He told them they didn’t have to worry about what the arrangement actually looked like: “interpret it,” he told them, “this is a creative art”. Unfortunately, saying that sometimes led to his having to tell someone, “You know, maybe you shouldn’t make the vase six times larger than the teacup.” “But you told me I should interpret it” was invariably the reply, to which, as kindly as he could, he in turn replied, “I didn’t want that much interpretation.” The art-class misery he least wished to deal with was their painting from imagination; yet because they were very enthusiastic about “creativity” and the idea of letting yourself go, those remained the common themes from one session to the next. Sometimes the worst occurred and a student said, “I don’t want to do flowers or fruit, I want to do abstraction like you do.” Since he knew there was no way to discuss what a beginner is doing when he does what he calls an abstraction, he told the student, “Fine - why don’t you just do whatever you like,” and when he walked around dutifully giving tips, he would find, as expected, that after looking at an attempt at an abstract painting, he had nothing to say except “Keep working”.
27.3.07
Abstracto
