Flowers Without Outlines One purpose of education, Especially in grade school, Is to assimilate And conform to norms. Modelling, i.e. showing the desired answers Is reinforced by good or bad grades Praise or punishment. Praise is a sort of gentle whip. I recall Mrs. Lockjaw’s reaction To my Crayola drawing. “My what pretty flowers you have drawn. Now, you should outline the petals Make them look more like The rest of the class. You do want to go to recess Not the principal’s office, Don’t you”? I was led across the hall To the principal’s office. Today, 68 years later I will go for a walk. Hopefully, there will still be flowers Without outlines. visit Sandy Kinnee.com

From Matisse to Pollock to Whom? Funny how looking at a Matisse twenty years ago has taken me on a meander to Pollock and Monet and many other artists Looking closely leads to seeing Seeing can provoke observation and thinking I stroke my naked chin as I tilt my head Pondering the possible implications of what I see that can never be found when looking at a poster or art book Matisse was my baseline For decades the thing I most enjoyed was how he let his footsteps show When I saw one of his paintings on a gallery wall I made a point of heading in his direction so he might reveal to me what he had been thinking as he painted I looked at his color choices his alterations of shape or composition. In virtually every case he left a sliver of the original choice visible It was most delightful when he over-painted an area of color with a new color Each layer of paint indicated not just a change in hue but a refinement Matisse painted until the pai...