The Light Inside

"These are two of the pictures I painted in Trevor's studio. The top picture is about heaven and hell and everything crazy in between. The bottom picture is the World Trade Center during 9/11. Obviously you can see the two buildings in green and the wild stuff going on beneath them. The black spots are those who survived. The yellow spots are the souls of the people who died. And the red, well, that's the bloodshed. The purple above is heaven and the white spots are the waiting angels." - artist, Ashlin Williamson (11 years old)

Last year the Williamson family talked me into giving weekly art lessons to their young eleven year-old son, Ashlin.

At first I was reluctant to teach art because I am a new artist myself, I have never trained as an art teacher and don’t know a bloody thing about teaching art. (Actually, I'm not sure what the word art means anyway.) Besides, I was a little short on time as I was writing three books, working on a video series, writing a blog, trying to avoid trouble and drinking loads of tea.

I shared my concerns with his parents and they said, “That’s okay. Just show him what you do.”

Then I met Ashlin. A small boy with round glasses, a mop of curly hair and a magnificent smile that lights up his face and embraces anyone within twenty feet of him.

Within thirty seconds I agreed to 'attempt to' teach young Ashlin how to draw and paint. (I must admit, I had a few sleepless nights worrying about how I was going to teach "art".) I eventually decided to help him learn how to "express" himself rather than attempting to "teach" him how to paint or draw.

Well, we’ve been creating "art" for over a year now and Ashlin has taught me more about life and overcoming obstacles than I’ve taught him about art.

I must say, in little over a year, his creativity has blossomed. He started by doing tiny, smudgy, pencil sketches and now paints large canvases. He has gone from wanting to draw cartoon video-game anime characters killing each other, to painting INCREDIBLE canvases often with deep philosophical interpretations. (He is amazingly insightful for an eleven year old.)

To tell you the truth. I did not do very much. I showed him how to hold a paint brush. I introduced him to different art materials and I helped him to focus. (Which he and I find hard because we are both dyslexic.)

After about eight months, Ash found his "style" when I put him in front of a huge canvas with an array of acrylic paints at his feet. I put on some music and I told him to open his soul and let his feelings out. (The result is what you see above and believe me the photos do not do the work justice.) It was almost a religious experience to witness him seeing the light. It was amazing to watch him dancing around the canvas and applying paint. The look on his face was priceless.

It is heartwarming to see a kid - who only a year ago hid behind his mop of curly hair -now stand proudly in front of his art and explain the meaning of his work. Gone is his fear of people staring and whispering about his cleft palate and scars under his nose. (Ashlin has had twelve surgeries on his face. The last when, I believe, bone was taken from his hip and attached to his jaw.) His inhibitions and social fears have been replaced with a beaming albeit slightly crooked smile as he proudly displayed his colorful expressive work, which in essence, represents his outlook on life.

I'm not saying that my art lessons with Ashlin were responsible for his incredible growth. (Although I'd love to.) But I honestly believe being able to express himself has added so much to his life.

I held an exhibition of Ashlin's art in my studio last year for his friends and family. This was his first one-man show and the beginning of what I believe will be a great career. (He sold a bunch of work that day. Granted it was to friends and family, but he sold none the less.) During the opening he said, “This must be the best I’ve ever felt in my life. It’s so good to feel worthwhile. I feel valuable.” (I think he meant to say valued, but little does he know how valuable he really is.)

I’m looking forward to my next art lesson (therapy session) with Dr. Ashlin. I can’t wait to see what I’m going to learn about life from him next week.