Culling out the artist in every child

Thrissur-based art teacher P. Mariappan believes that there is an artist in every child.

“Of course, some are born with natural talent. But anyone can learn to draw well. Those who find it unable to draw can do it if they work on their visual skills. This is where your art teacher can step in and make a difference,” he says.

He has devoted four decades of his professional life to children’s art and creativity, and he should know.

He has worked as an art teacher in Shri Sharana Basaveshwara Residential School, Gulbarga, Karnataka; Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Residential Public School, Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh; Jyothis Central School, Kazhakoottam, Thiruvananthapuram; and Harisree Vidyanidhi School, Thrissur. He is a guest teacher at several schools.

Summer vacation sees hordes of parents marching their children to his studio, and there he initiates them to the wonderful world of lines and colours.

Through exercises, he trains students to see the world in the form of lines and shapes, and identify simple relationships in an object such as an angle between two lines.

Scientists point out that art has an important role in a child’s development.

Art improves a child’s communication and motor skills. “When a child plays with crayons or pastes buttons on a piece of cloth, it starts communicating visually. Holding a brush or squeezing glue from a tube fine-tunes the child’s motor skills. My experience shows that children who concentrate on art focus better in math, science and other subjects,” he adds.

When children dabble in art, they work through challenges. “It improves their problem-solving skills,” he says.