Balloonface
It's 10.30pm on Wednesday night, three days before the Poloppo launch party. By this time of night I'm barely capable of deciding which flavor of toothpaste to use (vanilla mint or my daughter's natural propolis?), let alone which words to make publicly available on the brand-spanking-new Poloppo blog.
However, what I have decided is to spare y'all the ranting about the numerous challenges and obstacles that inevitably come about with a start-up of this nature. Instead, I'll explain some of the "Why?" ... and begin to fill you on some of the amazing people who are helping pull Poloppo together.
Picasso's quote, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child" really sums it up. As adults we become strongly conditioned, and frequently stifled, by the way things *should* be. The older we get, the more organized we (usually) prefer to be. We tend to spend a lot of our grown-up time planning, categorizing, arranging, ordering, refining and just generally filling in the gaps. There's very little room for randomness, blurriness, or jagged lines.
Children, on the other hand, don't have all of their neurons hard-wired for life yet. Spontaneity and randomness come naturally. You only need to spend five minutes with a relaxed and healthy kid to realize this, and another ten minutes to allow it to filter through to your own state of being - to let go of your agenda, just hang out, and have some fun.
This is never more apparent than when doing art with kids. The way three-year-olds make lines meander around a page, then describe the lines as "My Pet Giraffe Eats a Birthday Cake" never ceases to amaze me. There's something infinitely inspiring about their freedom of mind.
Of course that's not always the case. If a child is traumatized, hungry or challenged in some chronic way their precious imagination can rapidly evaporate. Putting crayon to paper is an immediate and tangible way for a child to reconnect with herself and find a way, via the imagination, back to expression, and back to health.
It's our mission at Poloppo to encourage parents, teachers and educators to place a higher value on the role of art in kids' lives - throughout the (developed and developing) world.
Oh yeah. We want to make some cool clothes too.
However, what I have decided is to spare y'all the ranting about the numerous challenges and obstacles that inevitably come about with a start-up of this nature. Instead, I'll explain some of the "Why?" ... and begin to fill you on some of the amazing people who are helping pull Poloppo together.
Picasso's quote, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child" really sums it up. As adults we become strongly conditioned, and frequently stifled, by the way things *should* be. The older we get, the more organized we (usually) prefer to be. We tend to spend a lot of our grown-up time planning, categorizing, arranging, ordering, refining and just generally filling in the gaps. There's very little room for randomness, blurriness, or jagged lines.
Children, on the other hand, don't have all of their neurons hard-wired for life yet. Spontaneity and randomness come naturally. You only need to spend five minutes with a relaxed and healthy kid to realize this, and another ten minutes to allow it to filter through to your own state of being - to let go of your agenda, just hang out, and have some fun.
This is never more apparent than when doing art with kids. The way three-year-olds make lines meander around a page, then describe the lines as "My Pet Giraffe Eats a Birthday Cake" never ceases to amaze me. There's something infinitely inspiring about their freedom of mind.
Of course that's not always the case. If a child is traumatized, hungry or challenged in some chronic way their precious imagination can rapidly evaporate. Putting crayon to paper is an immediate and tangible way for a child to reconnect with herself and find a way, via the imagination, back to expression, and back to health.
It's our mission at Poloppo to encourage parents, teachers and educators to place a higher value on the role of art in kids' lives - throughout the (developed and developing) world.
Oh yeah. We want to make some cool clothes too.
posted by Poloppo at
1:21 AM
2 Comments:
So sorry to have missed the party, but hope to see you at next year's Burn, man!
I love your wearable art! I wish you every success in making this a Business!
Do you think you could manage a night shirt for kids and adults?
Are the inks all "child proof?"
Your cheering fan,
Peter
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