the anxiety of influence

'the anxiety of influence' is a term coined by Harold Bloom, in reference to the theory that a poet (or for my purposes, any artist) has to get out from under the tradition of past great artists in order to achieve an individual voice.

a friend asked me recently to talk to her youth class at church about living an art-infused life. i tried to get the kids to tell me what kind of art they practiced regularly (singing in the shower or doodling, even) and they weren't tripping over themselves to tell me. i doubt that means they don't practice art, but i was still a little surprised that they weren't more enthusiastic about it. high school can be heavy on the evaluation, though, and light on the joy.

don't you just really believe art makes life better? i will never excel at one form of art, probably, because i'm always trying to do everything at once, but at this point in my life i don't mind that. nobody's handing out grades and i find it delightfully easy to impress people aged 4 and under.

i am interested to see if Ally's interest in drawing and creating art continues past her preschool years. in one of these pictures you can see that she sketched out her portrait of PJ before painting it. one of her favorite things to do is dictate stories to me, which she illustrates and i transcribe. titles include:

The Kitty Who Sat on a Muffet

The Piggy and a Siggy and a Figgy

Here is "Cinderella Little Betty Blue"

Well, when she was a baby she grew up. Little Betty Blue lost her shoe. Came along a man who said, "Little Betty Blue, you have lost your shoe." And the soccer player guys said, "Little Betty Blue, you cannot play too." Along came a little doggie named Scotty and he said, "Grrr. I smell little blue shoes." THE END

so, clearly influenced by nursery rhymes, but not afraid to steal and make it her own. i like that about children.

let's all make some art!