The art of a child.

Sometimes, my children draw odd things. It is not, necessarily, that the drawings themselves look odd...but when you ask them what it is that they have drawn, the answers can sometimes be far from expected.

A few days, Ainan, nine, and Fintan, just turned six, were drawing. Both had chosen to draw something based on circles. Fintan's consisted of a couple of concentric circles, standing about being mysterious - and Ainan's was truly enigmatic: there was a circle, with various other things intersecting with it in a manner which escapes easy description, in easy words. It looked like some ancient hieroglyphic, from an undiscovered dead tongue.

Of course, seeing these mysterious objects drawn made me ponder what they were. No immediate answer came to mind, so I had to ask:

"Fintan: what's that?"

"A shockwave.", he observed, as if nothing could be more plain to see.

Now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like a shockwave. The question that then came to me was: why was Fintan, all of six, drawing a shockwave?

Then I asked Ainan: "What is yours, then?"

"The LHC: the Large Hadron Collider.", he revealed, appraising it as he spoke.

Ah. No wonder I hadn't guessed. Yet, again, now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like the Large Hadron Collider. He had even drawn the particle detectors.

It sometimes seems to me that my children live in a strange world. At times, it doesn't seem like a child's world at all. They can be very arcane, can my children, as children go. Their knowledge sometimes seems absurdly abstruse for kids yet in single digits, when it comes to years. Yet, that is how they are. They find pleasure in things that other children might find only boredom in - and I suppose that is a good thing, for the world needs people who find shockwaves and Large Hadron Colliders interesting enough to draw. In fact, we wouldn't enjoy so many things in our daily lives, were there not children who liked such things - for they become adults who work with such things, to the general benefit.

There is only one worry in all this: can they share their interests and viewpoints with other kids of their own age? What would they think, for instance, of Ainan's Large Hadron Collider? I cannot imagine that they would greet it with much enthusiasm. Luckily, however, Ainan finds his own enjoyment in such things, and, hopefully, that is enough for him. Anyway, he can always share it with his little brothers, who are remarkably open to him.

Now, what do you think Tiarnan, three, had drawn? Rather sweetly, he had drawn his mother's skirt, fluttering in a breeze, all graceful lines and curves.

We were both touched.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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The beauty of a car

Can a toddler see the beauty of a car? Is it something that communicates to the very young and unformed? It seems so.

Today, Tiarnan saw a red Ferrari in Orchard Road. It was parked off to the side near Borders. He was running at the time he spotted its sleek curves. He immediately halted and stared at it for a long moment. Then he did something both strange and sweet. He approached the car by the passenger side door, stretched out his arms and pressed his cheek against the car door.

He was giving the Ferrari a hug.

I rather wish I had had a camera: it would have made a good moment to capture.

He stood with his arms and face against the car door, communing with the beautiful machine. Once he had done so to his satisfaction, he parted and began to run again, his greeting fulfilled.

So, the beauty of supercars is apparent even to a toddler: the carefully crafted aerodynamic lines of a sports car are aesthetic even to a toddler's eyes. It was a special moment to see him respond so to such an adult thing, as a supercar.

Now, of course, I have to wait in dread for the moment he asks for a Ferrari, for himself.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind)

The best party in the world

Fintan, four, is rather fond of drawing and painting. His compositions tend to the well-designed and/or story telling. There is always something in particular going on.

About a month ago, he showed us one painting that was heavy on the dark green and other dark colours - and had been done on dark paper. Off to one side was a large cat.

"It is called Leopard at a Party", said Fintan, to his mummy, Syahidah.

Syahidah looked at it for a moment, drinking in its anatomically correct cat, its well-observed trees and other animal guests and pointed out something she had noticed:

"Fintan, the Leopard hasn't got any eyes."

Fintan looked at his mummy, then, as if she had overlooked something pretty obvious:

"Mummy, it doesn't need eyes: it is dark!"

What a wonderful - and logical - perspective he has on things.

Sadly, that evening, when I came home, I found Fintan on the floor with a pair of scissors. He had cut up his wonderful painting. Perhaps, I thought, he had taken Syahidah's remark as a criticism.

I asked him why he had cut it up. He pointed at a part of it and said: "I wanted to take that bit out." I had an awful feeling that it was the Leopard he was referring to.

It wasn't entirely clear which bit, though - but perhaps, he had become dissatisfied with his own work, once the omission had been pointed out. It was a pity because it was a well-observed painting that got everything just right - apart from the eyes of one who did not need to see.

It seems that Fintan is both creative - and sensitive. Though, of course, I cannot be sure why he decided to cut up the painting. Perhaps he had another creative intent behind it. I, for one, however, would have liked to have kept "Leopard at a Party".

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The signs of an artist

I believe that who we are to become is evident in our childhoods. Careful observation of any child will lead to an understanding of their special gifts, strengths and passions, their natural inclinations and ways of thinking.

Observation of Fintan, four exactly, points us in several directions but mainly, two: life as an actor and life as an artist.

At the weekend, I took Fintan to see Transformers. At the end of the show, I asked him which transformer he had liked best. Instead of giving me a name, or a description, he did what can only be interpreted to be an infallible sign of an artist. Fintan drew the Transformer in the air, before my eyes. He traced the lines of the one he liked, as I watched.

"Optimus Prime? The big truck Transformer?" I gathered.

He nodded.

This display pleased me. It showed me how Fintan is beginning to think: as an artist does - in terms of lines and structures. Here what is significant is not only what Fintan did - but what he did not do. He did not reach for words, to describe his favourite Transformer; he did not give a name, he did not give a description - his instinct was to draw it, in front of him - to convey the image he had in his mind, directly to me. This shows me that visual thinking predominates in him - but it also shows me that the visual mode is his preferred means of communication.

I think Fintan will one day say much, in silence, with his pencil in his hand, sketching his thought, but not speaking of it. This is the characteristic of a true artist.

(If you would like to learn more of Fintan, four years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, and Tiarnan, seventeen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan and the meaning of art

A few days ago, Tiarnan was hurtling about the house, as he likes to do, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He pointed at a little green badge and said: "Kuda". This is Malay for horse.

There, on the badge was a rather confused line drawing. It was of a male rider, drawn over a horse, about a centimetre tall. It wasn't a very good work of art for the lines of the man became confused with the lines of the horse. An adult would know what was meant to be represented (if only from the name of a riding school on the badge), but it was a surprise that a seventeen month old baby could work it out - for it was not at all clear.

From this, it is clear that Tiarnan is aware of the littlest things in his environment, which he is able to pick up at speed, even when moving around quite quickly. It is also clear that he understands the relationship between art and object; between the representation and the thing represented. He has long shown this understanding, but this is just one more example of him drawing that connection, with little information to go on.

(If you would like to more of Tiarnan, seventeen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, or Fintan, four years and no months, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Delayed gratification and achievement

We live in an impatient world. A world in which everyone wants everything done yesterday. Yet, is such a world a world in which greatness can thrive?

I would suggest not. Greatness comes from great effort over a long time. No significant project of human creativity happens without determined effort. Novels don't write themselves. Scientific revolutions don't just happen. Works of art don't just appear on the canvas. In all forms of creation there is the inescapable fact that someone must have put a lot of time into their art or science. This is the time it takes to learn the art, or science; the time it takes to find a worthy project; the time it takes to come to a solution to the problem or artistic expression - and the time it takes to make it happen, to make the art real, the science solid. None of this happens without a hidden factor: patience. This is the ability to simply endure while all this painstaking work takes place. There is too little of this ability in the modern world. Everyone expects everything to be immediate - and yet, without this ability to patiently endure while the slow process of creation unfolds, nothing worthwhile can ever be created. Only the trivial can happen in an instant.

So, does the modern love of instant results make for a shallow modern world? I believe so. Very few people of today have the quality of lifelong endurance that characterized most of the great geniuses of the past. People today want a life of instant luxury founded on the least effort possible: they want, in brief, instant gratification. Yet, it is a truism, that if the pleasure is immediate, the reward is slight. The greatest rewards come to those able to wait.

Yet, all is not lost. Some children show this nascent quality of delayed gratification - and its consequent possibility of great achievement - in their earliest years. One example is my son, Fintan. I can't help but note his ability to buy some chocolates - and simply hold them, without eating them, for several hours, until his older brother Ainan has returned home, so that he might share them with him. That shows the quality of delayed gratification most clearly - but also the quality of selflessness - for Ainan would never know if Fintan had simply eaten the sweets without a thought for him.

I look therefore at Fintan and note two things about him. He likes to draw - and has a gift for it. He also shows the ability to delay gratification. Putting these two attributes together one could conclude that he has the basic dispositions of an artist.

We will see what he eventually turns out to be and to do - but, at only three years old, it is quite straightforward to see foundational psychological attributes at work, in him, that could give rise to an interesting life to come.

(If you would like to read more of Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and six months, or Tiarnan, sixteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children. Thanks.)

Fintan and the secrets of the Sun

I like Fintan's outlook on the world. It is one crafted of reason and imagination - and one that is uniquely his own. He has his own means of expression which I have tried, occasionally, to capture, but perhaps have not yet fully succeeded: I call it Fintanism. By this I mean that he says things in ways that others wouldn't. It is his own outlook, his own vision that speaks. I think is important - for everyone who becomes an artist - as he promises to do, with the way he sees the world and the way he interacts with it - must have their own point of view. This is the defining characteristic - more than any technical skill or ability to produce art - the defining, foundational attribute is that of a unique viewpoint. If there is no uniqueness, there can be no original art. The work would just be as others' is. It would say nothing new and be nothing interesting. Thus, when seeing if a child can be an artist, we must first look to the question: are they different, somehow? Are they moved in different ways? Do they see the world differently? Are their responses their own? Are their utterances unique, in some way - do they, basically, have their own personality and their own outlook?

If the answer to these questions is yes and they show an additional interest in creative production in some artistic medium - then there is promise for them. If, however, they just show production in a medium - without any uniqueness in their responses - I would argue that there is little artistic promise at work. The first property of an artist is individuality - if it is not possessed then there is no artist - or artistry.

About three weeks ago, after we had been in the pool and I had managed to coax them through the sometimes long process of actually leaving the pool, Fintan, three, took it upon himself to stand under a palm tree.

"Look Daddy!" he said, excitedly, "The tree doesn't make me hot."

I was struck by the quirkiness of this way of looking at things: that the tree should not be the giver of heat, entertained the thought that it might have been.

There was Fintan, standing in the shade of the palm tree, by the pool, observing that, in the shade, he was not hot.

Then he did something that any scientist might. He moved to another tree, and stood under it, to see the effect of this one.

Again he pronounced his verdict: "The tree doesn't make me hot."

He was quite pleased with this - not alone because the observation was correct, in its own oddly expressed way - but because Singapore is hot, from his stocky perspective, and thus finding a place that isn't so hot is quite a pleasant discovery.

He did it once more, with a final, larger tree, before leaving the environs of the pool.

"The tree doesn't make me hot." He announced, finally, his observation most thoroughly investigated.

What is interesting about this, besides the quirkiness of his way of thinking and expressing himself, is what it says of his awareness of his environment. These palm trees let quite a lot of light through their leaves - for there are large gaps between them, and few leaves - so the difference in temperature is marginal. Yet, Fintan was sensitive to the change which he had first noticed simply because he had walked under the tree and felt the difference - then stopped and made his observation.

So, Fintan is not only visually aware. He is aware of temperature as well. I would say that it is becoming likely that Fintan is very aware in ALL of his senses. Being aware is part of his nature. If there is something to observe, in his surroundings, it is characteristic of Fintan that he does not fail to observe it. This too is the mark of an artist in the budding.

Who knows, perhaps he will draw beneath the shade of a palm tree. There are certainly plenty to choose from, around here.

(If you would like to learn more of Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and four months, or Tiarnan, fifteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Fintan chooses his colours

Today Fintan, three, dressed as a Power Ranger to go shopping with us. It is a normal occurrence in life with Fintan, to be accompanied by some variety of Super Hero. He prefers the attire of such people to his everyday clothing and will change out of his school clothes in the afternoon, after school, and slip into one of his Alter Egos or true identities. We, of course, accept this without question.

Anyway, today he was a blue, yellow and white Power Ranger. That was not what I thought was unusual. What I did notice was two straws that he had selected, somewhat earlier. He had been given the choice of many colours - and what did he select?

He chose yellow and blue - in shades that perfectly matched his outfit. He then joined them end to end to make a kind of sword in blue and yellow, that co-ordinated perfectly with his Power Ranger costume.

It was a small touch - but one that captures Fintan's outlook very well. He is not only fashion conscious - but he carries his personal aesthetic over into everything he does. Even the choice of a straw is made against the backdrop of how it would look with what he was wearing at the time.

One day, his wife is going to be very happy to have a man who can advise her on what she is wearing!

I am becoming more and more convinced, as the months pass, that Fintan will be some kind of artist. He already is in his way of looking at things - and it peeps through in much of his behaviour. He makes choices and does things that could only arise from conscious aesthetic decision-making. They are choices that would only be made if his thinking were along aesthetic lines, following some internal sense of taste. It is very interesting to watch this growing in him.

Fintan's creative perception

Fintan, three, sees the world through artist's eyes. An example of this occurred a couple of months ago.

We were travelling back from the East Coast (an artificial beach, actually), when Fintan pointed out of the window and said: "Man who...", then he pulled back an imaginary arrow on an imaginary bow, indicating with actions what he had no words for.

I looked at where his eyes were fixed. There stood an incomplete metal structure. It looked like part of a giant Ferris Wheel. It was positioned in the Marina area. A memory came back to me that once it was mooted that Singapore build a giant "Eye" like that in London. Perhaps this was it. Or perhaps this was some kind of industrial machine whose purpose was not clear. It was a grey metallic structure consisting of an upright column, with a metal framework attached shaped like a slice of cheesecake: an arc stretching out into space. Clearly it was only partially built. Now, that he had pointed it out, I, too, could see how it could be seen as an archer, standing majestically by the sea.

How beautiful is Fintan's world that he can see such things in it. He sees patterns everywhere, reinterpreting the world with his artistic gaze wherever he looks. In many ways, his way of seeing is much more interesting than the world actually is. For everywhere he looks he sees something exciting in it. This pattern matching, of course, is an old tendency of many men: one need only think of those who first saw the constellations above in points of light and gave them names and histories. Fintan is doing the same in his own way, with his own world: giving a little magic to a world that may have none without it.

Perhaps Fintan the pattern finder will become Fintan the artist, one day. His outlook certainly seems like one.

Fintan draws mummy and daddy

Yesterday, we gave Fintan, three, a piece of charcoal and a piece of paper to see what he would do. He decided to draw his parents.

First, he drew mummy. He gave her eyes which looked like eyes and a mouth which looked like a mouth. The eyes had lashes and the mouth had teeth. He did not draw a stick figure stereotyped face as most children draw - but actually sought to render what he saw before him. It might have been better if we had given him another medium rather than charcoal for he tended to smudge what he had drawn - but the results were very interesting. He actually produced a recognizably human face.

Daddy's face was less complimentary - but again he followed the "draw what I see" mode and came up with something in a style of his own.

What was particularly interesting was the manner in which he tackled the task. When it came to me, he held the charcoal in his hand and looked at me for a long pause, as he took in what was before him, before he began to draw. He was very much performing as the little artist deciding how to approach his subject. He drew with earnest but with speed and clearly enjoyed what he was doing. Perhaps he will be an artist like his mummy, one day. It would be nice to think so.

We didn't direct him in how to draw, but let him draw as he pleased: that way we had a chance to see how he saw the world - and not how we wanted him to see it. It is better that way, I think. It is more true to the child.

Tiarnan's first adventures in Art

There is something spooky about Tiarnan in that he does things which, if done deliberately would appear to be remarkable - but, we are left to judge - was it deliberate or was it accidental?

This phenomenon occurs when Tiarnan is given a pencil and paper. We have only recently done this. He holds the pencil firmly in his fist but, interestingly, does not scribble on the paper. He applies the pencil to the paper, with control. The first time I saw him do this he drew a heart-shape - and a square: both recognizable. Was that deliberate or not? We have no way of knowing.

Yesterday, however, with his mother, he added a single line to a drawing she had done. Now, again, we are left to wonder at the coincidence of it. Did he intend the line - or was it lucky happenstance? You see my wife had drawn a face without a neck. Tiarnan added a single line. It was not a straight line but one which bent in a rather apt fashion. The odd thing is where he put the line. He drew it in exactly in the right position so that it completed the drawing and gave the face a neck and suggested a chest below. I didn't see him do this. So, when I saw the drawing, I complimented my wife on the interesting way she had drawn the neck. "I didn't do that...Tiarnan did."

That could just be miraculous luck. However, it should be noted that he controlled the pencil very well - it was not a scribble, but a carefully placed line, that looked like it had been fashioned by my wife.

What happened next is, however, very clearly deliberate and indicates Tiarnan's state of mind with regards to exploring Art.

He took each coloured pencil in turn and drew the same straight line on paper, for each one. He did so methodically, drawing one line for each colour and studied the result. He also drew some of them with his left hand and some with his right as if trying to decide which hand was better for this task.

It was interesting to note that he drew the same line with each one: it was as if he wanted to compare the appearance produced by each pencil, by controlling other variables (like what he actually drew). Again, he didn't scribble. Each line was carefully controlled.

So what do we have here? We have a baby who doesn't scribble when given a pencil, but draws careful lines. He is thirteen months old. Could he be an artist, in the making?

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, thirteen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and three months, a scientific child prodigy, or Fintan, three, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, IQ, gifted education, intelligence, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)