Coming out of their shell - sand sculpture

As I watch my son grow I wonder what his future will be. As a parent, I try to nurture his interests and not pressure him too much about the academic side of things. Luckily he seems to already have that covered. It must be from his mother's side. In my school days, every report card had the side note 'Could do better'. My 9-year-old son's is 'Making good progress.' He is great at reading and maths, something I still struggle with. They also say he is very knowledgeable about animals and a charming boy.

I see a lot of myself in him when I was that age. Becoming obsessive about a subject and wanting to learn all there was to know about it, only to reach a threshold and move on to the next thing. For him now, it is the animal world and Pokemon. Give it a month of two and it could be astronomy and girls (Perish the thought). I have to nurture it all as I don't know what he will settle on.

Even though he is just nine he is some character and it is great to see him blossom with attitude. At that age, I was shy, introverted and a bit of a nerd. It made me who I am today and there is no going back to change it. My parents gave me the nurture I needed and the freedom to make mistakes to learn from. For that, I will forever be grateful. And for Fintan, I try and do the same.

The Earth without art is Eh!

I was back in Stendhal music festival grounds for a special event to give young children like Fintan a taste of the Arts world. It is something that always seems to play second fiddle in education. Always at the end of report cards below Religion and Civics. If you do well there but not in the other academic subjects you are seen as a weirdo and waster.

Why is that? Surely it is as important to society as business or science. It is another language we learn to communicate with. One which is international and the journal by which our civilisation will be remembered.

Children from schools around Northern Ireland were invited to come play and form an appreciation for the arts as a possible career path.

I was to do workshops and show them that sand isn't just for sand castles. It is one of our first experiences working in 3D and a very accessible art form. I spent my time between workshops doing the sculpture photographed. I was playing with the idea that it was at this age that children are starting to become the thing they want to be. Coming out of their shell to sense the world and their place in it. They are no longer hanging by their mammy's apron strings. They are probing which path to take.

I enjoyed the workshops as I tried to help the children see the world in 3 Dimensions. The sand is just a vehicle, understanding form is what I really want to get across as well as composition.

In general the children were very open to it. Some more than others. Interestingly it was the home-schooled children that really got into it. As we created I was amazed at how different their outlook on the world was and how smart they were compared to the factory-farmed children. Not just book smart but practical smart.

Solving the world's problems, one joint at a time

In the evening Ross, the organiser of the event and I would stay up till dawn smoking a joint or three and discussing the best way to give children guidance in life. Their future will not be like our present. Technologies like AI and robotics will obsolete a lot of the skills they are learning from traditional schools.

Ross has a son the same age as mine and his whole reason for having the event was to encourage children to explore the arts in all they have to offer. Word, both spoken and written, painting, music, sculpture and dance. Maybe these adults to be could find a purpose there in the future.