Yup, that's a photo of me approximately 25 years ago.
I was in Architecture school doing a Communications subject. We were instructed to create a perspective of a small building and place it in some bush environment. I was probably in a state of panic as usual wondering how the heck I was supposed to get over the hurdle. My skill at water colour was (and still is) near zero. So you can see that it was a totally hopeless attempt to produce a painting by trial and error!
When the Aussie tutor first looked at it, he gave me a Pass Conceded or something contemptuous like that. After a while, he came back, studied my painting again and - surprise! surprise! - changed his verdict to Distinction or High Distinction, I can't remember which!
Isn't that absolutely hilarious? It shows that art is something that is totally subjective. How can I jump from low pass to distinction in one step? It's like hopping over that thin red line that exists between genius and insanity! A fellow student looked at my "masterpiece" and exclaimed, "How can they give such a high score to something so ugly!" before she realised I was standing behind her! Hahaha!
Going back a little further, I wrote a speech for a high-school public speaking competition that was rubbished by the teacher assigned to "edit" it for me. I ignored her and used it to get myself into the finals! I came away with the runner-up trophy!
Goes to show that what is crap to you may be beauty to someone else!
I like the word Art. It's very different from Science. In science, E always equals mc2! In art, you can use the same formula and get different results every time! The rules that apply to some may not even apply to you! With experience, intuition, psychological insight and the grasping of a whole lot of variables and maybe some intangibles, you can actually improve your results! Just the way you smile may alter the course of events! That's why war is an art. So is management. And so is stockmarket investment!
