Outliers of the Artistic Kind

Aryn, Watercolor, 2009

We live in a culture that values intelligence above little else, save, perhaps, morality. In his book, Outliers, Malcom Gladwell speaks of individuals who provided for themselves the right circumstances to succeed, given their inherent ability already allowed them a foot in the door. The illustration he uses is one of a tall tree:

“…the tallest oak in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn [natural ability]; it is the tallest also because no other trees blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was deep and rich, no rabbit chewed through its bark as a sapling, and no lumberjack cut it down before maturity.”

Here are a few young saplings who I’ve had the good fortune to nurture for a season, ensuring sunlight and soil in the best ways I know how, and this is a record of our accomplishments. This is a blog of student artists, advanced artists, who brought talent to the classroom and who now have grown immeasurably and aren’t done yet. Here is a record of their most gifted ability, their outrageous skill, their beauty birthed from effort.