An eye for art
For artist and art educator Dinaz Cassim, art is a wonderful tool for children’s development, writes Zuliantie Dzul
IT’S a beautiful day in New York City. A little girl and her grandmother are visiting the Metropolitan Museum. She has her prized possession with her for the journey — a yellow balloon. But sadly, it’s not allowed into the museum. The museum guard ties the balloon to the banister, offering to keep an eye on it. But somehow, its string becomes untied and the guard has no choice but to run after it.
The balloon thus embarks on an uproarious journey through New York City, soaring past a host of landmarks. Eighteen famous paintings and sculptures
are reproduced in the delightful You Can’t Take A Balloon Into The Metropolitan Museum,
a wordless book by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and illustrated by Robin Glasser that explores the magical relationship between art and life.
This is the very book that inspired Dinaz Cassim, a Pakistani-born artist/art educator who’s made Malaysia home for the past four years, to create her own book that introduces children to core concepts in visual art through featured works of contemporary Malaysian artists. Her debut outing Art Day For Animals, which Dinaz wrote and illustrated, was recently launched and suffice to say, it’s a first outing that’s like no other. The artists featured in this book include such art luminaries like Hamidi Hadi, Kim Ng, Ivan Lam, Yim Yen Sum, Johari Said, Anurendra Jegadeva and Chin Kong Yee.
ELEMENTS OF ART
The characters in the book are all animals — a bird, a snail, three penguins, a monkey, a bear, a peacock and a snake — and they embark on an exciting journey as they explore an art gallery and discover the various elements of art.
“But they’re not just any animal. They represent the elements of art, namely shape, form, colour, line, space, texture and value,” begins Dinaz when we meet over a drink in bustling Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Gingerly lifting her book, she flips to a page filled with colourful oval shapes. Titled The Crack Of, it’s the handiwork of Kim Ng.
Monkey sees SHAPES, Shapes that he can make. Round or small, Narrow or tall, With a bend or a twist, He can make them all!
Beautifully, Dinaz reads the rhymes out aloud. On the adjacent page is a smiley monkey posing in such a way that his arms and tail are bent to form shapes. “Typically, in books, the writer will write a story and the illustrator will be given the manuscript. But for this book, it’s developed in tandem. The words and images grew together, inspired by the works of art,” divulges Dinaz.
She continues to flip the pages before stopping at an artwork titled Timeless by Chin Kong Yee, an artist known for his wonderful fish-eye lens work. The art chosen is a perspective painting of a busy intersection that’s intertwined in the middle to create a swirl. “To me, it looks like snail shell. So, I’ve used a snail to represent this element of space,” shares Dinaz.
While the bear is all about texture due to its fur, the snake meanwhile, is used to represent form. The penguins, with their black and white coat represent tones — of light and dark. Then there’s the peacock, with its majestic and colourful feathers that has an eye for colours.
“Children don’t have to understand what the artists are saying in their art works. They just need to observe the elements and relate them to the animals,” says Dinaz, adding that she chose vibrant acrylic and watercolour for greater detailing and to bring out the characters’ expressions better.
VISUAL LITERACY
As an art educator who runs art workshops for children and adults, Dinaz hopes that children will develop visual literacy through her book and be inspired to create art of their own, just like how the animals have been inspired after their fun-filled tour of the art gallery.
Art and creativity, says Dinaz, can stimulate the mind to come up with different ways of doing things. And more so in children. “They’re naturally creative and with an art education, which involves looking at art, observing nature and noticing the world around us, children can develop cognitive skills, and fuel their imagination. Exposure to different types of art is important to instil the notion that there’s no right or wrong way to be creative. Art is often about expressing the unseen,” she says.
Meanwhile, parents should not drive their children to art with the sole view of creating the next Picasso. Fostering creativity and getting children to create art, according to Mary Ann F. Kohl, author of Primary Art: It’s
The Process, Not The Product, can help to boost young children’s ability to analyse and problem-solve in different ways.
When it comes to young children, the most important thing is to build their confidence and appreciate anything and everything they create, says Dinaz, who holds a Cambridge International Diploma in Teaching and Training. “Giving them plenty of opportunities to engage in art, both in unstructured and group-based
activities where they get to explore different materials and themes, is a great way to nurture creativity.”
When children feel good about what they’re creating, it helps to boost their self confidence, concurs Kohl. “And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the craft room.”
ALWAYS INSPIRED
As for Dinaz, her love for drawing started when she was still in school in Pakistan. With much encouragement from her interior designer mother, she pursued art by joining workshops or classes outside school.
“Creative minds run in the family. Growing up, I was surrounded by my mum’s work. And I’ve always enjoyed drawing people and characters. My school textbooks were filled with my drawings!” confides Dinaz, chuckling.
As a child, Dinaz’s imagination was triggered by the pictures she saw in books such as The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton. “The whole world of fantasy, especially the world with elves, gnomes, hidden forest and enchanted forest, fascinated me. As a mother, I used to read children’s books to my two children when they were growing up, such as books by Dr Seuss and Richard Scarry,” recalls Dinaz, who lived in Pakistan until she was 29, before getting married and moving to the United States.
Having graduated with a major in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, New York, she decided to pursue a career in illustration, attributing the brilliant teachers at the school and many illustrators around her such as Peter de Seve (the illustrator of Disney’s Ice Age: The Meltdown) and William Low as her biggest influences.
Currently residing here with her husband and two sons, now age 19 and 17, Dinaz aspires to share her wisdom in art through her workshops and classes, and will continue being inspired as an artist.
Concluding, the attractive mother of two says: “As a creative person, I design my own process. There’s no set routine or formula. It’s all about what I see, or photograph. There’s always inspiration that will lead to the process.
Once I start, it will go on until I’m done.”
And she has her own prized possession by her side throughout her art journey. No, it’s not a yellow balloon. It’s her sketchbook.
Art and creativity can stimulate the mind to come up with different ways of doing things.
Dinaz Cassim