Traveling back into my memory, I recall as a child sitting for hours around the kitchen table drawing with my good friend Israel also known as Papo. Those days as a child we loved toys and even more we loved pencil and paper. Funny but that’s all we needed to be entertained. I can recall sitting at the table for hours, and being that it was at my friends home we were always using his paper pencils and crayons. I know that his mom at cringe each time she heard us crumblingasheet of paper when we were not happy with the results. Silently she watch her pennies being wasted but never said a word. I believe she rather Papo and myself be at home safe inspired and inspiring. Many times we had a influence on his two younger sisters to also draw and color for hours at a time.
Video games were still very new and being that we were poor that was not a option for us. To be honest I would not have it any other way. The beginning years of me sitting around that table allow my mind to escape to other worlds and at times other dimensions. We drew many different types of scenes. We drew Animals, mountains, valleys and at times cowboys, Indian’s and monsters. Once in a while we will draw robots and other planets but mostly we drew cartoons and funny faces. Our minds were young and our thoughts were young and its funny that today 35 years later it has been stirred and laid heavy in my heart to bring what I once as a child held dear to the TWK kitchen tables. To be honest I do not know all its impact that time had in my life, but I know that only good came from those moments.
Today myself along with Alex, our TWK team coordinator have started “TWK loves art campaign, our mission is to encourage and have available to our young a chance to express themselves by drawing around all TWK kitchen tables. We also hope to get the community involve and influence other parents and neighbors to use this concept in there homes and also other encourage other organizations.
Earlier I had mention my friends Mom cringed at the sound of paper being wasted , and today I understand all to well what she felt when she heard crumbling paper. “Thank God for recycled paper ‘lol”.
Today at TWK we encourage all our kids to sit around a TWK table and allow the mind to escape as my mind was once did. Interesting that the images that i drew at those times are far different from the ones our kids draw today. These images that they draw consist of flowers, lots of scribble, family and at times you get a hint of violence. Each drawing has allowed us to strike conversation with each kid and allows us to enter at times the thoughts behind each drawing. I must say Its been a joy to each one of us at TWK, because we have notice a settle peace that comes over them around the kitchen table. Even though my friends mother Noemi had passed away , her memory and life influences continues to live on each day in my life and now at the worlds kitchen.
