San Luis Obispo High School fosters a large amount of creative individuals, whether it is through clubs like Film Production and Theatre, or in classes like Art and Newspaper Production. But what makes someone creative, and how can one be more creative? Expressions interviewed new Art teacher Tawnee Houle on these subjects.

Expressions: How long have you been an artist?

Art teacher Tawnee Houle: I started doing art at a really young age, like a lot of kids, but I didn’t really start focusing on art or making it for myself until high school. I took three years of darkroom photography and painting in high school, and that’s when I realized that I enjoyed making art.

Expressions: Do you think that you were born creative?

Houle: I think that I was born with creativity because I was a curious kid that enjoyed the aesthetics around me. But I think that creativity is fostered in a person through different experiences. I believe that everyone has creativity they just either don’t know how to channel it or use it yet, or need to practice it just like any other skill. I do think that it comes more natural to some depending on personality and environment.

Expressions: What do you think about the level of creativity among students at SLOHS?

Houle: The kids here at SLOHS have a high amount of creativity. You can see it through clothing styles, events created and hosted on campus, and in the ideas that they bring into the classroom. I think that we live in a very creative and visual age, and students right now are really embracing that.”

Expressions: When students first join your class, do you see some of them with the mindset that they are not yet a creative person?

Houle: I’d say that there is a good chunk of students that, when they join an art class, already have a mindset that they just don’t have creativity, or the talent to do that, because they think it is a born skill. But as we practice different strategies, they end up realizing that they can come up with their own ideas. They just haven’t used the skill before.

Expressions: What can someone try to do to practice this skill?

Houle: To improve creativity, do something everyday.  Try to create something everyday, whether it is an idea or a drawing, and have something concrete to keep track of progress.