Blog
Curious, flexible, persistent, and independent.
Knowing this week to be CREATE Week, I went in search of inspiration online when planning my blog post, and came up with the quote in the header above, which is attributed to artist Henri Matisse.
After my initial, predictable, Google search, and following a number of subsequent clicks, I ended up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was surprised to learn that Matisse initially trained as a lawyer. In fact, he was 21 years of age before he became interested in Art; he went to study in Paris in 1891, by which time he was 22.
We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that creativity is about only Art, Music, English storytelling or Drama. Yet it is a vital aspect of problem-solving of any kind, whether that be in Mathematics, in Product Design or in the hypothesis-forming investigations which we find in many disciplines.
Without creativity, we would not be able to 'think outside the box' enough to make improvements to our lives or, like Matisse, take a change of pathway which - for him - led to a lifelong, aspirational, artistic career that marked him as one of the all-time greats.
For us at Valley Park, of course, our CREATE Week also bears a reminder of our core values, ways in which we can harness yet more power from our creative pursuits. Bonus behaviour points are for the taking this week - where will you pursue yours?
