I kicked the art teacher, Mrs. Akira, and told her that she was stupid. I had a valid reason: she made us do finger paintings of a frog pond in Monet's style. I would throw a screaming tantrum because even my eight-year-old self knew that there are no rights and wrongs with art; so how can you physically teach someone how to do art?

I hated painting, I hated drawing, I hated art. But now I feel as if everything revolves around it. I get told every day
"You're going to get ink poisoning and then cancer," because of my horrible habit of using my leg as paper. I see objects around me through art compositions of shape, color, texture, and space. So why did I despise the one utmost thing I love now? Reactants. Mrs. Akira discouraged me from doing a lot of things (eating sushi in class, using the fat brush, glitter), and would force me to follow the specific boundaries she had built for me, which would make me "a better artist" —

Bullshit.

Being prohibited from something makes an eight-year-old —or anyone for that matter— feel their freedom is being taken away, which motivates them to do the complete opposite. With art boundaries, it's like saying "think outside the box, but you're not allowed to."

So,

Dear Mrs. Akira,
No, I don't want to paint like Monet. No, I don't want to use my passion to replicate someone else's work. I want to draw that feeling of watching an amazing band play live, that thudding feeling on your chest from the beat, that feeling of being in sync with everything. It's cheesy stuff, but it's good stuff; it's stuff that I want to recreate. Though most of the time, I can't create that feeling— most of the time people comment "that looks nice" but never "that makes me feel something" — but that's why I keep trying, exploring. You made me realize that there's so much more in art than just making something look "dope" or "pretty", because that's all you cared about

But it's far more than that. Find my art at www.sambudiartho.com/ - I hope it makes you feel something.