I was fortunate
to have a mom who was interested in books, ideas, Art and Music. An only child,
she kept me busy cutting, pasting, making paper cowboy dolls, pipe cleaner
figures, model airplanes, and miniature houses of mud, rocks, grass and twigs
outside. I made imaginary submarine cabins out of cigar boxes, paper, glue,
string, or smashed wood into workable pieces for space ship sculptures with a
hammer out in the garage. I even responded to early Cold War anxieties expressed
by President Truman by sending him my best fighter plane design, hacked out of
some balsa pieces, probably with scissors and creative destruction. I wish I
still had the letter of thanks from his secretary! A pretty cool life, at least
until school interfered.
School for the
most part was a mental and emotional obstacle course - those obstacles primarily
made up of teachers who seemed to not like me. I hid when I could. 3 teachers in
elementary school were warm, human, and memorable. But Art? It was elusive, as
no one could interpret my work (except my mother, always supportive). In fact,
in 7th grade, the Art teacher, Mr. Green (that was the only cool thing about
him) made me a deal: "Look, kid - if you promise not to take my class next
semester, I'll give you a C-; other wise it'll be a D for showing up. Art ain't
your thing." I cut my losses and didn't take Art again until after High School,
although I tried hard to draw from time to time. Mostly my 'Art' became model
airplanes, flying and display, and later, model cars.
But after the US
Army let me go, I realized that I had a new found determination to be the master
of my destiny. I had wanted to teach pretty early on, realizing that endorphin
release for me was directly proportional to the encouragement I could give
someone able to receive it. I had decided to be a wood shop teacher, so applied
for an early out of 3 mos to attend a Jr. College back home and get started. But
all those classes were closed - I had to take something, so I manned up and took
the scariest, for me, classes: Art. To my surprise, I did very well, as I was
focused and determined, used my time well, and was making 'A's'.
I drew, painted,
got involved in pottery and sculpture, learned to build kilns, exhibited my work
at the local Art Festivals in Laguna Beach, CA. I had become an artist, quit my
60 hr a week surfboard blank foamer job, and went for it. I was also completing
college with a major in ceramics and another in teaching. My first job was given
to me on a platter, as I happened to build a kiln for the wife of an
administrator who 'leap frogged' me over many others. I taught English,
Ceramics, Beginning Art, Crafts, Speech, a little Driver Ed, and learned how to
teach Elementary Art on the job - all over a period of 25 years in 2
States.
Most of my
teaching has been in Norwood, CO. I found, of course, that everyone is an
Artist, first and foremost - it's simply a human attribute. Any Anthropologist
worth their salt will tell you the same thing. The first thing you hear from
folks is: "I can't even draw a straight line." I try not to laugh when folks say
this, as there are no straight edges on the human body, no systems of locked
together joints that could possibly be utilized to draw straight lines. Straight
lines are not directly human - they are abstractions of the human mind. Ahhh,
but human bodies can make all kinds of beautiful curved lines, naturally! But
ignorant teachers, themselves fostered by the ignorant, don't know that. My
mission is to erase that ignorance, show folks what they can do naturally, and
how to simply approach the 'unnatural' straight lines, utilizing whatever
straight edge is nearby. It is true we can learn to make some short straight
lines without mechanical aids, but it's a mostly a 'trick'. Once we, as a group,
get this fundamental truth, the whole world of drawing, sketching, doodling,
etc. , opens up! The next level is to begin to 'see' what we look at. As soon as
we are well into that skill, we are artists - at least, competent student
artists.
Once a person
experiences this liberating process, they can transfer this knowledge to just
about any other skill, or set of ideas, which helps them, in my opinion, to
discover what they are best suited to. My theory of education begins and ends
with this idea: Do what you are best suited for - the fun, acclamation, and
money, will follow. Jesus said, "Figure out what God's 'world' is about, go
after it, find your part in it, i.e., what you were made to do, do it, and
everything else will fall into place" - Matthew 6:31, paraphrased. Said some
2,000 years ago, and yet Education as we know it seems ignorant of The Truth. Do
what you can to change it.
Jackson Ordean
POB 635
Norwood CO
81423
970 327
4013
