feedback. My rule in middle school art class was, “Say three positive statements about your work before you tell me three negative criticisms.” This helped my students know they had succeeded on some levels before they looked at the areas that needed improvement.

Learning and exploring new art methods are a wonderful way to keep these youths engaged. Not all these youths are ready for perspective, but they can learn to see simple stacked boxes and draw them.

DECISION MAKING STAGE

Beyond the age of 14 is a critical time, for young people will make the decision to continue with art or drop it altogether. Their inner critic combined with the judgement of outsiders (parents, teachers, other influencers) confirms their belief art is a pointless exercise. A few others, who have been rewarded with positive reinforcement, will decide to continue with their art experience by mastering skills, learning perspective, and developing their own personal style. We can encourage all students at this age by reminding them art is important in their everyday lives. When we expose students to art history, we expand not only their cultural awareness, but also show them the possibilities of artistic expression and creativity. We also have to offer opportunities for both visual and haptic (hands on) learners.

As a result, many adults come to art classes at the Pseudo Realism Stage. This isn’t an insult to them, as if saying they’re at “arrested development,” but if they haven’t had training beyond this age, this is a realistic assessment of their skill level. This is why we go through lessons on color mixing, perspective and drawing skills. Each person looks at the image from their own viewpoint and tries to translate their best impression of the three-dimensional world on to a two-dimensional canvas. This skill is the equivalent of translating German into Italian by an English speaker. It’s a learned skill, but one can practice it and develop it over time with repetitive exercises.

The brain actively uses its thinking processes to create a work of art. We always need to remember, this art work isn’t a representation of a thing, but of our experiences with the thing. Our choices of color, line, size, weight, and value all speak volumes of our emotions as we relate to the subject matter. When we look at an artwork that seems dead, but is technically proficient, we know the artist had no emotional connection to the subject matter. Likewise, we can see a more primitive painter who put their heart and soul into their artwork and judge this work to be “fine.” What we artists try to do is keep an open and tender heart and stay emotionally invested in our subject matter so we can allow our work to come alive.

As a teacher, I always hope to discern where each adult student is in their artistic development. The old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” also applies to building our art skills. The more we work and get positive critiques on how to improve our work (this criticism involves what we did well also), the faster we usually progress. In fact, when we critique our own work, we see what we did well and what we could improve. Our next experience builds on that learning.

One thing I always underestimate is the length of time students take to do a project. Children fly through projects, but many adults have an inner critic who second guesses their decisions. I often say, “Just dab some colors on the tip of your brush and dab them on those trees for leaves. Pretend like you’re the god of your painting, and “let there be leaves!” They laugh at me, but I’m just trying to keep them from painting every single leaf individually. We see trees as a mass of leaves, not as individuals, especially if we look from a distance.

Sometimes I look over at someone working and suggest, “Maybe you might want to work in a different area. Your wet brush is just picking up the paint on your canvas now. Let that area dry and come back later.” Some of my students have been around long enough to have this lesson ingrained in them. If we hit this wall often enough, we learn how futile this behavior is. My old daddy always said, “Experience is the best teacher.” In truth, if we make a mistake often enough, we’ll learn that’s not the right fork in the road to take. Thankfully, we’re not working with electricity.

Our paintings from these two weeks were from photographs which we edited in our phones using the available digital tools. We weren’t trying to work towards a good photograph, but toward an image we could use as a photographic sketch for our painting. Gail S. took two images and blended them together. This is a challenge because each image had a different light and perspective. She solved it by placing the wall behind the tree, rather than using the actual photo image of the wall itself. We also used the color wheel to find a good grey color for the wall. Gail got some good details in the leaf mass. She is more used to creating her images from life.

Gail W. had a spring forest image with a footpath through it. She changed that footpath to a stream. She spent the second session putting shadows and highlights on the trees, as well getting the leaf masses to cover the timber stand. She even used a thin marker to get some dark shadows when she didn’t have a thin enough brush to make those details. Our two Gail’s are putting these lessons to effective use.

I used a photo I took on a recent retreat at Mount Eagle. A photo records everything before it. An artist can use the tools of the camera and the developing room to bring out the best qualities of the scene. My iPhone editing software did its best.

Then I made my painting from it. The great benefit of art is the maker’s decision to include only those parts of the image which stand out. We don’t have to draw every tree in the forest. We only have to paint those who call out to us to be remembered. This decision making action is part of making new neural pathways. Each new experience is a challenge and every challenge is a fresh opportunity for new growth.

The most important achievement we can make at any age is rewriting our brains. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural pathways throughout life and in response to experiences. While the brain usually does this itself in response to injury or disease, when humans focus their attention enough, they can slowly rewire these pathways themselves. We can also do this intentionally by engaging in learning a new language, writing in a journal, doing creative art projects, quilting, woodworking, dancing, or creating new recipes. Anything we do to try a new experience helps to rewire our brains.

After all, we want to be around for many days to say with the writer of Psalms 90:14—

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Joy and peace,

Cornelia

Neuroplasticity: How Experience Changes the Brain

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886

Victor Lowenfeld: Creative and Mental Growth, 3rd edition, copyright 1957, The Macmillan Company, New York.