The Forum's Art Museum

[Róisín]

Yeah, they do those here, on street furniture and Stobie poles, often as an art project for local schoolkids.

[JoB]

those metal boxes that I think are for electrical or water stuff or something? The ones that are a bit smaller than the size of a person.

(Some sort of electricity / data, I'd bet, be it power, POTS, DSLAM, FTTx or [le gasp] the plain lockable empty boxes where mail or newspapers are deposited in bulk for the actual mailbox-stuffers to fetch mid-round; those are the only "goods" that dislike being in an underground manhole where surface water may occasionally run in. Fresh and waste water (and district heating) explicitly dislike having to hop 1+m up above ground level every now and then just because some maintenance guy rather wouldn't nosedive. Oh, and gas would be a possibility, if there are networks in your area - but IIUC their "boxes" tend to be bigger, and plastered with no smoking / explosive signs.)

[moredhel]

finished my newest drawing.

[Jitter]

You are so talented! Is it colored pencils?

[dmeck7755]

moredhel,
So very pretty. Very nice.
I especially like how you did they eye. 

[moredhel]

You are so talented!

no I am not. Our second son is talented he can do things I could never dream of even if I would draw every day for the next 1000 years.

Is it colored pencils?

Yes because I did nothing for months so I did something that was always easy and fun so this is a frame from a music video drawn with colored pencils (not the expensive ones because it could have gone wrong).

moredhel,
So very pretty. Very nice.
I especially like how you did they eye.

Thank you.

[Jitter]

no I am not. Our second son is talented he can do things I could never dream of even if I would draw every day for the next 1000 years.

Yet the fact that someone else is even more talented doesn’t mean that you are not talented at all Whatever the reason you draw and paint so well, I enjoy your work!

[tehta]

I am sure your kid is immensely talented. But I think there might also be an element here of an artist seeing additional flaws in their own work that don't even occur to the viewer.

[moredhel]

Yet the fact that someone else is even more talented doesn’t mean that you are not talented at all Whatever the reason you draw and paint so well, I enjoy your work!

I am not talented I have been told so since kindergarten. But I am stubborn and just kept drawing with colored pencils for some decades.

[Róisín]

Yeah, it can feel a bit strange, having kids way more talented than you are. There are a few things at which I am moderately good (poetry, garden design, music) at which one of my sons hugely excels me (especially with the garden design, his work gets a chapter to itself in ‘Australia’s Dream Gardens’). He also is brilliant at art, a skill which eludes me utterly. My family tends to have skills with art, words, music, poetry, plants and boatbuilding. Many of those skipped me utterly but came out in my kids. I’m proud of the offspring anyway!
And your own work is still amazing!

[dmeck7755]

moredhel,
You are very talented.  Thank you for sharing your work with us

[tehta]

Moredhel, I don't understand how a lack of artistic talent can even be judged in kindergarten. The existence of talent, sure, but a kid that young might simply not be great at expressing their talents yet. That sounds like a very weird kindergarten.

And how do you define artistic talent anyway? What percentage of people would you say possess it? Because I'm pretty sure you're in a pretty high percentile, as far as artistic aptitude goes

[Jitter]

There is no point in arguing about this, but please take to heart that we really enjoy your work, Moredhel! Especially the way you have taught yourself the watercolors and we have had the privilege to see your development.

Also I want to tell you I am sorry you have such childhood experience. Notwithstanding whether there is a lot, a little, or none at all, there is no reason whatsoever to tell a child in kindergarten that they don’t have talent in something! I’m angry at your kindergarten now    This may well have something to do with the way you loose connection to your creativity when you are not feeling well. Bad, bad kindergarten!

[moredhel]

Moredhel, I don't understand how a lack of artistic talent can even be judged in kindergarten.

They could judge my inability to coordinate my hands (feeling the urge to draw for some decades did correct it to some degree). But yes that is not about talent. But the teachers at school shared that opinion. Because theory or history questions, no problem, painting something, not so good.

The existence of talent, sure, but a kid that young might simply not be great at expressing their talents yet. That sounds like a very weird kindergarten.

And how do you define artistic talent anyway? What percentage of people would you say possess it? Because I'm pretty sure you're in a pretty high percentile, as far as artistic aptitude goes

I would define Talent as the ability to do things with less training or with training to reach a level of skill that is unreachable for most people. The kid is my favourite example he tends to draw pokemon. He starts with the linework he does not believe in pencils he just takes a black alkohol marker looks at his reference for 5 seconds and than draws the lines. Than he fills in the colors and he has a copy of his reference in the size he wanted it. This clearly is talent I could never do this.

I have no ideo how many talented people do exist. To test that you would have to force a randomised sample of the population to try to really achieve something in the field of arts. Sounds impossible to me.

[moredhel]

There is no point in arguing about this, but please take to heart that we really enjoy your work, Moredhel! Especially the way you have taught yourself the watercolors and we have had the privilege to see your development.

I do enjoy making this stuff so everybody wins.

Also I want to tell you I am sorry you have such childhood experience. Notwithstanding whether there is a lot, a little, or none at all, there is no reason whatsoever to tell a child in kindergarten that they don’t have talent in something! I’m angry at your kindergarten now    This may well have something to do with the way you loose connection to your creativity when you are not feeling well. Bad, bad kindergarten!

I totally hated Kindergarten when I had to go there. I don't think there is a connection to the phenomenon that my creativity just gets self destructive when I feel too bad. Sometimes I wonder if Tolkien knew someon who was mentally not standard in the same way as I am because it is as if I had an inner Melkor.