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Today I sat down to do an art project and, instead of my usual poetry, I
decided to do a drawing....
Wait, back up, let me explain. I can't draw. We all have our strengths, and
drawing is not one of mine. Period. Nor, for that matter, is painting,
or any of those other visual mediums. I can, however, write. And, more
specifically, i write poetry.
So why on this lovely Tuesday night, did I decide to torture myself with
something that I dislike doing, and have no affinity towards? The reason is
quite simple. Writing a poem seemed to me like cheating. It is easy, (or
easier) for me, takes far less time, and, when the deed is done, there is
far less to show for the effort.
So I stared at the paper for about 30 minutes, with absolutely nothing coming
to mind. Eventually I decided to go back to what I can do, and saved
myself a lot of pain. But an important lesson was learned; even in a person
who far prefers writing than drawing, there is a prejudice against written
art. Luckily, the teacher who assigned this project is a poet herself, and
like me, is no good at drawing, so I can count on being fairly graded. But
she is not without prejudices of her own. She will not accept any computer
art, saying that it is different from moving your hands to make the art.
Of course, I don't think she has ever sat down at a terminal and attempted to
come up with something worthy of presentation. And the quip about not
using ones hands is a complete falsity; all of my computer art is done with a
drawing tablet and stylus, which is no more of a tool than a pen and ink,
or a brush and paint. I also wonder what she would say to a photo, even one
that was developed by hand, by the artist.
Oh well, I guess the morale of the story is that everyone has their prejudices;
we just have to figure out what to do about them.
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