A few months ago, my Tai Chi teacher noticed a problem with the way I was practising. What interested me later was that he chose not to correct it. I had learnt much of the traditional Yang-style 85 form from a video before I began studying with Sam, so almost every movement needed work. I wanted as much correction as I could get. Whenever Sam corrected something in my practice, I felt I had come away with treasure. I would go over his corrections in my mind again and again,

They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.-Frida Kahlo A while back, a parent told me she was worried about her daughter's artistic abilities. "I think she lacks imagination," she said. This parent is not the only parent that is concerned about their children's imagination. Even some art educators seem to have the same judgment on what should imagination look like in children's art. To me, a child's imagination isn't neces

W.H. Auden called art a "rite of worship," something instinctive rather than learned. Maybe that is the reason why, in Aboriginal Australian languages, there's no direct equivalent for the word "art". To Aboriginal Australian people, art is a way of being and how they live their lives. It is woven into storytelling, traditions, and daily existence. The impulse to create is deeply human. Poets often describe writing as something that just happens—an unfiltered response to emo

One of the most common questions I get from parents is, "What course do you offer? Do you teach watercolour, oil painting, or sketching?" If I had to name the kind of art course I offer, I'd call it an art nurturing class. It's not structured around teaching specific skills, or a particular theme—instead, it's about providing inspiration, and allowing kids to explore their own interests, discover their preferred styles and materials, and develop organically. When they reach a

Qiyuan, 6 years old Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” This is probably one of Picasso’s most famous quotes—and perhaps one of the most frequently used slogans in children’s art centres. You see it on walls, websites and flyers. Even parents who have never considered that their child might have much artistic talent may find it hard to resist a slogan that seems to suggest: perhaps my child, too, could become