Filling in the blank canvas

I have always been fascinated by artists. They start with a blank page, a blank canvas, a collection of chords. Then, through sweat, determination, and vision, something incredible happens. Worlds are born, songs are crafted, paintings are created. Since high school, I wanted a part in this. But how? As a 36 year old, I decided one possible avenue. With the help of some talented friends, I picked up the guitar and have been playing it ever since.



My plan now? To keep learning, to keep playing. Maybe write some songs, even if they are just for me.

Thanks for reading.

No Thanks Google--I'll Do the Editing

Since last winter, I have made Google photo my main online space for saving my photographs.  It has proven to be a useful way to keep my pics organized and always at the ready for use. And it has been interesting to experiment with Google Photo's Auto-Awesome feature. With this feature turned on, Google will manipulate images in a number of ways. Some of these I have quite enjoyed, like the way it will turn a series of images into a gif:

This has been quite handy and fun to explore. What I am less sure about is the way Google will enhance photos:

On the right is my photo. The "auto-awesome" enhancement is on the left. It’s a great image, but I had nothing to do with it beyond pointing and clicking the camera. At times I consider posting these, but I don’t because it is not my work. I enjoy editing my pics, whether I do this in Google photo, Pixlr Express, or PicMonkey. In fact, here's my own editing process for the photo on the right, including cropping, brightening areas, applying tilt focus, and frame:

Regardless of the outcome, the value is in the process itself. It is reminiscent of David Gauntlett's ideas about creativity in his book Making is Connecting. Here's what he had to say in an interview with Henry Jenkins:

Everyday creativity refers to a process which brings together at least one active human mind, and the material or digital world, in the activity of making something which is novel in that context, and is a process which evokes a feeling of joy.

An active human mind--exactly. This is not about becoming a professional photographer. It is about having agency over the way I represent the world I see around me. Instead of letting a program do the work for me, I want to be in control. There is meaning in my decisions that disappears when I allow Google to manipulate the image.

I start the new school year this week. As I do, I will be thinking a lot about student and teacher agency. In this era of high stakes testing and top-down mandates, the challenge is to carve out the time and space necessary for my students and I to focus on questions that are relevant and engaging. And to make the classroom a collaborative learning community where we produce and share work based on these questions. As I think about what I want for my students and myself, it is to experience the frustration, surprise, and wonder that comes from creating, regardless of medium. There is no way to cut corners in this. There is no way to cheat. One must put in the effort to experiment. Whether working with images, video, or text, discovery and resonance only arise when one takes responsibility for creating based upon individual vision.

That's awesome. And I'm ready to begin again.

A Rationale for Some Recent Work

I wrote the following to share with my students, but thought I would make it public. Thanks for reading.

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Understanding that many of you struggled with the New York Times article, “The Foul Reign of Emerson,” I thought it might be helpful for me to provide a rationale for why I assigned it.  As I said a number of times in class, the piece was challenging.  Benjamin Anastas wrote it with the Times readership in mind: a readership that is typically highly educated.  While you might not be a part of this target audience, I do believe that struggling and stretching can have positive outcomes in your ability to grasp difficult texts. Think of it this way, if you are an athlete you don’t want to practice and compete against others below your level.  To improve your skills, you need to be pushed by somebody at least at your level, if not beyond it.  I think the same holds true if you are a musician, painter, performer. Or reader.
Some of you might have felt the same frustration when you read Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Perhaps you found yourself wondering, “why would MrG put me through this?  Why do I need to know any of this anyway?”  That last question is a pretty common refrain regarding many things “learned” at school.  Why do I need to know this?
My answer: you don’t.
Being unfamiliar with Emerson, or Anastas’s criticism of him, will not relegate you to some kind of second class status or cost you a job.  But I think this is the wrong question to ask. When I learn something new, my question is, “how can this benefit me?”  And my answer to this question is that the more I learn, the more the world around me takes shape.

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Here’s the way I see it: due to my lack of knowledge, the world around me is obscured.  It’s dark.  Kind of like the night on the cusp of dawn when the outlines of objects can start to be discerned.  As I learn from others, whether it is Emerson, Einstein, an artist or colleague, these outlines become more substantial.  Objects present themselves.  The darkness recedes a little more.

C. Johnson

But there’s this as well: as these things I read and watch and listen to enlighten my world, they also help me to understand how to articulate my own ideas.  In essence, they allow me to take part in creating the world that is slowly announcing itself from the shadows.  Kind of like Harold with his purple crayon.

This is why I want to keep learning, even when that learning requires struggle and frustration.

So my question for you is this: what do you find it important to learn, even if it includes struggle, and why?