Art = Truth. A Post About Girls.

I just finished a book called "Odd Girl Out," by Rachel Simmons. The best sentence in the whole book is on the last page. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

It is about how girls are socialized to be nurturing and to care for others, and that in this system, conflict is a big no no. Conflict and disagreement are failure. And, how this dynamic results in the kinds of cruel psychological games that we see young girls engage in all the time - the back turning, the exclusion, the rumors, the little facial expressions, all this passive-aggressive stuff because they belive, somewhere inside, that they are not supposed to have conflict - and they don't learn how. And so it all goes underground.

Fact is, disagreement and conflict are part of life, and they should not loom larger than relationships. But with girls, they often do. Friendships end over a single comment or article of clothing. This does not need to happen. Ick, it makes me feel awful just thinking about it.

The best sentence in the whole book, though is on the last page. It says:

"What greater gift can we give girls than the ability to speak their truths and honor the truths of their peers?"

Isn't that just the whole thing?

And that's what art is. Art is speaking a truth - about yourself, about life, about something. In a way that is unique. Putting something out there.

I would love for young people to have time every day, to simply say some truth about themselves by creating. I think building that inner core of their identity, and learning to respect it in others, is critical to our kids' self esteem and ability to deal with one another.

And that is why I feel the Drooly Dog Drawing Project is so important.

And why I want to tell the world, when we cut the arts, we are not just cutting a subject - we are cutting a way of being, a mode of thought, and an access into our kids' inner strength.

Kids' Art: A Mountain Lake by Kenny

This is by Conny's brother, Kenny! He's 6 too!

Hey Kenny, this is an interesting drawing for a few reasons. First, it reminds me of times when I have been to the mountains. One great thing about art is, you draw something, then other people look at it, and they have their own ideas - that you never thought of! I went to a lake in the mountains once and sat there and ate lunch, and this picture made me think of that right away.

Another interesting thing is, how the things that are farther away are higher up on the page (that one tree in the snow must be cold!). This reminds me of Japanese art, like landscapes that they paint on scrolls that go up and down. The things that are far away are at the top, and closer things at the bottom. Have your parents show you some Japanese paintings - they can search on "japanese painting scroll mountains" to get some good examples.

Thanks for having your folks send this Kenny!

P.S. Now that you went in and made a correction on there, I'm dying to know what was there before you covered it.......

Kids' Art: Ben's Technicolor Turtle.

Hey Ben, love this drawing. It reminds me of a couple of things:

1. The Dr. Seuss story of the pale green pants. Especially the page where the main character goes to pick a peck of snide. It's got that same background/paper color, and I've always really liked it.

2. The Beatle's Yellow Submarine album cover. This creature has a great, colorful look to him and the shapes are very similar too. Have your dad show it to you!

Thanks for sending this over - and if you want, let us know in the comments how old you are and how you made this, okay? Is it painted? And it looks like it is nighttime - is that true? So much to look at!

Remember everyone, send me art by your favorite kid so I can talk to them about it here. You can attach it to mailATbetsystreeter.com -- and thank you!!