Lesson 05

[page 104]

Reading Text

Let Your Creativity Unfold!

Many think that creativity is a gift given to few people. Is this really true? Can’t ordinary people like you and me be creative? The following are some examples that tell us creativity is not a matter of talent or a gift, but is a matter of perspective nourished by passion and hard work.

[page 105]

Tiny but Shiny

You would probably think of using a pencil to write or draw something. You might not imagine a pencil actually being a creation itself. In fact, a man named Dalton M. Ghetti looked at a pencil as art, not just as a means to create it.

Dalton was like most other sculptors in that he worked with large objects. One day in his twenties, however, he saw the beauty in small living things such as ants and spiders, and suddenly wanted to share this perspective with others. He saw a pencil on his desk, picked it up, and started carving its lead with a sewing needle and a very sharp blade. The lead was very fragile and easily snapped or broke as he applied his tools. Sculpting with such tiny tools on the lead was hard work, and it took weeks and sometimes months or years of concentration. However, he slowly and steadily improved his technique and turned his inspirations into pieces of artwork. He carved whatever he could think of, from a farm house to a framing hammer, all at the very tip of a pencil. A means of writing turned into an object of wonder because Dalton took a new perspective.

[page 106]

Some people can use their body parts as tools for creative art by moving them in imaginative ways. From the right angle, a hand can be seen as two soccer players competing for a ball or a sprinter anxiously waiting for the starter’s gun to fire, as illustrated in Annie Ralli’s works.

The Italian artist, Guido Daniele, can create amazing illusions with his hand art. His artistic experiments with hands began in 1990 when he started to use body painting techniques for a variety of purposes like advertising and exhibitions. He was an art major, and his interest in wildlife protection led him to be increasingly involved in “handimals.” The animals he creates on hands look so realistic that whoever looks at them may not realize at first that they are just painted hands.

[page 107]

Nature in Play

Creative minds know no limits. They catch every clue in nature and respond in novel ways. They observe their surroundings with keen eyes, get inspired, add a little artistic touch, and put into life what we don’t see.

Take a look at the billboard on the left. A woman with shiny golden hair smiles at you, but when the sun sets, her hair glows red. The color of her hair changes depending on the time of day and the position of the sun. At night, her hair will look pitch-black, which could never be reproduced by any artificial means.

Edgar Artis goes even further in his work. He is famous for his beautiful dress designs. However, he seldom draws dresses with pens or brushes. His designs come from everyday objects. He cuts out a hole in paper, and the gorgeous dress designs are borrowed from the real world. He gets his inspiration from golden leaves in an autumn garden to the blue sky on a summer day to cars and buildings on a busy city street.

[page 108]

The Giant Canvas

For many street artists, the city where they live is the canvas for their artwork. Though their work is not considered mainstream, their ideas are bright and innovative.

A manhole cover, which we can see on any city street, changes into a pineapple with some yellow paint. Who would have thought of using train tracks as a music sheet? A green monster looks as if it were lifting the road and raking fallen leaves under it. The street comes alive and tells us an astonishing story, energizing people who are leading busy lives in bleak, urban environments.

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Lyon, a city in France, is famous for its murals. The city greets its visitors with its story-telling murals scattered all around it. At a glance, there seem to be many buildings that line the stairs in the picture above. However, the picture is a giant mural painted on a building wall. It looks so real that whoever happens to see it may be tempted to take the steps up to visit with those painted men and women.

Creative people are not magicians. They are ordinary people like you and me. The only difference is that they try to find new things in themselves and their surroundings. They seek to make connections that have never been made. For these reasons, we can see the expressive creativity of many different forms of art in everyday objects we see around us. Who knows? You can be inspired, too!

[page 150]

Follow Your Heart

Read More Text

Hello, students. I’m Michael Aw. I’m here to share my story as a photographer for the past 30 years and hopefully to help you find your own career path.

Let me begin by showing you a picture I took a few years ago along the Wild Coast in South Africa. This huge whale, called a Bryde’s whale, is swallowing a huge school of fish whole. As you can see from the angle, I captured this scene from under the fish wearing full diving equipment. I was lucky that I wasn’t swallowed or knocked over by the twelve-meter-long whale. Anyway, it took eight years and over 5,000 shots before I was in the right place at the right time to take this picture.

I specialize in marine life photography because the love of nature has been one of my guiding principles in life. I try to capture my oceanic subjects and scenes in their truest form because they are beautiful just as they are. My hope is that people will appreciate the beauty in my photos, join preservation efforts, and ultimately love and protect the natural world.

So here’s my advice to you today. Find a guiding principle, a meaningful idea that you want to be guided by for the rest of your life. My love of nature has guided me thus far. Whatever you choose to do in the future–be it photography, science, dancing, or architecture–that principle will guide you into a successful life. Thank you for listening.

A Little Biology

Bryde’s whale

Bryde’s whales are found in warm water in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They move along the flow of water feeding on a wide variety of fish.