Ballou High School ​Visual Arts Department
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Why Do We Do What We Do?

8/8/2014

 
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My Painting of a little Haitian Girl, Mixed Media
PicturePencil Study of Feet
Yesterday a friend asked me a question. He asked me, "Why do you do what you do?" I was puzzled by his question, so I asked him, "What do you mean?" He went on to ask me why do I write and paint so much...why? Hmm, my first thought was, 'idiot' but then after I pulled myself together I simply answered, "Because I have to". He looked at me puzzled, he didn't get it and he never will. A lot of people out there don't get creative people.

It takes a special person to live with a person in  the arts, trust me on this. Even some who have lived with me and loved me for years never got me. Sometimes it is because they never stopped to look and discover what I was all about, other times I think only  artistic people get artistic people.

This is why so many high school kids who are artistic are so misunderstood amongst their peers. These kids appear, eccentric and different. For an artist, being misunderstood  can go on all through life.  We do what we do because we have to, it is an artistic compulsion. Let me explain.

When you have an artistic mind you are compelled to be who you were born to be. Artists create in order to express their deepest levels of thought and emotions. EVERYONE has their own method of expression. People express themselves with clothing, hairstyles, tattoos, comedy and language. These are just a few of the many ways that we  express what is within us. With writers, it's words on a page. For painters, it is the compulsion to express what they have inside their soul visually with images. Dancer's who are truly born to dance simply must dance, song writer's must sing, musician must play music, actors must perform..they are all compelled to create and do not find peace in their soul unless they are living the life that they were created to live.

So, be who you were born to be. Allow your passion guide you to your purpose in life. We may all hear a different beat to the drum that we call life, but at least we are alive and hearing music.  We have been given one life...one chance for happiness, so embrace this opportunity and do what makes you happy and do your best!

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however, measured or far away".

                                                               Henry David Thoreau


Love, Ms. B.


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    Donna Bonavia

    I am an art educator and  a professional artist. I write this blog to guide my students in  (SEL) social, emotional, and academic development. S.E.L. is the District of Columbia Public School's priority because we believe that we must educate the whole child.


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