I’ve been thinking a lot about bullies today and then I came across this piece of art I did in the 7th grade. Like many kids I got bullied periodically in grade school and high school. I’m lucky though, because I was resilient thanks to the self-confidence ingrained in me by how I was raised, which meant bullies lost interest in me pretty quickly. It would still happen from time-to-time though.
This particular piece of art [shown above] was done in Mrs. Campbell’s classroom at Conley Hills Elementary School. Mrs. Campbell will forever remain one of the most important adults in my developmental years. She loved art and she approached me with effervescent enthusiasm when I entered into her classroom. She went out of her way to expose me to as much art and mediums as she could in our year together.
This piece you see here is actually my second version. I had done a similar one a couple of days before and while it was drying in the back of the classroom waiting for the kiln some kid (I have an idea of who it might have been) shoved their fist into the still soft clay ruining it. When I showed Mrs. Campbell she was clearly upset, but she also immediately encouraged me to fight back by making an even better piece, which is exactly what I did. This piece you see here is what came from that. It is remarkably better than my first attempt.
The crack you see on the right happened in the kiln. I was 12 years old when I did this, and to be honest I feel like it is one of the best pieces of art I have created in my entire lifetime. Somewhere in a cosmically upside-down universe I can thank some asshole 12-year-old bully for helping me up my game. That being said, I can still imagine punching his smug little face into the dirt of the Conley Hills playground.
Letters From Nod 