I had a great time presenting a workshop at the Salon du livre de Toronto last week. Students from Viola-Léger and René-Lamoureux elementary schools had fun exploring two aspects of their art: its ephemeral and lasting qualities, based on intent.
At first, the children were invited to draw, for the first time in their lives, a running character… while running. Amid laughters, they had to do so in 9.58 seconds, Husain Bolt’s 100m world record. I then invited them to put their drawings in a recycling box. Something every single one of them had done before, yet a few decided not to. We then shared our impressions about this unusual way of drawing and the resulting images. Some of which are posted here.
For the second part, I invited the participants to take a few minutes to draw a memory of their choice. That is how they could appreciate the huge difference brought about by the intent behind the graphic expression, and how it relates to our sense of self and our memory. Only two of around eighty participants were willing to put this drawing in the recycling box. That is with the request of posting it on this website (below).
The discussion that followed allowed the classmates, who knew each other well, to open up to others and deepen their mutual understanding. They could share their memories, like Dwayne who illustrated his first visit to the CN Tower, and Thevan who chose to illustrate an uncle’s backyard where fun family BBQs take place.
I also took the opportunity to give away some teddy bears, generously provided by our partner Visit.org. We are grateful for their contribution. I had the opportunity to distribute teddies at school events in Hamilton, Burlington and Waterloo these past few months.
