Mid 20th century
Artist and Educator
“The creative process gives meaning to life. When we finally learn that we are creative, we have an altogether different feeling about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we feel good about our neighbors. This can lead to a peaceful world, where artist can create for the aesthetic pleasure of all people.”
“I love the human figure, it’s organic design and engineering perfection. The part reflects the whole; in the leaf we see the tree, in the cell the future is born.”
“I believe that human beings are essentially creators. There is no limit to their potential, or to the heights they can reach if they align themselves with the creative energy in the universe.”
“Prizes in art are basically destructive and self-defeating. The winner’s gratification is gained at the price of the rejection of those who failed. To rule that their best isn’t good enough is to inflict needless damage on their self-esteem. I reject the argument that contests provide incentive for productivity.”
“No coloring books!! The young children who learn to please their elders by staying inside the lines of coloring book drawings, grow up to be a followers, not leaders. This is the beginning of conformity. The seeds of a mentality that accepts without questioning.”
“I have always been liberated. At a very early age, I discovered that I was an artist, and had a natural talent to share with the world. That was the key to my personal freedom. However, I think many young female artists today need to be in the feminist movement. I'm all for young women if they don't get fair treatment, having co-op galleries, showing their work and speaking out. I don't blame the women who want their work to be seen; I blame the people who come to exhibitions not to look at paintings, but to see who's going to be there, to see who is and who is not showing. We have put value on the wrong things.“
“Years ago I was paid less than a man despite the fact that I was at the top of my field and had brought with me a great deal of experience. Of course, things are much better for me now. But along the way, as a woman, I have had to prove my worth more times than was really necessary. It will have to change, and it will change. I am very optimistic.“
“It is important that the female artist never forgets that she also has a most marvelous role to fulfill—that of a mother. My experience with my two children is one I would never give up. Struggling along as an artist while I was raising my children, I learned so much about life. I became a richer artist and a more fulfilled human being. Women can express certain things that men can never reach, because women have the gift of bearing life“
“When I walk on Rocky Point beach, and the children who have been to my studio come running to me with stones they have found and tell me what they have discovered, I am delighted. Stooping to pick up a stone, one realizes that lying on the beach they are neutralized by proximity, lost in their numbers. Isolating one stone from the group reveals its uniqueness. Everything starts with nature. Add yourself… your imagination, your good mind, your wonderful hands… and you can create something marvelous which has never been known before.”
“For the artist, the discipline of the craft must always be maintained. That is, the understanding of space, color and form. You the artist, must be dedicated to the task you have set for yourself. Despite its heavy and relentless demands. It is a task from which you would never wish to be free.”
“I am not a competitive artist. I am not interested in being better than anybody else. The person I compete with is myself. I am happy when people like my work, but if I am not satisfied, their compliments will have no meaning for me. It is impossible to be a free, creative human being if you try to satisfy someone else’s standard of what is good. I have always set my own standards and gone my own merry way.”
“I am not an artist who says “let people get what they can out of my art.”
I want the world to see my work, to understand and love it. When I put something down in stone or clay, I am sharing my insights into nature, my feelings about humanity.”
“My art reflects my fundamental concerns and values. My sculpture represents the integration of traditional ideas of social justice, moral and ethical concepts with a personal interpretation of their application to contemporary life in our world today.”
“I have taught many university courses over the years. The first day of class I tell the students that they have all passed the course. There are no examinations at the end of the semester. I am not interested in what dates or names they remember.”
“I never teach with a textbook. I tell my students I will give them a list of books to read in their old age, when they are too old to get around to museums and galleries. I want them to have a wonderful experience. Now, while you are young and strong, go out and look and experience. Be humble. Don’t say “you call that art?” Come back again and again. Soon there will be communication, because you have reached out for understanding.”
“I have my students work with art materials in all my courses because I believe, as Rousseau said, “A child may forget what he sees, and sooner still what is said to him, but he will never forget what he has made.”
“I am an artist and an art educator. I love both careers. I don’t believe you are really an artist unless you have a concept to share. On the other hand, you are not a good art educator unless you are a functioning artist and have the challenges of the artist before you. An art educator, with skills and capabilities to give the world, is twice blessed.”
Temima Gezari's book Footprints and New Worlds is an extraordinary collection of her experiences with children, her teaching methods, and her revolutionary approach to inspiring and motivating young children. This delightful book reveals an entirely new approach to teaching young children, young adults, and adults alike.
Her book Art and Education is memoir summarizing her philosophy of art education, and experiences in 60 years of teaching.
Click here to read parts ofFootprints and New Worlds
Click here to read parts ofArt and Education
“Children instinctively have the knowledge of our world. It amazes me, what a child can do with one stroke. The art medium provides children with a universal language, through which they can express ideas and feelings that they may find difficult to convey in words. Through manipulation of basic materials, children develop confidence, courage, and creative spirit. People, especially parents, must be brought to the realization that art should become part of everyone’s experience to develop their greatest capability. A child’s creativity and perception of the world must be encouraged. An adult may look at a child’s painting and say, ‘I never saw a purple cow.’ When the child proudly holds it up. Of course, the child hasn’t either, but was looking with imagination. An understanding parent or teacher will tell the child, ‘that’s the most beautiful cow I’ve ever seen!’ ”
“My philosophy of art is that the fundamental principles of art can be found in the artwork of a two-year-old, work which the child does instinctively.”
Temima Gezari organized international exhibits of children’s art annually from 1943 to 2004. “First, the children learn that their work is accepted. We respect and appreciate their effort. With this acceptance they can go on to the exhibition and is proud to see their creation displayed. They look at other children’s work and learn that there are many ways of expressing the same subject. They learn to appreciate the efforts of htheir peers. Teachers see how other teachers have utilized the art medium to motivate their students. This expands children’s knowledge, and they go on to the next step in their development. Have you ever seen the absorbed concentration in children’s faces when they are permitted to do the creative work they love? There is intensity and involvement, no bribe is necessary.”