The year was 1957. It was a beautiful October day. A little girl stood in front of a shop window, paintbrush in hand and bottles of poster paints at her feet. She was 6 years old and in second grade. In front of her, on the window, was a partially completed picture. The sky was blue, the grass was green, a white board fence with a pumpkin sitting on it was painted across the width of the space, and rising up from behind the fence was a large tree. The trunk of the tree and the branches were brown, and glorious red, yellow, and orange leaves were splashed across it. This was her creation for the paint-on-the window contest that the shops in the area were sponsoring.
I clearly remember painting that picture. In the intervening years, I have created not only pictures, but also learned to cook, decorate cakes, sew, quilt, spin, weave, decorate, and garden. Our children have also become very creative. Our oldest son flies airplanes, draws anything with pencil and paper, and takes fantastic photographs. Our youngest son, who used to like to draw trucks with blinking lights, has completed custom trim for the house he renovated. Our oldest daughter completed four years of high-school art and still likes to paint with oil paints and draw with pastels. Our youngest daughter paints horse pictures, rides horses, designs web sites, and programs databases. She has always liked codes. She studied linguistics in college and spent a few summers at SIL, a Wycliffe Bible Translators program. We are now empty nesters and have moved to a smaller house. We have thirteen grandchildren. Some of them are becoming wonderful artists. I finally have time to do more watercolor painting, to take some art classes, and to explore digital art. My husband has a computer science degree and started to use PCs when they first came out. I didn't have time. We were early PC show attendees—pushing two strollers. He currently operates a website development/SEO business and maintains a number of websites. He has used my help to write web content and to develop design layouts and digital images for these websites. A few years ago, we purchased a digital camera, and I completed a digital arts certificate program. Perhaps the most useful course was one for color correcting photos.
Creativity is defined as: the quality of being creative, the ability to create. I have had this desire to create things since I watched my dad construct custom lighting fixtures, watched my uncle create model railroad buildings, and dabbled with my aunt's oil paints myself. I am inspired by what is around me. Many times I have told my husband, "that's a paintable scene." I look at: the sky—billowing white clouds, rain sweeping down from gray clouds, lightning, rainbows, brilliant red-orange sunsets with black tree sillouettes; sunlight—streaming down from a gap in the clouds, reflecting and dancing across the water, intensity changes throughout the day, mist and fog rising up from land or water; shadows and light—interplay on buildings, land, and water; flowers and trees—brightness and arrangement of colors, combinations of plants, gardens and landscapes; animals and birds—shore birds winging their way across the bay, cats, dogs; water—ocean, bay, calm, angry, ice, snow; houses and buildings—design, stone features, color combinations, window styles, roof lines; interior design—colors, fabrics, hardware and furniture design, floor coverings, pictures, accessories; cars and bicycles—wheel rotation, vintage car design; people—movement, shape, features, style, mood. These are the things that inspire me to take pictures and paint. It is a never-ending list, and I could never exhaust it. But I know I cannot create without my brain, my eyes, my hands, and my senses. And this ability to create has been given to me by the ultimate creator—God.
2018 Update
Since the above essay was written for my Digital Arts class, I have reflected back on those years. I realize that the creative “gene” impacted not only our business development but also our children's development and their careers. During the 1970s and 1980s, we attended a number of computer shows in the New York metro area, including the Trenton State Computer Festival and the Personal Computing Expo in New York City. The early hobby computer shows were fun and unsophisticated. Electronic boards, cables, and components were laid out in boxes on card tables, and "R2-D2" would greet our strollers on the exhibit hall floor. Some of the big-name microcomputer software and hardware executives of today were just getting started, exhibiting at small booths. Gradually, the shows became much more professional—no children were allowed. My husband had caught the "bug" early and the result was his building computers from parts, involving the children in the projects. Typing Tutor was a big attraction for them, as they earned $1.00 for each letter they learned, and they learned to touch type at an early age. We still provide this incentive for our grandchildren today.
We explored storage options over the years, starting with cassette tapes, floppy disk drives (even 8” ones), 3 ½" disks, and various hard drives. We explored keyboards, and we still prefer the “clicky”, buckling-spring styles over the "chiclet" styles with their "dead end" tactile feel.
Our eldest son has now founded, and is CEO of, a UAV software firm. His younger sister works with him, programming some of the software. Our younger son is IT manager of operations at a call center firm, creating solutions for their customers.
Recently, some of us have been exploring online art software. Home schooling has promoted our grandchildren's creative use of these types of programs. They have also enjoyed creating and programming Lego projects and competing in FIRST LEGO League. One of our grandsons has started online math and science college courses recommended by his school.
The websites we have developed over the years require continuous upgrading and freshening. However, ad blocking software is seriously impacting the online publishing industry. I don't agree with ads that take over a web page, but small, targeted ads do help to monetize quality, written articles for online publication. When ads that generate publisher revenues are blocked, publishers cannot afford to pay for good, written material, and we tend to see more and more “fluff” and “fake news”.
I clearly remember painting that picture. In the intervening years, I have created not only pictures, but also learned to cook, decorate cakes, sew, quilt, spin, weave, decorate, and garden. Our children have also become very creative. Our oldest son flies airplanes, draws anything with pencil and paper, and takes fantastic photographs. Our youngest son, who used to like to draw trucks with blinking lights, has completed custom trim for the house he renovated. Our oldest daughter completed four years of high-school art and still likes to paint with oil paints and draw with pastels. Our youngest daughter paints horse pictures, rides horses, designs web sites, and programs databases. She has always liked codes. She studied linguistics in college and spent a few summers at SIL, a Wycliffe Bible Translators program. We are now empty nesters and have moved to a smaller house. We have thirteen grandchildren. Some of them are becoming wonderful artists. I finally have time to do more watercolor painting, to take some art classes, and to explore digital art. My husband has a computer science degree and started to use PCs when they first came out. I didn't have time. We were early PC show attendees—pushing two strollers. He currently operates a website development/SEO business and maintains a number of websites. He has used my help to write web content and to develop design layouts and digital images for these websites. A few years ago, we purchased a digital camera, and I completed a digital arts certificate program. Perhaps the most useful course was one for color correcting photos.
Creativity is defined as: the quality of being creative, the ability to create. I have had this desire to create things since I watched my dad construct custom lighting fixtures, watched my uncle create model railroad buildings, and dabbled with my aunt's oil paints myself. I am inspired by what is around me. Many times I have told my husband, "that's a paintable scene." I look at: the sky—billowing white clouds, rain sweeping down from gray clouds, lightning, rainbows, brilliant red-orange sunsets with black tree sillouettes; sunlight—streaming down from a gap in the clouds, reflecting and dancing across the water, intensity changes throughout the day, mist and fog rising up from land or water; shadows and light—interplay on buildings, land, and water; flowers and trees—brightness and arrangement of colors, combinations of plants, gardens and landscapes; animals and birds—shore birds winging their way across the bay, cats, dogs; water—ocean, bay, calm, angry, ice, snow; houses and buildings—design, stone features, color combinations, window styles, roof lines; interior design—colors, fabrics, hardware and furniture design, floor coverings, pictures, accessories; cars and bicycles—wheel rotation, vintage car design; people—movement, shape, features, style, mood. These are the things that inspire me to take pictures and paint. It is a never-ending list, and I could never exhaust it. But I know I cannot create without my brain, my eyes, my hands, and my senses. And this ability to create has been given to me by the ultimate creator—God.
2018 Update
Since the above essay was written for my Digital Arts class, I have reflected back on those years. I realize that the creative “gene” impacted not only our business development but also our children's development and their careers. During the 1970s and 1980s, we attended a number of computer shows in the New York metro area, including the Trenton State Computer Festival and the Personal Computing Expo in New York City. The early hobby computer shows were fun and unsophisticated. Electronic boards, cables, and components were laid out in boxes on card tables, and "R2-D2" would greet our strollers on the exhibit hall floor. Some of the big-name microcomputer software and hardware executives of today were just getting started, exhibiting at small booths. Gradually, the shows became much more professional—no children were allowed. My husband had caught the "bug" early and the result was his building computers from parts, involving the children in the projects. Typing Tutor was a big attraction for them, as they earned $1.00 for each letter they learned, and they learned to touch type at an early age. We still provide this incentive for our grandchildren today.
We explored storage options over the years, starting with cassette tapes, floppy disk drives (even 8” ones), 3 ½" disks, and various hard drives. We explored keyboards, and we still prefer the “clicky”, buckling-spring styles over the "chiclet" styles with their "dead end" tactile feel.
Our eldest son has now founded, and is CEO of, a UAV software firm. His younger sister works with him, programming some of the software. Our younger son is IT manager of operations at a call center firm, creating solutions for their customers.
Recently, some of us have been exploring online art software. Home schooling has promoted our grandchildren's creative use of these types of programs. They have also enjoyed creating and programming Lego projects and competing in FIRST LEGO League. One of our grandsons has started online math and science college courses recommended by his school.
The websites we have developed over the years require continuous upgrading and freshening. However, ad blocking software is seriously impacting the online publishing industry. I don't agree with ads that take over a web page, but small, targeted ads do help to monetize quality, written articles for online publication. When ads that generate publisher revenues are blocked, publishers cannot afford to pay for good, written material, and we tend to see more and more “fluff” and “fake news”.
This essay was originally written as an assignment on creativity for my Intro to Digital Arts class.
Copyright 2012-2018 by Jane Hesterman. All rights reserved.
This website and its contents are protected by international copyright laws.
Copyright 2012-2018 by Jane Hesterman. All rights reserved.
This website and its contents are protected by international copyright laws.