A Blank Canvas

The canvas of our lives

by Helen Bryant (revised, originally published in 2009)

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To consider that we have the power to change the images on the canvas of our lives.

Preparation and materials

• Have available an image of a painting that features at least one person and was painted by an Old Master. You will also need the means to display the image during the assembly. Examples could include:
  
  - individuals, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2p5uu5y5
  - groups, available at: https://tinyurl.com/mu97eu6t

Assembly

1. Display the image of the painting as the students enter.
   
   I have a few questions for you to consider.
   
   - Where would you start if you were an artist and had been given the subject of this painting as a commission?
   - Would you start with the background?
   - Would you begin with the main figure in the centre?
   
   Imagine how the artist would have felt, looking at the blank canvas. A huge expanse of white, an empty space that needed filling. It would be more than a little daunting.
   
   
2. I wonder if you would start by sketching the outlines and some rough shapes. Many artists begin in this way, sketching in pencil or charcoal. We wouldn’t necessarily do this on the canvas itself, but in a sketchbook. We have sketches, or ‘cartoons’, that Michelangelo made on parchment, which show how he developed his ideas before he began the enormous task of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This shows us that even geniuses need to plan and develop their work.
   
   
3. However, the focus for today’s assembly is not just how people like Michelangelo, da Vinci and Rubens created their amazing works. Our focus is to consider how, when we are young, our lives are like a blank canvas, ready for images to be painted on.
   
   
4. At birth, we have little that is imprinted upon us. We have our genes, which will affect how we look, behave and develop, and we have the influences that scientists say affect us in the womb. Otherwise, though, we are blank canvases, ready to paint on ourselves! As we get older, we gain more control over how we develop that canvas and what we put on it.
   
   
5. Let’s imagine ourselves as an image: what colours would we be? Would we have started to fill in the background colour carefully, or would we have just thrown on the paint?
   
   
6. In a moment of quiet, I want you to imagine that you are painting your life on an enormous canvas. See yourself painting your choices, actions and decisions.
   
   - Have you had big choices to make?
   - Have all of them been good?
   - Are there big choices that you are making right now about your friends, your future or your family?
   
   Watch the colours and images blur and change, with everything merging.
   
   
7. Let’s stop for a minute. Is there anything on that canvas that you would like to change, scrub out or replace? I’m sure that everyone has something: an image, an action or a person they would much rather wasn’t there.
   
   We can’t remove things totally from our past, but we can move them away from the centre of our canvas so that they are less noticeable. We can learn from experiences, even unpleasant ones, but we need to allow ourselves to move forward without fear of the mistakes that we made before.
   
   
8. Returning to the subject of paintings by Old Masters, modern technology has enabled us to see some of the preliminary workings of these artists. We can see when artists changed their minds, got things wrong and made errors. We can also see where artists learned from their mistakes by scrubbing out figures, changing their stance or facial expression, or adding others to complement the painting.
   
   
9. The same is true of our own lives. We learn from our experiences and from the people who enter and leave our lives. They can enrich us, or help us to learn from our mistakes, and that process helps us to develop as people.
   
   
10. We are who we are because of our learned behaviour and our experiences. It helps us to remember what we have ‘painted’ in the past; the colours and images may well contribute to the future painting.

Time for reflection

Our canvases are not fixed. They are not the same year by year, day by day or even hour by hour. We can change things and go in a different direction. We can wipe parts of the canvas clean and start sections again, making different choices. For the most part, we are in control of our lives and can change the things that are in our power.

Remember that no canvas will ever be the same as another; each one is unique. What will you paint on your canvas today – or tomorrow, next year or in the next ten years?

Pause to allow time for thought.

It’s up to you. I’m sure that you will be making changes, adding new images, painting over others, repairing mistakes and healing wounds. Embrace that ability to be creative and free, and live your life in bright colours!

Prayer
Dear God,
Help me to see my life as an artist’s canvas, something for which I take responsibility.
May I see that I can live my life as I choose, giving colour to myself and those around me.
Give me the inspiration that you give to our great artists,
To paint and draw as I see fit, to learn from other people and from my errors,
And so develop and become a better person.
Amen.