Firstly, I would like to thank the fabulous and insightful WTKitchen for agreeing to let me interview her as part of this project. She is someone who I can honestly say inspires me both in my professional and personal life, and is a truly wonderful woman in many ways. Please see her marvelous Facebook page The Well Travelled Kitchen for some wonderful insights in to the world of cooking! I strongly recommend you follow!
And now on to my synopsis of interview and personal review where I aim to define creativity.
Synopsis of Interview
"What you see and what I see are two different things. What we see is based on our history: who we are, where we came from, where we've been, what we've seen, who we know, how we know. Basically, it's our life experience that infuses how we look at the world, and deal with it”. This quote from WTKitchen defines the interview where we discussed creativity and the creative process. WTKitchen is an Art and Design High School teacher, and established culinary scientist! She believes in creativity in cooking, through culture, flavor and adventure.
WTKitchen sees creativity as taking risks, being original, being open to failure and learning from that. This relates to knowledge, exposure (“what you see and what I see are two different things”) and experience. She believes this trio gives people freedom and confidence to take risk that encourages creativity.
The creative process will differ depending on what influences the individual. The power of suggestion should not be dismissed. Celebrate diversity; what an individual does to something to make it their own, drawing on different aspects of life, makes something unique. WTKitchen values comparison and reflection within the creative process; consider what has been done before in order to add to it, possibly complement or more importantly improve it? (Note: that enhancement is not always necessary!) WTKitchen considers the creative process as far more significant than the final product due to the need to understand the journey. This is in order to fully appreciate how things change, grow, the process of development and only then comes the final product. Her creative process is enhanced by sparking ideas from past creations (art or food), resulting in clever modifications that are influenced by an understanding of her ever developing knowledge, exposure to different environments and life experience.
Personal Learning
From the reading and interview, I have learned to be more reflective to open my eyes to what is around. This relates to the process itself including the journey to the end result. Experiential learning builds a more creative person and the concept of creativity is based on the viewpoint of the observer. One example the WTKitchen gave to express this point was the artist Mark Rothko’s color field paintings. “Productive thought occurs when internal imagination and external experience coincide”, (Root- Bernstein, 1999, p.24).
To some observers, his work means nothing; some may literally see “a few stripes”. The study of Rothko’s process reinforces the labor, skill and creativity required to produce his art.
In addition, “if we fail to understand creative thinking, we cannot hope to have an education system that will produce creative individuals”, (Root-Bernstein, 1999, p.29). I believe this relates to the use of formative assessment in class, emphasizing the value of the learning process. I believe I need to include the concept of creativity within my planning in order to be more open minded, encouraging students take risks to “cultivate imagination along with intellect, to reintegrate knowledge” (Root-Berstein, 1999, p.29) en route to their learning goal.
References
Root-Berstein, R. S., and Root-Berstein, M. M., (1999) Sparks of Genius, New York.
And now on to my synopsis of interview and personal review where I aim to define creativity.
Synopsis of Interview
"What you see and what I see are two different things. What we see is based on our history: who we are, where we came from, where we've been, what we've seen, who we know, how we know. Basically, it's our life experience that infuses how we look at the world, and deal with it”. This quote from WTKitchen defines the interview where we discussed creativity and the creative process. WTKitchen is an Art and Design High School teacher, and established culinary scientist! She believes in creativity in cooking, through culture, flavor and adventure.
WTKitchen sees creativity as taking risks, being original, being open to failure and learning from that. This relates to knowledge, exposure (“what you see and what I see are two different things”) and experience. She believes this trio gives people freedom and confidence to take risk that encourages creativity.
The creative process will differ depending on what influences the individual. The power of suggestion should not be dismissed. Celebrate diversity; what an individual does to something to make it their own, drawing on different aspects of life, makes something unique. WTKitchen values comparison and reflection within the creative process; consider what has been done before in order to add to it, possibly complement or more importantly improve it? (Note: that enhancement is not always necessary!) WTKitchen considers the creative process as far more significant than the final product due to the need to understand the journey. This is in order to fully appreciate how things change, grow, the process of development and only then comes the final product. Her creative process is enhanced by sparking ideas from past creations (art or food), resulting in clever modifications that are influenced by an understanding of her ever developing knowledge, exposure to different environments and life experience.
Personal Learning
From the reading and interview, I have learned to be more reflective to open my eyes to what is around. This relates to the process itself including the journey to the end result. Experiential learning builds a more creative person and the concept of creativity is based on the viewpoint of the observer. One example the WTKitchen gave to express this point was the artist Mark Rothko’s color field paintings. “Productive thought occurs when internal imagination and external experience coincide”, (Root- Bernstein, 1999, p.24).
To some observers, his work means nothing; some may literally see “a few stripes”. The study of Rothko’s process reinforces the labor, skill and creativity required to produce his art.
In addition, “if we fail to understand creative thinking, we cannot hope to have an education system that will produce creative individuals”, (Root-Bernstein, 1999, p.29). I believe this relates to the use of formative assessment in class, emphasizing the value of the learning process. I believe I need to include the concept of creativity within my planning in order to be more open minded, encouraging students take risks to “cultivate imagination along with intellect, to reintegrate knowledge” (Root-Berstein, 1999, p.29) en route to their learning goal.
References
Root-Berstein, R. S., and Root-Berstein, M. M., (1999) Sparks of Genius, New York.
Image Sources:
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/slideshows/mark-rothko.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Rothko
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/slideshows/mark-rothko.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Rothko